Local Trails
Picking up with last Wednesday, the weather was not as hot as it has been on recent Wednesdays, so we got over to the SDC to meet up with the Keweenaw Running Group. Julie walked and I ran 3.8 miles on the MTU Trails.
Afterwards I headed over to the Chassell Fire Hall to provide the Planning Commission report at the the Chassell Township Board meeting. I briefed the board on our recent discussion with Dan Dowdy from the MDNR about the Sturgeon River Trail and the rail corridor (both of which we would like to partner on with Baraga County and the MDNR) as well as the installation of the kayak launch, our work on the 6-year capital improvement plan, and the recreation survey that was about to go out to Chassell residents to inform our next 5-year recreation plan.
On Thursday, the Capital Improvements Committee (Brian Waters, Doug Hamar, and I) met at the Fire Hall with the Chassell DPW staff (Cole Smith and Craig Austin) to discuss the 6-year capital improvement plan to gain their input on township assets. We discussed performing an asset inventory, categorization of assets, determination of useful life, and the need to develop a philosophy on replacement of non-capitalized assets. After that meeting, I headed over to the Chassell Heritage Center where I made a presentation about my experience doing the Border to Border Ski in Finland this past March. There was a nice turnout and the audience asked good questions. You can see a Facebook Live recording of my presentation on the Chassell Heritage Center Facebook page at this link.
We received some much needed rain on Friday, but it let up enough in the afternoon that we were able to get out for a hike with our friends Mark and Jennifer to check out the progress on the new Skyway Trail on the ridge up above M-203. The biking community is already starting to discover this new trail which will be an awesome addition to the mountain biking trail inventory here in the Keweenaw!
We then hiked the Swedetown Creek Gorge to check out MJO’s progress on the boardwalk and bridge replacement project. All of this infrastructure was wiped out during the Fathers Day Flood in 2018 and FEMA is funding its replacement.
Between these two hikes we covered over six miles.
Saturday, I took advantage of the cooler weather and got in a 5.1 mile rail-trail run. We then headed up to the Eagle Harbor Art Fair and picked some thimbleberries and raspberries for our current Airbnb guests. On our way back home we stopped for a baked parmesan crusted whitefish dinner at 4 Suns across from the Quincy Mine.
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