Hiking Vermilion Gorge

Hi again! The summer was pretty busy so Mr. Wonderful, Danny, and I took a Sunday off to make another hike up to Vermilion Gorge. The leaves were still beautiful, and the high temp was 88!

People often mistake Vermilion Falls with Vermilion Gorge. The Falls are the really short hike that was shortened a few years ago. It’s right before Crane Lake. Here is the USFS sheet on that one.

Vermilion Gorge is the 3 mile round-trip hike that takes about 3 hours “at a leisurely pace”, according to Vermilion Gorge USFS info sheet. Drive all the way through Crane Lake and park in the private parking lot for Voyagaire Houseboats on the left. In the fall and early spring, the lot is full of said houseboats, but there will be signs pointing you to the trailhead.

The hike starts in a birch/aspen (popple) forest, and the sky was perfect this day. Most of the maple leaves were on the ground, but the vibrant yellows popped with the deep blue fall sky. We spent a lot of time looking straight up.

As the trail climbed into the Norway pines, we noticed a million types of mushrooms.

And writing this post, I noticed we got photobombed by a bald eagle!! Very top of the photo, left of center.
The reflections were breathtaking.

Some kind soul had left a walking stick at the trailhead, so the Boy happily used it, returning it for the next person.

I could be wrong, but I think this is a glacial erratic. I didn’t get any good shots of it on this trip, so this pic is from last year.

We sat for a break (for me, not them lol), and Paul noticed this birdnest in a birch tree overhanging the gorge.

Yep, he has his device. But he got some awesome photos and is reading in this picture. No gaming.

It was during this break that I noticed cairns farther upstream. Paul and Danny did some scouting, and were sure I could make it, with help. I’m so lucky to have these two; I wouldn’t have attempted this hike without backup. Not that it’s super-difficult; it’s just too much for me, with bum hips, knees, and ankles. They were such troopers, helping me up and down stairs and steep sections of trail.

Anyway, I remembered being on the other side of the monolith with a friend several years ago, and had pretty much given up the idea of making it there this time. Luckily the lure of getting photos with the sun hitting the gorge dead-on and a little encouragement from my family got me over the hump.

Would you believe that not counting the canoeists, we only saw two people on the way in, and a group of four as we were almost back out??

Hope you enjoyed the hike!

October 27, 2015

For Fox’ Sake…

That may be my favorite blog post title EVER.

On Sunday July 6, Mr. Wonderful, Male Spawn, and I took a day trip to the Vermilion Falls and Vermilion Gorge hiking trails. Northern MN has been getting a lot of rain and so I hoped there would be lots of photo opportunities. The weather didn’t cooperate, but the wildlife did!

Next time we’ll take video, too. On the short walk back to the car, someone pointed out a dragonfly.

Then Danny grabbed my arm and pointed up the trail…

Could it be a Red fox? They come in many colors…including Silver, which is different from the Gray fox, which are one of only 2 members of the Canidae family that can climb trees…but the Gray fox has a black tail. Crap.

This was driving me nuts! (I really really really hoped that it was a young Timber Wolf. That opened another can of worms. )

I sent the photos to my friend Colleen who works at the USFS, LaCroix Station. The biologist there said it was a Cross fox. 100% sure. At first I didn’t understand. Was that a cross between a Red and Gray? Nope, it is a TYPE of Red fox. At one time it was thought to be it’s own species, but DNA study changed that. However, “fur farmers and trappers continued to treat each red fox colour form as a distinct species long after scientists concluded that they were variations of the same one”, according to Wikipedia. Well, that clears things up!

I have hauled my Nook around everywhere with me, even to a Little League game. Jeremiah’s dad (John) said he would look into it, too. He works for the DNR. **JUST IN** The DNR says Cross Fox, too! Thanks, John V.!

I posted the pictures on Facebook, too, getting several different opinions.

At this point, my vote is Cross fox.

What’s your vote? Please Like, Comment or Share…for fox’ sake!

PS: If you liked this post, check out Cook’s Country Connection’s Wild Neighbors page. Chop chop. Tell Lois The Employee of the Year sent you. Loveyabye!

July 14, 2014

Another Mysterious Burrow

We have been seeing a new critter in the pit at the House On The Hill and became mostly sure after consulting my North American Wildlife book and Wikipedia that it was a pine marten or a woodchuck (aka groundhog, aka the critter who lies about winter almost being over EVERY. YEAR.), yet it moved like a beaver. However, when the trail cam captured the photo below, we all got a little nervous, thinking a woodchuck might not be the only new neighbor.

I tried and tried to zoom in with all the photo editing software at my disposal, but this grainy crop was the best that I could do; he was just too far away.

I don’t know about you, but that looks like a badger to me. This made us all nervous, because badgers will eat your face off! (Plus, they don’t care; they don’t give a SHIT. This link goes to the Honey Badger video, but they are closely related to the regular badger, whose link is here.)

Then another mysterious hidey-hole appeared behind the barrage. (That’s a barn/garage combo.)

getting this shot made me nervous, because on — This was a little closer than I should have been, but the only way to see the hole through the equisetum. Threw out my ankle some, too. You’re welcome.

ANYWAY…I had managed to get a few grainy shots of this little guy with the Canon, so when I found the hidey hole I placed the trail cam on it to be sure it was him living there, not a badger.

He or she is very cautious, pausing regularly to stand up and take a look- and sniff- around.

She or he seemed to have gotten used to us, and even has a shortcut through Squirt’s playhouse. The white metal to the left is his gate.

Hiding in the Lupine…

And in front of the barrage.

These are my favorite facts from the wiki link.

weighs up to 10 pounds
burrows are up to 46 feet long and five feet or more underground, with several exits
the average woodchuck (groundhog) moves 35 cubic feet of dirt when making a burrow
they are perfect for Hep-B -induced cancer research
they do NOT chuck wood…the Native American word for them just sounds like “woodchuck”
that does not stop people from yelling out my back door, “Hey you dang woodchuck! Stop chucking my wood!!”

Which may or may not have something to do with why we haven’t been seeing it up as close to the House on the Hill, but did show up on the trail cam when we placed it near Pajari Pond. But that’s another story.

You wanna watch that Geico commercial now, don’t you? So do I.

PS: Do you have a trail cam? What kind of creatures have you seen on it? I’d love to see the pictures!

July 1, 2014

Hummingbird Moths

Sometimes, it’s the shots you DON’T get. A few years ago, I captured a hummingbird moth on my camera phone. It was mostly a blur, and I had never seen anything like it. It sounded like a bee or a hummingbird, and the wings moved so fast that usually I could barely see them with the naked eye. Plus, Lois and I were probably having daiquiris in the garden. Ever since, I have been interested in, and wanted to capture these bugs on film. All I had was this one blurry, crappy picture and it kinda drove me nuts.

This spring, I was delighted to see them on my own lilac bushes. At first, the yellow and black stripes on their bodies reminded me of a bee of some kind. But when I sped up to 60 frames per second on the Nikon, I was surprised to see that the wings on these moths were … transparent!

Also, the proboscis is funky! Their tongues just kind of curl up under the chin when not sipping nectar.

If you are as nerdy as me and want to know more, here is the wiki link I used.

June 22, 2014

An Easter Adventure

I know, I know, you thought I was lost. But I haven’t been really lost; just preoccupied. My sister is opening a petting farm, and I am helping with the web stuff and taking photos. (AFTER you read this, you can go see what we are up to there. 🙂 )

We spent this Easter with Mr. Wonderful’s family in North Dakota. It was nice, low-key, relaxing, etc.

The one stuffing his face? That one’s mine.

Until the egg hunt. See, it took us a while to talk the spawn into participating. (They are hitting teen years.)

By the time we got outside, there had been a thief in the yard.

So we set up the trail cam, replaced the malted milk balls with sunflower seeds, and went for a walk. Six hundred sixty eight pictures later…

Trail Cam 113 — It was a big ‘ol mama squirrel…

Ok… NOW you can go to www.CooksCountryConnection.com

May 6, 2014

Another Visitor!

This time, the visitor is Bambi!! Or Faline…I’m not sure which. Either way, this is an adorable baby. Unfortunately, there is no sign of mama. She (or he) visits almost every day, filling up on the trefoil and clover in our yard.

November 3, 2013

Bear Photos

We had some excitement on the hill yesterday. Ant (Danny’s buddy and Spare Spawn) was the first to notice our visitor. Click on the first pic to start a slideshow.

And then Mama Sharon and Papa Willard stopped by!! He told us black bears can sprint up to 30 mph, so we kept our distance and he modeled his new hat. 🙂