NorthStarNerd.Org

White Water Skiing!

It's a tradition here in the Northland that when the snows fly and the ice thickens, it is time to Nordic ski up some of the rivers that empty into Lake Superior. This afternoon, I had a great time cross-country skiing up the Knife River and one of its tributaries. It is truly a unique experience to hear the sounds of rapids bubbling underneath your ski boot, or to ski down a small waterfall.

One word of warning. It is important to know your streams and rivers. Current can be dangerous, but with proper knowledge of a river system, white water skiing allows the individual to reach back-country not very accessable during the rest of the year.

Here are two photos from today's ski. Click upon any image to view at full size and resolution.

A Knife River Tributary ... getting narrower

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The Knife River ... looking upstream

The Moon Fails to Rise!

Well ... sort of. Earlier this week I snowshoed into the backcountry. My goal was to photograph the full moon rising over the snow encrusted trees. As I had never gone into this particular spot before at night in the Winter, I decided it would be best to reach my destination before the sun set. This would allow me to scout out the best location for my photoshoot while I could still see, and more easily figure out my planned route back to the trailhead. 

Although the skies were starting to clear when I set off from the trail head, when the moon was actually scheduled to rise ... after standing in the cold for over one hour, the clouds socked me in. Thus,  a failed photoshoot! However, here is one picture I took right at dusk of a small creek which empties into the Knife River at my photoshoot location. Even in failure I had a great time, just no moon! (click upon the image to view at full size and resolution)

 

Nordic Skiing at -5F!

This week has been a great one for Nordic skiing. Although the daytime highs rarely reached positive numbers, and the winds howled, a true Northener knows that if you find cross-country ski trails that reach deep into snow encrusted pine forests, all will be good! Here are a few GoPro photos from some of this weeks ski outings on the North Shore of Lake Superior near Duluth, Minnesota.

Korkki Nordic Trails (click upon any image to view at full resolution)

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Photo taken of the entry to the Duluth Harbor 
(Temperature was -9F not including windchill on Wednesday morning!)

Nature's Fury Lego Robotics

Exciting Lego Robotics weekend in store. For years I coached my son's team, but now given he is working as an Aerospace engineer for Honeywell, I will judge Lego Robotics design. In fact, almost every former team member is now working as an engineer. This is a great testimonial for Lego Robotics.

Tonight I will help train other judges. Tomorrow I will judge robotic design for the Northeastern Minnesota First Lego League Tournament. Imagine teams of 4 to 8 children (elementary and middle school) programming and designing robots made out of Legos, a small computer and various sensors!

Come watch some of tomorrow's competition (Marshall School in Duluth Minnesota, Saturday, December 14th at 9 am). It's free and exciting. Given most of you can't visit God's Country of Northeastern Minnesota, here is a cool video from First Lego League demonstating this years mission.