May Biking and Camping Trip - North Central Minnesota

Quick link to trip video

It has been a busy couple of weeks since I returned from a 4-day biking and camping trip with my friend Bud. I've been trying to get a video edited and this blog post completed.

A quick summary of the trip. We drove up to Akeley, MN on Wednesday, May 24 (the Wednesday before Memorial Weekend) where we spent 2 nights at a private campground, Akeley City Campground on the 11th Crow Wing Lake. It is a really nice site with RV and tent camping. We were the only tent for the first night.

The campground is next to the Heartland Trail, one of the first in the country rails-to-trails. It is a really well maintained trail and like our previous experience on rails-to-trails, it was relatively flat and straight.

We jumped on our bikes as soon as we got our campsite set up. It was a cold first ride.

Wednesday night we ate in Nevis, the town just west of Akeley. Had some good barbecue. Back at camp, Bud tried some fishing off the public fishing pier next to our campground.

The second day was warm and sunny. We had breakfast in camp and then biked to Walker, MN. We stopped at a coffee shop in Walker and headed back via the "scenic" route...which meant lots of hills and turns. This took us onto the Paul Bunyan Trail.

Bud has an electric bike...I do not! I did a pretty good job of keeping up. I think I gained an inch on my quads. We finally encountered some other bikers.

We drove back to Walker for dinner as there were more options.

Friday, we drove to Cass Lake to get a tent site at the Chippewa National Forest park outside of Cass Lake. We found a beautiful site but there were LOTS of mosquitoes. Lots of mosquitoes brought out LOTS of dragonflies. It was fascinating and we really appreciated the work dragonflies do. There were also LOTS of ticks...horror movie LOTS!!

We were expecting the campsites to be busy (Memorial Weekend) but there was only one other person there when we arrived. By the time we left on Saturday, there were 3 other families camping.

We took the Mizigi Trail around the lower portion of Cass Lake. It passes through a section of the Chippewa National Forest that has mostly been harvested and re-planted with pine trees. The bike path is completely covered with pine needles and cones. And there were millions of dragonflies!!!

We ate dinner at Stoney Point Resort, the only place close by.

We returned to the Twin Cities on Saturday. We drove back through Federal Dam, Emily, Crosby, and Mille Lacs. It was a great adventure.

Click here for a video (best viewed landscape). The "music" you will hear is a recording of the many songbirds that serenaded us in Cass Lake.

A simple update - office

Before (stock photo)

For years I've been using a bungee office chair. It was pretty comfortable to begin with. I don't know if it is age -- the chair or mine -- but it was causing my right leg and butt cheek to become very sore.

I took the office chair to Goodwill and found this dining chair. I removed the seat covering of batting and fabric to reveal a rattan seat in perfect condition.

After

After

North Shore and Lake Superior

Lake Superior was angry but we were happy

Had the opportunity to travel up to the North Shore of Minnesota and Lake Superior. The purpose of the trip was to attend the Cook County Commission hearing regarding a permit to build a gravel pit and temporary asphalt manufacturing facility off the Caribou Trail near a friend's north country cabin.

The Commission hearing was to determine if an Environmental Assessment Worksheet should be requried for the project. The hearing was on a Tuesday morning.

Jenny and I drove up Sunday to Schroeder to stay a few days at a home on Lake Superior. There happened to be a Winter Storm Warning for the North Shore that Sunday. We decided to go any way, take our time, and, if necessary, stop until the storm eased. Turned out it was bad with snow blowing across the roads but we were careful and made it just fine.

Since the hearing was on Tuesday, we had Monday to "play" in the snow...and there was lots of it everywhere.

Lake Superior was churning with big waves and lots of ice on the shore when we arrived. By Monday it was clear and sunny and gorgeous.

Snowshoeing into Gust Lake

The snow up at the Gust Lake cabin was beautiful. Someone had plowed a good portion of the road so we were able to drive in and park. We put on snowshoes and trekked the rest of the way to the cabin.

Everything at the cabin was in good order. From the cabin we drove down to Grand Marais. Jenny did some shopping and we ate a hardy meal at My Sister's Place.

The house we stayed at in Schroeder was amazing. Right on Lake Superior and with all the comforts. There is a fantastic view of the Lake. We saw deer and I saw an otter (briefly). The sound of the waves is so relaxing.

The house faces mostly east so the sunrises were spectacular but the sunsets were equally beautiful as the entire horizon filled with all the colors of the rainbow.

The Cook County Commissioners agreed to a petition asking for the Environmental Assessment Worksheet...a victory for the cabin and homeowners along the Caribou Trail and Grade.

View from the house in Schroeder

The house in Schroeder is near Temperance River State Park. We were able to walk over and hike the upper and lower gorges of the Temperance River. So incredible with snow and ice and how the river has carved through what was once lava!

We made our way back to the house for a peaceful night before heading back to Minneapolis with much calmer weather.

To see a video of the trip click here.

A Week in Mazatlán

The sunsets never failed to amaze.

I was very fortunate to have the chance to spend a week in Mazatlán, Mexico. I have never been unlike a lot of people I've talked to that said they were there 30 years ago.

Mazatlán is a very large city on the Pacific coast. There are so many high-rise condos which seem to be filled with Canadian, American, and Mexican citizens on vacation and full-time owners. There are also a crazy number of construction projects.

The colonial downtown is beautifully restored. There are even lights in the sidewalks to highlight the architecture.

We ventured to Observatorio 1873 for the sunset, drinks, funicular, and animal exhibits. We took wild rides in open-air pulmonia taxis. We also took advantage of the super cheap bus system.

We walked the beach. Played in the Pacific Ocean. Saw dolphins and even whales from the 12th balcony of the condo.

Big thanks to Susan, Bud, and our hosts Pam and Samantha.

Here is a video montage of photos (the photos are in chronological order).

Birthday Axe Bash

 Hard to believe but I am now 64 years old. To celebrate I had an axe throwing party. Drinking and throwing axes! It went better than you'd think.

Here is a video of the fun.

Cozumel Thanksgiving

Going to make this kinda short because the video is kinda long. Please take a serene few minutes to watch the video recap of the trip here.

Two weeks in Cozumel over Thanksgiving and the week after. Jenny Batten flew down with me and stayed 10 days.

Jill Rendall joined us after Thanksgiving and stayed until our departure on December 3rd.

This was a totally stress-free vacation. We didn't rent a car and mostly stayed at the Coral Princess where the snorkeling was off the charts good. Water was crystal clear. When it rained, it rained over night or briefly. I got in several runs and even had Jenny running with me a few times. And she gave me swimming pointers.

We went to a new-for-us beach club, Buccanos, that was so fantastic. The food was amazing and the beach and water were crazy nice.

We hit our favorite spots...Hotel B, Casa Denis, key lime pie store, Casa Mission, Guido's, and Pancho's Backyard.

Jill and I took a snorkel sailing excursion with an amazing group of women. The photos and some videos of jib flying are here.

Boundary Waters 2022

This year's Boundary Waters trip was very different. Our original paddle and portage trip was cancelled. So we opted for a late Fall trip up north to Jenny and Andrew's cabin situated next to Gust Lake just off The Grade.

We had no idea the weather would be as amazingly fantastic as it was. It was very late in the season, and it could have as easily been freezing temps instead of 60's.

Our foursome became a five-some with the addition of Maggie, my cat. Maggie has been to the cabin before, so she fit right in.

Brian cooked awesome meals...meatloaf one night and an incredible frittata another night. I made an apple pie with Jenny's apples. Reading (our normal BWCA activity) and puzzling were always active.

There was an excursion to Grand Marais on Sunday. We collected rocks for a project Jenny was working on. Also, a stop at the local bookstore resulted in several purchases,

I climbed up the mountain the hard way :-)

A hiking adventure at Oberg Mountain on Monday brought us back the big lake - Lake Superior. The park rangers had arranged a "monster" hike along the path. It was very clever and educational.

There were high hopes for northern lights (aurora) as the ratings were very high all weekend. However, no luck seeing northern lights, the stars were out in full force especially with the moon setting very early.

As is my thing these days, I created a video of the trip. Click here to view in YouTube.