Prime Time for Thimbleberries!
Last Monday started with a 1,700 yard swim at MTU’s SDC followed by an oil change on the truck. The rest of the day would be spent splitting firewood and soaking our shiitake mushroom logs in the lake.
Tuesday was again focused on house related chores as I power-washed the decks on the house and scrubbed/power-washed the mold off the siding on the east side of the house.
Wednesday I got in a 4-mile rail-trail run in the morning recognizing it was going to be too hot for me to run in the evening with the Keweenaw Running Group.
Across all three of these days I assembled my PowerPoint presentation for the presentation I will be making this coming Thursday at 7:00 p.m. at the Chassell Heritage Center about my experience doing the Border to Border Ski across Finland this past March. I also shared Erik Chamberlain’s remote worker vignette on social media.
You can learn Erik’s remote work story on LinkedIn or on the Remote Workforce Keweenaw Facebook page
On Wednesday evening I decided to slip out onto the lake in the fishing kayak and actually fish for the first time in a long while. I wasn’t out there fifteen minutes when I hooked into this 26” pike with a Rapala countdown.
I noticed that my friend Eero’s boat was out of its slip so I texted him to see if he would fillet this one for me. He was getting ready to come in and indicated he would. I am a hack at best while Eero can fillet the Y-bones out of a pike with masterful precision. A well filleted pike makes for an awesome dinner while a poorly filleted one provides an experience to the contrary. I bled out the pike and enjoyed kicking back in the kayak as the sunset approached and waited for Eero’s arrival.
Thursday Julie and I headed down to Ontonagon County to hike a portion of North Country Trail to the west of Old Victoria with our friends Mark and Jennifer. We bushwhacked into the trail from the Victoria Road and came across the Devon Mine site where we passed by this open adit.
We initially hiked from east to west. There are overlooks along the Trap Hills escarpment that provide nice views looking both west and south.
After working our way down from the escarpment, we turned back to the east where the Peter Wolfe Chapter’s segment 13 meets segment 12.
Turning back meant we had to go back up what we had just come down. The cumulative elevation gain on this hike according to Strava was around 500 feet.
We took a break for lunch at the top of Cushman Falls.
We ended up hiking four more miles toward our #hike100NCT goal. You can see my GoPro video from the hike on the Remote Workforce Keweenaw YouTube channel at this link:
We stopped at Krupps in Twin Lakes for pasties on the way home as I needed to pound down an early dinner ahead of volunteering for 2 1/2 hours at the Chassell Heritage Center from 4 to 6:30 and then attending the Chassell Township Planning Commission at 7:00. At the PC meeting we had a really nice discussion with Dan Dowdy from the MDNR to talk about our interest in collaborating with Baraga County and the MDNR on a river trail recognition regarding the Sturgeon River and charting a vision for the rail corridor between Baraga and Chassell.
Friday morning started with a 1600 yard swim at MTU’s SDC followed by weedwhacking on the Chassell Historic Trail. Julie prepared an awesome pike dinner that evening!
Late Saturday morning I got in a 5-mile rail-trail run ahead of the heat and then we went over to the Nara Nature Trail to walk the dogs and pick thimbleberries.
When we returned home, I cleaned the berries and Julie made them into jam. We brought the excess jam and pike Julie didn’t fry up Thursday night with us to dinner with friends. The jam made an outstanding topping for key lime pie!
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 this link at Visit Keweenaw. Check out Remote Workforce Keweenaw at https://remoteworkforcekeweenaw.com and learn about those making the decision to locate here by following the Remote Workforce Keweenaw Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/RemoteWorkforceKeweenaw.