It’s that busy time of summer. We enjoy the bounty of local foods. Susan has started calling August and September harvest season. We participate in a CSA (community Supported Agriculture) and get a weekly share. Susan does some gardening in our small urban yard. The past 7 or 8 years we freeze and can our way through these months. Putting away fresh, mostly local organic foods. Last weekend was blueberry picking weekend.

Easy picking.

We make a day trip out of it. We drive a couple hours east along Lake Superior to the Bayfield Peninsula in Wisconsin to Highland Valley Farms. It’s a beautiful berry farm carved out of the North Woods nestled in a small valley. With 10,000 blueberry bushes you can pick till your hearts content. We also make a stop in Washburn at the Coco Bakery and Cafe for lunch. They offer both Gluten Free and Vegan options. A rare place both Susan and I can have multiple menu choices. Once home we freeze berries, I make GF/Vegan Blueberry pie, Blueberry jam, Blueberry lemonade, Blueberry pancakes, a second Blueberry pie…..it’s Blueberry heaven for a week or two. We picked about 35 lbs of berries. I normally make freezer jam. The past five years Susan has been learning how to can. So we took our jam making to a new level and canned the Blueberry jam. That way there isn’t jars of jam taking up freezer space.

All this to say is when the harvest is happening it takes priority. Cuts down on the bike rides. I used to go out for rides anyway. That left Susan with more than her share of the work. Now that I’ve learned how much I enjoy having this kind of stuff around during the winter months I’ve been putting in the work to help make it happen.

Friday I had to do a medical transport back to Duluth from Fargo, North Dakota for my job. That was an 11 hour day. I made the most of the drive. I’ve only made that drive a couple of times. It’s 250 miles straight west to Fargo. There are no freeways. The first 210 miles is all two lane roads through the North Woods. Much of it is National and State Forest lands, and Native American Reservations. It is also scenic lakes country. I only took a couple of pictures. Th highlight for me was crossing the Mighty Mississippi River. Although it hasn’t quite reached it’s “mighty” status here in Northern Minnesota. In fact, if you weren’t paying attention you wouldn’t even notice it.

I saw this drive as somewhat epic. Not only did I start this drive East of the Mississippi, cross the river and end up West of the great river, I also drove through 210 miles of the North woods of the Upper Midwest.

The last 40 miles opened up onto the Great Plains of this massive continent.

And eventually I arrived in Fargo. That’s right, the Fargo made famous by the Coen Brothers. You betcha!

I was fascinated at having this opportunity to drive across the state of Minnesota. Perhaps I’ve spent so many years traveling at the speed of a bicycle, that moving at 60-70 mph for five hours is a novelty to me.  Of course, the whole time my mind was wondering what it would be like to bicycle the same route.

Ever since I started to get back in to cycling more than a decade ago, my rides had become a priority. I sacrificed time with Susan to put on miles. We fell into a routine of me riding my bikes and she would spend time gardening and working on her interest in Fiber Arts. We’ve come full circle and are now making an effort to spend more time together. That usually involves hiking more than anything else. Yesterday was Saturday. We got out to enjoy some of the hiking trails and parks right in our own backyard. The Superior Hiking Trail now traverses the city of Duluth, mostly along the ridgeline above the city. It’s a 300 mile footpath that stretches from the Border with Wisconsin to the south, through Duluth and then heads to the Canadian Border following the ridges of Lake Superior. It’s one of the major reasons we moved to Duluth from the Twin Cities back in 2001.  The trail is now more 50% longer than when we moved here.

Today we parked west of Enger Park and did an out-and-back section that included Enger Park. It’s a gem of a city park situated on a high point above the city. It has an observation tower and elaborate gardens. Here’s some highlights from the day:

Looking west from the Superior Hiking Trail.

Crossing Coffee Creek.

Beautiful day to walk through meadows of wild flowers.

Southwest view from Enger Tower.

Western view over the golf course from Enger Tower.

Northeast view up the shoreline of Lake Superior from Enger Tower.

The view looking east over downtown Duluth, the Harbor and Lake Superior from Enger Tower.

The gardens at Enger Park:

The Japanese Gardens at Enger Park:

The mission for today. Run a few errands and then finally get out for a bike ride……

Monday, yesterday, was Memorial Day Holiday here in the States. Susan and I decided to break out of our usual weekend routines and do something together. Hiking is one thing we’ve always done together. Heck, our first date 19 years ago was a hike. Since 2011 we’ve been members of the Minnesota State Parks Hiking Club Program. It’s an informal club. The challenge is to visit every state park in the state with hiking trails and walk a trail that has been designated a Hiking Club Trail. The trails range in distance anywhere from one mile to seven miles. Not to demanding. Since 2011 we’ve only done 16 out of 65 state parks, as of yesterday. We’re off to a slow start. We were concerned the challenge would be too easy with the shortness of the hikes. We’re finding the logistics of visiting every park is harder than we realized. We have to be very deliberate in our planning to get out. But we’ve also learned the challenge is taking us to small out of the way parks we would have never visited if it weren’t for the challenge. There are some real gems in the State Park system. Yesterday we decided to visit two nearby parks that we’ve been to dozens of times but have never hiked the Hiking Club Trail in each park. To keep you honest and show you have actually hiked each Hiking Club Trail, a password on a sign post is placed somewhere along the trail. You have to find that sign and record the password.

An added incentive to get out and hike in State Parks is the 125th Anniversary of the Minnesota State Parks system being celebrated this year. They’ve made a 125 mile challenge for this year. Hike, bike, or paddle 125 miles in state parks this year and earn a 125th Year Anniversary Certificate. We decided we could use the extra incentive to motivate us to accelerate our Hiking Club challenge.

Temperance State Park

We started our day by heading up the North Shore of Lake Superior. Our goal was to complete Hiking Club Hikes in two State Parks, Temperance River State Park and George Crosby H. Manitou State Park. Temperance River drops dramatically through a narrow gorge carved in 1.1 billion year old lava flows before reaching Lake Superior. The Hiking Club trail follows the river upstream for a mile and then returns. It’s short, extremely scenic trail easily accessible to day hikers and tourists. Considering it was a Holiday Weekend it wasn’t terribly busy. Here’s the highlight pictures:

George H.Crosby Manitou State Park

After we finished this hike we ventured inland on some gravel National Forest Service Roads through the scenic Northwoods to George H.Crosby Manitou State Park. This a unique park in the State Park System. The land was donated to the State with the condition it was to be left wild and undeveloped. There is no Park office, no facilities other than vault toilets, no running water. Just a gravel entrance road, a small parking lot, and a picnic area. There is a system of trails and rustic backpacking sites. Back in the 90’s when Susan and I were living in the Twin Cities and learning to backpack, we camped at this park. The trails are rugged and can be a bit challenging. The Hiking Club Trail follows the exact 4.2 mile loop we did as a backpack overnight loop back in 1999. It may sound short, but it is rock and root filled with constant elevation change. Lots of small ups and downs. It is much more difficult than the mileage would indicate. It could be the most challenging 4 miles of all the Hiking Club trails. We were pleasantly tired after finishing up this trail. One highlight, among many, is the gorgeous Falls on the Manitou River reached only by a rugged footpath. No flip flop wearing tourists at this waterfall. Here’s the highlights:

The weather was fantastic. One day only, it was in the mid-70’s, dry with moderate winds. The bugs were surprisingly low. However, we each got a couple of black fly bites. Back to work Tuesday today was a completely different picture. Highs in the mid-40’s, blustery, and rainy. I love it when holiday weather combined with a nice get away work out so great.