Recent adventures

I have been around some, so here is some recent outings I've done over the past few weeks.

I have been to Good Shepard church.

You know I love kids!  I just don't get to see many of them.

Oh and the big kids I love to.

I've also been on the trails, supervising work.

I told Arly to move markers off from here.

It been a wet spring so lots of trenched is done..

And trail work has been happening in general.

I love being out with trail crews.   They are sooooo friendly.

I'll see if Sarah might even give me a snack.

Oh ya Kieth.  Did you know I'm more of a lap dog?

Ya Jason, you can rub me some to.

Are we going to see you out with us?   Hope so!

NCT trail check!

Every spring, before the bugs come out and the heat turns on, we head to our section of the North Country Trail and clear it.  Today we hiked it just to investigate its condition and a trail mutt like me, loves the chance  to run on it some.

I was so happy to get out AND be at our favorite camp site on Gardner RD,
I had to roll in the pine needles.

OK lets get a going.  We are hiking west and 10 miles south of Mass City MI.

This way!

Oh, oh, tank creek is sure up!

Seems a family of beavers have moved in!

Back on the trail, they've been using it to skid logs to the creek.

Hunting is always the best here!

But that made me hungry and I asked for my kibble.

At our favorite take-a-rest spot.

It was wet, but not as bad as we thought it may be.

A hiker and dog had recently passed.  Maybe a thru hiker?

Oh good, there is plenty of water in the creeks.
Labradors and marsh marigolds just go together.

It really is spring here.  More so than at my home.

The descent to the Middle Branch has really eroded over the years.

Made it!

New bear gnawings were seen on the bridge.

How could this possibly taste good?

OK, let's head back!

Water's back down from spring melt-off.

Here's where this eroded trail will be re-routed. It's high, and dry!  We hike it back out.

A few trilliums were up.

Oh, Darling Creek is a great cooling spot.

My pack cleared this a couple years ago when the alder's had made it impassable.
Stil Lookin' good yet!
Funny because someone told us it would grow right back

I found another good cooling spot.

The trail's kinda wet, as we guessed it would be.

Tadpoles!

This 2-track is in rough shape.
The tadpoles will be happy to know, we won't be driving in on it soon!

Out of town adventures!

Since the pack couldn't leave town at Easter, we took a few days to go visiting and having adventures this past weekend instead. 

We left home Friday evening. The snow was melted on the roads by then. We overnighted in Ashland WI. After breakfast at our favorite Black Cat, we were off to Duluth then Ely.

We parked at a SHT trail head right in town.

This section follows Keane creek.

We love spring hiking!

There were friendly people on the trail...

And little girls! You know I love little girls.

New from the last time we were here: a mountain bike trail!

Let's take a break here.

We found a picnic table for our break.

View of the new MTB trail as we hiked back. Flowy!

There were some board walks over wet areas.

After lunch, we headed up to Ely to visit Gramma and Grampa.

On Sunday we headed out for a little romp around Bass Lake.

Oh, there are friendly people here too!

There were snippets of snow in the shady areas, yet.

Trail mutts always lead the way.

I stayed close for safety at Dry Falls.

I could fall in and be washed away, you know.

We met one friendly hiker and her dog on the trail.

Many trees were blown over last summer, even at this picnic spot.
Good thing were weren't eating here!

This is where the natural dam broke in the 1920's.

Oh my, more falling tree damage.

Plenty of these seen here.

Lake level is up. See where the trail is washed out?

We hike out on the path made for ice fishermen.

We had such a nice hike here today!

On Monday we got out just for a short romp.
The pack didn't appreciate the cool breezy wet conditions.
No problem when you sport a luxurious oily coat!