It's raining like crazy in Duluth today. I'm working at home today from my new house which is across the street from a waterfall known locally as the "Deeps". I can hear the roar of the waterfall while I'm at my computer, but can not see it. Sorry about the "rain drops" on the two photos. Even though I was under an umbrella it was hard to stay dry! Here's a video of the same waterfall taken during the Winter melt.
Click upon either image to view full sized.
Early this Spring while planning the BWCA Superior Tour, I wanted to route my son and I over the Echo Trail from Orr to Ely, Minnesota. After doing some extensive research via the web I could not find trip reports from anyone who had bicycled this route. Last week, Carl and I completed our five day bike ride which included our trip across the Echo Trail. Here is my trip report.
First some background about the Echo Trail. This remote dirt logging road cuts through the Superior National Forest and BWCA (Boundary Waters Canoe Area) in northern Minnesota, and was built by the Civilian Conversation Corps (CCC) during the 1930's. It is truly a wilderness area. Cabins, businesses, or buildings of any kind are not allowed till you exit the BWCA section of your ride.
We left Orr at 6:10 a.m. Given the temperature was forecast to approach 90 later that afternoon with high humidity, we wanted to enjoy the cool Minnesota morning. Your trip leaves Orr on County Road #23, which intersects US Hwy #53 at the only traffic light in Orr. The first 33 km (20.5 miles) are on a nice asphalt road with very little traffic. Depending upon the time of day you start your ride, you may have the opportunity to use a small store when you turn right off CR #23 onto the Echo Trail (start of dirt road). This is your last chance to refuel till Ely. Take advantage of it if you are biking later in the day, you have 82 km (51 miles) to travel before you reach Ely.
Some important final notes … there are no stores or gas stations after the first 33 kilometers. Ely is your first opportunity to refuel since that point. Carl (my son) and I each packed a gallon of water for our trip via the water bottles attached to our bikes, and some extras in our saddle bags. Although the Echo Trail keeps you out of the sun for most of the dirt road portion of your ride, this amount of water was the bare minimum. As a fyi, we left Orr at 6:10 a.m. and the temperature was 64F. The ride took us seven hours in total, and it was almost 90F when we reached Ely (and humid). Although 71 miles may not seem like a ride which should take 7 hours (with rests), the hills were tough, and the dirt road slows down your speed. As a point of comparison, I had recently finished running a marathon in 4 hours 15 minutes, which isn't bad for a 54 year old Dad (my point, Carl and I were both in shape for the ride).
Take a look at either the attached Powerpoint or Adobe PDF files. I have screenshots of my Garmin data with annotations. (Garmin Data: PPT | PDF). Finally, enjoy a few photos from our ride. If you're like Carl and I, you'll bike the next day from Ely down to Lake Superior. The last 10 miles of that ride down to Lake Superior is great fun … hopefully you'll get the prevailing tail wind out of the West like we did!
Cheers, and Happy Trails (link to photo album)!
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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!
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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:
In the 1969 I sat glued to the TV set and watched Neil Armstrong become the first man to set foot on the moon. The rocket required to reach the moon was huge, and expensive (Saturn V). This achievement had been set in motion by Russia's launching of Sputnik. Never in my wildest dreams did I ever imagine we would reach the day where I could afford to launch my own personal satellite. However, today is that day!
For $8,239 any person can now launch their own satellite … solar arrays, transmitter, and price of launch ARE included. You can even pay by PayPal for your very own TubeSat. Here is a brief description from the official InterObital Systems web page:
A TubeSat is designed to function as a Basic Satellite
Bus or as a simple stand-alone satellite. Each TubeSat kit includes
the satellite's structural components, printed circuit board (PCB)
Gerber Files,
electronic components, solar cells,
batteries, transceiver,
antennas, microcomputer, and the required programming tools.
With these components
alone, the builder can construct a satellite that puts out enough power
to be picked up on the ground by a hand-held amateur radio receiver.
Now that's cool! I personally think that college engineering departments should start a new competition based upon TubeSat. We need to get our your technologists excited again about space exploration. After all, if you had $8,000 available, what kind of satellite would you build? I'm still trying to come up with my idea!
In closing, here are two images … the Saturn V Moon Rocket, and the TubeSat Personal Satellite. Click upon any image to view full sized.