Back and Forth, Back and Forth, and a Decision

Back and forth, back and forth! With COVID19 in the mix, my friends decided a couple month ago they would not be doing the TRT. They didn't feel safe flying. I didn't either, so I began planning a drive, which I would do with only stops for gas and for camping. But recently, with California getting worse regarding COVID-19, that didn't seem like the best idea. And now California is basicallly shut down again, so I made a good choice not to go.

So I was looking for multi-day hikes near me. There are many! Everything was up in the air for weeks. I'm pretty comfortable with that overall, but it's starting to get to the point where I need to make a decision. So here it is!

I've continued to work on my fitness. But with everything closed for so long, most of that has been through the Peloton app. I've been spinning, doing body weight strength training, lots of stretching, and walks. I've gotten a few hikes in, but probably not as many as I should have.

I still plan to do the entirety of the TRT... hopefully next year. That'll give me more time to plan and be really ready for some big days. Hopefully, my friends would then be able to join me. But this year I'm planning to do a small portion of the Superior Hiking Trail in Northern Minnesota. I don't have time this year to do the complete 310 miles so I'll likely do a very short section and focus on the fact that it'll be my first time backpacking solo. Which section is still to be determined. This will also allow me to spend some of my vacation time with family.

We'll be taking a road trip to get there. We'll have our food with us so no need to stop for that on the way. We're also camping, so no interactions with people. The only stops that may involve people will be gas. We're still figuring out the bathroom, but are comfortable with copping a squat wherever we can while leaving no trace.

Sly Park Recreation Area Day Trip

Blue is not doing great. Her pulmonary hypertension got much worse and she needed to have pleural fluid removed from both sides of her lungs. Approximately 1 litre (take a look at your 32-oz Nalgene bottle) was taken from her 37-pound body. She's been breathing easier and feeling better since then. Think about how it feel to have a cooler full of water removed from your body and you might understand how she felt. We decided to take advantage of her feeling better and get her into the woods a little. We didn't think she was well enough for camping so we took a day trip up to Sly Park Recreation Area near Pollack Pines, CA.

There's a beautiful lake that is surrounded by campsites and boating services. We went in to check out some of the camping areas and spend a little time breathing in the wooded air. We stopped to use one of the restrooms and ended up parking there to walk around a little. Blue was so excited she started trying to walk around all over the place. We actually had to stop her from over exerting. But it was awesome to see her smelling everything and trying to get down by the water. Dogs aren't allowed in Jenkinson Lake anyway but it was just a little too far for her to get down there on her own.

We found one of our next campsites as well. The Sierra Spur campsite 63, which has a great lake view. Sites 62 and 64 were pretty good too. The lake is close by and there are only a few sites within the spur.

Superior Circle Tour - Day 1

Relaxing breakfast with Karen, Gary, and Yvette. Karen and Gary were heading off to Duluth so they left before us. Lorrie is a morning person and could easily be on the road before sunrise. I am not naturally that kind of person. But I would like to be. Any tips would be appreciated! I’ve tried lots of different things. But somehow I am always about an hour late in leaving. This is dicey when I have planes to catch… and a penchant for making early flight reservations. Okay, I digress! We got on the road around 11:00am EST and our tour formally begins! Canada Highway 1 going southeast to Eagle Canyon Adventures. On the way, we saw five women on touring bikes. But they had SO much stuff hanging off their bikes. Anyway, Eagle Canyon Adventures has 2 suspension bridges, one of which they claim is the longest in Canada. They also have a zip line, which they also claim is the longest in Canada. As soon as we got there… my sunglasses broke. Damn! They were cheapy $12 glasses that had lasted about 3 years with almost daily use. Bummer! After walking across the bridges, we stopped and watched people on the zipline. I decided that should be a bucket list item for me so I went back down to pay for it. Then we had to walk back up to the deck again. The real challenge was dodging the 4-wheelers with crazy drivers behind them. That was a sport in an of itself! Honestly, they are going to hurt someone. At the top, more people had lined up to use the zipline. So the wait was a lot longer. Slightly more than an hour. Enough time to get my stomach all riled up. Watching person after person go didn’t really help. It seemed like they would be silent at first, which I interpreted as “stomach drop,” and then would scream, which scared me too. There were a couple kids in front of me, one was too light so they had to add weight to his gear. I figured if he could do that without being scared, that I could do it too. Then there was a woman who looked the way I felt. And she did it. So I thought I could too. Lorrie was there trying to figure out the best angle to shoot my experience. She decided to stay up there at the deck to get it. [insert video] It ended up being amazing! It was pretty windy up there so the wire was swaying. Yikes! The operator said, “3… 2… 1… launch” and opened the gate. And I stood there an extra 2 or 3 seconds before lifting my feet and flying away. I screamed out my fear… and then it was awesome. There was no stomach drop at all. It was just a consistent downhill through the valley and over the river. At the end, I had been told to spread my legs so “something” could hit the seat and not me. As I was getting closer to the dock, the operator down there spread his arms wide to indicate I should spread my legs, which I did. What I didn’t expect was the major CLANG that happened when the mechanism on the wire hit the stopping mechanism. That was shocking. Then I heard someone say, “How was it?” “Awesome!” I said. And then, after looking around, “Where are you?” He said, “Down here.” lol He was below me pulling on a rope that had been attached to the stopping mechanism so that I could be pulled back over the dock to stand up. I didn’t realize how far above the ground I still was… at least 10 feet. And that was that. It was over! I’m so glad I did it but I wish I could do it again to enjoy the scenery just a little more! On our way out of the park, we saw those cyclists I mentioned before and they were just getting into the park. Some of them were walking their bikes up the last painful steep hill. Really, just too much stuff! Not that I could do any better! (= I’m sure the wind didn’t do them any favors either! Since we’d been at Eagle Canyon for four hours, we decided that we should skip Ouimet Canyon Provincial Park. But we can go back there another time.

Kept driving along Highway 1. It’s amazing how little there is along that road! And a lot of what was there in terms of motels and restaurants are now abandoned. That becomes a problem when you’re hungry! We started seeing signs for “Gus’ Restaurant” in Nipigon, which we thought might be a possibility. When we got there, it was very rundown… and it said “John’s.” We were going to skip it. Until I saw 6 motorcycles out front. Just a hint… cops and bikers know where to eat! If it had been a motorcycle cop, we’d have hit pay dirt! (= So we went in. It was run by a Greek woman who was very friendly with everyone! Lorrie and I each ordered chicken souvlaki sandwiches… she with fries and me with a Greek salad. Wow! They could not have been better! And the servings were huge! 5 stars for sure on the food! The décor is grungy… so close your eyes.

Make a note if you’re traveling in this area… there is very little gas on the North side of Lake Superior. So fill up when you can! Even if it’s expensive! Because it is all expensive!

We had planned to stop for the night at Pukaswa (sp) Provincial Park but stumbled upon Nays Provincial Park, which Karen had mentioned. She said the white sand beaches were incredible! We checked out the few free sites and settled on a corner site, which was the last one that backed to the beach. It was also right next to a major trail so that is probably why it hadn’t been taken yet. But it was awesome! We got the pups fed and got the tent up before taking Emma Blue for a little walk on the beach. It was full of drift wood… huge, like still trees, and small. Seemed a little dangerous actually. Lots of sticks poking up out of the ground. A child could fall on them… hell, an adult could fall on them. I was worried about Emma running into one so we kept her walking. Just something to consider if you’re traveling there. Once we were back at the campsite, I tried to build a fire and was relatively unsuccessful. It took forever to get anything really going. And once we did, it was pretty late and time for bed. lol So I just thought of it as ash for a fire tomorrow morning.

Something we both noticed about Canadian campers was their creative use of tarps! MONSTROUS tarps! I know it’s been rainy in the area for awhile so if they’ve been camping for awhile, I can understand using so many. They had these huge tarps spread out above their entire tent sites. They wrapped tarps around the ends of their pop up campers. And they’re very good at getting them up. Some are like origami… with lights and everything. Maybe you saw the photo of my first attempt at tarp hanging! LOL

Superior Circle Tour - Day 0

(no real outdoor content, just driving)

Bad start in the morning… about 3 hours late. There were some things we weren’t able to do last night so they waited until morning. Then… the biggest thing was that I could not find Jeero. I try very hard not to travel without Jeero! So we “wasted” about 30 minutes looking for Jeero. Never found himher so we had to leave without. We then had a detour from the interstate before stopping at Lorrie’s job so she could turn something in quickly. Then… on the road… for real. Both a little grumpy. Not a usual occurrence for us. I don’t think so anyway. Guess I can check back to old blogs!

We stopped a little later in Pine City, MN to get some lunch. They were preparing for a parade that coincides with their free fair. So there were chairs lining many of the streets. Apparently it’s a huge deal and people want the best seats possible! We found a great little co-op or natural foods deli/market. I love that it is becoming so easy to find organic foods in small towns now. Back on the road. Though we were tempted to stay for the parade! (= It rained off and on much of the drive. We passed through the border at Pigeon Creek around 7pm CST with no issues. We stopped at Rydens to exchange money and put Emma’s muzzle on her. She seems to know how important it is that she behave at the border. So she does. She fussed with the muzzle for a few seconds then seemed to understand that it wouldn’t last very long. All ICE asked was if we had the dogs’ papers but didn’t make us show them. We did have the papers, of course. Across the border and off came the muzzle. She’s a good girl that Emma! Off again… in Canada. Lorrie expressed her usual request to see a moose. Instead, we saw huge black lab…. which was actually a bear cub! In the middle of the road. It hustled back into the woods as soon as we got up close to it. VERY cute!! I’ve never seen a bear so now I can mark that off my list! I really wish I’d gotten a photo of it though. But why would I take a photo of a big black lab!? lol Once in Thunder Bay, we spent a few hours with Lorrie’s older sister. She lives on a tropical island but is staying with her two sons for about a month while getting some business taken care of in Canada. It’s cute that she’s staying in a little apartment with two of her sons. (= Then to Lorrie’s best friend from high school’s house where we stayed up way to late chatting. A jag nightcap… if you can call about ½ oz a nightcap! We also got to hear about Yvette’s, Karen’s sister’s, 2 gold medals in the Special Olympics earlier in the summer! Pretty amazing!