Keeping It Curious

I've been hanging out with my parents in Wisconsin for a week, so I really don't know what's going on in da Harbor right now.  Sorry.

But I have been out for a cross country ski since I talked to you last.  A ski around Ft. Wilkins with a new friend, Annele.  The conditions were wonderful, the scenery was spectacular and the company was pleasant.

A couple areas of interest along the way were Fanny Hooe Creek with her sleek water sliding over the rocks and bubbling under icy banks.  The white buildings at the fairgrounds were another cool spot.  The uniqueness here was that the roofs were all covered in a fresh layer of snow -- white buildings with white roofs on the white ground against a white sky.  That would have made for an interesting picture with the lack of contrast.

But here's the part that made my heart swell.

While we were out, we passed two people out waking their dogs, one skier with her dogs and two snowshoers.  Usually when I'm out, I don't see anyone except my buddy for the day.  That day I saw five!  And three of them were locals!  Yes!  I love it that people are getting out to enjoy the magic we have out our back door.  I was still giddy about this when I got home.

For another sweet adventure, I took Annele on a snowshoe.  We crunched up to the original spot of Fort Juniper, then followed the Lake Superior shoreline to the mouth of Fanny Hooe Creek.  Here are some shots from the shoreline part of the journey.

Surfboards of harbor ice

Annele above a monster ice hole

An icy shore

I want you to pay particular attention to that last picture.  See that chunk of ice in the middle?  It's blue.  Really, truly blue.  I didn't edit that picture at all.  Pretty snazzy, hey?

On our trip through the Fort area, we were going to take the south trail next to the lake.  It would have been pretty chilly with that bully south wind.  Luckily, Annele spotted a meandering snowshoe trail past the bridge.  We followed that through some trees and camp grounds.  Really a neat perspective that I hadn't experienced before.

Then we saw this spectacle.

A snow-curl slide off a picnic table

So this display was sighted all throughout the west campground on south-facing tables.  A few days before this picture was taken, we had a couple days of sunshine.  That sun heated the tables just enough to make the snow slide slowly but surely off the tables.  As the edge of the snow hung over the edge of the table, it started to bend down.  By the time that bend hit the ground, it continued to curve slowly but surely back under the table.  Pretty cool, huh?

It was another wonderful adventure.

Now I don't usually do this personal stuff, but little Braeden sure looked cute in this mohawk hat.  So here he is... 

Braed-man rockin' the mohawk hat

You don't have to tell me.  That's a cute little boy right there.  He steals my heart daily.

I'll be back to the yoop soon.  See you then!