Stepping Outdoors With Craig

To the delight of many, and the displeasure of quite a few, the thin snow we had is disappearing. Maybe it is the lack of snow this year, but I have talked to more snow enthusiasts this season than in recent years. I used to think I was one of only a few snow nuts, but that is not the case this year. Snowmobilers and Skiers are pushing more and more north to find usable conditions. Here is shot of the Flathorn Ski Trail in Isabella:

And here is one of our local ski trail:

So unless we get some snow, Drive North!

The Section Seven Nordic Sections race was held this week at Giants Ridge. Duluth East defended their team titles and will send both the girls and boys teams back to state. Where they will try to defend their state championships from last year. When it comes to cross country skiing those greyhounds are fast! In addition 8 individuals also advance to next week's state meet. Three of them come from the Grand Rapids Thunderhawks. Way to go Bre (my daughter), Solveig, and Ingrid.

Good Luck next week at the State meet at Giants Ridge!

This weekend provided some very mild temperatures, however the snow was holding tough in a couple of area local spots. I skied at both Giants Ridge and Big Aspen over the weekend and in both places I was impressed with the amount of snow out in the woods. We hit the Ridge on Saturday morning with the trees all frosted, and skate skied a few of the milder trails there. Then the sun came out and we switched to classic skiing as the frost fell down like snow in the bright blue sunny sky. Here is picture of what 85% of the Ridge trails look like:

The Big Aspen trails are located north of Virginia and classic only trails, but provide a great wilderness skiing experience. Once on the trails we never saw any other skiers, but came across deer, wolf and moose tracks out along and on the trails. The weather was so good and the trails were in such good shape we skied more than twice what we had planned to do. Big Aspen is in good shape so get out and explore them:

See on the trails!

This past fall the U.S. Forest Service made the announcement they were getting rid of the lottery process for Boundary Water Canoe Area Wilderness. Instead those wanting to travel into the BWCAW, can now go to a website and see what is available and make their selection for a permit. So it's first come first serve and permits are availble now. Actually I did a little spot checking for some summer dates at various entry points and it looks like permits are plentiful now. So if your thinking of a trip into the Boundary Waters this summer, now is a great time to secure your permits. You can do that here.

Friday night the annual kick off event for the Hibbing Winter Frolic will take place! This year's luminary ski was of course in question because of the lack of snow. However the recent snowfalls have given us just enough to ski the Black Forest Loop at Carey Lake. The evening is expected to be mild, so bring the family and come out for a bon fire, cookies and cider. Skiing gets underway at 6 p.m. along the lit ski trail, beginning at the first parking area. Below is a current snapshot of the Carey Lake ski trails. Be aware the trail doesn't all look like this and there are some rough spots, and I won't be skiing with my best skis.

See you Friday night at 6!

Over this past weekend I went searching for winter and I found it! After years of threatening to go ski in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, I finally did. The snow is there, as are the cross country skiers, downhill skiers, snowboarders, and snowmobilies. However that is not to say things are crowded, just busy with a lot of happy faces enjoying the snow. I started out skiing a small donation only ski trail called Miljes, which doesn't have a lot of miles of trails yet but has some good plans for expansion. They did, however, have snow as you can see.

Next up was the Legendary ABR, widely known among cross country skiers as a place for early and abundant snow. While this was the busiest place I skied, with 66K of trail you can quickly find yourself all alone on the trail. Top notch grooming is another thing ABR is well known for and I was not disappointed.

Wolverine Nordic calls themselves the Mountains of the Midwest, and they do have some challenging trails. Which includes working your way to the base of a ski jump and to the top of Big Powderhorn downhill ski area. It also snowed a lot while I was in the UP, but the sun did come out at Wolverine for the afternoon.

So if your looking for winter it's not far away. Only about a 3.5 hour drive to Ironwood and you will have plenty of snow to play in. I found a good reasonable ski package at the Indianhead Motel, and look forward to going back again for more skiing soon.

I've know about a certain website for a few years now, but I haven't bothered to spend much time on it. But now they have an App, and I'll admit I'm addicted! They post an item with a time limit and number of the items remaining and with a click you can make a purchase. Here's a screen shot of a recent "steal":

Steep and Cheap sells outdoor related goods, everything from the above latern to name brand clothing. And there prices are usually pretty good. So now that they have an app, I'm checking in several times a day just to see what the latest "steal" is. I'll haven't bought anything....yet. But it's probably only a matter of time. Check it out, but warning it could be habit forming!

Sure many of you are enjoying what is passing for winter this year, but there are a few of us that definitely are not! Winter is the time of year I look forward to all year. Yep even in the middle of summer I can be found day dreaming about a freshly groomed cross country ski trail. Here's a photo comparison: First last year skiing at Sugarbush:

Now here is what we are skiing on this year, and this is after our "BIG" snow this week:

Things have gotten so bad shoveling parties are being organized starting today at Theodore Wirth Park in Minneapolis for this weekends big City of the Lakes Loppet ski race! Sorry winter haters, but we need more snow!

Well Double J and I were at the Governor's Fishing Opener in Grand Rapids, and early Saturday morning found ourselves out on Pokegama Lake. Now if it had not been for the knowledge of our fishing host, Rob Hamling, we would certainly not have caught as many fish as we did. As we found out at the shore lunch most of the fish in Pokegama were not cooperating on the cold at times wet morning. In fact walleyes were very hard to find with only about 4 being caught, and again thanks to our host, I was able to catch one of them.

Northerns were a bit easier to come by, but they were not jumping in the boat by any means either. Justin reeled in one of the northern, and we rounded out our fish catching with a few perch.

A big thanks to Grand Rapids and all the volunteers that put on a very fun and successful event. From the golf outing at Pokegama Golf Course, to the Community Picnic, to the celebration dinner; it was one very well run event.

Cross country skiing is a mostly solitary sport, which is one of the reasons it appeals to so many of us. But every once in a while you meet someone out on the trail that has an interesting story to tell. The other day I was skiing the Cowhorn Lake trail near Grand Rapids when my friend and I began to notice little piles of bird seed along the trail. Eventually we caught up with the Birdman of Cowhorn Lake who was feeding the birds, and he told us there was a spot coming up you could feed them out of your hand. Curious we agreed to ski ahead and meet up with him at the spot he mentioned. We arrived first and all was quiet, then he skied up and whistled a couple of times and there were at least 15 chickadees and nuthatches on the scene. In less than a minute I had birds using my hand like a bird feeder! Now that’s a great day out on the ski trails!

Okay, so I realize that headline is not going to get a lot of support. However, I do have a case to plead. Now I'm not looking for the amount of snow the Twin Cities got over the past couple of days. 19 inches is just a bit of overkill, but a good 4 to 6 sure would be nice. My point is, we still have a lot of winter left to enjoy, so lets do it with snow. That is the only good thing about winter; it's not the cold! This Snow eagle was part of a winter celebration at Scenic State Park over the weekend. 

Last week's meltdown was not good for the area trails! Snowmobile trails are looking thinner, and I can say first hand the ski trails have been come rock hard and icy. So really it wouldn't be such a big deal if we got a few more inches? Come on, who's with me....anyone...anyone...hello??

Spent some time on the North Shore recently, and of course this time of year that means skiing! Explored both Split Rock and Gooseberry State parks on skis. While I have skied at Gooseberry before this time we hit the trails down closer to the lake. Often snow conditions do not allow for close skiing to Lake Superior, but this year there is plenty of snow down along the water. Split Rock allowed the better views of the lake, since much of their cross country ski trails run right along the rugged shoreline of Lake Superior.

Split Rock also had plenty of deer along the trail, and while they wouldn't pose for any photos they were abundant. Rounding out the weekend was a great fun place to stay. Northern Rails just north of Two Harbors is a hotel made out of ten railroad train cars. Now once you are inside, you would never know you are in a train car, but in the hall and from the outside it is a pretty cool place.

More proof you don't have to venture too far from home to find some great things to see and do in a Northern Minnesota Winter. Here is one more view of Lake Superior, while standing on the Split Rock ski trails.