Trails as art

All good things start on napkins

Candyland, Spirit Mountain 

As you can tell I am really busy with work these days!  Usually I have a lot of good photos to post but my schedule for June is best described as "insane".  That said, I am using some found images to keep me posting until I can get out the soul capture machine!

Found this napkin on the bar at Rivers Eatery after our IMBA Upper Midwest Regional Summit.  Aaron Rogers napkin trail art.  Classic.

Duluth News Tribune "Readers View" Happy Boy Scout sings Duluth MTB Trails Praises!

We have had a lot of press on our Project in Duluth over the past two years.  Most of it editorial.

However, I was super, super stoked when I sat down, coffee in hand the other day to read the Duluth News Tribune.  Most of the paper was the normal depressing world news, but then I hit the Readers Views Page and saw this letter to the editor.

"New Duluth bike Trails are an Awesome Idea"  I HAD to read that!

This can be an extremely thankless job.  I knew that going into it.

However this letter here, it is proof that what we are doing and what I am doing in my work is hitting the right target and in the right way.  It is inspiring kids to get outside, to exercise, and to experience and value the world that they live in.

Thanks to Ryan Revoir of Boy Scout Troop 9 for more support for off road cycling moving forward!

Happy Birthday to my amazing wife: Margaret Harstad!

Muggy Moose and the kid

What can I say.  Without her, the world I live in and enjoy would not exist.  I met Muggs many years ago at a Midwest Mountaineering event and my life has been a blessing since then.  We have had some great adventures Muggs!  Powder skiing to floods, you have always been up for an adventure, more so than me many times and thank goodness for that......

I hope your having an awesome b-day!

Hansi

"Candyland" open for sugar buzzed rippers Friday June 7th!: Spirit Mountain MTB Park Opens for 2013

No more pushing, lifts will be running on June 7th.

Well, it was certainly a long wait.  Candyland will be having an official opening on June 7th at 1pm.

Already have the chain lubed up and my tires pumped.......

Things we lost in the Flood Post #2 : Piedmont MTB Trails

8A Foxx Rocks (Before) Jay Beyer Photo

The 2012 Flood has been a lesson in loss.  Loss, I have come to learn is not something that you feel or deal with immediately, it plays out in long form.  Of course there is the obvious vanishing of normalcy, of what once was, of change.  But even that in some cases is something you can deal with.  You just adjust and keep rolling.  However with the flood one year later what we are dealing with now is mitigation.  The "fixing" of things.  The bummer being that in this day in age, when we "fix" things we also tend to destroy them.

I see in Jay Cooke, I see it in Thomson and I am seeing it now in Duluth.  In order to fix Haines Road, the Minnesota Department of Transportation has to have a minimal gradient and set back to "fix" the road.  What this means is literal denuding of the trees and dirt for nearly a quarter mile up ever hill in the valley.  A virtual destruction of the total landscape on what was once was a really cool roadway.  It also in this case means the destruction of what was once my favorite line to ride in the Piedmont system.

I am starting to cringe, every time I see the trucks and the graders and the construction crews, because they are coming to "fix" things that I held dear and unfortunately that fix means the destruction of the character that they once had.

8A after

8A is at the end of the sight line above and to the left

A Copper Harbor fish story: Ride the Keweenaw 2013

Fishing rush...Copper Harbor

This story is "based" on fact.

We shove off.

The boat creaks gently on the glassy water.  Breath frosty and smokey as it drifts off our faces.  Smiles as the warm sun paints our backs.  Cold fingers and minnows sentenced to horrifying adventures deep in Lake Superior.

We fly over the broken bones of the lake bottom.  Clear as gin the water acts as a giant magnifying glass as we hover over jet black drop offs and rocky shelves of granite, copper and Canadian shield.

The water is so cold we can feel it seeping through the hull of the boat and into the soles of our feet.

I take another cast and wonder about the stick we jammed into the drain hole in the boat as a substitute for the plug........

Row, row row your boat

Calm seas, complacent sentinels 

The Splake are running in the Harbor.  That is a special time for fisherman, when the big voracious salmonoids are active and open for business.  A mix between a Brook Trout and a Lake Trout, the fish are perhaps the best tasting fish in the Lake (perhaps a matter of opinion).

Nothing.

Braappp!!

Time to go riding.

At some point the fish are turned off, and the sun is high in the sky and the trails are dry.

Fishing gear is shoved into the back of the truck, the minnow bucket placed in a shady spot for the evening.

Leaky waders are substituted for bike shoes and body armor and legs of thrown over machines of choice.

The Line Up

I found a lot of folks questioning heading to Copper Harbor this Memorial Day due to the extremely late spring the northland is having.

I have never questioned going to Copper Harbor.  To me the Harbor is not just a place to go Mountain Bike.  It is a place to explore and to experience and if the riding is not up to perfect, then the fishing is, or the Sea Kayaking, or the kiting, or the hiking or the berry picking etc.

For me lately it has been the fishing.  I have always heard about the Splake run but have generally missed it due to timing.  This year when I was talking to Aaron before my arrival he mentioned that the Splake had been delayed due to the cold water and later spring and I was stoked.  I was finally heading up to the Keweenaw when the Splake were in force.  I packed up every rod I had.

Best Spring Conditions I have ever had in the Harbor this year

There are people that like to fish, and there are folks that LIKE to fish.  Aaron Rogers LIKES to fish and so do I.  Almost every trip I take to CH, Aaron and I, or some other CH locals get together for a fishing mission.  It might be a Brook Trout lake in the interior, a stream or river of the Lake Superior itself.  Really the fishing adventures are limitless up there.

This visit however was purely focused on Splake in the Harbor.  I have to admit, both Aaron and I threw down.  Late nights working and socializing were followed by early mornings in the boat or off the shore searching for Splake.

Aaron and I both put a lot of time into working for Mountain Biking in our region.

Time lost to ourselves and our families and when I come to the Harbor, we make it a point to take back some of that time, to hang out as friends and to just be hanging out.  No doubt plenty of talking about Mountain Biking and Trails, happens, but I am truly thankful for the time we can spend fishing in silence, thinking mainly about the next cast and if there is a fish cruising there.

We threw everything we had at them.  Fly Rods, spinning rods, spoons, Rapala's, minnows, Streamers, Woolly Buggers, you name it.

Nothing.

One day we showed up at a stream flowing into the harbor and all we could see were fish rising and jumping out of the water.  You could see finned backs rising and falling, but they wanted nothing we tossed at them.  The most frustrating of all fishing experiences.  When you can see them, see they are feeding but can't match what it is and walk away empty handed.

Braaappp!!

But then there is always the riding.  The majority of trails were dry.  Plenty of mud to be found for sure, but certainly not game changing.  Tacky, firm and packed and re-tweaked since last fall, the trails were a dream after being shut out so effectively here in Duluth by rain and cold temps this spring.

Mountain Bike Geezer on the Scene!

Eventually the masses came and Aaron was engulfed in the Ride the Keweenaw Festival.  Time was short and so far we had one Splake and a myriad of Brookies to show for our efforts, but I personally had yet to catch a Splake.

Finally on Saturday after 7 laps on the trails, my body beaten and my head a buzzing, I decided to give my luck another shot.  The big party was that night so I only had a small window of time...  I hopped into the car and headed to the easiest spot to access Splake.  It was the circus spot.  The spot where all the locals were congregated rods in hand.  Aaron and I had avoided this spot, because of the lack of solitude it offered and the high amount of competition it fostered.

For me however the time was short and in my mind all I wanted to do was chill out up to my chest in cold Lake Superior water to ease my aching bones (I cratered twice on Danimal) have a beer and have a line in the water.  Red neck paradise.

It being Memorial Day weekend it was busy.  I waded across from most of the other fisherman and assumed my place in the line up.  Cracked a KBC and tossed out a minnow into the current.  My mind wandered to what Memorial Day meant to me.

That meant thinking about my Grandfather and his military career which was extensive.  He died a Colonel but was promoted to General shortly after.  A General and yet a wicked fisherman, in fact a RABID fisherman.

Grandpa "Bucks" Rapala

Thinking of that I rattled around in my fishing box and came up with a lure that I had inherited when Buck, passed away.  I have marveled over it before.  It is an original Rapala which is cool in itself, but the best part about it, is that it is so gnarled, so beaten and has so many tooth marks on it that you can see its history of success quite literally written all over it.  It even looks as though the eye of the lure was at one point blown out and my grandfather has fixed it.  There is an old yarn line end still affixed to it from some rattle trap trolling situation he most likely used it for.

I smiled at the feel of that old thing and decided to tie it on for Gramps.  To remember him.  Why not, nothing else has worked.   Beer in hand I gently let the lure slide down the current towards the big lake.  Playing out the line lazily, every so often giving it a jerk.  Swilling my beer and feeling the summer sun and just generally rejoicing in the setting of the Harbor.

Get ready for another kind of Copper Harbor ride!!

BAM!  Fish on.  Shit!  Beer in hand.....solid fish, strong fish!

Throw open the drag, any is too much and this baby is heading for Canada!  Cant toss the beer as I am nowhere near shore!!  Finally I shove it in my chest pocket and can feel it running down my waders.  No matter, the game is afoot and the rod is heaving.

Patiently I play the fish but as it comes closer I realize I have no net and the size of the fish is significant enough that launching it up on shore is not an option.  Luckily the peanut gallery has seen the situation and another angler helps me out.

Success

Wow. Adrenaline and happiness all mixed into one.  I decided to call it quits while I was ahead, plus there was a party starting and I was not going to miss that!  BBQ and getting "Brickfaced" with Brickside Brewery Beer, what a night, good music, killer people....

And Fish smell on my hands!  What is NOT to like about that weekend?

Ride the Keweenaw BBQ

Ride the Keweenaw 2013!

Back in the Harbor

Its always good to be back in the Harbor!  Trails are open and ripping in Houghton and CH.

 Come on UP!

What a difference a year makes! 2013, the Non- season

May 12th 2012

This photo was taken a week earlier, last year........we have yet to even venture out on the trails this season and the leaves have yet to even bud on most trees.

Pent up energy to say the least!

2013 COGGS Gala Raises $19,000!

Candyland:  Spirit Mountain, Duluth MN

Great job COGGS!

Every year COGGS puts on a Formal Gala and a silent auction.  This year the funds raised over last year were nearly double!

Amazing work COGGS!  Glad to be a part of that!  Now if we could just get the weather to cooperate so we can spend it.......

2nd Annual Duluth Mayors ride: Bikes are getting bigger in the Zenith City

Big tires and big dreams in the city by the lake

Getting lessons from the master

 This was the second annual Mayor's ride here in Duluth.  Last year was a good year, but this seasons ride illustrated where Duluth cycling is going in the future.  The ride which started as usual at the City Hall ended at Valentini's on London Road and was concluded with lunch and speakers.  The place was packed.

Congressman Oberstar killing it on the road

Its news worthy.  Duluth is behind bikes

There are some big dreams for Duluth as a cycling city.  Certainly most folks who read this blog know about the Single Track that is coming, and coming soon.  However it was really inspiring to hear about the transportation advances as well.  As most Duluth cycling advocates would tell you, there are some sketchy places to ride your bike in our city.  I was especially happy to hear that there is going to be an addition to the Lake Walk path that will be reaching west.

People are always asking about how "scary" it is to ride a mountain bike.  I aways laugh and relate to them that the most scared I have ever, ever been has been on a road bike, in traffic and in Duluth.  A classic example was actually when Eric Peterson and I were knocked over by the plow on Grand Avenue this winter!

Its been a long time coming, but there is no doubt that rolling on two wheels is improving in D-town.

Close but no Cigar: Wait for the Trails to dry 2013!!!

Dont do this to your trails!

I try extremely hard NOT to be the preachy advocate.  However, when the trails are muddy, the trails are muddy and riding, walking or dancing on them is not to happen.

So spread the word, things are drying out, but they are not even close to dry enough so please stay off the trails and let them heal up so when they are dry, we can have rock star riding versus rutted out chunder.......

If you have the jones, head south.  The MORC trails look to be open.  Cuyuna is open as are other southern tier trails, so go check em out and see amazing things the other clubs are up to.

Oh yeah, FYI. tire width (Wider) and low PSI does not mean you can ride wet trails!

1st Ever Lester River Kayak Race 2013

Braaapp!!

Confusion

One reason I love Duluth is the fact there are a whole host of adventurous activities that go on "IN" the city limits.  Ice Climbing, Mountain Biking, Skiing, XC skiing, Hiking, Climbing and of course Whitewater Kayaking.....yup whitewater kayaking.

Talk to any hard core kayaker in the area and they will tell you that the city itself hosts some amazing steep creeking, and when the water is up the paddlers are charging.

So it was really cool to hear that some of the more veteran paddlers decided to hold a Steep Creek race on the Lester River.  Not your typical race, this course had multiple 20 foot plus drops, some technical rapids and even the "flat water" would challenge most neophyte paddlers.

Zimny and Decker and the crew did it right.  Permits, insurance, safety boaters and even a last minute course change signaled that this was not a bunch of rookies looking to shred the gnar.  These guys were dialed and it showed.  With 19 racers heading down what can only be called an "extreme" course they ended the day with zero trips to the hospital and no trips to the morgue.

As a photographer it was a dream.  You could not have a more scenic river and a more interesting subject matter.

Thanks to the paddling crew for the awesome event and congrats for pulling it off.  If I were a jealous man, I would say I am most jealous of the folks that were able to paddle that stuff as I will NEVER be in that crowd!

That said, though what a cool crew, the whitewater gang gets huge props in my book.  They play hard, throw down on the river, party hard and hang tight....

Busted nose

Nate Heydt goes Swooooshhhhhhh!

Yup, look closely.  There is a kayaker under there.

If you swim, you drink....out of your river bootie! Ross Herr and Chris Baer getting their stomachs ready.

Thumping the deeps...just another Dtown urban paddling gem

Love the one your with (Duluth, MN): Homegrown Music Festival 2013

At some point, you turn around and stand your ground.  You dig in.  Entrench.  Bear your teeth and and get your hair up.  No more running, no more wandering no more wondering.

Not sure if this comes with age or with mentality or upbringing but I am seeing it happen here.  People in my town, taking stands and making their town become the place the want it to be.

The Homegrown Music Festival is a prime example of that.  What an amazing event and what an amazing success story after 15 years of ups and downs organizationally.

I have been a some part of the Festival over the past 14 years and have watched its success from a far.  However color me impressed last night when after a late business meeting on trails and dinner with a long lost friend (in town for the festival) I stumbled over to Grandma's Sports Garden to see Charlie Parr and saw a line, literally blocks long down the street.  Then it hit me.  This baby is off the ground and flying and man, that is so freaking cool.

Good job, great work and congrats to all the folks who have brought Homegrown to Duluth after 15 years!

One week ago today: Winter Wonderland

Exhibit A: Snowflake catching apparatus

One week ago today.  We had nearly two plus feet of snow on the ground and we were getting a 15 inch dump.  Today it is going to be 65 and the snow is almost gone on South facing slopes and the rivers are raging...

Exhibit B:  Snowflake Catching Apparatus in use

Leaky waders: Trout Season 2013

Fished hard and put up wet

 SKIED into my favorite fishing spot this weekend.  That is a first.  I could have (and should have) done it much earlier but was not sure the ice was out yet.

It is on trips like this that I learn about how hard I am on gear.  If you take a look at my canoe it has some serious scratches on it (and its a year old). You handle my skis and the bases are literally scored and scarred, they look glaciated.

My fishing poles are shorter then when I bought them, because I had to replace the tips from busting them off on trees, bushes and car windows.  My bikes are no better off and certainly my camera gear has been pushed well within inches of its life and shows it.

Yup.  Not going to win any beauty contests on the gear side of things.  I used to have a buddy who was in a similar way, he would buy two Gore-Tex jackets when he had to update his rain gear.  A really cheap assed one and a really nice one.  He only wore the cheap assed one on trips, and the nice one at home or in town.  I asked him why, and he said because he KNOWS he is going to destroy the nice one on trips.  I like that.

Gear is made to be used and abused.

Well my waders are proof of all of the above.  Patched, sealed, patched again and taped.  They are begging to look like a quilting project.

After dealing with them on Sat, while wading in really, really cold water, made even colder by the snow melt I realized maybe they have had their day.  Might be time to start counting the shekels and looking for the Spring Specials....

Into the water

Bumbling Naked over a Perfect Landscape

The World is your bike path

 Last night we put a sick kid to bed.

Always stressful, I did not have the energy to get my cycling gear together before I myself went to the clouds.  On top of the sick kid, the weather orb said rain, sleet and snow over night so the chances of me rolling out for an early morning ride were slim.

However at 6am as the sun drove through the curtains I realized that the crust riding would be totally perfect.  I flopped out of bed, grabbed what gear I could scrounge in my half awake state and headed for the door.  Along the way I passed my camera bag and I paused.  It would be heavy, it would take time to load up, blah, blah blah.

For awhile now I have been trying to actually leave the camera behind.

Or at least carry a smaller one as it frees me up to concentrate on my activity and not my shooting.  The catch 22 of course is that I love both.  Today I opt for the small camera, despite the lack of battery and shove off thinking only of riding.

The crust was totally perfect.  I was able to ride through the deep woods as if I were on Cement.  I giggled like a three year old for 99 percent of the ride.  Eventually my loop took me back to the Thomson Res and even that ice was perfect.  Still thick and safe.

By now I was lamenting leaving my camera gear behind.  This was truly a special morning and the weather report is thankfully saying lots of warm weather from here on out, so this is most likely the last morning for this mayhem.

 I choke back the thought and concentrate on enjoying the conditions.

Half way back across the lake I stop near the Midway River to enjoy the sight.  The light is nearly perfect.  Clear with a slight haze making it a photographers dream.  The stellars and dendorites, sparkle like gems in the crust and the hoar frost gleams in the sun beams.  Perfect.  Now I am engrossed in the spectacle and almost in pain in not having my big rig.

 I snap a few shots and watch my little camera battery die.  I shrug it off.

I put one foot on the pedal and prepare to ride again when I decide for one more look and as I look up I see the biggest and most beautiful wolf stride mere feet away from me.

Out in the open lake, the rim light streaking across him, his breath steaming in the early morning air.  I am stunned, he is stunned and then he streaks off across the lake, a vapor trail in his wake.

I pedal home feeling Naked and unprepared...

Tuesdays Pow is Thursdays Cement

Phat lines and Friends 4/20/13: Duluth Ski history in the making......

Cheers to Ryan Zimny, John Morrison and Casey Krueger for stepping up!

Sometimes all things come together.  Sometimes the moon the sun and the stars all line up for something positive.

The late winter has been that for me.  While I hate the snow right now (I am stoked for dirt!) the amount, the type and the late spring weather have actually been a boon for hard core skiers.

Due to the floods in June 2012, we were witness to both the loss of some amazing terrain and the creation of even more.  However that terrain is only skiable if it has a lot of snow on it and a lot all at the same time.  Not something that usually happens in Minnesota.

As a former, recovering ski addict it has been impossible not for me to see these lines (as well as many I have been watching for nearly a decade) and get the shakes.  It has always been just that though, a fever dream.

In the last decade I have never seen enough snow at the right time to make these lines a reality.

That all changed this week.  Two 20 inch dumps of heavy wet snow covered these lines and then good cold temps at night and solid warm sun in the days has created a paradise I have not experienced in my time in Duluth.  Unfortunately with my arm still busted up I was not able to enjoy it as much as I would have liked to, but I did get to get some great photos of some buddies skiing history....

420 Bowl

Ryan Z throwing hammers 

It was a two crew day.  In the AM Ryan Z came out and skied a couple of great lines and helped me get some killer images of the slides.  It was cool to have him on board as he lives just a few doors away and was able to visualize the opportunity as much as me.  He showed up an hour early for the tour.  I was a bit hung over from the evening out, but I tossed my stuff together and we had an awesome time.

Clear and cold 4/20/13 Morning

Pink Floyd skier on April 20th 2013

Clouds moving out...

Ryan Z getting jiggy and thinking about paddling all at the same time

Braappp!!!

After a quick trip to town and the Smelt Celebration I ripped back home in time to hook up with John Morrison and Casey Krueger.  I had to brow beat them stupid to get them to show up.  It was a nice warm, sunny 4/20/13 day!

They had their own parties to attend and lets face it, despite being super fun, these are relatively short shots.....

I realized however that this was a once in a decade event and I pestered them until they arrived.  I think they were happy once they did.

Casey Crushing "Ranger"

Naming "Trout Slayer"

The snow conditions had improved since Ryan and I had been there and the extreme west facing chutes even had soft, soft snow.

Every line was a first for all and thus the names started being bestowed.  Who knows if we will remember them once they are going to be skiable again?  Shit I might be 60 before it happens again, if ever...although they are saying 11 inches tonight!!!

Braappp!!!!

J-Mo in the pixy sticks

Stoke

Another round please...