I just realized it’s been a while since I’ve done a simple photography post. I recently edited a handful of photos from Itasca State park and put them in a gallery, so I’m sharing them here for all to enjoy
https://swiftphotography.smugmug.com/Exploration/Itasca-State-Park/
Recently we’ve been talking more and more about our future camping setup. Our Coachmen Clipper 9.0 is a decent tool for camping, but we sometimes muse about other options. We’ve spent some time talking about the difference between camping trailer vs camper van, and the pro’s and con’s of each. For the time being we’re not making any changes, but I decided to make a change to the status quo to address one of the con’s of our current situation.
One of the cool parts about a camper van is that you can simply pull into a rest area or truck stop and crawl into bed. It’s a great option for traveling, since you don’t need a campsite, nor do you need to set up a camper just so you can get a few zzzz’s. It’s also great for traveling to races since your vehicle is easily self-contained, and all you need is a parking spot near the race start to use as your home base.
I’m not going to do a full pro-con list, but I wanted to share how I’m addressing one of the issues we have with our current setup. Namely, trying to sleep in my car. I drive a VW Tiguan Limited and as much as I love it, it’s not the largest vehicle I’ve ever owned when it comes to cargo space. I can fit a fair amount of stuff into the back, but on a few occasions when I’ve tried to sleep back there, it’s just too cramped. I can lower the seats, all the way up through the passenger seat in the front, but there’s gaps between the seats that make it impossible to lay fully extended. What I needed, was a sleeping platform.
On Saturday morning I headed out to the hardware store and picked up a few simple supplies. I got some 1/2” plywood, a couple of posts, and some basic hardware. My plan was to create a platform that goes from the back of the car, 6 feet to the front. In order to that that though I need to support the bottom of the platform so that all the of the weight isn’t resting on the back of the seats.
I went with two pieces of plywood, 2×4 and 2×2. Originally I thought the 2×4 would end up in back, but after putting it into the car, I realized that it should be reversed. So the 2×2 is now sitting on the main cargo area of the car at the back where the lift gate is. Then I put the 2×4 in front of that, and attached the two posts to the bottom using removable bolts for easier storage.
I filled up my sleeping pad and tried it out. Sure enough it was perfectly sized for one person like myself to lay flat or curl up and get some shut eye. Eventually I’ll get some foam cushioning to make it softer, but for now, this actually works. It was a lot simpler than I had anticipated, and some simple planning made it a reality with about an hours worth of work.
The downside is that it’s one person only, so this solution won’t work if I’m traveling with the wife, but for trips where it’s just myself, and I need to sleep along the way, this works great. Creativity! It’s what drives the human spirit forward.
This past weekend we took an extended trip to Itasca State Park. It was a long time coming, and we were super happy to finally be able to get to a place we’ve been trying to get to for multiple years. However, there’s always a twist when it comes to seasons in Minnesota. Being in the middle of the north woods in summer presented a set of challenges, that we learned a lot from.
Normally when we go on outdoor trips like this we spend a lot of time running and biking, as well as hanging out at the campsite. However, summer in Minnesota tends to be incredibly humid and hot (despite our reputation for harsh and cold winters). This also means that our bug population skyrockets in the summer, and being out and about in the woods is often a battle against a thousand tiny buzzing insects. Not fun.
This past weekend proved this once again. We managed to get out for one 3.5 mile hike in the woods, but that was it. To accomplish the hike we put on long pants, bug nets over our head, and copious amounts of bug spray. We probably looked silly, but the bug nets were a godsend. I can’t imaging doing a deep woods trek in summer around here without one.
I also went for a 6 mile walk but I kept almost exclusively to paved trails, which helped a lot. One 0.75 mile segment of my walk was on a dirt path, and I was constantly inundated by flies and mosquitos. They were buzzing around me so heavily that they actually showed up in the pictures I was taking. This was one of the more scenic portions of the walk so it was a scramble to take out the phone, snap a picture, and get back to moving as quickly as possible.
However, what we discovered was that there were other activities that we enjoy, that are much more bug free. One was expected, the other was new to us. First, we love biking and brought the bikes with us on this trip because we knew that Itasca had a lot of good bike paths. On both Monday and Tuesday we did the Wilderness Drive loop, which is a 16 mile biking loop that goes around the perimeter of the park. It’s a really fun ride, and despite three quarters of it being shared with a road, that road is almost all one-way traffic. Meaning you don’t need to worry about oncoming cars on curves. The terrain is rolling with lots of quick short up hills that sap your legs a lot more than you expected. But, you’re rewarded with beautiful downhills with flowing curves that are incredibly fun to bomb. Just be careful when coming up on Mary Lake. It’s at the bottom of a long downhill, around a curve. If you’re not careful you could end up shooting right off the side into the drink!
While biking is awesome, we also discovered something new on this trip. We really enjoy being out on the water. We had a canoe rental for the entirety of Monday, and so we took a couple different trips around the lake. Almost immediately we discovered that the flies and mosquitos don’t like buzzing you in the middle of a body of water. We spent hours on the lake and the level of insects was minimal with only dragonflies being a slight nuisance. I’m sure that in the mornings or evenings the mosquitos will come at you even on the water, but during the day we were bug-free.
In addition to the lack of bugs, we also discovered that we had a lot of fun paddling. It was cooler than on shore with the oppressive humidity of the woods, and we got to explore a lot of areas that we’d never be able to reach on foot. It awakened a desire in us to get out and try more boating. After all, Minnesota is the land of 10,000 lakes, and maybe we’re just dim for missing it, but it seems like the water is the place to be in the summer.
Our next steps are to spend some time at some local parks that have open watercraft rentals so we can check out kayaks and other craft. I’m not opposed to investing in something permanent for ourselves, but I’d like to get some experience with the different types (canoe vs kayak for example) to make some educated decisions. Plus, there’s a lot to learn in a new wilderness discipline, and I tend to want to take a lot of time to do a solid amount of research before walking into things.
So I’ll put a question out there to my readers… what do you like to paddle? What’s some good resources for folks looking to learn more about paddlesports? Any good tips and tricks for lakes in Minnesota to check out?
The Mississippi’s mighty. But it starts in Minnesota. At a place that you can walk across with five steps down.
Indigo Girls (Ghost)
I’ve lived in Minnesota for all but the first two years of my life. Growing up I was in Saint Paul, which runs along the Mississippi River. Yet, despite living here for four decades, and living near the mighty river, I’ve never taken the three and a half hour drive to see the headwaters at Itasca State Park.
Two years ago (in 2018) we decided to correct this oversight and we planned a 3 night trip that coincided with the Tour de Pines bike event. However, something came up (don’t even remember what anymore) and we postponed the trip till later. We ended up postponing the trip another three times before COVID came along and the DNR cancelled all reservations anyway.
So now, two full years later, we decided to actually follow through and take the trip. We arrived this afternoon, and of course the first thing we did after setting up camp was drive over to the headwaters to check them out. Sure enough there was a small stream flowing over some rocks out of the northern side of Lake Itasca. It was just like the pictures, and since I was wearing my sandals I waded right in.
The water was surprisingly warm, but I guess it shouldn’t have shocked me since the air temps have been in the 80s for quite a while now. I then proceeded to wander across the 30-40 feet of the outflow and claimed a river crossing on foot. The water never even really got up over my calf. I climbed up the beach on the other side and gazed out over the lake.
It’s amazing to think that something miles wide, thousands of miles away, starts and just a small bubbling creek. It’s truly awe inspiring to think that the same water that ran over my legs has a chance to flow all the way to the Gulf of Mexico.
Don’t misunderstand, it’s still just a creek coming out of a lake. There’s nothing physically striking about this particular outflow. It looks like many other lake outflows that head into creeks. It’s really more about what it symbolizes, the power of nature to persevere and shape its surroundings, and in turn shape history. Without the Mississippi, much of the country would not be like it is today. Rivers were highways in ages past, and hundreds of towns got their start because they had access to this commercial pipeline. Without it, there would be little reason for many of these places to exist.
Humans are drawn to places of movement and access. Rivers allow us to conduct trade, travel, harvest food, and so many other things. Just like how a few years ago people flocked to the Internet. It’s the modern day equivalent of rivers, carrying information, commerce, and shaping entire lives by it’s presence.
Yet, how we use these pipelines is up to us. Just like rivers can be polluted by muck and waste, so too can our modern pipelines get overrun with shit. It’s important that we think about how we want to shape our future online, as much as we thought about how to treat the waterways of the past.
Not sure how I got onto a diatribe about the Internet, but perhaps being near something monumental brings out the philosopher in me. For now, I’ll end by saying that if you live in Minnesota, it’s worth a trip to see the root of one of the most important features of our state.
During the summer I love a good mule drink. Really simple vodka, ginger beer, lime, and ice. I’ve always wanted to make my own ginger syrup and so today I gave it a try.
I’m a huge fan of Greg from How To Drink, and so I followed his recipe for Ginger Syrup, starting with a full pound of fresh ginger.
The next step is to peel the ginger and chop everything up into medallions. This allows more surface area to let the ginger spice goodness seep into your sauce. I also grated a small bit, per the recommendation from How To Drink.
I added around 2.5 cups of water to the mixture, and also sweetener. I decided to use stevia sweetener since I wanted low calorie, but also sweet. The container that I have called for 2 tbsp of stevia for 1 cup of sugar. I mixed in 4 tbsp (for 2 cups) and stirred it together before putting it on the stove.
I then boiled/simmered it for around 30 minutes. I wasn’t sure if that was long enough, but when I tasted the mixture it had a fair amount of bite. I think in retrospect I could have gone longer than I did (and probably didn’t need quite as much ginger).
I then drained it and put it in jars before chilling.
I tried a little bit of it tonight on it’s own and it’s really got some serious bite. I don’t have any seltzer water, so I’ll need to wait to get some of that before I can truly try a mule.
From what I can tell it went well, and I’m pleased with the end result. Will I do this all the time? I’m not sure. It’s a lot of work to peel and chop that much ginger. However, if the flavor in a mule is as good as it is in my sampling, it might just be worth it.
1 lbs Ginger
2.5 cups water
2 cups sugar (or equiv. alternative sweetener)
Peel and chop ginger
Bring to boil and simmer for at least 30 minutes
Drain and chill
Ginger can be saved for eating on it’s own.
