International Falls Every Street Project: Day 1

A few weeks ago I happened to be watching YouTube when I came across a video on the Salomon Channel about a man named Ricky Gates who is an ultramarathoner and is running all the streets in San Francisco. He described it as an interesting way to learn more about the city he lives in. This idea got me to do some thinking.

Fast forward to today. It's officially spring in the Northland. While spring is often an exciting time of the year in other locales, spring around here means not enough snow to ski on, but too much snow and ice and mud for an enjoyable hiking experience. It's not a good time of the year to get out and explore in this part of the country. So what's an outdoorsy person to do in this area to get outside? Why not start my own "Every Street" project. I'm not an ultra-runner, but International Falls' size is much smaller than that of San Francisco, and therefore more manageable for someone like me.

Since I haven't been doing much running since the Freeze yer Gizzard Blizzard 5k back in January, I thought I would start out slow. I ran the 1.62 mile route shown below:

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My run started out with a right on my street to its end at the chipper for the paper mill.  

In the summer, when our windows are open, the drone of the chipper is a fixture of ambient noise. I made a left onto 2nd Avenue, and then quickly made another left onto 5th Street. On 5th Street I made my way through a pleasant neighborhood, past the Backus Community Center

and then turned right onto 3rd Street. I followed Third for an short distance, made a right onto 9th Avenue and then a quick left onto 4th Street. 

I followed 4th Street past the library, with its seasonally inspired sculptures outside. 

Then I passed the Koochiching County Courthouse. 

Finally, I turned right onto 5th Avenue for the quick run back home. It was a short first run, but I think a good way to kick off this project. 

Voyageurs National Park: Sullivan Bay Trail Snowshoe

Today was a beautiful, warm, early spring day. With Noelle's mom in town, we decided to take advantage by going out for one last winter adventure. We drove down to the Ash River for a snowshoe hike on the Sullivan Bay Trail.

We parked the car at the gate there, strapped on our snowshoes, and hit the trail.

The snow is still pretty deep, but with the warmth and sun it was soft and sticky. It made for good snowball making. Sure enough, a snowball fight broke out!

We continued through the woods. Sierra and Mom took their time, while Noelle and I hiked a little bit faster.

Soon enough we approached the overlook or Sullivan bay at the end of the trail.

We relaxed at the picnic table there and then started to retrace our steps back towards the car.

Soon we figured out why Sierra and Mom had been hiking so slow. Every now and then Sierra would stop to work on what she called "little sculptures", collections of natural objects that she had arranged in the snow.

Soon enough we were back at the trailhead

for the drive back home.

Superior National Forest: Skiing the Sturgeon River Trails

Sierra hasn't been feeling well lately, and I've been wanting to get outside for an adventure. While Noelle, Mom and Sierra opted to go to the movies to see The Lego Movie 2, I decided to head down towards Chisholm to go for a ski on the Sturgeon River Trail. I had hiked the southernmost loop of the trail last fall, so today I headed for a trailhead just to the north to start my ski.

It was a cold morning, but the sun gave the illusion of warmth. I hit the trail on Forest Road 703 and skied the spur to the main loops. I headed north at this point into the forest.

Soon enough I came to another trail junction where I continued north to County Road 65. I crossed the road

and continued north,

passing through a few areas where past timber sales

had created openings. There were scattered views to the canyon of the Sturgeon River. I made it to a trail shelter and took a break.

When I was ready to continue on, I found the trail north of the shelter had not been packed or tracked. I followed snowmobile tracks down to the frozen river

and then started to ski back the way I had come.

When I returned to the loop south of County Road 65, I decided to take the western portion. By this time I was getting pretty tired and so at the next junction I started to make my way back to the car. exhaustion and hunger made the going slow, but I was back to my vehicle by 1 pm. It was a windy drive back to the Falls.

Voyageurs National Park: Sledding and Skating at Sphunge Island

Today Noelle, Sierra, Mom and I headed down to Kabetogama for our annual sledding session. As always we had a lot of fun sliding down the hill at Sphunge Island.

This year I also brought along my skates for a little bit of ice skating on the small rink that they've cleared of snow!