Wolf Ridge Trail to the SHT - snow and downed branches
Overlook - Lake Superior
Wolf Lake (Johnson lake) - ice is still present
Trail or Stream?
Highway 1 - on my way back
Ice damaged trees - trails cleared by the MCC and Wolf Ridge
About an 1/8th of the trail bed looked like this
Approach to "Superior View" overlook
Downed trees in the valley below "Superior View"
Post-run view - only wet and muddy to mid-shin ;->
Great run on the trails at Wolf Ridge and out on the Superior Hiking Trail to Hwy 1 and then to the Superior View overlook and back up to Wolf Ridge. No goshawk (scroll down to may 4th) this year!
The workshop I was to present on trail running was a bust - one person came and we chatted for about 15 minutes. I think this can be attributed to the timing of the workshop - 1:00 pm on day when most folks were out hiking. During my run I passed that majority of hikers so they got a "demonstration" of the topic ;-> Did talk to a few folks who were hoping to make it back for the workshop but didn't. Spent the rest of the time up there chatting with folks informally about running trails and clarifying my age (yes, I am that old... have kids in college) and that trail running is not just for young. ;->
The evening speaker was Sparky Stensaas, an old friend. We spent some time visiting and catching up and I looked over the books he published and found: Lichens of the North Woods by Joe Walewski. Boy was I excited!! this is a topic I have always wanted to learn more about and now have a resource. The North Shore of Lake Superior and Isle Royale have hundreds of species of lichens with Isle Royale having over 600 species alone! Guess what book will find it's way into my pack on future backpacking trips?
Didn't see any wildflowers on my run, only thing blooming were the trees. The frost is just leaving the ground in some spots in the area. Did see Mourning Cloak butterflies, a lot of flies, one warbler (unidentified - I am terrible with birds), turkey vultures, and heard ravens.
4 comments:
Does the trail always look that rough in the spring?!
I'm amazed the snow was all gone...and that the ice storm's fallen branches didn't trip you up! I guess I can do some more hiking up in the Finland area!
Andrew, the snow was pretty much gone and the fallen branches were cleared form this section of trail. I think it is hit or miss where you can hike without running into deadfall - but the Wolf Ridge area is safe! Muddy though.
This section of trail could use some work - a lot of it is routed were water naturally runs off, making for streams in the footpath in the spring. One of the challenges for the SHTA will be rehab and maintenance of older trail. But the board is aware of this - need a good fundraiser to help with the fiscal part of the equation.
Wow you're THAT old ! ! Gotta love Spring trail running. Will have to check out the Lichens book.......
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