North Country Trail Snowshoe

When I left you last time we were heading south on Forest Highway 16 to do a snowshoe hike on the North Country Trail near Bob Lake in the Ottawa National Forest. We drove this snow-packed road from M-38 until we reached the point where the trail crosses the highway. After we shoveled out parking spaces and got all the vehicles situated, we headed westward on the trail.

This area presents undulating hills that were likely left behind by the glaciers.

This trail segment crosses a few streams that feed into Bob Lake to the northwest. The most interesting of these involves a beaver dam that has created quite a large impoundment.

There has been a fair amount of logging activity going on in the area around the trail. The segment crosses a couple of logging roads that have been built to facilitate this harvesting activity. Fortunately, the forest along the trail has remained largely intact and would display the recently fallen snow quite beautifully throughout the hike.

I put together a photo montage from the snowshoe using the GoPro App that you can find as a short on the Remote Workforce Keweenaw YouTube channel at this link: https://youtube.com/shorts/fcqf9o8pCh0?si=44itTJbgJ1YEO78V

You can see my GoPro video from the snowshoe at this link:

After some shoveling on Monday morning we made it over to the pool at MTU and I started the week with a 2,350-yard swim.

The ground was still too warm to track the Chassell Ski Trails. I would roll them using the Gator with a stop to shovel snow onto the trail in the grove of hemlock trees. Only one skier had been on the trails since we rolled on Sunday.

Tuesday would start off with some great news as our daughter Amy had given birth just after 7:00 a.m. to Charles Theodore Burch who weighed in at six pounds and thirteen ounces. He had decent size for being three weeks early. I would celebrate by heading out to the trails to groom. With the trails still not ready to be tracked I rolled the trails with the comb down behind the Polaris.

After having lunch, I drove up to Hancock to stop by the Copper Shores Community Health Foundation to drop off our contribution for Giving Tuesday. After talking briefly to CEO Kevin Store, I then headed up to the Tomasi Trailhead at Maasto Hiihto to ski the new Trail 17 S-curves and the 96-foot boardwalk and 24-foot bridge that we recently constructed. The trails had been rolled yesterday, but there was already a good layer of fresh snow on top of that work. So you can get the full effect, here is the GoPro clip skiing from the top of the S-curves to the bridge:

You can see my GoPro video for my 4.9-mile ski on the Remote Workforce Keweenaw YouTube channel at this link:

After returning home, Julie and I would go for a 1.75-mile snowshoe on the yellow Chassell Snowshoe Trail. All this recent snow made it a perfect time to be in the woods!

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! Not sure? Come UP for a workcation to check it out! Learn how at Visit Keweenaw at https://www.visitkeweenaw.com/plan/trip-ideas-itineraries/workcations/ Visit Remote Workforce Keweenaw at https://remoteworkforcekeweenaw.com. Learn about those making the decision to locate here by following the Remote Workforce Keweenaw Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/RemoteWorkforceKeweenaw.