Bridge Building on the North Country Trail

Summer is rapidly approaching here in the Keweenaw as the Memorial Day weekend definitely provides that signal!

Coming into this past weekend last Friday, I put in a 2,800-yard swim and a 4-mile rail-trail run at an 8:44/mile pace. These workouts sandwiched a conversation with the Houghton County Marina where I learned from Jeff that they have about one-hundred people on their waiting list (which is helpful intelligence as we examine how best to size our proposed marina in Chassell). I would also talk with Andy Lahti about coming in to take samples from the material we have wrapped around our pipes in the former shop classroom in the basement at the Chassell Heritage Center. After successfully removing the pipes from the ceiling and wall in the Strawberry Room on the first floor, we want to be sure of what we are dealing with if we choose to self-perform the pipe removal from the basement.

Saturday, I started work on the Finland Trip presentation that I will give during a Thursday night program at the Chassell Heritage Center in August. It was also an opportunity to get the grass cut for the second time this season. Julie and I would take advantage of the beautiful evening by getting in a walk to Centennial Park and back.

Sunday morning, I would get out for five-mile rail-trail run at a leisurely 9:01/mile pace. Our friend John would stop by to pick us up as we headed south to the Canyon Falls Roadside Park to hike to the east along the Sturgeon River on the North Country Trail.

Spring brings an altogether different character to the trail as late summer will see this seen below filled with tall, deep green, ferns.

There are just a few up and down climbs in this segment of the trail.

Along the way we would pass Flat Rock which is one of our favorite summer swimming holes, but on this cool day we chose to just enjoy the view.

The highlight of this hike would be the significant array of wildflowers we would see along the way. There would be the usual suspects from our recent hikes like trillium, marsh marigolds, and trout lilies, but we would also see more delicate wildflowers like polygala, goldthread, and broadleaf toothwort.

You can see my GoPro video from this five-mile hike on the Remote Workforce Keweenaw YouTube channel at this link:

After the hike, I would draft an article for the Chassell Strawberry Festival booklet titled “News from the Chassell Heritage Center”.

The pool would be closed on Monday, so I focused my attention on turning out another article for the Chassell Strawberry Festival booklet with this one titled “What’s Happening in Chassell”. I would also get back to working on the Finland Trip presentation. I would break away from that later in the afternoon for a hike on the Chassell Fitness Trail with Julie and our friend Sue.

While completing this roughly 2.4-mile hike with stops at the fitness stations, I took a side hike over to the cemetery to pay my respects to my folks and it was very nice seeing my Dad’s marker with both American and Naval flags.

After focusing on putting a big dent in my presentation on Tuesday, today I would get an early start with my friends Mark and Stan to drive initially down to Nestoria and then north to where the North Country Trail runs through the Manger-Lynch property where a dozen of us would build a bridge over a small stream. The trick here was hauling all the needed lumber about a half mile down the trail which included some climbs and some occasionally challenging footing (not to mention the hungry black flies). I would put in 4.25 miles toward the Hike 100 Challenge going back and forth to haul in materials. Space won’t permit me to share photos this time, but you can check out my GoPro video from this team effort on the Remote Workforce Keweenaw YouTube channel at

Do you embrace winter and have the ability to work remotely? Consider locating in the Keweenaw where you will find ubiquitous natural beauty, no congestion, and lower crime! Explore the beauty you can find here by checking out the video shorts on the Remote Workforce Keweenaw YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/@remoteworkforcekeweenaw4149/shorts and learn more by visiting us at Remote Workforce Keweenaw at https://remoteworkforcekeweenaw.com.