UpNorthica

This last weekend saw the 14th annual Book Across the Bay an annual 10k snow shoe/ski race across the Chequamegon bay. This year the race had 3300 registrants raising money that goes to the Book Across the Bay Community Grant Program. This program gives funds to organisations that encourage physical and mental wellness among residents [...]

Sunday begins the John Beargrease Sled Dog Marathon in Duluth. The race is steeped in the history and legend of the North Shore mail carrier of the same name. And this year, organizers are bringing spectators closer to the race — and its roots.
Read on for a glimpse of what to expect. Then rush to [...]

Dude, drop what you’re doing. Cancel all your evening plans (as if you have anything important on a Thursday night.)
There are two great outdoorsy films showing tonight in Minneapolis. Both are at cool venues. Both offer Super Extra Bonus incentives to attend. Your challenge will be picking which one to see. That’s right, they overlap [...]

In a day and age when people kayak down ski hills and surf in Lake Superior during winter, I’ve decided there’s no such thing as an ‘end-of-season’ anymore. For any outdoor activity in Minnesota. We just crazy that way.
That said, you’d be really crazy (in the literal sense this time) if you didn’t check out [...]

The “Second Best Long Trail in the Nation” (according to Backpacker Magazine) just got longer — and best-er.
A lucky hiker previews a 28-mile addition to the Superior Hiking Trail. What’s it like? Lovely views, including crossings over the Knife River and Stewart River. Moreover, the stretch fills a gap left wide open since the trail’s [...]

Fact: 200 years ago this week, voyageurs coming off the trail didn’t have the luxury of browsing the gift shop for birch bark picture frames and moose poop incense.
What they did have, was the Rendezvous: a merry mid-summer celebration with plenty of food, sport and dance. This weekend, you’re invited to join them.
Grand Portage National [...]

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Hey, when’d Highway 61 get Street Views? I sorta found out by accident just yesterday and so yeah, I had to do a little sightseeing.
The ‘coverage’ goes all the way up to the tip ‘o’ the Arrowhead, allowing for visits to faves like the Silver Creek Tunnel, the bridge over the Cross [...]

Posts will drop off for a few days, as we’ll be vacationing this week along the sun-drenched Minnesota Riviera. Check back next week for more of UpNorthica.com!

The craggy, gelid waters of Lake Superior have sunk more than a few ships in their day. They’re also really cold. So anybody who would meet them in battle, paddling a homemade birch bark canoe, is either crazy — or is someone like Erik Simula. There’s a big difference.
The off-the-grid living forest ranger/wilderness guide/dog sled [...]

It’s a honking shame, but the rumors are true: Vandals have cut down the famous “Honking Tree” that stood along Highway 61’s median, just outside Two Harbors.
Back in the early 1960s, while clearing the strip of land to become the Highway 61 Expressway, one road builder insisted that the pine tree shading his favorite lunch [...]

While many expo-goers are adventuring vicariously this week, one man has quietly embarked upon a dream of his own.
On Wednesday, Duluth-born Erik Simula launched his canoe into Lake Superior on a 1000-mile paddle that will touch on voyageur routes as it weaves through the Arrowhead Region.
But he voyageur detail is no ‘angle’ or novelty [...]

Following news of modern day piracy got me thinking today: Have the Great Lakes ever had pirates? What! Ridiculous, right? Of course not, I said.
Wrong, said Google.
Pirates did menace the shores of Lake Michigan and Lake Superior at the turn of the last century, but they weren’t after gold. Aye, these scurvy dogs were after [...]

We first spotted the work of 20-year old Alex Horner after he’d posted a montage of this year’s Beargrease Marathon. We sure are glad we did.
Ice is the newest in a growing collection of short films on Northern Minnesota’s natural beauty. With well-chosen audio and sparse title credits, this Duluth filmmaker shows a disarmingly warm [...]

Jason Barron crossed the finish line this afternoon for an impressive second consecutive win in the 2009 John Beargrease Sled Dog Marathon:
Barron, of Lincoln, Mont., said he put “money in the bank” when he let his two top dogs rest in the sled during the first 120 miles of the 380-mile race. Then, when Barron [...]

Early morning found only 6 remaining dog teams in the John Beargrease Sled Dog Marathon. Exceedingly low temps and a hard trail have caused all 15 other teams to scratch. Maybe they wouldn’t have dropped out, if they’d known a portable sauna had been set up for mushers at the Finland checkpoint. Wow, sounds like [...]