Happy Fall Equinox

 

Today the amount of sunlight equals the amount of darkness. Yeah! We are half way to spring again! This afternoon I walked the Superior Hiking Trail behind my house down hill to a hardware store, a bike store and a farmer's market. I bought 2 pounds of roma tomatoes, 2 large poblano peppers and one large red onion. I roasted those vegetables in the over along with some garlic cloves, oregano, basil and salt and pepper. What I didn't eat I preserved in a glass jar with olive oil to keep in the refrigerator.

I had a nice day for a walk in the park. White throated sparrows were talking. See how the creek reflects those trees back up into the sky? A few fallen leaves dot the surface. Water is running faster now that we have had some rain in September. Last Sunday I met the man who maintains this portion of the Superior Hiking Trail. Walking the path maintained by someone you know means more than walking a path maintained by a stranger. Part of the part on my way home was being maintained by city employees. As I approached the 8th street bridge I heard machinery running. As I walked under the bridge I was passed by a young city employee walking behind a motorized wheel barrow contraption with continuous wheels like a tank. I had never seen such a thing before but I imagine it comes in handy on a trail like this one. On my walk I realized that things have changed. My trail was mostly empty. Kids are back in school. School buses pick up students. Stores are less crowded on week days compared to weekends. Most of my neighbors are gone during the day. This is finally what I thought retirement would be like!

Hartley

This morning I went for a walk at the Hartley Nature Center. This time I didn't park in the Nature Center parking lot. I parked on Hartley Lane where the Superior Hiking Trail enters the Hartley Nature Center after leaving Bagley Nature Center. Wow, they have a beautiful prairie here. I stayed on the snowmobile trail or what was formerly known as Old Hartley Farm Road.

This used to be a farm owned by a farmer by the name of Hartley. Look at all the yellow golden rod, Black eyed Susans plus the purple bergamot. Gorgeous yellow and purples.

Hartley had the biggest farm in Duluth. Here are the stairs to what used to be the root cellar to store root vegetables from 1910 to 1920. The lettuce here was great. Hartley introduced a new vegetable to this region - celery! I love celery. I can eat a bunch of celery every week. I remember by "wasbund's" grandmother, who was in her 90's and declining mentally a little bit, was eating a bunch of celery every day. Her family was worried that she was eating too much celery. I thought to myself, if you have to overeat on one food, what better food than celery? She was such a nice Finnish lady. I remember she told me once, on her 94th birthday, "It's embarrassing to be this old!" When Farmer Hartley passed away the farming ended. All employees were let go. The family donated the acreage to the city. I hope Farmer Hartley agreed with that decision.

Look at this plant! I have never seen this before. 

Here is the plant again.

When I get home I look it up in my trusty wild flower book, Wildflowers And Weeds: A Field Guide in Full Color by Booth Courtenay and James H. Zimmerman. This is a turtlehead! And it looks like a turtlehead too now that I know the name. Turtlehead is in the snapdragon family.

What is this one/ I have no idea.

According to my wildflower book this is red baneberry. The berries are poisonous to humans but grouse like them. Good thing I didn't taste one. As I walk along today I destroy the nasty invasive tansy that is everywhere. I rip off the yellow flower head and throw them on the path. Sometimes I rip out the whole plant which is as tall as my waist and throw it down and step on it. My hands turn yellow from all this work but they smell great. I only do this on public paths. I don't do it in private yards except my own. People have been passing me all day today. Some people are on fat tire bikes and some on foot. A handsome jogger goes by without a shirt on. He has a man bun and from the back he looks like a lanky Brad Pitt. I am not sure Brad Pitt has a man bun. I don't follow Brad Pitt that closely.  The Brad Pitt look-alike says, "Hello, neighbor."  My eyebrows go up. A light bulb turns on in my brain. He is the middle school science teacher next door.  "Oh, hi neighbor," I say hurriedly.. "Nice to see you. I thought I saw your car. Keep running though, don't slow down." He smiles and waves. I am not used to being recognized in Duluth. Only a few times have I been recognized unless I am on my own street. I am uncertain how I feel about loosing my anonymity.

 

Southern Terminus

 

Today I hiked the Superior Hiking Trail with a friend. We park on Goat Mountain Road (which took an inordinately long amount of time to find. From there we hiked east toward Wisconsin to the end of the trail. We hiked 1.9 miles to the end and back to our car. The other car was parked at Jay Cooke State Park near the swinging bridge.

We made pretty good time. Much of the hike was easy but not all.

This is the southern terminus. A person could continue hiking into Wisconsin.

The trail goes down into the Red River Valley and there is a campsite here as well. Hiking with a friend was awesome. Talking together makes the time go faster and we had a great time. This was her first hike on the trail. Having two cars meant we didn't have to hike back on the longer section of 5.9 miles which was an unaccustomed and totally welcome luxury. This hike today means I have completed the entire hiking trail from the southern terminus to Tettegouche State Park. Today I (we) added 7.8 miles making my new total on the Superior Hiking trail 159.2. I have 172.9 left to go.

Leskinen Creek Campsite

Today I hiked from the community center in Finland, MN southbound to the bog where I left off yesterday because of a broken board walk.

After a .3 miles spur from the parking lot and a short distance I crossed the east branch of the Baptism River.

From there it was a steep ascent to the top of a ridge. Look, a coral mushroom. I passed the Leskinen Creek campsite. Hikers are advised not to camp there overnight because a local bear has figured out how to get into the bear bags. Smarter than the average bear I guess. 

On my way back down from that ridge I encountered a boggy area where lady slippers grow. This area has a path of logs sawed in half and covered with chicken wire so they're not slippery. The logs were old and some teetered side to side. I walked carefully and I was glad I had my walking stick.

After 3 miles I came to Park Hill road which was my destination yesterday but I didn't make it.

I kept walking down hill. The weather was partly cloudy with a temperature in the 70's and low humidity. Perfect weather for a walk in the woods.

Wow. Just imagine how huge and thick the glacier was that left this glacial erratic in this particular spot. That rock is the size of a two story cabin!

This boardwalk section looks brand new.

I am back on the boardwalk at Sawmill Bog. I don't see any moose around. Today I added 4.6 miles making my new total on the Superior Hiking Trail 151.4. I have 180.7 left to go.

 

Section 13

Today I hiked north bound from the trail head on Little Marais road. I planned to walk 4.4 miles to Park Hill road so that when I did the rest of the section from the north I would have less to do.

Across the wide valley of the Saw Mill Creek I can see the bald knob of rock known as Saw Mill Dome. 

I don't know why this section is section 13. The other sections haven't been numbered. No one was at this campsite today at 11 a.m. but it is supposed to be a popular spot for people who do rock climbing around here.

I descended the hill from Section 13 to the valley floor. Some of the board walks here are a little sketchy. One section, over a small stream, was broken in the middle. I assume it broke with someone on it. I hope they weren't hurt. I look forward to walking across a 300 foot boardwalk over a bog because it is reportedly prime moose habitat.

Here is the beginning of the bog. After this I will hike only 1.4 miles more and then turn around.

I don't see any moose yet.

Um, this boardwalk is broken.

Am I supposed to balance on that birch? There is no way to get across here without getting my feet wet. And the board walk is so tilted to the left I don't feel safe to sit down and remove my shoes. I guess I will turn around here. Today I added only 3 miles making my new total on the Superior Hiking Trail 146.8. I have 185.3 left to go.

 

Little Marais

Today I hiked south bound from the trail head on Little Marais Road back to Kennedy creek where I left off a couple days ago. From the parking lot I walked .1 mile along the road before the trail headed south and immediately climbed a steep ridge. As I was hiking the ridge I startled a garter snake so badly it recklessly started racing downhill. I am glad I saw it and stopped walking because it almost touched my tennis shoe as it went across the path and carelessly wound down hill. I am proud of myself for not screaming but I did let out a little moan. I came upon this crack in the rock made for tall and skinny people.

From here I have a nice view of Little Marais road and I can barely make out my yellow car in the parking lot.

I came upon this giant boulder that is larger than a tank.

I didn't take this spur to picnic rock but now I wish I had because it loops back to the Superior Hiking Trail.

This is Sawmill Dome.

These mushrooms look like they have been professionally arranged.

Whew! I finally made it to the power lines. Now I am back on Wolf Ridge property. Kennedy Creek is just ahead. Today I added 4.4 miles making my new total on the Superior Hiking Trail 143.8. I have 188.3 left to go.

 

West Kennedy

 

Today I hiked the section of the Superior Hiking Trail from Highway 1 near Illgen City to the West Kennedy campground. For now I am putting the Tettegouche section on the back burner for several reasons. One reason is it's so long.  11.1 miles is a long hike. Even if I did half at a time it would be 11 miles to the middle and back. The other reason is that the guidebook says this is a challenging section. The section sounds pretty with Bean Lake and Bear Lake and Mount Trudee. There is a section called the "Drain Pipe" which is a rock crevice with 150 feet of rock steps. I will come back to it someday.

This section of the trail is on private property yet it still has camp sites. That is unusual. The private property is the Wolf Ridge Environmental Learning Center. The Superior Hiking Trail Association and Wolf Ridge must be collaborating on the camp sites. If you look across this nice view of Johnson lake you can see one the buildings of Wolf Ridge in the distance. I stayed at Wolf Ridge once a couple years ago on a Master Naturalist outing. The dorms were comfortable and the food was great. I wish my children could have had the chance to experience Wolf Ridge.

There is a path to Wolf Ridge from the East Kennedy campground.

The East Kennedy campground.

Kennedy Creek runs between the two campgrounds.

This is where I turned around and headed back to my car.

I had some views of Lake Superior too.

Near the trail head is a section of thirty year old aspen forest. This area burned in 1990. This part of the forest feels different than the rest. Today I added 2.4 miles making my new total 139.4 miles completed on the Superior Hiking Trail. I have 192.7 left to go.

Jay Cook

 

Today I hiked from the Grand Portage Trail Head to the Jay Cook visitor center. At first the Superior hiking trail stayed close to the Saint Louis River on the south side of Highway 210.

I saw 3 garter snakes along the river.

The Saint Louis river has a fish advisory because the fish are high in mercury.

The trail crosses Highway 210 after about a mile and goes steeply uphill and downhill again to Gill Creek.

Another steep uphill slope after Gill Creek where the trail joins the state park trails which are wider and less steep. Here I found the Hemlock Ravine Scientific Natural Area. I wasn't aware we had hemlock in Minnesota.

The maple/oak forest is pleasant and cool to walk through.

Here I came to Foresby Lake which is a reservoir with a dam connected to a hydroelectric plant run by Minnesota Power. 

This is a day use hut. I think this would be a splendid place to relax. Today I added 6.6 miles making my new total on the Superior Hiking Trail 137 miles. I have 195.1 left to go.