Lost and Found: Kayaking and Whatever Floats My Boat

Best Things Starting With “B”: Boundary Waters, Boats, BBQ Brisket and more

2010-09-24T17:39:00.002-05:00

Sunrise over Lake Two.

Thursday: After a complicated carpooling situation accommodating last minute changes in peeps and boats that nearly required us to hire a consultant to come up with a plan as well as a clinical counselor when Frank saw how much stuff I wanted to pack (ultimately successfully I hasten to add) into my car so early in the morning while leaving space for two long lads beside me, we were off to a cold weather trip Up North. (Thanks Frank for humoring me on the 9 people and 3 cars thing :-))

After a strengthening morsel at Virginia’s Sawmill (yummy bbq brisket!) we made our way to Ely’s Ranger Station where we were instructed in how to make as little of a nuisance of ourselves in the wilderness as possible. Some promising news: the bears were on the move because the berry season had been early and short and they were hungry before curling up in their winter dens. So good, maybe our chances of seeing a bear wouldn’t be quite as slim and remote as usually.

We made camp at Fish Lake Camp site, which is not to be sniffed at! We managed to dazzle Kim L, Jane C and Jan H by packing 6 people into a 3 person tent for a heart-breaker of a hearts game that wasn’t even disrupted by Frank’s see-through attempt to intoxicate us with his seriously fragrant kiwi-mango chap stick for seriously kissable lips, which would have given him hell to pay if Jane had been anywhere near us! - Good times!

Barb and Frank.

A drizzly Friday morning dawned but by the time we were on the water it had stopped raining and after a couple of short portages and a breezy lunch Frank and Barb had claimed a campsite, but not without Barb thoroughly testing the waters first!

Little stone cairn to warn of a treacherous rock in the middle of the lake.

Frank & Barb, who clearly were outshining us all as far as colors went.

Barb, John, Jan & Frank.

After erecting a tent city of 5 including a fledgling suburb tent, a fire was lit and Jane plied it with no less than 12 thick steaks to be grilled and accompanied by potatoes smothered in butter and red, crunchy coleslaw, ‘cos after all we were roughing it! (We were just hoping to catch some fish tomorrow because otherwise no doubt we would be starving in those next few days!) Mr Beaver was gracing us by swimming around our point, which meant we had already seen a much bigger mammal than on the spring trip!, where we had to content us with squirrels and a pesky little mouse. My first beaver in the wild! Yay!

Dick, John & Frank: Guys like to build fires!

Kim in front of her suburban condo.

Folks turned in early after fiddle tunes from Jane and their pre tooth brushing ration of nuts or cheese to keep them warm during the night. I got up once during the night and as I stepped out of the tent I thought I had stepped right into a swamp, judging by the rasping sounds that were alternately emanating from some half a dozen different directions. My first boyfriend had convinced me a long time ago that guys snore to keep the wild animals away. At that rate we were NEVER going to see a bear!!! One thing I had to say though, my new cushy 2.5 inch self inflating sleeping pad made for a very good night indeed. Can’t remember that I ever slept so quickly and so well camping ever. And it’s really warm too! Damn my silky hair though, my night cap kept slipping off for the first couple of days until the filth set in and started holding it in place :-)

A cold sunrise.

Pistachio shell from our predecessors. Even other people's garbage can be pretty here!

Our landing.

Saturday: We celebrated our first morning in camp with Frank’s fluffiest of them all pancakes and boysenberry or maple syrup, yumm! Phiew! Starvation staved off for another few hours and we would be going out fishing as well!

Cute little boletus hardly bigger than a nickel right behind our tent.

Frank: Life is Good.

Jane and Kim.

I got a lot of casting practice that day, but my 18 dollar* fish remained elusive… On our way back an excited Barb waved us over from the distance: Frank had caught a struggling 4lb Northern Pike with the help of Barbs netting prowess and turned the bottom of the boat and his pants into a blood-spattered mess. Swiftly Dick caught Mr Pike’s little brother and we could return home with one catch to show for each boat!

Frank and Mr Northern Pike.

Dick with Mr P.'s little brother.

Blood has been spilled, a red dawn would be rising the next day.

I wanted to watch the guys clean and gut the fish but Dick in his immense generosity insisted on me doing the honors of butchering the fish he had caught :-) So off I went with Frank, his fish knife and two fishes in tow to the next point (= Fish Gut Point) so we wouldn’t have the attractive smell of fish heads and guts in our camp.

To keep things interesting for the waiting masses back at camp we decided to give them a little canoe retrieval to do (at Boat Catch Landing), while Frank painstakingly introduced me into the fine art of gutting and cleaning fish. After a 90 minute lesson he had produced not only a couple of sizeable fillets, but also a neat pile of the very tasty smaller “Northern Candy”.

Faced with the prospect of at least the same amount of time for me producing a surely inferior product with the smaller fish I suggested a more radical approach and was encouraged with a very decided: “I don’t care what you do with THAT fish” to do as I pleased, lop off the head, slice open the cavity to remove guts and gore and chafe away under much flicking of scales into my hair and everywhere else, while Frank sat by at safe distance with the sharpening tool in one hand and the first aid kit in the other.

For extra safety Northern-slayer Dick was observing the scene from an even safer distance with his binoculars reporting progress to the hungry crew. So finally we returned digging deep for power strokes with one expertly and one radically prepared fish to a crew waiting eagerly at the beach to bread the little delicacies and have them swim in hot oil. To tide us over Jane had prepared a delectable pasta dish with tomatoes dehydrated expertly to mi-cuit perfection by our very own Dr Jan. Thanks Dennis for frying away into the night and helping me eat the otherwise much scoffed at debone-after-cooking specimen!

Dennis frying the fish.

Dennis still frying more fish.

Sunday: Panties lost on the trail from the bathroom: 0. Epic sunsets caught by drinking the exactly right amount of fluids to wake up at the exactly right time 1. V. good!

For breakfast we broke into Jan’s Moose Log Bars, which got two high thumbs up from everybody! Jan and her family run Twin Pine Farms and they sell at farmers markets, so if you get a chance to buy one of those babies, I can really warmly recommend them! At about 450 cal per pack you could easily take them along to make a full meal on the trail with them! We were her guinea pigs to test how well they do on the trail and I’m tellin' ya we'd’do it again any chance we’d get! As dessert we had Jane’s peach cobbler that we couldn’t handle on top of the fish the night before and from now on I want my oatmeal exactly like that all the time!!! (You can see the starving theme that goes through this trip like a red thread continuing…)

Jan and John in the lunch line.

Frank & Barb.

Our way to Rifle Lake barred by a muddy swamp between Fish Gut Point and Boat Catch Landing we headed to the rapids at Lake No 2 Dam to leave our boats and find an enchanted green hike along drops and fishing holes to a sunny and much ooh-ed and aah-ed over lunch perch and brilliant autumn colors. I somehow missed the train to join the boys to yet catch that 18 dollar fish of mine, couldn’t find them, what clearly meant to me to return to the canoes and have an imperative nap in Indian summer sunshine! I had found myself a bed rock and cast out Frank’s rappler as expertly attached to my lure by Dick. But alas (or luckily) my nap wasn’t interrupted by even the smallest tuck on the hook…

Kim & Jan.

Barb.

Frank'n'Wrap.

Dick & Barb.

Jan, Jane, John, Kim and Barb.

Teeny turtle that had just slipped into the water.

It had been the most gorgeous day and we happily made our way back to a pre cocktail hour card game in expectance of another one of Jane’s yummy dinners: Chicken and Hors d’oevres! Dennis had been keeping the home fires burning and greeted us at the landing.

With full tummies and dishes washed we all gathered round the fire or lay on the rocks to look at the stars. Since we knew that it was our last evening we were reluctant to go to bed and lingered to make it last just a little longer. We kept hearing rustling near the tarps and debated whether we needed to relinquish our nice warm spots by the fire to check it out. Well, I’m not one for not finding out, so I walked over to the tarps, to see what it was back there making the noise.

And there it was, in the light of my head lamp, a fully grown black bear looking at me from across a mere 15 ft. I remember hearing myself saying that there is a bear and Frank asking where and me pointing at “right there” as the bear slunk behind a tree and feeling a tug at my sleeve and Frank’s plea for me to back away. Wow! It’s still a little unreal that there it was, right there, so close.

We mounted head-lamp processions to drive the bear away with clapping and Jane’s chants of Go bear!

Phiew! - Now what was that?!? Jane hadn’t left her fiddle case right next to Kim’s little one person condo! Woah! Bear slobber and shiny bite marks on the canvas! It had obviously tried to drag away the bag that had been harboring our steaks as we disturbed it. Ok, but it was gone now.

And then we found it again! Sniffing at our tp & sanitizer zippy on the trail head to the latrine! We were joking afterwards that it was probably just looking for an audition as the Charmin bear, but there and then we mounted another clap and chant procession and thereafter refused to go to the latrine in groups of less than three, which funny enough we needed to do just then. Not long after as Barb and I were retrieving warmer clothes from out tent , we heard the rest of the group driving the bear again – right towards our tent as I dove in and with trembling hands pulled down that b@#$dy zipper and held my breath!

Ok, now we are scrambling to get our latrine bag and all other hygiene bags that we had been hanging into the trees by themselves into the bear barrels. We lower the bear bag again to take all those caramels that we had forgotten we had in our pockets, the last few cereal bars that were lurking in our life vests and re-hung it with a second rope to secure it further away from the tree trunk. Bear barrels and vaults were rolled around to get them as far away as possible from the tents, while at the same time securing them from rolling into the lake.

So there we were again discussing our options around the fire side and glad that the boys had been chopping wood like champions earlier in the day. Then we heard the campers at the neighboring point mounting the same kind of clap & chant routine they must have heard from us earlier on. We had felt quite fortunate that there were 9 of us and we were really quite impressed how much noise those two campers on the other point made that we had met earlier on in the day. So we hoped that the bear had moved on in its territory - if it was just the one bear of course…

Our initial instinct to stay up all night was reconsidered as we pondered how heavy our packs would feel on our way home tomorrow, how long those paddles would drag on a day that had rain and wind in the forecast on top of everything else, and how long the 250 some miles would be for the drivers on the way back. As we calmed down and we reassured ourselves that the bear really just wanted our food and had no interest in us personally, that the food and anything smelly was now far away from the tents and that the bear had not been aggressive in any kind of way (not really scared of us either, mind!) Kim relocated to Jane’s tent and we all finally retired in twos and threes. Swamp noises arose surprisingly quickly. Other than waiting for grateful bathroom run buddies to wake up during the night and go with, I slept soon and surprisingly well.

We got up at 6am to find all our possessions still where we left them. We packed up, had a warm breakfast to send us on our way and arrived at our cars with wind burned faces and iced feet but only a few hours later.

Kim, Jan and Jane on our way home.

Kim, Jan, Jane, Barb & Frank.

Kim, Jan and Jane.

Goodies were divided up and hugs were hugged as us tired warriors parted. Dennis needed to go home and Frank figured we weren’t going to have more of a bear experience as we already had if we still went to the bear center, so we skipped that and were on our way.

What a great trip! Wished I could have stayed up in Ely to wash my clothes and go right back out again with Jack and his crew a couple of days later! When are we going again?!?

Jan, in the meantime, when are we going to see your fabulous photos?!?

(* =cost of a Minnesota fishing lisence)

Beginner’s Backpacking Conditioning Series

2010-09-24T10:36:00.000-05:00

Cathy and Dennis.

A bunch of us got together and packed Rovers backpacks full or gear, food cans, water bottles, growlers, bar bells etc to experience what it is like to hike with a full pack and to train our muscles to comply in more and more challenging terrain.

Hike 1 & 2 (7 miles): On the Superior Ice Cream Trail around Lake of the Isles and Lake Calhound with a segue to Sebastian Joes for a frozen treat. We started out on black top with the possibility of sag support at every turn to make sure everybody feels good about trying this out, no matter what their level of confidence in their abilities was.

Kim L and I trail blazed on the first hike, which was very pleasant because it was drizzling ever so slightly keeping us at a very agreeable temperature.

The next day Teresa K and Maria joined us for a much more character building experience in sweltering heat with very little shade. We all looked like we had peed out pants we had been sweating so much, but we were all happy about ourselves to persevere without whimpering or whining! Kim mentioned that she really appreciated the opportunity to get out and try this before going on her upcoming trip because it made her more confident that she would be ok and because she could try out her gear and decide between her two pairs of hiking boots.

Ice cream!

Kim.

Teresa, Maria and Kim.

Hike 3 & 4 (5 and 3 miles): Snelling State Park – Pike Island. Moving it up a notch for terrain we were now on uneven forest ground but still very level.

Lisa, Marsha, Dennis and I hiked on Friday afternoon until dark in pretty landscape and saw some wild-life. The next day folks had to bail out with some very good reasons so I only went 3 miles until the bugs were getting to me and I got bored. Goes to show that I wouldn’t do as much if it wasn’t for my buds!!!

White Egret.

Marsha, Lisa & Dennis.

Snelling State Park at Pike Island.

Hike 5 & 6 (cancelled and 5 miles): Hyland Lake Park Reserve

Because of impending thunderstorms we cancelled the Friday hike, but Cathy, Dennis and I caught the trail on a perfect day on Saturday. The sun was shining, the flowers were at peak, the sumac was starting to turn and we saw three different kinds of frogs and a sizeable and beautiful stand of chicken of the forest mushroom in all its orange glory. We were all glad that we had a good reason to get up and out early not to miss those glorious hours! And we were also starting to feel pretty good about carrying our packs up the hills without too much wheezing :-)

Cathy and Dennis at Hyland Lake Park Reserve.

Froggy 1

What a perfect day!

Sumac.

Chicken of the forest.

Autumn flowers at peak bloom.

Froggy 2: it's tiny and hanging on to a sumac leaf.

Froggy 3.

It was a good series! I got a lot of good feedback on it from folks who participated, folks who wished they’d had a chance to train before they went on their first trip and those who just plain are excited to get more folks involved in backpacking! We’ll do it again next spring as soon as the snow is gone and before we get too busy camping out of town. Stay tuned!

Summers As Winters Itasca is Always Awesome!

2010-09-24T10:19:00.001-05:00

Melissa and Barry.

As usually we had a fully booked trip up to the headwaters of the Mississippi with 31 Rovers for hiking, biking, paddling, card and game playing, singing and dancing.

We had lined up 3 different paddles organized by Barry and Jen that all sounded like a can’t-miss. I did the first 2 of them and only bowed out of the last because I realized that I was at a point where I had paddled a full 8 hours in two days and only slept for 6 and needed to have a nap to balance things out again. The 15 miles paddle from Gulvig’s Landing to Coffee Pot Landing very much at the start of Ole Man River was a character-building 5 hours with several challenges: meandering through rice paddies with disappearing and reappearing channels, 3 hours of a very technical class I whitewater section requiring consistent concentration with every paddle-stroke to read the water and find good lines in between a plethora of rocks. After that things got flat again, but very cryptic with meanders taking us further away instead of closer to our destination again and again as Jen and Barry were checking their GPS readings. So the last 1.5 miles as per GPS were more like 5 miles in real money. At the end we all felt that the section could have been a little shorter but also satisfied what we had accomplished.

Jen & Melissa.

Below the dam.

Moi crossing the eddy line. (Photo: Melissa H.)

Meander.

Melissa.

Jen, Barry & Melissa.

Music!!! Melissa, Stacy, April & Jane.

Some folks went to a local street dance that was a blast while the others stayed back to make their own music with guitar (Melissa :-), fiddle (Jane :-) and mandolin (Stacy)

April.

Happy Marsha.

Happy Liliana.

Happy Sebra.

Happy Stacy.

Barb & Jim from North of the border, Jerry and partner.

The next day we paddled along the arms of Lake Itasca, which was relaxing and a good time for shooting the breeze with folks in the other boats. Rovers helping rovers out with boats nobody had to spend money on renting one and all that wanted to go paddling found a spot in a boat. (No paddler left behind :-)

Overall we were really lucky with the weather. Cooler than last year and perfect for hiking and I imagine biking it was sunny every day!

The afternoon paddle from the headwaters to Gulvig’s Landing got mixed reviews due to the overgrown rice paddies leading to some unroverish behavior that is better left alone…

Back at our cozy hostel other folks reported fun bike rides of 20, 40 and 50 miles and several couldn’t wait to do it all again the next day! Hikes were hiked, naps were napped and photos were photographed.

And what would an Itasca trip be without passionate game and card playing! Thanks Barb, Dick and Frank for teaching me 500!!!

A little animal who has made a nest and is sleeping in Jane's hammock :-)

"Stands with a tree" communing with the big white pine.

Liliana getting a big tree hug.

That tree is magnificent and it is just as folks say, it does make you choke up to see it and be near it!

Looking up in awe.

Monday was the day to squeeze out those last few precious outdoor moments Up North with shorter hikes, walks a last packed lunch before hugging folks good bye after raiding the gift shop for new games and Christmas presents.

Luckily one Rovers trip chases another, which makes going home from one so much easier, because going home only means washing clothes and gearing up for the next adventure!

Last not least the food was delicious and reaching new heights with Jane’s coveted bread pudding, Melissa’s lunch smorgasbord bonanza, Marsha’s much anticipated desserts and Karen’s epic vegan chili that broke all records for going back for more! Thanks so much for feeding us all so well!

Also word is spreading that offering to help with organizing and cooking is rewarded with secure spots on those popular trips ahead of time and several folks have already volunteered for culinary delights for Martin-Luther-King-Day weekend come January.

Hey feel free to tell us more about the activities that I wasn’t participating in myself, all you need to do is click on comments and a window will open that lets you write your story.

Rocky Racoon left his sandy mark on Jane's car.

BWCAW in June - 5 Layers of Joy

2010-06-23T03:05:00.234-05:00

Stairway to heaven.

Shelly. Up the Gunflint Trail where last year a moose ran across right after Franks car and just before our car. Lucky us - for seeing the moose and for his excellent timing!!! (My first moose.)

Ron and Styron on Caribou.

My first lady slipper.

Styron, Ron and Frank at the portage from hell: Excellent learning experience - only a short portage on the map, but a challenging stumble over pointy boulders! It's at the West side of Caribou leading to Meeds; we carried the canoes over that distance knowing that it was already 4pm and we still needed to garner a large enough campsite with rain in the forecast. We managed to pitch our tents and get the tarp ready just before it started to rain. How fun it is to listen to the rain when you are dry and nicely curled up in your tent :-)

Butterflies posing: This is what we look like open and this is what we look like closed.

It is that beautiful everywhere in the BWCAW!

Second day: Ron and Shelly on the way to our final campsite in Gaskin. It was a challenging day canoeing and portaging from Meeds to Gaskin. As soon as the tents were pitched and a couple of other needs attended to, my first priority was a wee nap! And I would have so loved to join the others for a nice swim too!

Third day rainy...But if we had to have rain at all it couldn't have been better timed. Time for some much needed napping and card playing. Some braved the weather and went to Horseshoe to hunt for moose sightings but the biggest mammals we were to see all weekend were red squirrels and a couple of mice.

Styron, Jennifer and Shelly & Ryan, Ashley and Ron.

How did that get onto our cardtable/rucksack? And what the heck is it? It's not still moving, is it? While this one is just an empty shell there'll be more of these later...

Is that a lady slipper? Noes! It's Shelly the nature photographer capturing a merganser mum with some 16 chicks! So cute how the launch themself from the rock into the water! The circled around our little point and were followed by all with much excitement and cooing :-)

Jennifer and Shelly.

Styron, Frank and Mr Bass: Open wide! That leech is much to big for such a little feller as you are! - Pliers were plied and the good fish coughed up an intact hook and leech, ready for another adventure! Bass released to do more growing. The leech was redeployed and it didn't have to wait long for more action. Sitting by the fire we should soon hear an excited Frank informing us that he saw a turtle, followed in the same breath by: "Oh no, it's going for my leech!"

So when they tell you that they caught two fish with one leech, that may actually be true! Or at least when they tell you they caught a fish and a turtle with the same leech.

Frank and Mr Turtle after a tug of war to get the hook and leech back.

There goes Mr Turtle, who was again sighted the next day. Mr Leech was retired after that. Just as well, next thing would have been a loon...

The dawn of a beautiful day - Sunday after all!

Reflections, immersion and what rises above the surface.

Beautiful dead things that will make a morsel for another creature.

A brave old cedar persisting on a receding shore clawing tight with knobbly fingers.

Dragonfly larva poised to make a new start above water.

A still sleepy camp.

Pretty things on the forest floor.

A campsite at Winchell: a favorite lunch spot! Frank, Uwe and Shelly.

Jennifer, Styron and Ron.

Shelly, Ron and Jennifer.

Styron and Frank: as life should be.

Shelly, Ron, Uwe and Jennifer. Look at the stunning view from this campsite!

Uwe at rest.

A great old Cedar tree. You could come up with all sorts of stories looking at that tree and letting your fantasy dangle...

For the Tilley catalogue.

Another campsite further west on Windchell. Isn't that a sight for sore eyes?!

Madam merganser: Great hair and still all her ducks in a row!

Last evening back at camp.

A game of frisbee. Perfect campsite for it!

Uwe, Ryan, Ron and Frank.

Wilderness hospital: Shelly caught a leech.

Frank, Shelly and Ron.

There is no such thing as two many sunset pictures.

Styron and Jennifer.

Shelly.

A larva shell by moonlight: eerie.

Shelly.

Pushing off for home.

The 5 layers of joy:
1st - Preparation and anticipation
2nd - The trip itself
3rd - Renewed appreciation of every day urban convenience
4th - Reliving the adventure
5th - Looking forward to the next time

Thanks Ron for organizing! It was a great trip!

Snowshoe Lacing Complete!

2009-12-23T18:45:00.003-06:00

Phiew! Finally Marsha and I have completed the lacing of our Ojibwa snowshoes!!! You know what, we did not expect it to be as nerve wrecking when we first started with a pilgrimage to Duluth to our class with the RSOP.

What is so difficult about it? Well, you have to think about 3 things all at once and here and there you forget one of the three and then notice several rounds later that you made a mistake.

- There is first the knots, which have a habit to all of a sudden escape your brain, even though you have done the same knot dozends of times maybe even that day.

- Then you need to make sure it is all tight and taught, because after all, the point of the exercise is to have something that distributes your weight from a small footprint to the large surface of the snowshoe. We ain't just makin' them to hang on the wall ya know! According to Pat K. our instructor when you first start out you can't get both, right and tight. Well, we did a bit of redoing on just about every section of the shoes...

- An then there is the "unders and overs". It's not like weaving, where you have a warp that is set beforehand and then you weave your way through those constant warp threads, no, you are creating the warps as you weave! One directions warp is another direction's weave and all of that in a triangle. A very patient Pat gave us 3 sets of instructions that describe it slightly different, so you have a hope that at least one of them suits you. He even sent us another set by e-mail after the two sessions were over because he knew that a lot of us would still be lacing.

This kind of thing usually comes pretty easy to me and I have strong hands so I can tighten a knot, but this project really challenged me! But you know what: We will cherrish those snowshoes forever!

Can't wait for next Wednesday when we do the last step of the deed, the forth base of snowshoe making: Putting on flexible marine varnish to protect the wood and the lacing. Marsha also has a woodburning tool, so we'll be signing them before sealing them. Oh yeah and we'll put some bindings on as well. I was going to make them myself, but since I couldn't get a cheap sheet of latex from a busted truck or tractor tire, they will be ready made and only need to be tied to the shoe, quick and easy.

And in the summer? They'll be deco on the wall :-)

Minneapolis Tap Water

2009-11-21T21:45:00.002-06:00

Wean yourself off the (plastic) bottle, take the pledge! It saves the planet and your pocketbook! That leaves more money to play!! :-)

Learn more about how much money, gallons of crude oil and carbon emmissions you help saving here:

Minneapolis Tap Water

My Pictures In The Rake's Secrets of the City=I'm very excited!

2009-11-17T13:54:00.001-06:00

Check it out while it's there!

http://www.secretsofthecity.com/deals/whats-your-secret-picture-it-here-and-win

The Trees in Minneapolis are Looking at You

Pretty Old Traffic Light

Edgy Seed Art at the State Fair

Whitewater River and State Park

2009-11-03T09:49:00.001-06:00

Whitewater statepark is an annual Rovers trip, but me thinks we are the first ones to run the river that gives the park its name! Thanks Cathy H for pioneering that one! Important first thing to mention is, that the name Whitewater is just a tat misleading when you expect rapids: the name comes from the limestone turning the water white and is a translation of an Indian name. The river is narrow and meandering, so it takes some maneuvering also to get around fallen tree strainers, but it's otherwise flat and gentle. Apparently the area is a paradise for Anglers and a friend of mine likes to go trout fishing there. We put in in Elba just across the bridge right next to the tackle and bait shop. As you can see in the photo, despite the good amount of rain we'd had recently the beginning was tough going, but after a few yards it got easier and overall we had just the right amount of water to run it without having too swift a current to enjoy the landscape or for it to be too shallow. John G was the experienced canoeist in the boat and found good channels so nobody had to get out other than for lunch. Cathy and I as kayakers don't need quite as much to keep us afloat, but then I don't have as much space to carry big thermoses with hot cocoa as John G, Marsha C and Kim L had in the canoe :-) I couldn't find flow data specifically to Whitewater, but the closeby Mississippi at Winona was in its 75th-89th percentile for flow for next time to look up if it might be runnable.

Colors are getting scarce. It's now up to mainly oaks providing lush rust tones in contrast with the blond grasses.

It was REALLY gusty! Leaves were raining down on us frequently torn off by fierce sounding blasts. We however were protected in our little river valley and could only pity the hikers up there on the bluffs that might be exposed.

Lunch! There are a couple of spots along the way to get out with stoney beaches that invite to look for interesting rocks.

Must be someone's favorite fishing spot.

It is a pretty little stretch of river with lots of turns to keep the paddler entertained. We also were really lucky with the weather! There had been a possibility of rain in the forecast, but we even got some sun and not a drop of precipitation :-)

Minnesota has got 4 Biome and this here is the deciduous forest with it's leafy trees. A lot more of my trips are into the coniferous forest area of Minnesota up North and recently I am getting more acquainted with the prairie grassland. I am getting quite eager to see what the tallgrass aspen parkland area of Minnesota looks like. It's close to Lake of the Woods and Garden Island SP which recently peaked my interest due to its remoteness. Since this corner of MN is quite a bit of a drive it'll be a good idea to combine a few things for a longer trip...

Brr at the windy take out near Beaver. Once you see the bridge your landing is on the left. It's a steep and muddy landing. The run took us from about 2 1/2 hours with a short break for lunch.

Warming up at the fire in the lodge. That fire is one of my favorites at this group camp. It's in the middle of the room, so there is plenty of space for folks to sit around it. I remember that massive chimney working better last year, so we were joking around that John F should go up there and maybe even come down it at the Halloween party for a grand entrance like Santa. He did say he had brushes and stuff, so who knows next time he may have a chimney sweep costume. Come to think of it, Pat R would make a great Mary Poppins :-)

Kim L, Chris T and Suresh.

Mike S.

Gorgeous time of the day: When the sun beams start grazing the hilltops. Such a great metaphor to see that the same thing can look so different depending on what light you shine on it and how.

And it's a fleeting pleasure as the sun rises the colors fade again...

But here are some more pinks in the distance.

The group camp with its very comfortable cabins. John F told me that this camp replaced an old POW camp where Germans were housed during WWII. We still need to find out whether they got offered passage home when they were released or if they needed to make their own way like their counterparts in Europe did.

Blue skies for a brisk hiking and biking day.

Another lovely trip with a great Halloween party that deserved a post for all the costumes all by itself.

Thanks so much especially to Jen O and Stacey "Blossom" G for organizing!

A Rovers Halloween at Whitewater SP

2009-11-03T01:03:00.001-06:00

Blossom (aka Stacey G) and Private Kim L getting ready for the party in our cabin. All the stops were being pulled for a good reason: a 10 dollar gift certificate to one of our favorite outfitters was at stake!

Barry S in his mushroom hunting outfit. You'll see his favorite 'Shoom later :-)

Deb and Lauren G as head phones who went on to win the prize for the best costume!

Jerry as you know who, Mike H as a Chicago Gang Banger (he'd been working in Chicago for a few months...) and groovy Blossom smokin' a "doobie"

Dr. John F, Magic Uwe T, Chris the Shakesperean woodnymph, Mary the Spice Girl and John G in what people wear to work and to church where I come from :-)

John G and Mike S. (Same wig as last year, VERY different result.)

Baloon Boy Tom.

Dr Sarah 'exploding head' A, Kristen somewhere outside of Kansas, heartless Jim and costumeless (like yours truly) Kristen.

Barb S is one scary chick en.

Obama's Adult Corrections Czar Frank T., wicked Pat R and swashbuckling Shelly G.

Chris, John F, MaryAnn, Deb G, John G, Lauren G, Claire, ?, Cathy H, Suresh S, Bryan B.

Rich, Kristen H, Jim H, Mike H, Chris, John F, Mary the spice rack.

Chris T made a great Thing #1, Kristen, Terry, Julie

Deb M as a fab girl scout with lots of REALLY cool badges. (And she wasn't shy bribing the judges for best costume with thin mint cookies either!)

My favorite pumpkin that won Claire first prize in the pumking carving contest! She's from France and that was her first one!

My personal runner up.

Barry's favorite mushroom and trip organizer extraordinaire Jen O. It ain't easy bein a mushroom!

Games until past midnight! I learned a new game: I don't want anybody to play with my heart, but I'll happily play Hearts with anybody!

What a fun party! MN Rovers rock!

Golden October

2009-10-28T03:04:00.000-05:00

Snelling State Park

Snelling Lake at Snelling State Park.

Interstate Park

Wisconsin side.

Minnesota side.

Taylors Falls Princess.

Uptown-ish

Ginko seeds in Kenwood.

Lake of the Isles

Lake Calhoun

Back to Lake of the Isles

Diana

2009-10-28T01:48:00.001-05:00

Has anybody noticed that it's the godess of hunt and not the god of hunt but all the hunting gear is in men's sizes? But this is neither here nor there: Paul is daring me to show myself with bloody fowl so here we go, no more chickening out:

The lodge and Lake Ida in the background.

Definitely not a feeling I will forget in a hurry, but one that if anything heightens my respect when I eat meat going forward, for the life that was given in order to make a tasty dish on my plate. The maillard hen on the right was the hen we were "stalking" for an hour before it flew into Paul's line of fire.

Duck and Pheasant Hunting

2009-10-26T01:25:00.002-05:00

Encouraged by Paul I actually got out and bought myself a liscence to hunt for ducks and pheasants this year. Fascinated by the fact that this will leave my friends in Europe pretty much gobsmacked he was happy to lend me a 20G shotgun and part with some shells in exchange for a nice bottle of wine. As an explanation for my American friends: In Germany and the UK hunting is very much an upper class sport and also a so called "blood sport". Always eager to try out new things and see for myself I had eagerly followed their invitation to join them last year, however only armed with my trusty 6.3 mm camera. This year was going to be different. This year I was not just going to be an observer.

Patrick and Tom in the duck blind. Hunting starts 30 minutes before sunrise, which means you pretty much find your way to the post in the dark, which can be the most dangerous part of the day.

Paul with his eyes and ears peeled. (For my European friend who haven't yet seen my post about last years outing, I am giving some more background info there.)

Sunrise. You can see Madam Muskrat swimming her morning errands. I saw more muskrats in the last 48 h than I have in the last 7+ years. But that's alright in my book! Apparently Sadie the dog in the party was getting quite wound up by the muskrat prancing around in front of her nose as she was getting more and more frustrated by the lack of ducks to retrieve. She's a cutie you'll see her later.

I was going to be a very pleasant day with high temps in the upper fourties (that's about 9C). I was still layered up pretty good under the duck habitat camu pants Tom was lending me. (I love those pants, very comfy, pretty water resistant and suspendors!)

Getting lighter out and the ducks still elusive. But hey on a pleasant day sitting in the outdoors watching the sun go up and listening to the morning chatter of the song birds - life is still good.

Paul restocking the amunition box to bring the ducks out, because obviously they always show up when you are doing something else and not paying attention...

I was definitely paranoid to make sure my safety is on and that the gun is not pointing at anybody. Loading and unloading the gun was plenty of excitement for me to be getting on handling a gun for the first time, even without worrying about any ducks.

Morning is golden. The first light is always worth it getting up for me, I don't know, why I don't do that more often, even without and excuse :-)

Patrick, Sadie & Tom.

At 9.30 am we called it a duck hunting morning session. While Paul and I where going to retrieve the decoys Patrick, Sadie and Tom where going to sit tight just in case...

Lake Williams.

Paul motoring me around for a grand tour of the lake. Paul returned pleased with reports of the water quality improving with less signs of carp which destroy the waterplants and consequently the duck food.

Sadie cutie.

Patrick and Tom ready for us to throw decoys at them :-)

Unusually late in the season there were still predominant unharvested corn fields, which are of course excellent cover for pheasant. This meant for the pheasant hunt, that the fowl had about 10 times more area to hide in versus the brush and a lot of it inaccessible. Not so good prospects to flush birds.

Again for more for my European friends, duck hunting means a lot of sitting tight, but pheasant hunting means stalking through high grass and brush, which makes for excellent exercise. It's a good idea not just to shed some top layers, but also some bottom layers before donning the blaze orange that makes sure we see each other and have an easier time to keep a safe line. Now, since I was walking around with a loaded gun over difficult terrain, there was no way I could take any pictures like last year, which is a bit of a pity: the colors were spectacular. Platinum blond grass set of with nearly black tree skelletons still sporting a bumper crop of burgundy berries. Very different to the brillant oranges of the sugar maple we associate with fall colors, but well worth stomping through over man high grass, brush and slaloming around sod balls. There were also champagne colored berries on a lower bush with small black green leaves and the stalks of the dog wood bush in contrast with the golden and ash blond grass. It's similar to the prairy. When you first look at it it all looks brown and non-descript, but step right in and let your eyes get used to it and a diversity of grasses, flowers and shrubs open up in front of you.

Sadie scared up an off limits hen and later on a rooster surprised Tom from behind and got away. Shortly after we were done hunting and ready for a hearty breakfast at Jan's Cafe and a nap back at the hunting lodge.

Courtney who had been keeping the home fires burning at the lodge.

Yep, I also retired to one sweet snooze :-)

Back on Tom's lake putting out decoys.

Stillife with...er...hunting stuff.

Patrick fitting his lady with a nice cfd (canine floatation device). I was still joking about a strap on it and that he had a dog with a handle now, but he just said, well ya!, so you can pull her back into the boat easier. Clever!

After an afternoon of shooting the breeze with Patrick (no liscence or stamp required) one maillard hen finally landed way out of reach and had herself courted by the skillful calls of no less than 3 hunters. She taunted us for an hour with eventually approaching quackquackquacks around the corner out of sight, just to give us and miss and eventually take air and head towards Tom and Paul in the boat and her demise. A very happy Paul had met his limit two days in a row. Canvas backs yesterday and maillard hen today. At 6.22pm the hunting was officially over and we were ready for the delectables of Millerville's "muni" (= municipal bar, a bar that is run by the municipality to generate funds for the "city" coffers).

Mmmmm, pickled turkey gizzards! After trying deap fried gizzards last year I was going to leave this taste sensation for another time. Same goes for the ham hocks Patrick swore by. (I've got it on my bucket list, honestly...somewhere.) Let's just say it didn't go with my spiked hot chocolate...

Posing with a bar jar of pickled turkey gizzards and pork hocks. It may have been for different reasons, but Paul and I were totally having fun with this :-) Totally appropriate for my first time at a muni.

What we didn't have in ducks during this weekend we made up for in raucous laughter several times over! Thank you Tom and Paul for having me over again this year! Can't wait for the next, will try and shoot some clay pidgeons in the meantime.

Hard to tear yourself away from such good company to go to bed, but we had another day of hunting with a wake-up call at 6am ahead of us.

Sunday morning in the duck boat. At the end of the weekend I had shot one (trainings) board on the water on my third attempt (it takes a bit of getting used to the kick you get each shot) and at least overcome my gun shyness and had an attempt at a duck, which however was way out of reach. Tom had tried as well and was convinced we had for sure made it flinch.

On a more pensive note: Paul had set me up to pose with the 4 ducks they had shot in the last days and I was all excited about it until I felt the dead animals in my hands. I can't even get myself to post the photos yet and that's not just because I had too much too drink and too little sleep the night before. What is so different between the ducks in my hands and the chicken I take home from the grocery store? The fact that I had seen one of the ducks alive and flying until it was struck down by one of our shotguns? I know that this duck has had a good life and has done all the duck things and is now in line for being eaten, which any duck in the end will be. The chicken that I buy at your regular deli had a bad life and by buying it I am supporting factory farming. I guess I am not quite ready to shed my culural unease with being so close to the food chain and looking the animal into the eye before eating it. I hope I can shed some more of my own hypocrisy next year. Tom said hip waiters will be waiting for me again next year.

Sarah and Logan's Wedding

2009-10-12T22:54:00.003-05:00

I have always been a little bah humbug about weddings and I have declined more invitations to weddings than I have attended. But somehow Sarah managed to change my mind. Months ago when I heard her enthusiasm for the preparations I was getting excited to attend her and Logan's wedding. I was in for a few surprises.

Brenda, an excited bridesmaid.

It doesn't take a good picture to capture just how much Logan was beaming in anticipation of his bride!

I'm not sure, if it was the music that they had chosen (Haydn, Vivaldi and and various other evocative pieces) but I was strangly touched (and still am now) with the anticipation of the ceremony even before I saw Sarah approaching the sanctuary.

I saw some major lipwobbles as her Dad steadied a bride anticipating those important steps onto the carpet.

There she is with the big smile.

The Lutheran church that looks a bit like a ship. Funny enough in Germany we say that someone is "sailing into the harbor of marriage".

Look at those guys! I am often sceptical, but with those guys, they know what they are doing. They really love each other and also know that it takes a bit more than a few romantic notions for a life together. They are fully aware how different they are and how precious the acceptance of the other is and how important to celebrate their differences.

Vows.

Taking their brightly shining candles.

Lighting the unity candles.

Keeping the candles of their individuality that ultimately made them fall in love burning brightly!

Now what Mrs Ericksen?

Mr Ericksen offering his arm.

Together ready for anything!

Doesn't it look dreamy? :-)

There is no such thing as too many fairy lights, I repeat, there is no such thing as too many fairy lights!

Four ladies with tiaras and star wands: Baby Fairies?!?

Flip flops for the dancing later! Sarah thinks of everything and is obviously well versed in wearing towering heels and its consequences! (Me, I just turned up in comfy shoes, still elegant mind :-)

Gipsy Jazz at Sarah and Logan's Wedding! Who'd 've thunk!

Jason, Trevor and Jenni.

Scott, I, Jason and Trevor.

Jennifer and Steve.

Cara & hubby and various other guests.

Sarah, we did enjoy those lighting cubes in our drinks!

The youngest guest.

Logan leading his wife to their first dance. And what a dance!

Everything very stylish a composition in red, white and black. The only lapse: the food. Spaghetti and a tomato-black angus sauce would have been so much more in keeping with the color theme! If you guys ever have a party to renew your vows, feel free to get me involved with the food planning :-)

Now wait, why are there three mints lying in a row in front of me...? Oh by the way, thanks for the goody bag and especially the pack of cards, nobody enjoyed those more than our table :-) Although the gallon of water that was in there as was a much appreciated move considering that there was an open bar all night...:-)

Also cudos on that emergency basket in the powder room! It was stocked with anything a gal might need at a wedding: pain-killers, hair pins, safety pins, spare nylons, watchamacalits and thingymabobs as well as band-aids, mints, toothbush and toothpaste! My guess is that Sarah has been in/to enough weddings to have encountered just about any wedding reception emergency there is!

People at the all night open (!) bar...

Another lovely couple: Jenni and Trevor.

The dancing was great! Fab choice of music!

Logan consoling his BFF with a dollar dance.

The lovely bride and Scott, who cleans up nice!

Ooh Logan, you better pick the right legs there!

And Logan did!

Wonderful wedding! According to Logan that's pretty much cudos to the bride, but he did have a lovely speech, Logan did.

I can't wait to hear about their honeymoon, which is a surpise for Sarah, planned by Logan. How cute is that!

Interstate Statepark Hike with the MN Rovers

2009-10-06T00:33:00.001-05:00

A natural group picture at our first overlook, how cool is that! Kristen, Shelly, John, Annie, Beth, Kristen, Kim, Kim, Frank, Liliana, Marsha, Marsha's middle daughter and Ted (the latter during a rare eating break :-).

13 of us set out on Sunday at the Interstate State Park on the Minnesota side to hike a Minnesota loop and a Wisconsin loop on the Pot Hole Trail let by Marsha and cheered on by Liliana, who made sure my laces were tied properly before we got on the trail :-) a few more Rovers we picked up on the trail :-)

Beautiful deep forest trail that made our nostrils flare sucking in exactly what a forest should smell like!

Kristen and Kristen.

That incline was a doozy (long) and tought me what catching your breat really means. It sharpened my awareness, that when you burn lots of energy you need lots of oxygen too, otherwise the stove goes out!

Last bend before reaching the overlook.

Ah the St. Croix.

Onward.

Beautiful sandstone formations: Sedona, MN.

Frank, Ted and John (gotcha after all John, heehee).

We saw several of these nestlike bunches in Cedar trees and couldn't quite decide if they were some kind of nest or some kind of unusual growth.

On the stone outcrop you can see "The Old Man of the Dalles". (Dalles = dells is something like a bluff Beth explained to me.)

Thats a heck of a cave under a tree! Enough space for one big fairy...or a bunch of small ones.

Not many leaves have turned, but some of the trees did try to do their best to make up for it!

Ooh, sun coming out!

Behold the Taylors Falls Princess!

One of the "potholes".

Bald Eagle!

Everybody admireing the Bald Eagle.

Annie not impressed by Bald Eagle. Much more impressed by Irish Wolfhound she'd met on the trail.

We Minnesotans are proud to report that our potholes are bigger than the Sconies'.

Great walk! Thanks Marsha and Liliana for organizing. Thanks Marsha for baking your chocolate chip cookies. Thanks Marsha and Frank for taking one for the team each :-) You can see, Marsha was one busy woman!

Marsha made us eat 2 cookies each at lunch and then made us take another for the road. Sigh!

MN Opera - The Pearl Fishers

2009-10-05T23:46:00.001-05:00

I've been meaning to go to the Minnesota Opera since I moved here. And finally on Saturday Thea made sure that I went. We went to see The Pearl Fishers and were both dazzled by the colorful set design. They did an excellent job with the lighting, changing the mood as the story moved along even within the same scene. The music was virtuoso and the performance overall delightful - a pleasure for eyes and ears!

Exuberant dancing that made me wonder, what other cultures think of "Western" interpretation of the exotic cultures that art in the last centuries was trying to evoke while making it more tangible for the audience. I was thinking of Aida being performed in Egypt.

A different scene.

The mood is changing: A storm is raging.

Intermission at The Ordway.

It was fun to see that folks were enjoying to dress up. We saw a whole family with Victorian evening gowns and hairdoes for the ladies and tails, tophat and canes for the gentlemen.

Thea.

The adversary lights a fire to save the lovers: His best friend and his love.

The cast and conductor taking ovations.

What a lovely evening and what a great idea to go for a pre theater drink to The Saint Paul Grill. Thanks Thea!

Jay Cooke State Park - MN Rovers Fall Extravaganza

2009-09-28T16:20:00.017-05:00

Back at Jay Cooke State Park for MN Rover's Fall Extravaganza that had been so much fun last year! This year I decided to go for the full cardiovacular impact and only hike. My car is broken :-(, so it was just so much easier to leave the boat at home. With so much great hiking trail at the park that wasn't too bad of a sacrifice :-). Photo above is looking North on the St. Louis River with the Munger Trail Bridge close to the top and the dam just visible in the distance. Lovely red whitethorn berries are lending vibrant color.

The leaves are just starting to turn. St. Louis River just after Munger Gorge.

Munger Gorge.

They should have told me that before I paddled it last year and capsized partway down :-). Apprently it looked like quite an impressive stunt with the boat summersaulting somehow. (I don't know, I close my eyes when I capsize.) Folks were talking about Chinese acrobatics and serious concern that I would have hurt my back flipping, but I was just fine and was wondering why Mike J was looking so stricken, when I was catching the eddy on the right quite happily. That was definitely the height of my paddling skill to date. I hope I can revisit that next year!!

Lunch further down the River. John (?) and Marsha.

John F amusing Thea. Angie in the background.

I was chatting with Jeff and Brian about this that and the other and about the fact that I haven't seen a porcupine yet ever. Brian told a funny story about the porcupine, that he was trying to free from a large can of tomatoes it had gotten his head stuck in with its quills. When pulling didn't work, he picked up the needle hog by the can and tried to shake it out, which eventlually release a somewhat angry porcupine! :-)

Birch bark mushrooms. (As you can see it's a VERY good year for mushrooms.)

Angie up front, ?, ?, Marsha in the back.

Thea, Laura J and John F.

Big mushroom boldly standing in the middle of the trail with a little friend for company.

My first porcupine!!! I would never have seen that, since I didn't expect them to be up in the trees! Apparently they are really good climbers and munch on tree bark especially in the winter. Apparently we were one of two trails that the Park recommends for watching porcupine. Thanks so much Brian and Jeff for pointing it out to me!!!

Looking up with the porcupine looking down. Isnt' it cute and fuzzy from that angle!!

Colorful fungi.

Light in the forest.

Single fungus.

Weird looking fungus.

Ickle fungi. (One of these days I'll be able to give you a more scientific name :-)

Brave fungus growing its way through a thick matted bed of needles.

Miniature forest.

Chicken of the forest.

Aah! The view from Oldenburg Point. Breathtaking views of the Panorama, St Louis and its "Boneyard" stretch (lots of rocks, wide, shallow water). The pictures don't do it justice! (Especially since it was midday and not the right light to take photos...

Jeff, Barb, Tom, Brian and John.

Credit where credit is due. Jay Cooke is an awesome park, we wouldn't want to miss it! It is always astounding, that some folks had so much vision to start preserving nature and wilderness in previous centuries, when now we still have folks who just would let it all go to pot. When will they ever learn?

Very close by is the Pioneers Cemetary, which is a resting place of folks born as far back as the 17hundreds. Amazing. A lot of it now is only dimples where a grave was and a few forlorn gravestones. Not a bad place to rest though.

Jack, Karen N, John and Jeff.

It is fun for me to be able to see so far into the distance. I grew up in the low mountain range in Bavaria an do miss the relief sometimes.

I like the color of sumac in the fall. Can you tell?

There is one feature further up on the St Louis but after the hanging bridge called "Octopus": It has many arms pouring over the ledge which gives it it's name. That's Class V whitewater in case you were wondering...Check out American Whitewater for more info. One of my brave friends had actually run most of the Lower Louis and past the hanging bridge the set of rapids called Fin falls it the day before with a couple of others including an open whitewater canoe. I wished we could have watched that!!! I know some of our group caught and watched them because they were talking about them to Melissa H back at camp.

Mary-Ann.

Thank you Henry Hornby for donating this beautiful land. You live on in all the joy so many people are getting from spending time here.

Cloud trying to fit in with the trees.

On Saturday night I had been chatting with Pat and she was showing me a beautifully colored maple leaf, telling me, that the bright colors of the maples were her favorite. She had it in her pocket folded in quarters and laught at herself explaining that showing someone the favorite leaf of the day is the sign of a true rover. Well look above, that is my favorite leaf of Sunday :-) still fresh with rain droplets keeping it moist and subtle.

Getting towards the end of our hike...

Waiting for Thea I had a chance to poke around a little more closer to the floor and here is some of what I found:

It's been a lovely weekend with great people and great hikes. Thanks Jeff for leading those two hikes! And also for bringing the Hammerschlagen game to camp. I never got round to doing it, because it was always crowded with folks, but I could hear how much fun they were having and it is kind of a nice memory of my homeland Bavaria. Guys check out a video of Jeff's invention Tavoyager that will revolutionize backpacking and maybe portaging.

Some of the really fun things I don't have pictures of are the Fireside Follies with great music and skits and singing around the fire with is ALWAYS a favorite. One really fun experience was talking to a woman who was on her first MN Rovers event and when we introduce ourselves she told me that she is very quiet and her whole body language was quiet and a little tentative. When I asked her Sunday afternoon how her weekend was she was beaming and inviting me over to lunch with her new found friends and chatting it up comfortably. It was really lovely to see you become a part of the MN Rovers this weekend. You know who you are. :-)

Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness - Rovers Beginner's Trip

2009-09-20T23:04:00.025-05:00

I've been wanting to go to the Boundary Waters for a very long time and have been bugging my friends who go regularly just about as regularly to take me with, but they never took pity on me.

(For my non-Minnesotan friends I'll give a bit more background, what it means to be in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness at the end of the post.)

So when the MN Rovers beginners trip came up I jumped at the opportunity and couldn't get rid of my deposit check quickly enough!

The trip was fantastic and I loved every minute of it!

I had been a getting a little nervous as departure was approaching. My worries were, that I would do something stupid (i.e. endangering) or that I would be freaked out by the fact that I was committed to the location and the group. I needn't have worried. For starters there were plenty (6) of experienced folks on the trip, who understand the aspects that are new in this experience and who picked a good route to get us three newbies started. The stupidest thing I did was not to pump out the waterfilter after filtering lake water for safe drinking and Barb didn't even raise an eyebrow, so I turned out not to be a menace in the wilderness :-)

First of all: We saw a moose! As we were driving up the Gunflint Trail it crossed the road just after Frank's car and just before Jane's car. Phiew. Big animal, big ears, no antlers, no damage. Cool! My first moose, I was sitting there with my mouth wide open!

The weather was unbeatable! Friday night was a little nippier, but only so you needed another layer and get the stocking hat out and be comfortable again. Hardly any bugs at all and some of the 'squiters were tiny, hardly longer than a fruitfly. The food was yummy, varied and plenty! Thanks to all those who shopped and cooked! The landscape was very samey: Absolutely beautiful! Now the best of the trip was either the company or the pancakes :-)

Thursday Morning at the Poplar Lake put-in: Dividing 10 Duluth packs (="bagzillas") and one duffer between the 4 canoes, while still leaving space for 2 paddlers each...

Steve, Jessica, Barb and Jane.

John, Melissa and Frank.

View from our entry point:

At the campsite:
Melissa B, John H. , Steve, Frank and Jessica.

Our landing: I saw a tiny little crayfish right next to that log.

Lunch at another campsite:
Melissa, John, Frank, Barb and Jane.

Fungi and plants around the campsite:

View from our campsite:

Jane soaking in sun.

Friday's sunset:

Around the campfire: Steve is a great fire cracker, he builds intricate tippees our of pine needles sticks and birch bark that go up in flame like nobody's business. I think he would have also made a good bird.
Steve, Barb, Melissa and, hmm...

Saturday morning has broken:

Jessica with what she rightly called the best pancake she's ever eaten!

Jane, doing anything to get the next pancake with a good helping of boysenberry syrup!

Jessica, the second pancake, Frank the maker of the best pancakes we've ever eaten and Melissa.

Zooming in on the pancake...

View from another beautiful rock landing on lake Winchell. (That campsite was so-so, obscure tent pads and very little privacy on the latrine, not the kind of luxury we had grown accustomed to in our pine-fresh throne cove on our campsite!)

Siesta!
John and Jane.

Melissa.

Jen and Frank off to their next adventure while leaving us lazily dozing in the sun.

Water at the end of the portage.
I found portaging the canoes strangely empowering! I knew I could carry the 55-60 lb boat for 90-100 rod (320 rod=1 mile), but I didn't expect me to be such good shape afterwards, especially since most portages included inclines, rocks, roots, tree trunks, squishy mud and fallen trees on the path. I was of course puffing up the hills, but I found it really satisfying to know that I can do this. I can hold my own portaging! Nothing can keep me out of the boundary waters now! Hey, even backpacking doesn't seem out of the question anymore. Well, you know, starting with something easy and working my way up.

Saturday: Our last sunset for this trip

Big bug that nearly flew into me.

We were all gathered mesmerized by the colors.

Little toad I found by the red light of my headlamp right next to my water bottles.

Sunday morning:

Frank had woken us up at 6am with the plan to head our at 8am and we actually made it 1o minutes ahead of plan!
Frank and Jen: Setting the pace for the journey home. It took us 4 1/2 hours, hey we were practically high-tailing it out of the boundary waters :-)

Melissa and John on a glassy Lake Gaskin.

Barb and Steve.

On the portage: It's not usually that smooth, but that gave me a chance to take a pic of Melissa with bagzilla and framed by early autumn colors, rather than looking on the ground not to topple over roots and rocks.
Poplar lake, where we started out and which is not BWCA anymore :-(
Frank and Jen.

John already beyond the wilderness, Melissa still with one foot on BWCAW ground. Steve and Barb.
It was a good job that Frank made us stay together on Poplar Lake. It is very convoluted with many beautiful islands and many ways to get lost and find very long routes to the take-out.

Puffy cumulus cloud over a string of islands.

It was a very happy weekend!
Many, many thanks to Frank and Melissa for making it happen, for planning a great beginners trip and for all the planning work that you guys no doubt put into it and for organizing rovers gear for us to borrow! And many thanks to Barb, Jen, Jane for bringing essential gear to share! Thanks also to Scott who lent us his nice Kevlar canoe for the trip.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
For my non-Minnesotan friends:
The Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCAW) is a wilderness governed by rules to protect first of all the wilderness and second of all you as a visitor in the wilderness.
1. Leave no trace: Garbage needs to be packed out, meaning that you haul all your garbage back to the car that you left at the put-in and dispose of it after you have left the wilderness. You need to leave your campground as you found it or better. (Cans and glass containers are prohibited.) Tents are pitched on durable surfaces not vegetation. Fires need to be confined to the fire rings and can only be lit, when there isn't a fire ban due to drought. Use biodegradable detergent and use it sparingly and 150 ft (50m) from the waterfront to avoid water contamination. If you need to go to the bathroom, use one of the latrines located on the designated campground or burry and cover it with soil. You can gather dry and dead wood a little bit away from the campsite, but need to leave living plants alone and be respectful of the animals. (Well, ok, mosquitos excluded.)
2. Bear safety: There are black bears in Northern Minnesota. They are swell to live with, as long as you stick to a few rules. Don't startle or even worse trap them, especially when they are protecting a cub. If you back away calmly or make some noise to shoo them away if they are in the campsite they will be perfectly content to go their own way (I am told, I have no experience with bears to date). Keep your food and garbage as well as strong smelling toiletries well stored away while you are not using them. Well stored means either in a sealed bear barrel or hung up in a bag high enough in the tree and far enough apart from the trunk and large branches. The bear barrel is a plastic barrel with a tight sealing lid and a metal ring buckle that bears can't get open and that keep the aluring smells contained within. On our trip we used a dry bag to hang stuff because again that keeps the smell contained and doesn't even attract the bear in the first place versus just leaving him/her frustrated looking up at the bag without being able to get to it. That also means, that you don't want to leave food rests lying around. Best only to cook as much as you can eat because otherwise you need to pack it out and haul it around or burry it at a sufficient depth. You do not want to leave bears with an impression that tent camps are in any way interesting for bears.
3. Keeping it a wilderness: Access to the BWCAW is controled and limited to make sure it doesn't get overrun with too many people in general and in specific spots. In order to enter you need to apply for a permit with date and location of entry. If the maximum number of permits for that location and date have already been issued you need to pick a different location or date for entry. The maximum group size is 9 person/4 canoes. That is also the maximum number of people and watercraft that can be in any one location. So when you see that there are already a maximum number of folks/boats at a landing/site, you need to wait to approach until they have vacated.
There's more too it, but that gives you an idea to start with.

Tubing Down the Cannon River

2009-09-13T19:40:00.005-05:00

It was promising to be another gorgeous day and looking at the 10 day forcast it looked like we'd have another week of summer and then it was going to get colder. So 5 of us spontaneously packed our coolers and swim suits to float down the Cannon near Redwing.

Liz, Anne, Roxanne and Laura.

The leaves are starting to turn...

Welch Mill, where we got our tubes and you can get canoes, kayaks and a shuttle upstream.

The local bar. Obviously the bikers where out to enjoy the weather too.

The Trout Scream Cafe, which is an obligatory ice cream stop after the float.

Cute little post office next to the cafe.

Pouring over ice cream flavors. Their "Elvis" flavor is popular, it was empty when we got there :-( (banana, peanut butter swirls and chocolate chips)

Sitting outside the cafe, licking ice cream and looking at Welch Mill with it's canoes always evokes for me the sense of a perfect childhood summers day. The way a childhood summer's day should be: Heat, sunshine, some clouds and roaming outside in nature, getting muddy, eating the odd ice cream cone and squeezing out the very last moment until Mum/Dad have told you to be home because family dinner will be on the table.

Kinnickinnic (87 cfs)

2009-09-12T23:01:00.007-05:00

Mark N and I ran the Kinni today. And what a beautiful day to go on this gorgeous river. The air temp probably in the 80s and the spring fed stream nice and cool.

87 cfs is pretty low, even for this rather narrow little river, but we managed without having to get out even once. Albeit we had to work it in a few spots, but thats good for the abdominals, right?

Mark sporting a very trendy visor :-)

We saw quite a bunch of wild life. Several heron, one of which we were chasing ahead of us. A kingfisher. And I did see a good amount of fish in the fairly clear water, so I can see, why there would be anglers as well as fish-catching birds. Particularely cute was a little weasel or martin that was swimming to shore from a little mid stream island.

I didn't take any flower picture, but it was a good year for wild flowers. One of these days I need to learn the names of the local flowers. I used to be pretty good back in Bavaria. I had a friend there who was really knowledgable and who often took us out on identification excursions. He taught us that there are orchids in Bavaria. I had no idea, but now that I do I am very proud of them :-)

Little stretch of legs midway. Would be a nice place for a lunch picnic or bbq, if you can bring it in a canoe.

If you don't know the Kinni and since you can't see it very well in the pictures, it has a lot of class I rapids. It's technically interesting because you have to do a lot of maneuvering around treas and islands. Especially when it is so shallow, it really paid off to keep your eyes peeled and read the water well to find deep enough channels and good lines across the rapids that keep you afloat.

There is a really cool stretch, where you have water trickling down the rocks. Very fun. Pictures don't do it justice. But you guys all have a bit of fantasy, right?

Mark surfing it up! Hey, it may look really small, but was really hard to catch!

Ok, that's little me, just to show that I was there and that am not just downloading other people's experiences of the internet :-)

As far as beauty and charm goes I'd have to say that the Kinni is so far my favorite river!

Thanks Mark for coming out. It was a splendid afternoon! I hope it'll rain so we can do it again and maybe Patti and Jay&Co are free then to join us too!

Mississippi Headwaters-Itasca State Park

2009-09-08T11:35:00.018-05:00

With the best weather imaginable we took on Lake Itasca on Labor Day Saturday. Starting at the NE boat launch we paddled north towards the Mississippi and turned south to paddle the N arm and turn into the E arm about 2/3 down to Douglas Lodge at the end of the E arm. (For those who don't know the shape of the lake, it is like a star fish with 3 long arms stretching North, SSE and SSW, with the North Arm turning into the start of the Mississippi, which starts as a tiny creek on it's way to New Orleans and the Ocean.

Shelly G, Alina, Barb S, Ann, John G.

Lunch and Barb is being silly. We didn't land, since the island was infested with poison ivy and we tried to keep our feet out of the water because Melissa had caught a bunch of leeches the day before...

Alina, Ann, Melissa H. and Tom.

Sunday with unimaginably good weather we paddled up to the start of the Mississippi and the baby steps of the very young river.

John F in the green ducky/turtle, Liliana in one of the crazy rental kayaks and Deb M.

Marsha, Terry tandeming and Melissa B soloing one of the crazy rental kayaks.

Deb and John looking at the limbo potential of the footbridge across the Mississippi.

Without the pfd Deb just made it under. John, Liliana and Heidi watching on shore.

John F, with pfd decided that it was going to be a no-go.

The start of the Mississippi is just sooo beautiful to padde and also to wade. We paddled down and paddled/waded back up. So we got a bit of a hike out of it too. (No leeches, phiew!)

A few trees in the way. Deb had the best boat/weight to get over and through the obstacles!

Saturday afternoon, at Douglas Lodge looking North up the East arm. Aren't those clouds just enchanting?

The paddle wheel boat we encountered right up to the headwaters. It had a wedding party on board. Not the worst of ideas on such a gorgeous day! Although I of course would think starting a life together while paddling/wading down the first trickle of Ole Man River would have much more symbolic power to it.

John G had lovingly and beautifully restored an sail boat he first sailed at that very spot when he was ten and wanted to have it's first reborn journey in the same spot.

Marsha, Heidi, Terry and John all preparing for the big moment. Without remote control, it was all going to be down to planning and sail setting prowess to get the boat back after the sail.

In the end John decided to just bravely give it a go and see what happens, just like a 10 year old boy would do.

He set the sail and nudged it right on its journey.

It first headed straight North on what could be a long journey up to the Mississippi. (Although the Mississippi travels South to the Sea, it starts out going North for a little while before changing its mind.)

After a few minutes the wind changed direction and carried the boat in a little arc right back into the landing where John could snatch it safely out of the water :-)

Happy John!

Sunday evening at Preachers Grove for some singing!

Lake Itasca a glassy mirror.

Deb M, April, Barb, Tom, Melissa H.

Terry, Jerry, Marsha, John G.

Douglas Lodge built in 1905. I had to take a peek. It looks like the place where you would be served deer gulash and sauerbraten. And although their menu of course doesn't have either it is a very cute place to have lunch or a little rest and stretch of legs.

I don't have any pictures of the two hikes I did. One was particularly stunning. To walk off our late sundae dessert Mike H took us on a night walk to the headwaters. The moon was still nearly full and over the lake and in the lake and we were looking upon a scene of mystical beauty. I have made a resolution to come back to this spot at moonlight and open water again!

Another time and place of mystical beauty was Saturday night's sunset at the NE beach. You know when you look at one of those postcards and think they are enhanced? Well this wasn't. It was one of those moments. I didn't want to miss a single second of it and didn't go to get my camera. I will just hope that some of those who were taking pictures will share.

Monday after packing up I picked a route of 3.3 miles close to the Lodge and lead my first hike. Boy, did that ever remind me of my childhood in the Upper Palatinate of Bavaria. Up and down with very little flat walking. But the trail was well maintained and easily hikable with hiking-sandles, although shoes wouldn't have gone amiss either. Saw some mushrooms and the first changing leaves of brilliant red.

The hike finished me off nicely and I was ready to head on home...

Bayfront Blues Fest Duluth 2009

2009-08-12T11:06:00.009-05:00

From Friday to Sunday 5&6 of us were chillin' at the Blues fest. The music was awesome, the weather was not. Above is from Sunday, when it finally remembered that it was August, i.e. Summer. Friday was cold & windy, Saturday was wet and we eventually got back to our tents completely drenched. Must buy rainsuit!

My top three favorites were Otis Taylor, who performed a very innovative brand of Blues. Charlie Musslewhite and The Mannish Boys. But overall there were very few bands to be sniffed at!

Here the crew:

Laura & Frank. It was Frank who got us all out here.

Tom & Courtney.

The clouds were going by foot that day.

"Flags" to find your way back:

One of my favorites, a toilet plunger and trailing roll.

"Life is the Blues."

Pink Floyd.

Summer in Minnesota.

It may rain but we don't budge!

That special face in the crowd:

Now that's more like it! - Sunday:

Dancing...

Liz joined came on Saturday night and caught a bit of the rain in the night but the good day at the festival, using the umbrella for shade.

The vendors village:

That kid and his dad in front of us were a riot!

The sun is setting on the Festival:

The crew again after shedding a few layers:

Camping. Frank has scouted us a nice ground and site a hop skip and jump from the festival. And it's Monday morning and we are breaking tent.

The weather nearly wore us down, but in the end it was a really nice weekend!

Thanks to Frank for organizing and Tom for driving and doing most of the cooking!

Open Canoe Nationals and North American Championships

2009-08-03T13:49:00.025-05:00

At Wausau Whitewater

I am glad Peter asked me if I could go to Wausau and volunteer with judging the Open Canoe races. It was an awesome weekend and I got to see pretty much the length of the course over the three days with amazing boat talent and skills. I got to see a lot of poetry in motion. I just think it's beautiful, like art is beautiful, when you get to see such deliberate paddle strokes and boat control.

I got a bit of a treat on Saturday because I was posted right on "Big Drop" (above: Christopher Stec VA) , which gave me a chance to see a lot of the course at once and since I was looking after the gates below the drop I got a chance to take pictures while still having my eyes intensely peeled on the gates I was judging. (I saw one of the more experienced judges take the camera out, when it didn't interfere with their duty. She is also a boater and was competing on Sunday, so I figured it's gotta be ok to do it with good judgement.)

Eli Helbert VA. He's intense, when he's paddling, but you'll see him goofing around after the races in a series of pics further down. Fun!

Brian Heikenen WI sliding down Little Drop.

John Floberg WI in tandem with ? towards Little Drop. Look at their boat tilt. I had no idea what those open boat canoers can do in a surf wave until I saw John surfing if up at the open boat put in last year! It was a short canoe either. That made quite an impression on me and I recognized him right away in the competition!

Mary Hirsch-J. with David Hirsch WI into Big Drop.

Jennet Fisher and Roy Hunter CT in a boat they built themselves and which has quite a distinctive shape and a little tail "thorn" at the end. Not sure if the tail is to make it 14 ft and eligible for that class or if it has some practical reason, but I did see them catch a gate with it a couple of times on exit, which was a bit of a pitty. Otherwise the boat worked really well for them and they reliably caught very swift lines down Big Drop to efficiently spin into an upstream gate on river left.

In the bow the youngest competitor at 4 years old. Can't remember who the dad in the stern is, but he safely powered and steared them through the course, which is quite remarkable from sitting in the stern and not in the center. Definitely a croud pleaser!

Holding on tight down Big Drop. I was told that he was in charge of some stearing down the course coached by his dad telling him when to stick the paddle in. 4 years old. I wonder if we'll see him back again doing great things on the water on his own.

Chuck Wendler PA. He's got a bent shaft paddle and apparently also does a lot of marathon paddling. I was amazed by the deliberate propelling of the boat. Quite distinct and very precise. Definitely a joy to watch! And a really nice and humble person.

John "Kaz" Kazimierczyk NH. You can see it doesn't take a good fotographer to capture his distinct paddle action. Efficiency is the word. He uses a lot of slicing action and only takes the paddle out, when he is crossing over. Also very precise and fiercly swift as well. Mesmerizing to watch! Enjoy the series.

Brandon Salayi MT (stern) and Ben Schmidt MT. Brandon Salayi is a cheeky bugger who took the time to call out to me after catching a pole and swearing: "You didn't see that, did you?" Brandon, I did see it and if I hadn't, your "Oh s**t!" would have given you away :-) Those guys are competing, but they are still having fun. I wonder if the Germans are having as much fun. The sport is much bigger in Europe in general and I remember watching a lot of televised whitewater slalom when I was little. When a sport gets bigger it often makes the competition so fierce that the joie de vivre is taking a back burner. That's a shame so let's enjoy that part of it still being a bit of an esoteric niche sport here in the US!

More Brandon and Ben. Look at their boat tilts in the series!

John Flowberg soloing, I am pretty sure the canoe I saw him surfing.

Another mixed OC2:

And here Amy Vickers and Pete Steffe MN:

I know Amy as a smashing kayaker and a great instructor from last year's Women's Whitewater Festival at Bear Paw Outdoor Adventure Resort. If I remember correctly she said that she just started to OC last year!

Her husband Pete was one of the organizers of the competition and I am sure has put a lot of time in to make it happen with a bunch of other folks and his wife Amy.

Tina and Tom Wood WI Daughter and Father Team:

Tom and Tina Woods are pillars of the Wausau whitewater and slalom community. Not only in organizing the annual Ray McClain Slalom camp but also with many volunteer hours and with giving a good example like here on the course. Tina has been recovering from a shoulder injury which still didn't keep her from teaching at the camp and also to the boy scouts this year. I hear from Valery that the camp was awesome again this year. I missed it, but I had a great time last year and hope to do it again next year.

Baling: A privilege of open boaters. Apparently it's worth it for boat control and for weight, I have seen several stop and take the time to do it.

Martin Talbot Quebec. He's easy to recognize by his daughter's little green dinasaur stuck on top of his oragne helmet.

Hailey Thompson WI and ? Hailey is the rising star in Wausau. She hauls from Steven's point and her mum Jean is proud to show a picture of here as a baby in a canoe. She is only of junior age but is in the Women's National Team for whitewater slalom in decked canoes and kayaks.

John Floberg WI (stern) and ?

Eli Helbert VA goofing off after the race. Keep scrolling. He's going to have a buddy juggling in the bow any moment now :-)

Competition at the hole. And Eli has picked up his bow juggler.

Getting up...

And juggling! I saw three balls...

Impressions from a team run. Those are fun. The competitors have to finish within 15 secs of each other.

Awards time! High fives, happy faces and hugs! (For results click here.)

Some of the volunteers I got to work with:

Sitting on the left: Bruce, who introduced me to the art of using the transmission equiment for the first time. After that it was pretty easy.

Standing in the middle: Peter Buckley, who ran the judging of the competition. He's an Official and is invited to judge all over the globe. As is his wife Susan who I know from the camp. Very nice people, incorruptable and supportive of their fellow paddlers. They do both compete in the Buttercup races themselves. One of these days I'll try one myself. I hear the Last Ditch race in September is very beginner's friendly.

Left with a straw hat: Jennifer, Bruce's daughter.

Middle: Val who is a very new and very enthousiastic whitewater kayaker.

On the far left: Natalie, who boats herself and competed on Sunday with bronce success! She is also on the ACA board.

Right: One of our valiant safety guys!

Val's husband Paul, who is smiling, because he just caught me taking a picture of him. He says of himself that his wife drags him along after her paddling kicking and screaming. :-) I hope to see them at Jim Falls one of these days or if not there, then somewhere else on the water!

Something to Cool Off: Duluth and the North Shore Last Christmas

2009-06-25T21:15:00.008-05:00

As I was reading the news I came across a slide show of light houses and remembered the pictures I took in Duluth. And since its really hot and I am in desperate need of cooling off I figured a few icey pictures might be quite refreshing.

In Germany when you tell someone you are freezing, you might get the response to "have some warm thoughts", so that's why I am trying to have some cold thoughts, remembering beautiful "Up North" in the winter.

Duluth:

Between Lutsen and Grand Marais:

1st Annual Used Outdoor-Gear Fair Minneapolis

2009-01-10T10:20:00.005-06:00

Date: Jan 31, 2009
Setup: 4pm onwards bring your gear (please bring blanket to protect the tables)
Sale: 5pm-7pm
Potluck: 7pm onwards
On to the pub: 9pm (i.e. that’s when we kick you out :-)
Location: NEC, 724 Lowry Ave NE, Minneapolis, MN 55413
http://www.mapquest%20.com/maps?

Let’s get together to swap, buy and sell our used gear!

Let’s get together to swap stories, talk stoke and exchange e-mail addresses!

Bring your used gear and or cash to buy used gear from others and a dish to pass for the potluck after the sale.

The vision is, that everybody who has outdoor gear for sale or wants to buy some has ONE place to go to sell and buy, versus having to peruse the boards and then travel all over the place to have a look etc. And since it's fun to meet a lot of folks who are passionate about doing outdoorsy things, there's a potluck after the sale to have a chance to socialize and talk stoke.

There's quite a bit of outdoor gear that is useful for a wide range of sports, like functional wear, etc. Also, maybe a chance to think of adding a new activity, talk to people who do it and pick up some gear to get started as well as find people to get started with.

Invited are a variety of outdoor clubs, which do things like kayaking and canoeing as well as skiing, snow shoeing, skating, rollerblading, hiking, back-packing, climbing, etc. and any other individuals who are interested, but don't belong to any of the clubs, so feel free to spread the word to your friends!

Please check the website http://www.rapidsriders.com/ for more info and updates as well as to ask questions you may have about this event.

NOTE: You will be in charge of looking after your own goods! We will not be liable for any losses. So I suggest you partner up with some buddies for the sale so you can watch each other’s merchandize, while one of you is getting a drink, checking out the sale for themselves or going to the bathroom. Also, bring change, so you don’t miss out on a sale, just because you couldn’t figure out the money!

Address questions to: Rosie D, at the above website

Address your thanks to: Kathi L, without her we wouldn’t have a great place for the event, by organizing a community dinner so that we get the place for free!

Anna Levesque has put my stuff on her blog!

2008-11-13T23:22:00.002-06:00

It's not that I'm hero worshipping her at all, nono, not at all :-)

I am just jumping up and down that she liked what I wrote enough to post it on her very blog :-)

Don't just believe me, check it out! http://www.watergirlsatplay.com/blog/empowerement-through-paddlesports-by-rosie-dauth/

(For those who don't whitewater kayak, Anna is the foremost role model in women's whitewater kayaking today, not just in the USA, but also in other countries! She has recently been featured in a Time Magazine article entitled: Floating Your Own Boat)

Autumn Moonlight Paddle

2008-10-11T16:29:00.004-05:00

Greg, David, Cindy, Mark and Patty getting ready.

The weather was absolutely beautiful! The sun was still out. We were still around 70F (21C) when we were putting in for out Fall Moonlight Paddle. Even the water felt refreshing rather than cold!

Jay in his friends Kevlar canoe (light as a feather!) and Cindy and Greg in a rather handsome WI build tandem canoe. Lots of other folks having fun with their watercraft in T-shirts and shorts on a wonderful mid Octover evening with pink clouds in the sky: little solo sailboats, surfers...

Patty, David and Mark in short rec kayaks having a social paddle as the light fades away and with it my camera's power to capture more than colored fuzzy blurs...

We made it out to Cedar lake, where Graig apparently has seen a pelikan on another day. We were going to play aroud the islands in Lake of the Isles on our way back, but a lightning storm in the South made us take the shorter route and head back. It was in the far distance, so we were fine for now, but we were watching it to make sure we would be able to head into shore if we needed it and also, because it was just plain a beautiful light display in the back of our lake.

The lake was mirror calm and provided magnificent reflections of the light on shore as here the Minneapolis sky line.

Patty, David and Cindy.

Jay, Mark and Greg.

After the paddle we were enjoying cups of hot chocolate and treats and chatting about boating and this, that and the other, enjoying this mild Autumn evening as potential skinny dippers were making their way to the lake for testing the waters.

It had just been a plain fun evening of paddling, enjoying nature and mild weather and great company!

And just before we were going to leave the lake to those as Jay put it who are planning some "adventuresome bathing" the moon too made it's appearance.

Thanks everybody for coming it was a lovely evening with folks from Minnesota Canoe Association, Rapidsriders and Minnesota Rovers!