Category Archives: Year 3

Scenic 61 Sunrise Revisited!

February 14, 2016Year 3MN North: McQuade Harborrichardhoeg@gmail.com

If you are a Bob Dylan fan, you should understand the title of this blog post. The photo given immediately below reflects the sunrise I saw this morning from the frozen Lake Superior shoreline, and 100 yards off the famous Highway #61. Perhaps views such as this are just one of the many reasons Bob Dylan decided to immortalize this road in song!

Highway 61 Revisited Wikipedia Link
Scenic-61-Sunrise

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Birding opportunities have been limited over the past week as I fine tuned my conditioning level for the Mora Vasaloppet Nordic Ski Race. Yesterday I joined 665 of my best friends and raced across the countryside of central Minnesota. For all the folks on the East Coast who are bemoaning some cold weather this morning, the temperature at the race’s start yesterday was -8F (-22F), and then I was out skiing for 40 kilometers (3 hours, 30 minutes).

All did not go as planned for me in the race. At the 24 km mark I hit a bare spot on a downhill turn. The law of physics demanded that my body continue downhill, but the same law of physics required my skis to instantly stop on bare ground. My crash was impressive, and resulted in a broken ski. By the final lap race officials were in place at this particular spot warning skiers.

Now a broken ski normally requires one to give up. For a few minutes that was my intention, but after shaking off the pain from the fall and walking a short distance I told myself: “Self, stop feeling story for yourself!” Thus, I inspected my broken ski and decided that if I were real careful and babied/ nursed it I might be able to ski remaining 16 kilometers to the finish. Double polling on all flats, and mild uphills was now required. My right ski would not hold up if I tried to kick hard off that leg (a normal activity in classic skiing). When the terrain demanded “striding”, I restricted myself to kicking only with my left leg. The result was slow and definitely not graceful, but it worked. The ski held together and when I climbed the last steep hill 1/2 km before the finish I was pumped! Letting out a war whoop I double polled to the finish line.

Perseverance in both birding and life in general can be a good thing. While I have a very sore left leg from overworking yesterday (the right leg is fine … it was just along for the ride!), in the end I enjoyed yesterday’s experience more than many races, and I still beat almost 1/3 of the field. Go figure, not bad for someone who is one month shy of his 60th birthday!

Me and the Broken Ski

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Molly and Yours Truly Post Race: Molly raced 58 kilometers … the oldest woman to attempt and complete that distance. I am very proud of her! (read her blog)
Broken-Ski-Molly-Rich

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A view of the start as people start to assemble and reserve spots. The race begins and ends of the main street in the small town of Mora, Minnesota. Their actually two kinds of races, classic and skate. You can see the classic tracks on the right.
Broken-Ski-Start

-15F Delays Breakfast! (-26C)

February 11, 2016Year 3MN North: Amityrichardhoeg@gmail.com

The last few mornings it has been a bit cold … -15F (-26C). I’ve noticed in addition to puffing up their feathers against the severe temperatures, the birds are delaying their breakfast on these cold mornings by almost one hour! Sunrise locally is approximately 7:20 am. On warmer days birds visit my feeders by sunrise. Over the past few days, they wait till almost 8:30 am before feeding for the first time. I’ve also been surprised to see some slate colored juncos. They should have remained south. Two juncos and a few pine siskins have joined the 40+ common redpolls which visit my feeders in mass.

I understand! I’ve been delaying my cross-country ski workout till about noon when the temperature still struggles to reach 0F. The advance forecast for the Mora Vasaloppet (40 km race) this Saturday calls for about -10F at the start. I wish I could fluff out my feathers like the birds. Stay tuned!

Y3-M02-Common-Redpoll-2 Y3-M02-Common-Redpoll-1 Y3-M02-Slate-Colored-Junco

Ice Locked!

February 9, 2016Year 3MN North: Duluth Harborrichardhoeg@gmail.com

A few weeks ago I decided it would be a fun photography project to take a picture of every ship which was locked in the Duluth/Superior harbor ice for the winter. I set some parameters which included the day had to be sunny, and each photo had to be taken on the same day. In this manner I hoped to expand my photography skills while enjoying the Northland’s winter. It took almost three weeks for the forecast to include a 24 hour period of partly cloudy to clear skies. This morning was my first opportunity. I set off an hour before dawn such that I might arrive on location at my first “ship location” 40 minutes before sunrise. I finished an hour after sunset (with time off in-between).

Now that I have taken my last image, I have learned … while ships are big and motionlesss subjects while locked in the thick harbor ice, it can still be hard to get the desired light and compositions. Access to the docks is sometimes restricted, and I needed to “make do” at times with views which were not sometimes my first choice. In addition, a ship without something else in the photograph can be boring. Thus, figuring out other items to add into the composition is useful.

Here is the end result! (learn more about Great Lakes Shipping)

The Meteor … an old whaleback iron ore carrier (1896: 380 feet)