Wildflowers in Bloom

Yesterday morning the kiddos and I trekked up to Christensen Road to hike the trails. Yes, it was raining, but yes, it was worth it. Our loop consisted of the Lake Annie Trail and Finney Creek Trail before heading back to the car (those little legs are starting to stretch out some longer distances). 

The rolling meadows and narrow ravines captured the attention of my little guys, but it was the wildflowers that took top prize. If daisies are a favorite of yours they will be found in abundance right now.  

I am not sure what it is, exactly, that makes wildflowers so appealing. Perhaps it is the beauty that they display, without toil or spin. The encounter reminded me of a poem by Wendell Berry, "I Dream of a Quiet Man."

I dream of a quiet man

who explains nothing and defends

nothing, but only knows

where the rarest wildflowers

are blooming, and who goes,

and finds that he is smiling

not by his own will.

The wildflowers are in bloom out in the Churning Rapids, and likely if you park down Christensen Road you the have the serene sounds of nature all to yourself, unless of course, you see us there. Then you will hear two little boys calling out, "Daisies mom, daisies! Pretty! Do you see?"

 

KNSC Nature Journal Club - June

Today was the inaugural KNSC Nature Journal Club, and like true Scandinavians, we didn't let the rainy day drive us from the abundance of life on the trails. Surely you have heard the saying,
“There is no bad weather, just bad clothing.” Every 3rd Sunday of the month we are going to be testing the limits of that saying, taking in what the outdoors has to offer, even in the unique and unpredictable weather conditions.

Today, quite noticeable, were a bounty of slugs. Slugs were crawling across the trail, creeping along logs, wriggling along the Swedetown Creek, and a cornucopia (what you call a group of slugs) was found ploding up Sisu Hill. What they liked about the Sisu Hill remains to be discovered. Any experts out there? What do slugs like about that sandy spot? 

Many other treasures were discovered on the trail today as well. Of note were the ferns, horsetails, and wildflowers. Common enough, maybe, but if you look hard enough, you may discover things you've never noticed about these plants before. As E.E. Cummings said, "Now the ears of my ears awake and now the eyes of my eyes are opened."

Join us, won't you, for our next KNSC Nature Journal Club. It is July 16th from 3-5pm. More details found here.

KNSC Rumbles Through Houghton For The Bridgefest Parade

The KNSC contingent was awesome during Friday night's Bridgefest Parade. The Can Am Defender ruled the streets of Houghton as some of our snow bikers patrolled from curb to curb while three skate skiers showed off how skiing doesn't have to end in April. They skied rings around our banner.

All the while the Durocher clan insured full employment for our dentists blasting out candy to the Copper Country children lining the street like throwing fish to barking seals.  While Grommit was off on vacation in the wilds of the Cowboy State, Julie Meyers strutted the avenue with Red and Blue to remind the crowd of Maasto's canine friendly trails. 

Thanks to our marching crew including Colin Pekkala, John Pekkala, Mark Roberts, John Diebel, Keith Meyers, Julie Meyers, Bridgett Durocher, John Durocher, Dave McCloud, Kate McCloud, Scott Lindenberg, Richelle Winkler and young 'un's too numerous to mention.

Sunday clean up?

With rain predicted here in the afternoon, this morning we headed back out for more cleaning up of the River Trail extension.   This time we started on the creek side.  

This bunch of branches were growing over the trail.
Some were 30ft from the trunk so the trusty
ol pole saw went to work again

We want the corridor to remain open under heavy
snow loads. This branch is one that would
 come down when we want to focus
on grooming, not tree trimming.

Gone! Preventative maintenance AND makes it look like a real trail.

Since inquiring minds want to know...we put up a new sign to tell them.

No fawns seen today but we did have a stow-away when driving back out. 
Maybe he came in to get out of the rain?

River Trail extension cleanup.

With warm temps forecasted here, our gang gathered at 8am and headed out to do more clearing of the River Trail extension. Now, about half of the trail is "done". We'll keep picking away at the rest as the temps and weather allows, on Tuesdays or weekends.

Thanks today to Carolyn and Heliena for lopping, John for stump-sawing, and the Aronson crew for general clean-up.

Not seen here is John D, who was out trimming stumps.

Thanks to all who came out today.

Wild life seen on or near the trail today.  Oven bird nest!

We hear these in the woods all the time.  This is the 1st time we've found a nest, or seen one.

Arly towed brush within 4ft of this little fellow.  He didn't move!

Saturday's help?

On Saturday at 8am, we'll be out to clean up the river trail extension of brush, shoots, stumps and leaning trees that got left during its original clearing.    We'll start from the top and work our way towards the creek.   We are starting earlier than normal because of the predicted heat that day and only work until it gets too warm out.   Can you help??    arlyn.aronson@gmail.com or 370-2911

Hope to see you on the trails with us!

Rhubarb, trees and trail work.

Today we made it out to the New River Trail and got some work done on it. We'll be out again to do more here on Tuesday and could use some help.  Please let us know if you can.

On the way out, we moved a trail 6 sign to a better location.

We also picked up some trees to plant on the top side of the New River Trail extension.

One's going here!

All done! This will help direct trail users the right way, without blocking the old trail.

Next, we headed down the River Trail extension to cut stumps, plus move
debris further away from the trail and less visible for trail users.

BONUS: We have an over abundance of Rhubarb.  Would you like some??