A Fall Hike in Northern Minnesota

Fall is an excellent time of year to be outdoors.  The aroma and crunch of freshly fallen leaves under foot is always a joy.  Fall is also a great time of year to see change in nature.  During the long warm days of summer animals’ chief duty is to feed a rear their young but other than that not much else goes on.  In the fall the cool days and frosty nights signal to animals winter is not far off.  As a result the woods and skies are filled with migratory songbirds and hawks.  The land mammals also move with a sense of urgency, as some know they too will be affected by the changing weather.  Squirrels and chipmunks scurry across the forest floor gather nuts and other materials for winter, while bears eat nearly every fatty food source they can find preparing their bodies for their long winter hibernation. 

Today I set out on a photo hike in the woods in my new vibram five finger treks not far from home.  As expected I found animal activity everywhere.   I was reminded of how much more there is to our world if we just slow down to the rhythms and pace of the natural world.  I typically hike very,very slowly and purposefully.  I turn my sensory perception up to the max and try to see, hear and feel everything I can as I hike.  I make it a habit to stop immediately whenever I hear a sudden sound.  Today I was barely 10 minutes into my hike when I heard a rushed scurrying noise in the woods close by.  I just froze in my tracks as always and slowly scanned the woods with eyes only and no body movement of any kind.  Not twenty or so feet away I locked eyes with a creature I had not seen in the wild for some time.  With most of the leaves on the ground this animal was unable to conceal itself and stood out on a naked tree trunk perhaps 15 feet off the ground.  I was looking right into the eyes of a pine marten.  A smile immediately bloomed on my face as the weary animal stared me down. I just moved my eyes and kept the rest of my body perfectly still.  That apparently confused him, as he seemed to ponder whether or not to jump through the branches towards me or run away.  Maybe it was my bright smile that fooled him. First he started in my direction then down the tree towards the ground and scampered along the back of a downed log and disappeared into the forest.  I always count myself lucky when I see such wild, stunningly beautiful animals in their natural habitat.  As a seasoned nature photographer I’ve seen many gorgeous, wild creatures including wolves, bears,lynx, moose and many others.  It never gets old.  The first thought that comes to mind as soon as they are out of sight is “did I really see what I think I just saw.”  It’s been that way with me for decades now.  The almost magical, elusiveness of wild things captivates my very soul.  In the woods I feel connected to every life force around me and even though I can not see the animal anymore I feel it there just beyond the trees out of sight looking back at me.    

 

I think I put the pieces together afterwards.  Based on what I know about pine martens I must have interrupted a hunting foray.  There were several grey squirrels shouting alarms calls throughout the woods with the loudest being the one he’d pinned near the top of a tree just as I arrived.  I kind of felt bad about it for a minute but I know pine martens like most predatory mammals are persistent and he’ll get his meal before sun down.

After about 2 hours of hiking my feet were tired so I walked down to the creek and walked right into the rushing, knee-deep water. That’s one of the many great things about Vibram five finger shoes, you never worry about getting them wet or dirty because they are design to take just about anything nature throws your way.  The water was just as you might expect it to be in northern Minnesota this time of year.  The, frigid, icy waters took all the soreness in my feet and legs downstream and out into Lake Superior a quarter mile away from where I stood.

If you get an opportunity get out into the woods near where you live by all means do so and experience the natural world at its pace and prepare to be changed by the experience.

Mr. KSO and Mrs. Bikila go on vacation

I've just returned from one of the most memorable vacation ever. Actually it was more of a Stay-cation but no less enjoyable. My wife and I took two mountain bikes, two wet suits and four pairs of Vibram five finger shoes on a camping adventure. Living in northern Minnesota you really don't have to drive far to have fun in the outdoors. We drove just a little over two hours from our home in Duluth to our selected campsite. By mid afternoon we were putting up the tent and planning our first fun adventure. We had put a great deal of emphasis on seeing how many things we could do in our different pairs of five finger shoes. Our first fun activity however was in bike shoes for 16 miles of mountain bike joy.

We both own a pair of KSO and a pair of Bikilas. I recenty bought a pair of KSO TREK but as you all know many styles are on backorder so I must wait patiently for them to arrive. That did not stop me however from putting the two pair I have to the test.

I went for a trail run in the Bikilas not far, maybe 3-4 miles? What I've noticed about any pair of Vibram shoes is your feet generally stay right where they land as move along regardless of the surface you are on. Just last week I started weight training in them and noticed when I do weighted barbell squats in my KSO's my feet feel like they are suction cupped to the floor. Same goes for running in the woods either in the KSO or the Bikilas my feet stayed where I put them, even on slanted surfaces. In trail running shoes you put your foot down in that situation and you might turn an ankle. Traditional shoes put so much rubber between you and the ground its like trying to run in platform shoes like the ones the rock band KIZZ used to wear!

All five fingers are so light weight your feet just lightly touch the ground and are off again before you know it. I always feel like I am floating when I run in five fingers.

Back to the camping trip.. On the worse possible weather day we said lets go swim in that lake. Our campground by the way was completely deserted. 24 sites and just my wife and I for 5 full days!!. We put on our wets suits in camp and biked over to the lake. We stood on the shore and watched the lake roll and toss in front of us against a brooding,cloudy sky. I said to my wife just do it! Armed with our KSO's we just walked in and started swimming out toward deeper water. The further from shore we swam the colder and deeper the water got. fighting the waves we kept going until we couldn't stand the cold any longer and turned back to shore. not sure what the water temps were but the air temps must have been in the upper 40's. without the KSO I think our feet would have turn into blue Popsicles!

So the grand total of things you can do on a camping trip with Five fingers is SWIM, TRAIL RUN, DANCE the boogaloo to some ipod tunes around camp, lay on your back and stretch because your lower back is killing you from sleeping on the cold, hard ground and lets see what else, oh yeah have a ice cold beer or glass of wine from the comfort of your camp chair and watch the fire burn as you listen to loons and wolves call through the night

Mr. KSO and Mrs. Bikila go on Vacation

My wife and I are heading out this weekend for a week of wilderness fun. we are loading up the wet suits, Mountain bikes and Five Fingers for our last blast of summer fun here in Northern Minnesota. will submit a full report with pictures when I return

Dudley Edmondson

I love my toe shoes!

This blog will become the ramblings of one African American man and his passion for nature the outdoors. My intent is to get African Americans and other people of color to join me in making the outdoors a place for everyone.