summer

A trip to Voyageurs National Park

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The land of big sky, big trees, big rocks, and big lakes – we’ve just returned from a camping trip to Voyageurs National Park in northern Minnesota. This park is unique as it’s a water-based park, and all campsites are boat-in. Lakes stretch 55 miles creating the northern boundary between the U.S. and Canada, and were traversed by the French-Canadian voyageurs during the late 1700’s and early 1800’s. Prior to that there were 18 American Indian tribes associated with these lands and waters.

We departed from the Ash River Visitors Center with our 16-foot Lund fishing boat packed with camping gear and food. Reading lake navigational maps (a first for me!) we motored from Kabetogama Lake to Namakan Lake and found our campsite – a beautiful point on an island facing the southwest. The sunrises and sunsets are immense and envelop you from all sides. And here the rocks and trees go right down into the lake – part of the ruggedness of this area.

We explored an old logging camp in Hoist Bay that operated between 1913 and 1929. At the time, a railroad trestle extended out into the bay so timber logs could be floated to the trestle and loaded onto the railroad cars for inland transport to the mills. After the camp closed the area was turned into a resort, welcoming guests from 1939 to 1973. We wandered another island, amazed at the I. W. Stevens Pine Cove Resort which was opened in 1937 and operated for 22 years. Stevens purchased the island in 1932 and called it home until 1979. His house and cabins remain to give setting to his amazing story.

Another day we pointed our boat north and motored to the eastern tip of the roadless Kabetogama Peninsula to Kettle Falls. Here we marveled at the dam that was built in 1914, allowing enough water to move the timber industry’s logs to the mills and also supply water for paper production. We enjoyed lunch at the historic Kettle Falls Hotel, serving customers since l9l3. And no stop at the Kettle Falls Hotel is complete without a visit to the bar with its famous sloping floor. When the hotel was constructed the foundation was built on clay soil. Not the best for a long-term choice as it can sink over time, which it did. In the 1970’s when the National Park Service renovated the hotel they kept the bar room floor at its old slope, only raising the pool table so it would be level.

We returned with an appreciation for the history of this area and an admiration of the lives of the people who worked and lived here. And I have a great gratitude for the rugged beauty and wildness of this unique part of northern Minnesota, and the calmness that can be found here.

Soft light in the morning

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Summer is usually filled with bright and vivid colors – the deep blue of the sky, the lightest whites in the clouds overhead, the bold red geraniums, the intense orange tiger lilies, and the vibrant gold of sunflowers. Yet this morning when I stepped out into the garden I noticed a welcome softness. Maybe it was the cooler temperatures or the haziness of the sky blocking some of the sun’s rays. The purple cornflowers were the same color they had been yesterday but there seemed to be a touch of delicateness in the garden – a softer light that spoke to me more than the primary colors of summer. It was as if it was telling to me to breathe deeply, and to enjoy the summer and this very moment.

A century ride to mark the close of summer

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A century ride is a bicycle ride of 100 miles. I decided this was my summer to earn this cycling badge and I chose the paved, multiple use Willard Munger Trail in east central Minnesota for my ride. On Tuesday, August 29th at 7:45 in the morning I set out on my trusty Trek Domane ALR4 heading north, leaving from the old train depot and fire museum in Moose Lake, Minnesota – mile zero. It was a cool morning with a lovely blue sky and promise of highs in the mid-70’s. By starting early I was planning to beat the northeast winds that were to develop as the day warmed up. The early miles were lovely and I had the trail to myself. My husband Greg was my support, in so many ways, and he joined me for a few miles of riding for encouragement and conversation.

After a lunch break in Carlton and rides to the east into the town of Wrenshall and into Jay Cooke State Park, it was time to head back the way I came. By 12:30 I was at the 50 mile mark, the winds were picking up a bit but now they were a tailwind, helping to push me to the finish line.

My legs felt good, my bike was doing great, and the miles were slowly adding up. Multiple stops during the second half of the ride were necessary for liquids and food – I’m amazed at how necessary it was to hydrate and refuel. 60 miles, 70 miles, 80 miles, 90 miles – they all required a celebration with a whoop and a holler as my goal was getting closer and closer. At about 5:15 I rounded the last corner of the trail and pulled into the parking area in Hinkley, Minnesota. With a smile on my face I looked at my cyclometer and saw that I’d ridden 102.5 miles (okay – a couple miles extra just because???). Greg was there to greet me with a sign marking my achievement, a celebratory big chocolate cupcake, and a car to get back to our campsite. I’m proud of planning, training, and accomplishing my goal, and I can honestly say it was a great adventure!

All photos courtesy of Greg Buzicky.

A goal to savor summer

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The last day of July – traditionally I’d think this marks a point of only one more month of summer. That summer is over half-way gone, and it’s time to scramble to pack in all the plans that are unrealized for this year. But maybe I should shift that approach and instead focus on savoring each and every day of this glorious, albeit short season.

I tried complaining about the excessive heat and humidity we had a week ago. Temps were in the 90’s, heat index was above 100, and there was no cooling down overnight. But then I tried to shift my focus – yes, I was still hot and I was sweating. I wasn’t able to sit outside to read, I wasn’t able to work in the gardens, and I found myself wandering inside to the comfort of air conditioning. But if I launched my kayak in the early morning I could take advantage of the coolest time of the day. And if I found a place to read in the shade and with maybe a light breeze, a tall glass of iced tea was a good accompaniment to my reading. And then when it was the late high-heat of the day and I was tempted to escape inside, I could walk to the beach and jump in the lake – a surely quick way to cool off!

So maybe, just maybe, my attitude needed the adjustment to summer. Rather than complaining about the heat and complaining about how quickly the months are going by, I could embrace and savor each summer’s day – the sun-drenched heat, the thunderstorms that roll through and give way to a bright rainbow, the fireflies that blink after the sun has set, the plethora of stars on a dark and hot summer’s night, and the opening in the clouds that was briefly painted in the late evening sky and reflected in the calm waters below.

Summer red

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Our summer this year is best represented by the color red. These lovely coneflowers are a perfect representation – the full impact of summer’s heat and the warm colors that we associate with it. We jumped from our late and short spring of blues and greens into the heat and drought of summer. The Canadian wildfire smoke has been prevalent here. The usual clear and blue skies have been hazy and murky. The sun rises as a red and orange ball, sometimes barely visible , while the landscape takes on an eerie feeling where things aren’t as they seem.

And there’s the red of watermelon – a summer staple. Take a slice, bite into it, savor that taste of the summer months as the juices drip down your arms. And strawberries too, which are at their sweet peak right now providing a delicious burst when popped in your mouth. There’s red in our US flag representing hardiness and valor, and it’s sometimes said it also represents the blood of the men and women who have fought to protect our freedom and our country. A huge and heartfelt thanks to those people, and a happy 4th of July to all my US friends! Enjoy this carefree time of summer!