Snuggie Time

Bella has decided that it is winter. Our house is not that cold, but little miss pri(nce)ss can't sleep comfortably without a blanket on her.

She has requested a dog Snuggie, size L, for her birthday (Oct. 20).

The Curtain

Sometimes when we come home from being out, we find that Bella has bent our curtain rod into a U-shape. This is why. I came downstairs today to find her half-asleep under the front window curtains.

She's special.

Mt. Oberg to Cascade River

The Superior Hiking Trail meanders up the North Shore of Lake Superior, paralleling Highway 61 but inland over the peaks and valleys that comprise what is known as the Sawtooth Range because the schizophrenic elevation. You are constantly walking either uphill or downhill, with a few ridges thrown in for good measure.

We started Monday morning at the Mt. Oberg parking lot, where we ran into a few day hikers out for a nice walk on the mountain loop. Not us. We were headed 25 miles north to Cascade River. The other hikers warned us that the bugs were pretty bad, but knowing Minnesota we were prepared with Off Deep Woods.

Here we are still clean and fresh.

The first half of the hike took us to the Lutsen ski area and the Poplar River. Another spot rife with day hikers, most not knowing where they were going. Some with only half a bottle of water between them. It was a hot, humid, sticky day so water was key.

We ate lunch on the Poplar, after traversing a quick 7 miles in 3 1/2 hours, and also pumped water out of the river to supply the second half of the hike. I have contracted giardia before only using iodine to purify our water so I insist that Turner bring the water filter.

The trail to Lake Agnes, our destination for the night, had a couple nice views like this.

But often the hiking was through this.

However, the trail was constantly cutting through raspberry groves. I say groves because the bushes were almost chest high and dripping with ripe berries. We didn't stop to pick much because of the heat and the bugs, but they were nice snacks every now and then if you reached out a hand while you were hiking.

We also saw plenty of fungi, like this one.

And lots of wolf poop (to my dismay), some moose tracks, and red squirrels galore just to taunt Bella.

Luckily, Bella found enough spots for a quick cool down and drink because she wasn't getting any of our hard-earned filtered water.

I probably will never camp on Lake Agnes again. After finding a "renegade" campsite, meaning the regulation sites were already taken, we went down to the lake to pump more water, swim, and have dinner. This "lake," though large, was little more than a beaver pond. It was shallow and filled with organic matter giving the water a very muddy look. We did little more than rinse off the bug spray.

This is the lake at 6:30 in the morning on the second day.

The weather forecast for Tuesday called for thunderstorms, hail, and high winds. This is why we were up and hiking by 6:30am. We wanted to make it to Cascade River, and the shuttle back to our car, before the bad weather hit. Storms on the North Shore can be vicious. The area just west, in the Boundary Waters, suffered a severe blowdown in 1999, damaging 400,00 acres of forest. The trail to Lookout Mountain worked its way through quite a bit of blowdown.

I kept thinking that the bases of the ripped-up trees, now horizontal to the ground, would make excellent hiding places for the wolves. The darkening sky and silent wind lent our journey a somewhat ominous tone.

But after hiking 11 miles in 5 hours we made it to the Cascade River by lunchtime. The hike was kind of a march, since we stopped infrequently and just walked on through the heat and brambles.

Luckily, the waters of the Cascade were cool and refreshing. We hopped in, despite some onlookers, and washed off the days' grime.

After freshening up and eating the rest of our food, we sat on the shore of Lake Superior to wait for the shuttle. The lake and sky melded into one horizon of stormy grey. We could tell that the weather could turn at any minute, but it didn't thankfully.

We waited about an hour for the shuttle-that-never-came.

It was supposed to arrive at 1:17 at the Cascade wayside. Well, by 1:45 it had not come, so we asked a couple of tourists for a ride back up Highway 61 to our car. (We found out later after calling the shuttle organization that it only drives the route Friday-Sunday. And there we were on Tuesday, waiting for Godot.)

The kind folks dropped us off at the base of Onion River Road, which meant that we had to walk 2 miles, uphill, in steadily warmer and more humid weather. And this just after getting clean and fresh in the river.

I was not a happy camper. Points like this get termed "death marches." All I could think about were Gatorade, Snickers, a cheeseburger, and a shower.

In the end, I got all those things and the memories of a lovely hike.

The Sweetest Thing

Blueberry Moon

We spent two days on Crane Lake in northern Minnesota, just south of the Canada and bordering the Voyageurs National Park, the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, and Quetico Provincial Park. My aunt and uncle took us by boat to Sandpoint and Namakan Lakes to explore islands and beaches. One of our stops was Burnt Island, and it was covered in blueberry bushes. They dropped from the branches like grapes. We picked 5 quarts of wild blueberries in a couple hours.

The sky and water at this time of the day were an ominous shade of grey, the grey of the rocks that jutted out into the turbulent water.

At other times during the trip, the weather was pristine and then a dark storm cloud would roll in and change our lunchtime plans.

Bella had a marvelous time, chasing after the ball, flying through the air off the dock. Hannah, her cousin, couldn't keep up with our lab's enthusiasm and energy.

She positively launches through the air, probably twenty feet or more at times, to retrieve the ball or stick.

Although we did not catch any fish from the boat, Turner casted a line off the dock at the cabin and caught some small-mouth bass and walleye.

The evening fell bringing wandering loons, dark clouds, and a purple sunset.

Photos by Turner and Sara from the Jarvinen cabin on Crane Lake.

Shakespeare's Flowers

No more be grieved at that which thou hast done:

Roses have thorns, and silver fountains mud;

Clouds and eclipses stain both moon and sun,

And loathsome canker lives in sweetest bud.

Sonnet 35

I had rather be a dog, and bay the moon,

Than such a Roman.

Julius Caesar

Tis in ourselves that we are thus or thus. Our bodies are our gardens, to the which our wills are gardeners; so that if we will plant Nettles or sow Lettuce, set Hyssop, and weed up Thyme, supply it with one gender of herbs or distract it with many, either to have it sterile with idleness, or manured with industry, why, the power and corrigible authority of this lies in our wills.

Othello

There thou prick'st her with a thistle.

Much Ado About Nothing

...from the gardens in Stratford.

A Cuppa

My morning goes something like this. Wake up around 7am; roll over remembering that I only have two months wherein I can roll over and not have to get up. Get out of bed around 8am. Go downstairs and let the dog out to do her thing. Let dog in and feed dog. Put dishes away while Turner gets up and starts making coffee. Let me rephrase that. He makes soy lattes every morning. A big steaming cup with frothy foam and a delicious, encompassing tastiness. (Note: We buy our espresso beans from Spot coffee, locally roasted and the best around despite the fact that every week they get stingier and stingier with the "pound" of beans.)

Every morning Turner tries to make "foam art." Usually, it's a squiggle or some dots, but today I got a three-eyed smiley face. Now that's a good morning.

On a side note, our dog is the local lookie-loo of the neighborhood. She does not bark, thankfully, but loves to just watch. If she weren't so cute and she weren't a female, she would be a peeping tom. Well, now that our internet router is in the window, she uses it as a head rest. I'll have to ask Turner if it improves our 3G.