Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore Ski Trails

Today we cross country skied the trails on the Grand Marais end of the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore. Today we skied trails C, E, and F. It is hard to say how far it is since the mileage on the signs appear to be incorrect. According to the signs we skied around 3.4 miles, but the actual distance may be less or more.

Temperatures were in the mid-20s with little to no wind. It is a beautiful day in Grand Marais!

In the center of the photo below are the steps going down to Sable Falls.

How about a picnic at the Sable Falls parking lot?

Heading back toward the car.....

Snow Depth around Grand Marais

Yesterday Sharon was out of town, but Barb and I continued our Monday-Wednesday-Friday routine and cross country skied in the school forest. The trails had not been groomed nor had the road heading west from the parking lot, so we skied back south toward H58 on the school forest road.

First, a few photos of the forest on either side of the road....

When we arrived back in town, we drove out Coast Guard Point road and checked out the "Front Porch" at agate beach. The snow banks are getting high!

As of the other day, the county road commission said Grand Marais had received 230 inches of snow so far this season. Then we had another ten inches or so. Although the map below says we have 36" of snow on the ground, in my yard on the level the snow is at least four feet  deep. There is no going off trail at this point.

School Forest Ski

It was cold yesterday (around 10 degrees), but the wind was minimal so we headed to the Burt Township School Forest to cross country ski. I only took a few photos since my focus was the rhythm of the ski.

Who wants to play a round of disc golf?

Barb's dog, Jake, is happy the school forest is dog friendly.

The chimney....

We spotted a squirrel eating a pine cone.

UP 200 Dog Sled Race

A friend planned on visiting me on Saturday so we could go and check out the dog sled race as well as go on a snowshoeing adventure. However, due to the foot of snow we received, she was not able to make the drive from Curtis. Because I was waiting for her, I did not get a chance to head downtown. Thanks to friend, Sharon, for allowing me to share her photos.

It was a challenging night for the mushers with wind chills below zero and deep snow. Some years the teams have arrived in Grand Marais (turn around point and rest stop for the teams) by mid-morning. The first team did not arrive this year until 2:30 in the afternoon with some teams arriving after 6pm.

There are around ten checkpoints in Grand Marais staffed by volunteers who help guide the teams into town and stop snowmobiles at trail crossing intersections. My friend, Sharon, and her family volunteered at checkpoint 8. Event organizers give them firewood. This year was so cold that the volunteers had to take refuge in their vehicles during part of their long shift from 6pm until after midnight! I volunteered for many years and did not this year since my friend was supposed to visit.

Snow, Snow, and more Snow

The total snow fall so far this winter in Grand Marais is now over 200 inches. The most recent blizzard started yesterday afternoon, continued all night, and is still going strong this morning. I was busy making mineral art and did not notice yesterday how much the snow piled up until around 6:00pm. When I noticed how much snow was on top of my sun porch roof (which does not have a lot of support), I donned my snowshoes and went out to roof rake. Thankfully, the snow was light and fluffy so it was not too difficult to rake.

This is a picture out my kitchen window this morning. I can no longer see out the window. The drift increased a few feet over night.

Roof raking.....

When I turned to the west to snowshoe up the drift to remove some of the snow off the house roof, I snapped the photo below. It was starting to get dark, but I was able to remove some of the snow.

Sable RIver Snowshoe

Yesterday my friend, Sharon, and I snowshoed from Sable Visitor Center part way to Sable Falls. There is a bridge that has been out on the trail for a few years. When we arrived at that ravine, we decided to not attempt to cross it due to the deep snow that prevented us from seeing where we were stepping. I wish the national park would fix that bridge!

On the trail I love passing the trees that are woodpecker decorated.

After snowshoeing down the trail for a bit, you arrive at the Sable River.

When we got to the ravine, we decided to just sit and enjoy the view, rather than risk traversing the ravine in the deep snow.

River otter tracks.

Snow depth around my house

Yesterday I put on my snowshoes to climb over plowed snowbanks to get to my LP pig. I cleaned off the pig, which I did not know until last year allows the LP tank to better feed my house. Then I decided to snowshoe my trails.  The snow is three to four feet deep on the level, which was a challenge since even with back country snowshoes I was sinking into the fluffy snow. It was hard going, so I only human-groomed my north trail.

View from my bathroom window.

View from the west end of my wood shed.

My LP pig was half buried with a foot of snow on top.

View from the LP pig looking east.

Most apples are off the trees, but not this tree on my north trail.

Hike just before winter storm

Yesterday the winter storm held off, which allowed us time to get out to get some exercise. Barb, Sharon,Jake, and I decided to just hike with boots again, since it was too warm to ski with temperatures around 30 degrees.

All together we hikes around three miles. Again, we headed west from the parking lot near the bridge in the school forest. Around half of the way back to the car, we sat on a snowbank and enjoyed celebrating Friday with a glass of wine.

 

 

 After our adventure, we headed back to town and drove over to Sharon and Jon's house, located on Coast Guard Point. Jon has an amazing snow plow and keeps up the snow removal several times a day. The location of their house exposes their property to major blowing and drifting. As I started up the driveway, I hesitated for a second because we could see some four feet drifts. But then, I decided to go for it. It was exciting and scary, especially when I hit the largest drift causing the snow to completely block my windshield. Jon was watching from the front door and said it was cool to see.

 

Below is their lake-side window looking west. They certainly have one of the best views in town!

I only had my new cell phone, so I was not able to get closeup photos of the waves hitting the ice shelf. The shore ice is now a few hundred yards out from the edge of the shoreline.

Sharon and Jon have a few pets, including this cool bird.

Dinner included venison shish kebobs, homemade applesauce, and rice. After dinner we played euchre. Jon and I successfully had revenge against Barb and Sharon and won this time in a very close game.