Canoeing in December

I've been restless here in suburban Minnesota lately so yesterday I geared up for the cold and portaged my dads canoe down to White Bear Lake for a late season paddle. Temperatures have just dipped into the 20's finally, and ice is just now forming around the lake's perimeter.

For clothing, I had my 5mm wetsuit steamer on as a base, with dry bottoms and a spray top over it, thick wool socks with my neoprene boots, a winter hat and thinner neoprene paddling gloves. The portage was quick and I only had a 10-12 feet of ice to cross to open water, which ultimately broke as I walked over it.

I followed the contour of ice south and around Manitou Island as far as I could go, then retraced my path back. While I was out I had the water all to myself, though I found out later that when my brother walked down to the beach to look for me he spotted a stand-up paddle boarder paddling out near a newly exposed island.

(I used Google Earth to map my route, this older photo shows inaccurate ice coverage)

I went down again today to see what conditions looked like and saw significant more ice coverage. Surprisingly there was still accessible open water, but a slight chop and cold breeze kept me onshore with Tischer. I'm still hoping for one more paddling day before total freeze-up, and am excited for the supposedly coming snow accumulation-it will be a first to paddle in that!

Think Snow!!!

Kitchen view sunset

Walking and Climbing w/ Tischer

Our usual walk down to Optimist Beach on White Bear Lake brings us through West Park, and on a recent evening Zeb and Jen joined us. We stood in the unfrozen shallow water and climbed trees and fences.

Checkin' out Christmas lights along the shore of WBL.

The old backstop at West Park.

She's got that.

Tischer showed off her mad climbing skills too, which are impressive. I can thank the tall snowbanks of Government Camp on Mount Hood for 3 years of practice.

December Column

Check out my latest column for The Mountain Times.

"I returned to Costa Rica for most of last month to surf the warm Pacific waves and spend some hammock time in the shade. To fill in a time that embodies the shoulder season between fall and winter when the skiing has more rock hazards than tree wells and the paddling is stormy.

With simple living in mind and a cheap ticket, we ditched the grey tint of Chicago and headed 2,200 miles straight south. First we scored a room only a block from the beach that had two beds with a thin sheet each covering an even thinner mattress. Next we acquired surfboards that caught good waves, fit perfectly in the corner when unused (which was mainly while we slept), and waxed them with a block of Sticky Bumps that was found in a pile of driftwood."

To read the rest click HERE.

Superior Dreams Blog

Greg and I have been slowly building a blog (which will soon be linked from a new SD website!) for our Superior Dreams trip. I just put a new post up and hopefully they will be coming more regularly now.

www.superiordream.blogspot.com

Exciting things are happening with this project.

Check it out!!

Take Me Away

I'm sitting in a recliner starring at a computer screen. Outside the window is a dreary White Bear Lake. But a short time ago I was many miles straight south, bobbing in the warm pacific on a surf board. Oh My! Take me away...

...to right Here.

It was a bright sun, not dissatisfaction.

It's All Good- A Canoe Country Sojourn

Here's a story I wrote for Northern Wilds this past summer, which I just discovered was online. It was the first portion of a 15 day trip, with just Zeb and Tischer.

"As my brother and I lowered my father’s aluminum canoe onto the surface of Sawbill Lake, I felt my heart begin to beat in rhythm with the gentle lapping waves. Standing at the launch on the edge of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area, our daydreams of the paddle strokes ahead were tempered by the three bulging Duluth packs waiting to fill the canoe.

Our hope was for a campsite after a quick portage, but just we crossed over the invisible wilderness line we eyed a rocky point with an empty site. And so with the sun teasing the treetops, we guided our craft onto dry land."

Click HERE for the whole story and a photo of Zeb.

Another Campfire and the Aromas of Home

My October column for The Mountain Times:

"Tonight I stood around a slow burning fire with my brother and our dad. The backyard in which I grew up in was quiet. Looking up, following the swirling smoke, the sky was aglow from the big city lights to the south. The burning wood scraps offered a subtle heat, the rest of me being warmed by my down vest with one cold hand from holding an iced beverage.

I thought back to the fires I would have on decent fall nights outside the cabin in Govy. The freshly split fir from stacked rows in the basement burned quickly on an overturned garbage can lid in the driveway. On those nights, the neighborhood was quiet too but the only brightness in the sky came naturally."

Click HERE to read the rest...(and scroll down past the first column-which isn't actually mine)

My last 5 days

A favorites from the summer

Nate Petry captures my arrival at Fox Island

Cut and Paste

Glissading up near Mount Alice

KTUU Channel 2 Anchorage - Day Trippin'

In May I had the opportunity to guide a reporter and photographer from the Anchorage NBC affiliate into Bear Glacier. I was sitting on the couch when the call came for the trip, only 30 minutes from departure, with freshly shaven handle bars and a rice burrito in my hands. About as ready as I'll ever be for a television appearance.

Watch the video below...


Or go to the Day Trippin' section of KTUU's website for the link to the video, read the verbage from the segment, and watch what they deem as a "Web exclusive: preparing and safety tips for glacier kayaking" showing me talking with Leyla, the reporter.

August Mountain Times Column

(*The MT website incorrectly lists the column "Your Liver or Your Life - You Are Forewarned" as mine.  It isn't.  Though I probably can qualify as someone capable of writing such a piece.  Scroll down the page to find my latest.)

A Cold - but Quickly Getting Old - Learning Experience

"Being in the grip of summer heaven, the words that follow might seem as unfamiliar to your eyes right now as the sound of thunder was to my ears during three years at my cabin on The Mountain.

The weather has finally, almost as though I really expected it to, turned here in Seward. It was like, as my boss likes to suggest (when referring to potential work in the sea kayak guiding world), someone flipped a switch.

Soft tan lines and salt stained T-shirts..."

To read the rest of this column click HERE.

Appreciating the Bay from ‘see’ level

"As the wind flings raindrops against the window just above my head, I strain to watch blurry treetops on the rising hill heading up toward Mount Marathon, dancing in the forceful gusts coming off the bay. The gray outside is broken by the occasional brightly colored poncho staggering by, heads tucked and pockets filled with wet fingers.

Draped next to me my raincoat — a constant companion the last few days — is feeding a growing pool of water on the hardwood floor. My hands are wrapped around a wide mug of hot tea, and my neoprene boots feel like cozy slippers on a blustery day meant for daydreaming.

On any other day..."

To read the rest of this story click HERE.

Hagen Visits, we do Fox Island

Reunion on the water.  Been a long time.

Nate in search of the horizon, leaving Fox Island

Smooth water entices our full breakfast bellies

Sunset! from our camp on Fox Island Spit

My solo paddle to meet my friends escorted by a fine sunset