...on a damp and chilly day on the North Shore. They said rain yesterday, but we got snow. They said snow today, but we got rain. The NWS needs to give their magic eight ball a kick(click pics to enlarge):
It felt like a cold rain forest. A couple more pics below.
Too icy to dare get any closer. I'm pretty sure falling in at this point would be the end as one would be going over the pic above shortly after:
Still moving up:
There was too much gloppy snow that turned to ice when you stepped on it to go further today. There are plenty of spots with good steps or railings, but a few where it could get a little dicey if you slipped. One last shot of the "root beer" meeting Lake Superior:
They say it takes four hundred years for a drop of this water to reach Niagara Falls. I'm not sure if that is really true or not. I guess it wouldn't surprise me though.
Great scenery, Dave. Wow. That 400 number sounds a little too romantic to me but I'm not bothered by it.
Posted by: Rob | April 21, 2009 at 05:55 AM
It's a beautiful river and the DNR nicely maintains the trails and overlooks. If it hadn't been for the ice we would have gone the rest of the way up the trail.
Yeah, I'm not so sure about that 400 number either. I have no actual evidence to dispute it with though, so there it is.
Posted by: Dave E. | April 21, 2009 at 08:39 AM
If this is where I think it is, I've been there. Or near there. We drove from Duluth to Thunder Bay (and beyond) in about 1963. My mom got a tick stuck in her chest driving down that road and we pulled off so my dad could pour kerosene on it (LOL!).
Nice story telling, in words and pictures, Dave.
Posted by: Marie | April 21, 2009 at 07:38 PM
Thanks, Marie.
That would be the area, it's about(er, aboot) 90 miles south of Thunder Bay, and around 10 miles south of Grand Marais.
Hahaha at the tick story, good grief I could tell a few myself, including the worst pickup line ever. Kerosene though, eh? I've always used some heat to the posterior for one that was dug in. Lots of different ways to do that.
Posted by: Dave E. | April 21, 2009 at 08:20 PM
Er, just to clarify, the tick's posterior. Wouldn't want somebody to google this and cause a tragedy.
Posted by: Dave E. | April 21, 2009 at 08:22 PM
"Lots of different ways to do that."
To apply heat to a tick's arse?
You've made a study of the various techniques during those cold long Minnesotian winters????
Posted by: Mr. Bingley | April 22, 2009 at 07:39 AM
Nah, I meant general tick removal, but there are a few different ways to do the heat thing. Obviously, Mr. B., you have never sat around a campfire in the BWCA. :)
Posted by: Dave E. | April 22, 2009 at 08:18 AM
Before we built our house, our lot was uncleared and loaded with ticks. I used to keep rubbing alcohol and cotton balls in my truck for those occasions when they got on me or one of the dogs. If you hold a cotton ball doused in alcohol on the tick, they can't breathe and they extract themselves. It is totally painless, totally sanitary and safe, and only takes a second. Well, one got on the wife one day while we were out there. She was in such a panic that she made me yank it out immediately rather than wait the two minutes it would have taken us to get to the truck. Naturally, the head came off, it got infected, etc. She can handle things that make the blood run right out of me but she couldn't cope with the sight of that one little tick on her hip, dug in and wiggling. I think we'd have to move if she ever got another one on her.
Posted by: Rob | April 22, 2009 at 08:57 AM
Sammy hasn't had a tick dig into her since I started using Frontline on her years and years ago. Despite all of my walking in the woods, I haven't had one actually attach on me in at least twenty years. I've gotten pretty good about checking and spotting them before it gets to that point.
I'll have to try the alcohol method the next time it comes up, as I usually have a bottle of that in my first aid kit. I'm guessing that's what Marie's dad did, just with kerosene. Bonus: It probably makes a nice little POOF when you throw the cotton ball into the campfire. I hate those little bastards more than any other insect.
Posted by: Dave E. | April 22, 2009 at 09:21 AM
Nope, unfortunately I haven't, Dave. Closest I've gotten is the dock at Ruttgers in Bay Lake with a bottle of scotch and a bucket of curds...
Posted by: Mr. Bingley | April 23, 2009 at 06:40 AM
Nothing wrong with that, Mr. B., though it would be bourbon on my part. You were pretty close there, just a couple/three more hours north and I could take you in for a few days.
Posted by: Dave E. | April 23, 2009 at 09:16 AM
Actually, come to think of it I've been to International Falls, too.
Posted by: Mr. Bingley | April 23, 2009 at 01:48 PM
Well, that's even better. A hop, skip, and a jump from there.
Posted by: Dave E. | April 23, 2009 at 03:15 PM