Western Waterfront Trail

I hiked the western waterfront trail in Duluth. This trail starts out near the zoo in Duluth. The gravel trail follows the Saint Louis river for three and a half miles. The weather was cold; not winter parka cold but cold enough. As the path curved around a hill and sheltered me from the brisk wind I unzipped my jacket. When the path curved out into the wind again the zipper went up. I saw my first turtles of the year. I went to take a picture but the closer turtle swam away. This is a highly cropped picture of four turtles warming themselves on a log.

As I walked near a warm sunny cove I heard a long, slow snore of a frog. I didn't hear the chuckle indicating a leopard frog. I heard it twice before I left the area.  On my way back to my car in the same cove I heard the long slow snore again. I kept walking and then I heard the chuckle. I stopped to look. I could hear at least four frogs talking in the bull rushes. Then I saw a leopard frog. This frog didn't appear to be talking. To hear a leopard frog call for the first time was pretty exciting for me.