Mixing in Some Snowshoeing
The past week was a nice blend of snow and sunshine! The concept of blending extended to our activities as well with a mix of cross country skiing, running, and snowshoeing! Below average temperatures continued, but were reasonable for outdoor activities!
We started the week with a ski with friends on the Swedetown Trails in Calumet. We skied out on the Valley Trail and Greenstone then proceeded through Mama Bear and Baby Bear before coming back by way of Ed’s Loop. The recent snow made it particularly fun to attack the hills on Ed’s Loop which is one of my favorite cross country ski trails!
You can check out the GoPro video from the first part of the ski on the Remote Workforce Keweenaw YouTube Channel at this link:
Monday brought a bright sunny day that was too good to pass up for time outdoors! Though the day was packed with a lot of other business, we squeezed in a snowshoe from the Nara Nature Park Trailhead at the Pilgrim River on the River Trail! This place holds special memories for me as John Nara was my merit badge counselor when I worked on the First Aid to Animals merit badge as a boy scout and he and Jan let me stream fish here on the Pilgrim when I was growing up.
The cold weather made Tuesday and Wednesday great days to knock out work on a number of my projects, I got out to run with the Keweenaw Running Group on Wednesday evening to run 7th from the SDC at MTU. Even though it was quite brisk, it felt great to strap on the Yaktrax and get out!
Thursday we shoehorned in a snowshoe on the Red and Orange Chassell Snowshoe Trails in advance of the evening’s Chassell Township Planning Commission meeting! The Red trail is overlooked by many and has a beautiful stop at Hamar Creek Falls! The trail is easily accessed from the parking area on Archambeau Road.
The sunny conditions continued into Friday, so we headed up to Copper Harbor to ski the trail adjoining the south side of town that leads into Fort Wilkins State Park. The conditions were awesome and we ran into only four people out on the trail! It is particularly cool to ski through the fort this time of year. You can’t help but think about how remote it had to feel to be stationed here in winter during the 1840s. The trail initially loops toward Brockway Mountain where you can pick up this view looking back toward it.
After completing the loop behind Copper Harbor, the trail goes through a wooded area along Lake Fanny Hooe until you cross the bridge over Fanny Hooe Creek and enter Fort Wilkins.
You can see the GoPro video from our ski on the Remote Workforce Keweenaw YouTube channel at this link:
As we headed back home from Copper Harbor, someone flipped the snow switch and we found ourselves in near white-out conditions in a few spots on our way home. Even though the driving conditions were less than ideal, the total lack of congestion on the road made the drive quite easy!
Saturday morning started with an amazing sunrise over Portage Lake. It turned out to be a good predictor for the snow that would come as the day progressed.
In the afternoon we went for a snowshoe hike with friends into the Keweenaw Land Trust’s Lily Creek Nature Area. The closeness of the forest in such quiet, snowy conditions provides quite a sensory experience!
We also snowshoed out to the beaver dam at Mark and Kathy’s place. It would be interesting to have an inside view of this lodge and to be able to observe just how active they are during the winter. The beavers surely had to be wondering what all the commotion was about around them!
If you have the ability to work remotely, embrace winter, and would appreciate living in a place with ubiquitous natural beauty that has no congestion, consider locating in the Keweenaw! Learn more about us by visiting Remote Workforce Keweenaw at https://remoteworkforcekeweenaw.com and learn about those who have made the decision to locate here by follow the Remote Workforce Keweenaw Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/RemoteWorkforceKeweenaw!