Pieces of Her

 I read Pieces of Her by Karin Slaughter. The story is about a protective mother and her 31 year old daughter having lunch on her daughter's birthday. The daughter, Andy, lives in an apartment above her mother's garage in Belle Isle, Georgia. Andy has the habit of freezing up when asked a question. This habit of hers is repeated time and time again until I got tired of hearing about it. At the birthday lunch an armed teenager comes into the restaurant to slay his girlfriend and his mother. Andy's mother stops the shooter from killing more people leaving Andy to wonder who her mother really was. Andy thought her mother was a quiet, peaceful, eclectic speech pathologist; not someone who could stop an armed shooter. Over the coming months Andy learns a whole other side of her mother but only from other people; not from her mother herself. This book was action packed and complicated. Some of the violence and profanity seemed gratuitous to me. I suppose that is why this novel has been chosen to be made into a Netflix series. I don't have Netflix. The only thing that would tempt me to watch it is that Toni Collette will play Andy's mother and I really like her acting.

Boulder Lake

Today I met some other master naturalists on an unsanctioned get together at Boulder Lake Environmental Learning Center. I decided to get there early to  have a look at Boulder Lake. This is near the center headquarters which is closed now because of the pandemic. The learning center and grounds are owned by Minnesota Power and St. Louis County. The UMD campus collaborates with their students doing environmental field work. In non-pandemic times this place is busy with kids and families.

Walking back to my car I noticed this quartet of healthy looking birches on the road next to the lake.

A beaver took a healthy chunk out of the middle two birches yet they manage to survive. After looking over the boat landing area I joined a group of three others to look for mushrooms. We found a bunch of chanterelles. We found one odd looking mushroom called the elf's saddle. It looked like a tiny saddle. Another mushroom we found was a fairy goblet which looked like a tiny goblet.. We found quite a few bright yellow mushrooms named chicken fat. I don't remember all the mushrooms we found but we found quite a few. We spent a couple of hours traipsing through the Boulder Lake property on trails and off trails too. One mushroom we found was the Destroying Angel. It had a long stem but looked innocent. According to our mushroom leader they actually taste good. After eating one you will feel a little sick. The next day you feel good and back to normal. On the third day after eating it your liver shuts down and you die. Suddenly I lost my taste for foraged mushrooms. I did enjoy being with other people out in the woods even if we had to wear masks the entire time. 

 

Something In The Water

 I read Something In The Water by Catherine Steadman. Catherine Steadman is also known for acting in the role of one of the upstairs characters in Downton Abbey as Mabel Lane Fox. In this thriller a newly married couple find something in the water while diving on their honeymoon at an exclusive resort. The author depicts the couple as truly in love. What they find in the sea makes a huge difference in their lives. If they hadn't found it maybe they would still be in love. Each decision they make jointly and separately after finding what they found leads them down a dangerous path. My mother once told me that anyone could be a criminal given the right circumstances. If what she said is true, I'm glad I didn't go diving at an exclusive resort on my honeymoon. This book will have you turning pages fast.

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.

 

The Heavens May Fall

 Years ago I read a book by a Minnesota author called The Life We Bury. The author was Allen Eskins and he included some of the same characters in The Heavens May Fall. So I thought I would read it because it had some of the same characters. Max Rupert is a homicide detective for the Minneapolis Police Department. In this book he investigates the murder of a wealthy woman who runs a foundation to save wetlands. Half of the story is told by Max and the other half is told by Broady Sanden. Broady is a professor of law who gave up his legal practice for his own mental health. Broady and Max were friends. Broady comes out of retirement to be a lawyer for the murder victim's husband who is accused of killing his wife. The story moved quickly. The chapters were extremely short. The ending of the chapters dangled a morsel of information that kept me reading on. At the very end we learn who actually committed the murder and that is when I realized there is a reason I don't like murder mysteries. The reason is I feel manipulated by the author. If you do like murder mysteries, you would probably love this one.

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.

Park Point Trail

Today I drove to Park Point in Duluth and parked near the airport. There is a 2.4 mile trail that runs past the airport to the tip of this sandbar. According to the signs I read this is the largest fresh water sandbar in the world. The forest out here is unique also. Composed of red and white pines the trees vary in age from young trees to the oldest dated at 1798. In some spots the path was very sandy which made difficult walking. With each step my sandals would bring up a third of a cup of sand and spread it forward.

The trail goes through a scientific and natural area.

When I got to the end the Army Corp. of Engineers was unloading sand. I think they dredged the shipping canal and are dumping the sand out here. I thought it would be good to walk back to my car along the beach. The water was warm enough and the sand felt great on my bare feet. Walking in the sand as the waves gently rolled in was almost like walking an ocean beach. I definitely have to come back to this spot again. As I walked a common merganser popped up in the water just a few feet from me. Silently five other mergansers popped up one at a time after the first one. Maybe they were hunting for fish together.

 

A Place For Us

 Fatima Mirza wrote the family saga called A Place For Us. The family consists of Rafik and Layla who emigrated from India to California and their three children, Hadia, Huda and Amar. Rafik is a strict parent with a temper that flares up at his children. Both he and Layla are devout Muslims. Since they have no other family in the United States, the other people at the mosque are the only people they socialize with. Hadia is a good student and she tries hard to please her parents up to a point. While her parents would prefer she accept an arranged marriage at age 18 she declines and goes off to medical school. Huda is also a good student. Like her older sister she declines an arranged marriage and goes to college to become a teacher. She appears to be the most well adjusted member of the family. Amar, the youngest and only son seems to me to have oppositional defiant disorder. He is reluctant to change his ways and his father is reluctant to change his ways so they keep repeating the same behavior over and over without making any progress.  Eventually Amar leaves the family. The last quarter of the book is told by Rafik as if he were talking to Amar. Now Rafik is willing to change his parenting style for his only son. I really enjoyed getting this glimpse into a different culture.

Munsinger Gardens

Yesterday I spent the day with a friend at Munsinger Gardens. Kudos to the city of Saint Cloud for dedicating money and time to this beautiful public space. These yellow bell shaped flowers eventually turn into these frilly balls that remind me of the tree tops in Dr.Suess's The Lorax.

We had a nice picnic lunch in the shade by the river. We watched families gather. We watched some wedding photography. We saw a boat load of monarchs who might be gathering up on their journey south.

 

Mountain Ash

The Mountain Ash trees in Duluth are adorned with orange fruited beauty right now.

 

Dreams From Nepal

 I read Dreams From Nepal: The Emotional Story Of A Twelve Year Old by Bikui Koirala. The story is about Ram who grew up in a small village. His father is a farmer.Ram tries to help his father on the farm. The family is Buddhist and Ram meditates daily. One day there is an opportunity to help his family by moving to Kathmandu. Ram will live with a family and be a servant. In exchange the family will give Ram's father some money and will send Ram to school. Every year they will return Ram to his village for a week so he can celebrate the harvest with his village. Ram does this for several years until he finds another way to help his family. Ram's decisions in life are all in support of his family. Although a child he thinks like an adult. Every evening he thinks about what he is grateful for that day. I liked the book except for the ending which was way too abrupt. 

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.

Grand Portage

Today I hiked from the Grand Portage trail head (inside Jay Cooke State Park) northbound to the Fond Du Lac trail. From the parking lot there is a short hike before you cross Highway 210 and head on up the hill to the ridge. Bike trails cross this area. As you can see by this picture sometimes the bike trails go up an an angle to the side which makes mountain biking look like fun.

I came upon the historic stone bridge over Mission Creek. The bridge is so wide two cars could pass without touching.

Here is the other side of the bridge.

This little tributary to Mission Creek has no bridge but I got across easily on the stones.

I think this orange toadstool is adorable sitting in the sunlight.

Here I am back to where I was the other day. Time to pull the peanut butter sandwich out of my pocket and start hiking back to my car. I saw at least 30 tiny toads hopping across the trail today. They were about a half inch in length. Some were gray and others were cinnamon brown.

I came upon what I think is porcupine grass. I wasn't expecting to see it. Today I added 3.6 more miles making my new total on the Superior Hiking Trail 130.4. I have 201.7 left to go.

 

The Book Of V

 The Book of V by Anna Solomon is about three women in three centuries. Esther becomes the queen of Persia when the king's first wife, Vashti, refuses his request to appear before his drunken friends wearing only her crown. Vivian, in the 1960's, is a senator's wife. At a fund-raising party at their home her husband asks her to take off her clothes so his male supporters can look at her. She refuses. The third woman is Lilly who lives in current times trying to balance her life as a wife, a mother of two young girls, and a dutiful daughter to her mother. The story of Esther and Vashti is from the Bible. Lillian is trying to explain the story to her girls in a way that makes sense to them. This entertaining story goes back and forth between the centuries ever explaining the expectation of and restraints upon the women.

Fond Du Lac

Today I was up early so I hiked from the trail head at Fond Du Lac to the Beck's road trail head. At Fond Du Lac I had to hike a .7 mile spur trail before I arrived at the Superior Hiking Trail as shown in this photo. I had a lovely walk up along Mission Creek. There the trail went up steeply into a white pine forest followed by a maple forest followed by as aspen birch forest. I walked along the top of a ridge line that got very narrow in spots. Unlike other areas of the trail I have hiked, this section had lots of top soil. I did not encounter any rocky outcrops or boulders blocking my path.

This large bridge over Sargent's Creek looks twisted in the middle and listing to the left. I made it across safely. From there it was another half hour walk to the trail head on Beck's road where I parked a couple days ago.

This is where I turn around and head back to my car. 

The twist in the bridge is evident from both sides but it felt safe as I walked across.

My walk today was very peaceful and relaxing. I just love exploring new trails. I feel a sense of accomplishment when I am finished. Today I added 2.7 miles making my new total on the Superior Hiking Trail 126.8. I have 205.3 left to go.