Sheyenne River State Forest

The hikes today were the most out of the ordinary for North Dakota. ND has five state forests (not very many), and the NCT goes through one of them. It is an atypical area of hills and trees. There are actually vistas.

Since I was last there in 2022, the NCTA has helped build a large parking area with a kiosk and latrine. The previous parking was only large enough for a few cars. The forester was telling us a bit about the area.

For over 200 miles, the trail is never far from the Sheyenne River. This was no exception. I did learn that the Shyenne is a perched river, meaning that the geology of the banks are higher than the surrounding ground, as natural levees formed when the river was created by the emptying of glacial Lake Souris.

The Sheyenne River State Forest is also home to North Dakota's only waterfall. It's not much to look at, but it's a huge destination just because it's the only one. One really unusual thing about this week is that ND is having a really bad mosquito week. We are about being carried away!

In the evening we had a great dinner.

Followed by some awards. Here Jerry receives the national Trail Builder of the Year Award from Deb. Jerry hosted me when we were here on my big hike.

These people are my tribe. We love recognizing those who do great service to the organization and the trail.

Hiked 5.4 miles on NCT in Sheyenne River State Forest

See North Dakota Eastern Edition

This Is North Dakota Eastern Edition

Today is day 1 of the Hike Fest.

I went on the 3.5 mile hike in the morning. Most blazes in ND are on posts.

People think North Dakota is flat. And it is in certain places, but there are many places where it is more like this-- rolling hills and some trees. These are mostly oaks along the Sheyenne River. This was our first view of the river (the brown stripe down in the valley)

This hike went from the Berg Trailhead across a section of private property that has been granted a trail easement.

The chapter has put in a number of new stiles (fence crossings). This design is super! There are steps that go through the fence and you walk up one side and down the other. Other designs work fine, but they are more like climbing the fence.

And why are there fences and stiles? Because there is large-scale grazing of beef on much of the land. This is a good thing because the prairie grasses evolved with the bison, and to keep the native plants healthy they need to be grazed.

The cows are extremely curious. They all ran over to see what we were. But when we climbed into their pasture they ran away like the wind.

The afternoon hike was 6.5 miles from Ekre Trailhead to Jorgen's Hollow Campground. This is within the National Grassland which is marked by posts with an angled top and the NCT emblem.

We arrived at Jorgen's Hollow in time for a yummy picnic dinner, and a few remarks, introductions of people, and the presentation of a few awards. Great fun. There are about 80 people who came to ND to participate.

The mosquitoes were pretty bad, but the worst was the heat. So I hiked 10 miles that were very hot. I know, I know... I should be used to that, but I don't seem to be.

There was really cold water available to drink at the end, so that was nice.

More hikes tomorrow.

Miles today: 10 miles on the NCT in North Dakota.

See North Dakota Here We Are

North Dakota, Here We Are

First stop this morning was to see a house in Minnesota that was built by Diane's grandmother's half brother. It's now on the National Register of Historic Places!

Believe it or not, I think we made more stops than we did yesterday, although many of them were short.

Minnesota is in love with large animal statues. Along the NCT you can find the world's largest loon, prairie chicken, and turkey. I have pictures of those. Now I've added an otter to the collection. But this one is metal.

It's holding down a fish with one paw.

Next stop was to do a short hike at Maplewood State Park so Diane could get some Minnesota NCT miles.

Then we needed lunch, which was topped off with pie. Pie is picture worthy.

Then we stopped in Pelican Rapids to see, well, the world's largest pelican!

Then it was off for the North Dakota border and Fort Abercrombie. They have recreated the blockhouses of the fort.

We made a couple of short stops to collect scavenger hunt game answers that is part of the Hike Fest. Then it was on to Dead Colt Creek Campground. There are several other people here who are attending Hike Fest.

This day is DONE! Tomorrow starts early enough with a hike, and I think we maxed out this day. We are beat, but happy. View from our campsite.

Hiked 1 mile of NCT in Maplewood State Park, Minnesota.

See People and Places

People and Places

Isn't that the title of one of those grade level readers we had in the 1950s? Well, we were people on the move with places to visit today!

We started with breakfast with our host Lorana and long-time Marquette Chapter volunteer Jan.

Because multiple generations of Diane's family have been firefighters and EMTs, she wanted to stop at the Marquette Fireman's Memorial which is right on the NCT!

Next stop was a little hike to see the new Tyler Forks Bridge where Bill and I waded on the big hike in 2022. It's certainly a unique bridge. There's not another like it anywhere along the NCT. The hardened ford is so a property owner can get access.

Time for quick stop at the Soo Line Station building in Ashland, WI. It had been made into a fancy restaurant (where we were taken to eat long ago), then it burned. The city raised money forever to restore it. We wanted to see how that was going. The first floor is all fixed and has businesses operating. The second floor is still being worked on. It's an amazing building.

That left us just the minutes we needed to get to Kevin and Ellie's house. They hosted Bill and me on the big hike. Murphy in the middle is making sure we all know he's there.

"Come for lunch- we'll just have sandwiches and fruit," said Ellie. It was a lovely smorgasbord!

Another long-time NCT volunteer met us there too-- Peter. He came so I could get his new book A Place on Water, a nice collection of essays about rural Wisconsin. We had a private author reading! I'll share more after we read more of it.

Then we drove some more and are now settled in for the night in Minnesota.

This was not planned, but I was delighted to discover that the campground is on the Mississippi River!

Do we know how to stuff a day or what?

Now it's dark and I can't see they keyboard, but I've said enough for one day anyway.

Hiked 1.6 miles on NCT from WI Rt 169 to the Tyler Forks and back.

See One Last Peep from Paradise

One Last Peep from Paradise

Jean and I traveled together, stayed together, and our booths were next to each other. Between us, we can cover just about any range of ages with books!

As you've seen before, she usually brings a chicken to help her sell her children's books about chickens. This time Peep came. Peep is a young silkie, and she's a hoot. She's very curious. She hopped over to my table a few times, and really is fun for people to interact with.

The lake was about the clearest I've seen there. That is Canada across the way.

The last musical act of the day was the Blue Water Ramblers. They were great! Definitely pro level. They did gospel, folk, and Michigan specific songs. One line stuck in my mind. "We'd rather go to Hell than New York City." If you are from Michigan, you'll get that. (Hint...Hell is even smaller than Paradise. If you are elite, you can say you've canoed through Hell. I have)

Marie and Diane arrived early afternoon. We left without any known glitches after the event was over. As far as we are aware, all the things that need to come with me to ND are in Diane's car, and all of the things that go home went with Bill and Shirley. Hopefully, we did it correctly.

We are now at friend Lorana's house in Marquette. We'll get pictures of us tomorrow. Too tired tonight!

See Around the Venue

Around the Venue

Hey hey! It is, after all, the Wild Blueberry Festival. Here's the genuine wild blueberry.

It rained overnight (big thunderboomers!), and the vendors had their stuff well-enclosed or stashed, but everyone had wet tent sidewalls to deal with. The fencing along the back of the lot made a great drying rack.

They had all the usual entertainment. The clown does face painting and makes balloon animals.

There are quite a few musicians who perform. There was a ventriloquist. The jugglers who are always there have stepped up their act a bit. Not only do they juggle flaming torches, but now they do it while one is on a unicycle and the other is on one of those boards on a roller where you have to balance. They try to make a big joke of it all, but they are really very good. I did not get a picture of that.

Here are the other Ludington vendors. Steve sells his photography. This picture only shows a small part of it.

And Shirley (and Bill not pictured) sell her knitted items and prints of his drawings of lighthouses. (Shirley and Steve's wife Brenda are both in bell choir with me)

One more day. I had good sales again today, and the rain didn't start until just closing time. Tomorrow is supposed to be cooler, which could be good. But whatever it is, it's all gravy for me at this point.

This has been a good event for me every year. People come with the intent of buying things, and there is good entertainment and reasonably priced food. I don't know numbers, but they draw in a huge crowd every year.

See Welcome to Paradise

Welcome to Paradise

Made it through the first day of the Wild Blueberry Festival in Paradise!

I did quite well with sales. That said, these are long, long days of intense marketing.

Jean and I are staying with a Ludington couple who have a cabin here, and who are also vendors. In fact, there is yet another Ludington couple who are also vendors. So we all had dinner together this evening. Steve sells his photography, Bill has artwork of lighthouses, and Shirley has knitted items.

Jean made a sourdough focaccia bread to bring and share. She decorated it with vebetables and herbs to look like flowers. I'm really impressed. I see pictures of this kind of thing, but have never known someone who actually did it. It was delicious!

Lake Superior can have a temper, but it was calm and beautiful this evening.

And, because I've had a running joke on the blog for years with flamingoes, here are more different ones. These are beaded.

And now, I need to get flat and rest up to do it all over again tomorrow. At least it's supposed to be a little cooler than today.

See Festival Fun