2012 - A Year Outdoors

Great Outdoors

Never realized when I titled my blog the Great Outdoors that literally I'd be spending so much time in the outdoors.  And 2012 has proven to be just a bunch of experiences enjoying life outside.  I'm so glad I have the ability and opportunities to experience what I do and look forward to doing more of it in 2013 and bringing more people along for the hike.

Mt Kilimanjaro

January and February, I trained, trained and trained some more as I got ready to tackle one of the seven summits - Mt Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, Africa.  It was quite an experience.  To not only climb 19,340 ft (5895 m), but to meet some great people, experience a different culture and throw in a safari to boot.  

Uhuru Peak - Mt Kilimanjaro

42 Nights of Camping

Yes, 42 nights - that's a lot (12% of nights in 2012).  I beat 2011 by 2 nights.  I don't intend to beat 42 in 2013.  Some experiences were great, some ok and some stressful (when you lose your phone).  The majority of the best nights in a tent came with a backpacking experience.  But also - a few camping experiences allowed me to get people out camping with me and help them (or most of them) gain an appreciation of the outdoors.  And finally I got to explore a lot more of the Driftless Area of Wisconsin.  Hiking and camping in state parks I'd never been to.  I think I now have the entire driftless area covered for state parks.

Backpacking

The first night in a tent came back in February 2012 with a snowshoe trip up in the Kettle Crest Range in northern Washington.  Hanging out up in the mountains overnight in the winter was incredible.  Not only was I the first one to sign in to the log book on Wapaloosie Mountain for 2012, but from the top we could also see into Canada.  

View from camp in the Kettle Range Mountains of Washington 

Other memorable backpacking experiences of 2012:

• Yellow River State Forest in Iowa - the hilly area of Iowa.  Very pretty, quiet.  May 2012
• Superior Trail in northern Minnesota - what a beautiful area.  Need to get back here again.  Labor Day weekend.
• Kokanee Glacier National Park in British Columbia, Canada.  Beautiful and quiet in mid-September.  But sad to see the glacier is receding.  Hopefully they get a lot of snow pack this year to help build it back up.

Other Great Experiences

View from Mt Kit Carson, Spokane, WA

• Timms Hill - Wisconsin's highest point.  Not quite the same as Kilimanjaro, but still another one of the USA's 50 highest points picked off.  (1500+ ft)
• Christmas in Washington - got to visit my brother in Newman Lake and take in some great hikes and snowshoeing in the area.  Finally got to go to Mt Spokane State Park and get to the top of Mt Kit Carson via snowshoe.  (And had the peak to myself)
• Dogs - Jasmine and Wailea made it another year - ableit a few surgeries to fix a torn ACL (Wailea) and remove a ~7 lb tumor and her spleen (Jasmine).  The dogs managed to get in 33 nights in a tent and traveled to 6 states.  Hopefully both remain healthy enough to continue in 2013.  

Backpacker Magazine, Mt Whitney and 2013

Mid-year 2012 I found out Backpacker Magazine was offering up to its readers an opportunity to climb Mt Whitney with their editor, Jon Dorn.  So in July, I wrote and submitted an essay, wrote my "I Want to Climb Mt Whitney" blog post and had wonderful friends support me via posts to it to try and get to selected to join Backpacker in their Mt Whitney summit attempt.  

After what seemed like forever, I got a response.  I was lucky enough to be selected to join Backpacker Magazine to climb Mt Whitney and support a great organization - Big City Mountaineers via Summit for Someone.  

Which brings me to 2013.  This climb is in April 2013, but I've started training and am really looking forward to this opportunity.  I'll get to the highest point in the contiguous 48 states (and highest point in CA), experience mountaineering, meet new people and make new friends, help some under-privileged youth get a great experience as well and finally get to the Sierra Nevada's.  I can't wait.  I'm sure this will be one of my highlights for 2013.

Special Thanks

Thank you to everyone who has joined me and supported me in all the adventures of 2012.  And if you didn't join me - feel free to join me in 2013.

Minnesota's Superior Coast

Hard to believe summer 2012 is basically over and Labor Day is now behind us.  What a summer and what a way to end it with a trip to Minnesota's Superior Coast.

Minnesota's Superior Coastline is filled with beautiful waterfalls and state parks.  It's a rather rugged location with rocky coastline and jagged cliffs.  Running from Duluth to the Canadian border, it's a lot to explore in a 3 day weekend.

Lake Superior Coastline @ Gooseberry Falls State Park

To make the most of the weekend the dogs and I headed up to Minnesota mid-day on Friday and spent Friday night at Gooseberry Falls State Park.  It's a nice park right on Lake Superior.  And it was the perfect place to spent the night when there was a Blue Moon.  What a view that night.

Blue Moon over Lake Superior

The next morning I took in the Gooseberry Falls and headed out for a night on the Superior Hiking Trail.  What an amazing day.  The falls were incredible and the back country of the Superior Hiking Trail were beautiful.  Hiking from Penn Blvd trailhead up to Bear Lake for the night we encountered a bunch of great views overlooking Lake Superior on one side and the beauty of the forest and rocky cliff edges on the other side.  Dropping down to Bear Lake, unfortunately we found the two sites there already taken, but spent some time with the people while making water and taking a break.  After a while the dogs and I pushed back to the top and spent the night at the top of the hill overlooking Bear Lake.  Not a bad place to stay either.

Bear Lake with Bean Lake in the background

In the morning we completed the loop trail and dropped back down to the car to head out and find another state park to spend the night at.  We ended up at Temperance State Park.  After a quick shower to remove some of the dust from the trail and setting up the tent, off we went to find more waterfalls.  Between Temperance River State Park and the Canadian Border are three additional state parks.  So up to the Canadian Border I drove to visit Grand Portage State Park and the High Falls of the Pigeon River.  High Falls is the highest waterfall in the state of Minnesota.  From the falls and the river, the other side is Canada.  If only I would have grabbed my passport I could have viewed the falls from both sides.

High Falls @ Grand Portage State Park

Next up was Judge C.R. Magney State Park and a hike up the Brule River to the Devil's Kettle.  Another incredible view and park.  Who knew Minnesota had so many cool waterfalls.

Falls at Judge C.R. Magney State Park

Lastly we hit up Cascade River State Park for the last of the waterfall views for the day.  A short hike from the road brings you great views of the falls.  What a way to end the day before heading back to camp.

Falls at Cascade River State Park

Once back at camp the dogs were done and pretty much ate dinner and went to bed.  I strolled over to Lake Superior (again - this park is right on the lake) to check out the moon again this evening.  A little cloudy, but some pretty cool views of the big moon over Lake Superior as it was going in and out of the clouds.

As Monday rolled around I had to pack up and head back to Wisconsin.  But not to be outdone - before leaving Minnesota I had to visit the falls at Temperance River State Park and another one that was alongside the road.

The Temperance River is a river that has carved out a great gorge along it's route.  If you look closely in the picture below you'll see a waterfall within the gorge.

Falls in the background

What a great weekend in the great outdoors.  Exploring and finding new places that are as beautiful as this is always a great surprise and experience.  I hope to go back here again and explore more of the area and hike some more on the Superior Hiking Trail.