A Walk In The Woods

Do you live in Duluth or the surrounding area?

Are you looking for a cheap, healthy diversion in these hard economic times?




















Are you wondering if this person is going to try to sell you camping equipment?

Well, there's this little foot path that I'd like to tell you about. It's called the Superior Hiking Trail and I lived here for YEARS before I ever knew about it.

Then again, you might be a little smarter than I am.

Bear with me.

There is a website for the Superior Hiking Trail Association with a bunch of info on this 205 mile long trail along the Northshore and up to the Canadian Border. You can hike the whole thing, you can go lodge to lodge, or you can do what I did yesterday and pick a section that is within walking distance of your house and you can take a hike.

There are books that describe every mile of the trail and all the flora and fauna. Not NECESSARY but highly useful. You can also look at maps on the website or purchase maps from the SHTA.

I like this book:




















The funny thing is this, last year I would get in my car and drive up to the trailhead that is near my house. This year, I got adventurous. Actually, it was on one of my bad days when I went out for a walk and really didn't care if I fell into a punji pit or was eaten by a bear. Being totally indifferent to your own self destruction can lead to amazing discoveries! (I hear Admiral Perry was inconsolably suicidal when he went to the North Pole.) Anyway! I saw a path that looked like it led up to the trail head just up the street. Taa daa! I was right!




















The view down the street from the path is quite ordinary (43rd and Gleenwood for the locals)















The path leads right up the side of the hill (and there is a whole lotta up on this path) to this trail head

















The SHT is blazed with blue blazes like this:




















You have to pay attention to your blazes and signs but most of the time, it's quite clear.

I took the spur trail (blazes are white) from Hawk's Ridge to Hartley Nature Center where I met this tree:



















If you're walking along and you see a tree with a blaze like this, you'd better back track and find the blue blazes. I only took a wrong turn to demonstrate what NOT to do. Hey, has Bear Grylls ever screwed up for the purpose of making a point? I think not! Will I be drinking my own urine today? I think not!



















I then proceeded from Hartley Nature Center to the Rose Garden in Downtown Duluth.
The SHT dips from parks to neighborhoods as it goes through Duluth and often you'll find yourself following the blazes and signs through city streets.

Sometimes the signs are small so you have to pay attention.




















Or the blazes can be a bit faded



















There are some beautiful places nestled right in Downtown Duluth
















Occasionally, the trails have nifty little steps made of stone.



















The trail goes through so many different environments, from deep woods and waterfalls to city streets and the Lakewalk.







































I ended up passing the Farmer's Market on the way to the Rose Garden. Raw milk cheese curds anyone?
















The trail goes down to the Lakewalk and continues, if you should choose to traverse it, up to Enger Tower and beyond.

I decided to hike the Lakewalk and then catch a bus home. Total hike? 12 miles. Total cost? One bus ride .75 cents.

And raw milk cheese curds, if you want to buy them...I'm not sharing mine!

Not From The Chamber Of Commerce

Happy Grandma's Marathon Day.

So, what have I learned that I need to do today? Drive around the downtown area of course, running errands for things I didn't know about yesterday.

Let's face it, if you're familiar with all the road construction around here, plopping a marathon in the middle of it really shouldn't be all that much different. I am, however, leaving an hour early and packing an emergency supply of rations so that if I get stranded, there won't be another cannibalistic incident like last time...FYI: human thigh meat tastes like chicken.

I went to the knitting slumber party at Yarn Harbor last night and one of the gals asked if I was running today and I started to laugh at that thought but then I went, heck! (Cuz in my head, I'm the sheriff of Mayberry) I'm going to be doing that this fall, just not on a road. That's why a trail marathon is so great: in the woods, no one can see you vomit. Or poop. Or tend to your blisters and bloody bits.

THAT'S why it's far more civilized!

There is nothing uglier than watching a person run a marathon. I'm just sayin'.

Take A Hike

I've been wanting to go for a good long walk one of these weekends but life has a way of intervening. Perhaps I should say, teenagers in need of a chauffeur have a way of intervening.

A little over a year ago, I started hiking. I learned about the Superior Hiking Trail and that it's just a ten minute walk from my front door. Back then, hiking was an escape from being at home. Quite literally, I would stand in the kitchen, think about how much I hated my life, and then head out the door.

An intelligent person would have just taken the kids one day and not come back.

I have never claimed to be the most intelligent or enlightened, but I'm working on it.

Being in much better shape this year, I'm hoping to do at least the three walk/run events that I did last year. I'm certainly not into competitive running. I only participate as a way to challenge myself. I've learned that there is a certain realization after doing a 20+ mile walk/run...I'm so much stronger than I ever realized.

So, I will be participating in the Domestic Abuse Intervention Program's "These Boots Are Made For Walkin'" in September. I've even reeled in one of my friends to come with me. That was the very first organized event that I ever participated in last year and I did the 13 mile distance and although I was tired, it was a real breakthrough mentally for me that I was in control of my own well being. Interestingly enough, this was probably around the time that STBX started cyber-fucking his girlfriend.

Funny ole world, isn't it?

Perhaps the most fun event I did last year was the Grand Traverse. It's basically a non-competitive walk/run that allows you to do a marathon through the woods. I haven't found anyone to join me on this one this year...yet. I actually liked the solitary challenge of it last year.

I'll be keeping an eye out for other events at Fit City Duluth. I actually thought about trying the Midnight Sun Midnight Run on the night of the sentencing as I think there will be a lot of emotions rolling around in my head that day but I'm still intimidated by competitive running. Perhaps I'll wait until the next day and do the Solstice Walk/Run in Knife River.

If anyone is interested in joining me for any of these events, give a shout out.

A Rather Long Walk In The Woods

Three days post hike and I finally can rest my hands in my lap without wincing.

Thigh muscles? Who knew I had them! I thought I was just like a Cadbury Egg, crusty and hard on the outside but actually filled with an obnoxious substance that you think is good in the beginning but as you continue to sample it, it strikes you that it really tastes like like the puke of a thousand angels.

But apparantly, I have muscles.

Also, the Superior Hiking Trail near my house where I was hiking in preparation, is relatively flat. Of course, I didn't think it was until I started hiking around Spirit Mountain and scrambling up rocks. What's so funny is that ANYONE who has ever done ANYTHING like this will, at this point, roll their eyes and say "WUSS!"

They would be right too.

I suppose we all have to start somewhere though. I remember several first times in my life that were less than steller. I believe the first time I knit anything it was with size 15 needles and baby weight yarn. Yeah, it was kind of like a mackeral net as opposed to the baby blanket that I was aiming at. It could have been useful for holding out and running through a daycare center, trying to trap as many babies in 30 seconds as possible which, when you think about it, would be really funny. (I have an alternate career writing game shows for Japanese television).

The folks that sponsored the hike were great though. Technically, people were supposed to go at least 2.5 miles an hour but I ended up just below that. No one threw me out or made me quit and I ended up doing 16.7 miles in 7 hours. I'll admit that there were quite a few times when my lack of depth perception made me stop and wonder how in the hell to go down some rocky trails. When I go down a flight of stairs, I can hang onto something but funnily enough, that's not always an option in nature. I do recall a couple of times starting my decent and saying to myself "I don't have health insurance and if I break a leg, it will be a lot cheaper just to cover myself up in leaves and let nature take its course."

I'm all about survival of the fittest and from where I'm standing at the back of the pack, the fittest one is that guy with the stringy legs and the form fitting running shorts.

There were quite a few spectacular views and I finally broke down two thirds of the way through and stopped to take a couple photos of the beautiful fall colors. I just sort of snapped the photos, tossed my camera in my bag, and kept on going. It wasn't until I got home that I realized my daughter had the camera on black and white. Instead of getting a picture of myself standing on a rocky cliff with a gorgeous autumnal display behind me, I ended up with a black and white dystopian photograph of the last person on earth, living a hard scrabble life on a rocky cliff overlooking an unforgiving wilderness. That physically fit guy in the running shorts that was once so far out in front?

Deeeeee-licious!

A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Do Next Weekend

It appears that I've only mentioned one of my long distance walks here. A few weeks ago I had a wild hair up my ass and I walked from my house to the aerial lift bridge and back.

Since I didn't die, I decided to do it again only in a little longer format. I did the DAIP 13.6 mile walk on the Munger Trail.

Now? I'm doing the Grand Traverse Hike/Run put on by Midnight Sun next weekend. This time it's a 16.9 trail hike which is far more demanding than just bopping along on a paved surface. I've been out on the Superior Hiking Trail which is where it is held and I really loved it. It's well marked and well tended which are both necessities when I'm out in the woods.

I've smiled and batted my eyes and tried to cajole some friends into going with me. I've been met by everything from "Sorry, too long for me" to "Holy Shit! Are you smoking crack???" So, I will be going alone. They demand that you have a cell phone and a trail map so I'll be using my daughter's cell phone and hopefully, if push comes to shove, I'll be able to hold the map right side up.

Since there are people that hike the Appalachian Trail all the time and do the "Run Forrest, Run!" thing across the country, I hardly think I need my head examined. Unfortunately, I have seen "Grizzly Man" and while I have no plans to go and pet any bears, I do hope, should I encounter one, that he or she doesn't want to pet me.

And now, some travelling music!