More Training

For our training we stayed overnight at Wolfridge Environmental Center.  We stayed in a dorm without kids and didn't even hear the 200 fifth graders and 40 eighth graders who also stayed there.  I wish my children could have stayed at this place because it would have been a good experience for them.  As part of their duties some of the kids have KP (KP stands for kitchen party).  One adorable fifth grade boy with round glasses enthusiastically offered me garlic toast and complimented me on my necklace.  He was over the top on the adorable scale.  After breakfast we had another rainy day but I was ready for it with my yellow rain pants, my new Carhart rain jacket (I give it a grade A for rain proofing), my yellow umbrella and my hiking boots.  We hiked up and down the Temperance River looking at geology features.

I absolutely love climbing on the rocks with other people who are as geeky as I am.

As one guy in the class put it, "Soaked with enthusiasm the geezers unite.'

My ability to hear a lecture about geology while rain drips on my umbrella actually improved over time.  The rain wasn't as hard as yesterday.

But the rain was hard enough that flash flood warnings were issued up and down the north shore.

It's hard to imagine the lava flowing here back when Minnesota was located sideways and on the equator before the continents separated.

The top layer of lava is ripply and is called pahoehoe (pronounced pa hoy hoy).  It's like the top layer of a brownie - ripply and shiny.  The second layer has air bubbles in it (which when filled with minerals can become agates).  The third layer makes columnar jointing as seen above.  The columns can have 4, 5 6, or 7 sides.

Last night we had a lecture from the author of "Lichens of the North Woods" and another lecture from the author of "Dragonflies of the North Woods."  I enjoyed the lectures and the crap each author gave each other about their topics.  Today I have my eyes out for lichens and dragonflies.

The beauty here is so distracting.

The water is fast and dangerous.

We have our lunch here.  As a vegetarian I get a pb&j that was severely lacking.  The meat eaters get lettuce and tomato and onion and turkey.  How fair is that?

This rock was mined near Carlton and brought here.  It is greenish in color and is called anorthocyte.  Chemically it is very similar to the rocks brought back from the moon.

Many of the people in my class have hiked part of the Superior Hiking Trail.  One of my instructors has hiked the entire length backtracking style. That means he parks at a spot, hikes half the day, turns around and hikes back to his car.  He goes home and does another section another day.  By the time he is done he has hiked the entire trail twice.  Am I too old to even think about this as a goal?  He says backtracking is the best way to go because the view is so different on the way back.