Outdoor Activities
Two reasons people travel to Africa are the dramatic landscape and the wildlife. Travelers shell out for airfare and safari fees and arm themselves with cameras in hopes of absorbing the beauty of the savanna and the majesty of the Big Five: lions, leopards, buffalos, rhinos and elephants. You don’t have to cross an ocean to experience awesome animals. The Northern Wilds boasts its own Big Five: moose, wolves, black bears, lynx, and eagles. If you are sharp-eyed and lucky this fall, you may spot one of these creatures against the backdrop of the forest in full color.
Duluth has a bounty of trails: cross-country ski trails, the Superior Hiking Trail, and the Lakewalk. Not enough for you? How about 100 miles of singletrack woven into the city? It’s called the Duluth Traverse, and it is the vision of the Duluth-based organization Cyclists of Gitchee Gumee Shores.
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When it comes to winter recreation, it can be tempting to stick to the same activities year in and year out. After all, you’ve already got the gear and know-how. But trying a new activity challenges your body (and brain!) and can help ward off mid-season boredom. Here are five Gunflint Trail area adventures that just might reheat your love affair with winter.
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Northern Sky
What can beat watching the stars on a lazy summer night? Our first treat comes early, when Mars makes a close pass over the bright star Regulus in Leo, the lion. Looking to the west around 10 p.m. on June 6-7, you’ll see the reddish planet less than half a degree above Regulus, anchor of the Sickle of stars forming Leo’s head.
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What can beat watching the stars on a lazy summer night? Our first treat comes early, when Mars makes a close pass over the bright star Regulus in Leo, the lion. Looking to the west around 10 p.m. on June 6-7, you’ll see the reddish planet less than half a degree above Regulus, anchor of the Sickle of stars forming Leo’s head.
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These days selecting a paddle can be a complicated and sometimes overwhelming process. With materials and designs of paddles constantly evolving, consumers have more options than ever to choose from. To help you make sense of the plethora of paddles available, local paddling experts have weighed in on what’s what in the world of paddles.
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On a snowy afternoon in mid-January, 50 8th graders pile off a charter bus, ready to spend the next four hours exploring a variety of winter activities at Positive Energy Outdoor (ed)Ventures, a not-for-profit organization I co-founded with my husband, Blake Cazier, in 2004.
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As we drive closer, my 5-year old daughter Grace says, “I’m faster without my poles.” My 8-year old son Sam says he’s going to try to use skate technique instead of just diagonal stride. There must be something in the air at the Boulder Lake Cross Country Ski Trails just north of Duluth. The kids turn into Nordic Evel Knievels.
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Our Northern Wilds has in its midst the world’s largest freshwater lake—Lake Superior—yet many northerners have never actually been ‘’on’’ the lake waters. Now thanks to Sail Superior, an afternoon day-tripping can take urban adventurers sailing past the breakwaters and out into the open waters of Lake Superior.
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Luke shouts, "Big wave!"
"What?" I ask, before a frigid wall of Lake Superior smacks me. I snort water out of my nostrils. My rain jacket is now a soaking joke. And we haven’t even started racing.
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"We are leaving for another world," remarked Captain Gary Lange as we slid away from the marina dock and headed down the mighty Nipigon River for Lake Superior.
Four of us were aboard the 47-foot trawler, Anica Lee—Lange, his friends Karlo Kaustinen and Chesley Imhoff, and myself. Lange described Karlo as "the only person other than my daughters who can operate my boats." Imhoff, known as "Ches," has roamed the island-studded waters of Lake Superior’s Canadian North Shore since the 1950s.
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