A strong wind out of the northeast means the surf is up down at the mouth of the Lester River (Duluth, Minnesota). See why Lake Superior is often referred to as the inland sea. There were over 20 folks surfing yesterday evening, including my friend Rhett.
(Enjoy Lake Superior? View my Tall Ships video montage)
Surfing on Lake Superior from Rich Hoeg on Vimeo.
Molly and I with our Pete Fleet! (with Fall colors to boot!). Click to view expanded!
Many of you know that Carl and I biked the BWCA Superior Tour this past August (Trip Report / Echo Trail Segment). It's been amazing over the past two months how many folks have asked … will you arrange another ride next year, and can we get involved? The answers are … yes and yes.
Most people seem to want to take a ride in the northern wilderness along the shores of Lake Superior. Thus, tonight, planning officially starts for the Trans-Superior Bike Tour which will take place during the Summer of 2011.
The distance from Sault St. Marie, Ontario to Duluth, Minnesota via the northern route (i.e. we won't go through Yooper Land) is approximately 625 miles. The tentative dates are Friday, August 5th to Monday, August 15th. My plan is to research hiring a commercial van / bus to drive us from Duluth to Sault St. Marie, Ontario. In addition, we would NOT have a van accompanying our ride. Participants would have to carry all their own clothes and repair gear. In my case that also includes a notebook computer! We would stay at small town motels every night.
Interested? Contact the Northstar Nerd at RichardHoeg{at}Gmail.Com to express interest.
Click to maximize the image given below.
Our ride is complete (view photos)! See my post of our ride across the Echo Trail.
Garmin Data / Satellite Maps of Each Day's Route / Elevation Changes: PPT | PDF
It's almost here! The BWCA Superior Tour – Father Son 350! On Sunday, Carl and I will leave Duluth, Minnesota on a 350 mile, 5 day bicycle ride through Northern Minnesota. Our travels will take us through the BWCA (Boundary Waters Canoe Area), ultimately coming down through Ely, Minnesota to Lake Superior to finish our ride.
One highlight of the trip will be biking the Echo Trail, built by the Civilian Conversation Corps (CCC) during the 1930's. This area was remote then … it's remote now! Over 45 miles of that day's ride will be on a dirt logging road. While the scenery will be fantastic, this kind of surface presents a challenge for riding. Most of the trip is through the Superior National Forest.
I'll make certain to update this post with our daily escapades. After all, like any true nerd, although I will be traveling light (two changes of washable clothes … one which is on me!), I will pack a netbook in my saddle bags. We don't have support vehicles for this trip.
Our five day ride includes:
You may wish to read Carl's perspective. He's worried about those darn pesky, unruly white tail dear!
(click to maximize)
Earlier this week I posted about ships of space, now I come back down to earth … change centuries … and blog about the Duluth Tall Ships Festival. Wow! I repeat, Wow! After all, it's hard to describe seeing nine historic ships under full sail. In fact, this was the most sailing ships seen on Lake Superior since 1890! As I'm 54 years old, which is getting on in life, I still was not around back then!
I spent the afternoon on my bike, and road from French River to Canal Park. This was the way to get around, and allowed me to see the ships tacking into the wind off Brighton Beach. I hope you enjoy some of my photos and movies. I had a blast! The NorthstarNerd has a fine appreciation of technology, new or old!
Barque Europe (click to view full sized)(Picasa Photo Album)
PhotoPeach (A Video Mashup with Music and Animation)
Tall Ships Duluth on PhotoPeach
Movies: