Grand Lake Trail

 Usually I get my exercise in by walking around town. Today I monitored by streams north of Duluth near Fredenburg (on the Cloquet River) and Grand Lake Township (on the Us-kab-wan-ka River). Both streams have very clear water today and the water temperature is 45 degrees. On the Cloquet river I see six Canadian geese, a pair of Trumpeter swans, and a bald eagle. After putting all my monitoring equipment back in my car and grabbing my rain coat, I decided to take a walk on the dirt road I was on. Unlike walking in town, there is absolutely no traffic and no gorgeous view of Lake Superior. The road is blocked by an iron gate that is padlocked shut. Four wheeled vehicles have made a path around the gate. I walked on the road for 20 minutes until I saw a snowmobile trail called the Grand Lake Trail. I took that for another 20 minutes until it ended at another dirt road. Then I took that road for another 20 minutes. Some of this area has been recently forested. Pines have been planted and each one has paper stapled to the top to prevent the deer from munching them down. I walked past a couple of swampy ponds where chorus frogs were singing their sexy songs. When I get real close to the pond the frogs suddenly stop singing. What are they thinking? Do they worry I will overhear them and tell others? Do they think I will find them and catch them? Marsh marigolds were in bloom. I keep walking on and the frogs so back to singing. Twice I hear ruffed grouse drumming nearby. I find some scat on the path. The scat has a lot of hair in it so this must be from a predator. I find some tracks (see above). Could they be from a wolf or a coyote? A light rain falls and I am glad I brought my rain coat. Unlike last Saturday when the temperature was 80 degrees, today it barely reaches 50. I make it back to my car after a two hour walk feeling exercised and fully bathed in nature.