Gary-Summer: MN-Great Lakes Aquarium

Showing posts with label MN-Great Lakes Aquarium. Show all posts

Saturday, June 20, 2026

June 20, 2026 - Duluth, Half Marathon

Title: June 20, 2026 - Duluth, Half Marathon

Hike Info : Description : Extra Photo's :

Hike Info:

Type:Touring

Description:

Misc runners about two miles from finish

Today is the big day! Particularly for Rachel as she will be running in the Gary Bjorklund Half Marathon which is part of Duluth’s Grandma’s Marathon run. Sherri and I will play the part of mamarazzi and paparazzi, even though it will be in a diminished role. With the expected 20,000 runners, spectators are discouraged from trying to find places along the route and are encouraged to cheer close to the finish.

I woke up to some light just before 4am and heard the door close. I realized it was Rachel going to the shuttle taking her to the starting line 13 miles away from Duluth. I fell back asleep, waking up at 5:50 and did my daily search for lightning-none to report. Sherri got up shortly after I finished and we went down for the hotel breakfast.

Having experienced the traffic conditions yesterday, I have a concern about being able to find parking downtown. Last night we decided to take an Uber. I thought I had an Uber lined up, but a message said they could not find any drivers for my request. Plan B is to see about getting on the bus. We left at 7:40 and made our way down to one of the two bus stops in the area-we chose the right one. Several other people were there as well. The bus picked us up-the fare came to $0.75 each. Much cheaper than Uber. Actually the bus left us off close to the 12 mile mark.

Rachel having crossed the finish line

Sherri and I made our way down the course, occasionally cheering people on. The Grandma’s Marathon has an app where we can watch Rachel’s progress. She is doing real well, maybe not personal best, but I suspect better than she was expecting. We stationed ourselves around the 12.5 mark of the run. It turns out that Governor Tim Waltz also ran the half marathon. I suspect that we have seen him without knowing who he was.

Rachel sees us before we see her and does a leap. She is looking pretty energetic for going as far as she has. I got a couple of pictures of her as proof. She keeps on going. The course loops around a waterway. This gives me a chance to cross a bridge and head towards the finish line.

There is no way I can be at the finish line. But there is a fence with a screen just after the finish line. I am tall enough that I can peek over it and place my phone on top of the fence and take some pictures in the blind. One of them I got a good shot of Rachel just after she finished. She still looks good.

I found the gate where the runner left the area. Rachel is taking a well deserved rest and getting some nourishment, along with getting her clothes bag. She comes out a little before 10 and we enjoy a brief moment of basking in her achievement. We then go and find Sherri who is waiting close to where we saw Rachel during the run.

Rachel and Sherri going to the Aquarium

Last November, Sherri and I met Alice while we were hiking around Giant Forest. She worked at the Great Lakes Aquarium in Duluth. Since that time, we have had the Aquarium on our list of things to do. Rachel is up to seeing the Aquarium so that is what we do. When compared to something like San Francisco’s Steinhart Aquarium, much less the one in Monterey, it is pretty small. But considering that Duluth had 86,000 people, this is a pretty impressive place.

Sherri swallowed by a huge fish

The Great Lakes Aquarium is centered on the area’s ecological structure. The emphasis is on the land around the area and the fresh water which affects the land. The fish and animals are representative of this. Also there is a fair representation of the birds and other aquatic life as well. I did enjoy aspects of it such as the turtles of the area, seeing what a sturgeon looked like and how their trout differed from ours. And yes they did have salt water exhibits as well, including sea horses and dragons-they are different, some sort of ray, and of course, a giant Pacific octopus. When we were in Georgia last year, I made a comment to Sherri that we have come 3,000 miles to the Georgia Aquarium to see a giant Pacific octopus. I added to that statement this year it is crows as there was an exhibit about corvids.

Salmon

When we left the Aquarium, we hunted for where the run’s shuttle bus was. Found it! We took it back-the driver even stopped close to our hotel. On the bus we were hearing a conversation between Tim and Farid-who is from Saudi Arabia and here for the World Cup games. Farid got off with us-I think by mistable. We talked for a while. Rachel determined which hotel he was staying at and drove him there.

At the hotel, we had left overs from last night for lunch, then just rested and slept. Rachel put us on a wait list at OMC Smokehouse in the Lincoln Park section of Duluth whose motto seems to be Oink, Moo Cluck!. By the time we got close to being ready for us, it was 5:30. There is a pretty good crowd there. When we got served the food was a bit slow in coming-but with good reason-it was good. We had two meat plates: one beef brisket and the other pulled pork. There were four sides which came with that: mac&cheese, cheesy jalapeno grits, bacon/blue cheese potato salad and collard greens. This was about right for us all.

Now what could be better? We had spotted across the street Love Creamery. That is what could be better and there was a line out the door. We joined that line. While I cannot say the ice cream was the best in the world, the flavoring on it was really good. We all had the Monster Cookie flavor. Sherri, being really ambitious, also had a scoop of S’mores. We are content.

By 8, we were back in our room. Tomorrow we are doing an overnight trip up to Grand Maras to explore Lake Superior’s North Shore area. We get packed for an overnight journey. Rachel tries to coordinate what we will be doing tomorrow. If Gooseberry Falls is not crowded, we will go there and then up to Grand Portage. Otherwise we can see other things. By 9:30, Rachel is asleep-it has been a long day for her. Sherri and I doze off after 10:30.

Extra Photo's

Sea Dragons

Sea Horses

Rachel and Friend looking at the sea horses

Saturday, November 8, 2025

November 8, 2025 - Giant Forest

Title: November 8, 2025 - Giant Forest
Hike Info : Description : Flowers and Plants

Hike Info:

Type: Hiking

Trail head: Giant Forest Parking Lot

Trail: Moro Rock, Soldier, Alta Trails

Destination: Loop

Distance: 3.63 miles

Start Time: 11:53

End Time: 3:21

Travel Time: 3:27 (1.05 mph)

Moving Time: 2:35 (1.41 mph)

Elevation Rise: 767'

Descent: 740‘

Maximum Elevation: 6,774'

GPS Tracks

Description:

Today it is just Sherri and I who will be hiking.While I do enjoy hiking with my children, there is something which is good to hike with my wife. As often as I have done that, it does not get old doing that-it is something special to have a wife who is not only willing to hike, but enjoys it.

Sherri on Moro Rock Trail

We leave the house at 9:30 with Sherri driving. As we go down Highway 180, I casually ask Sherri how much gas is left-less than half a tank. This calls for a gas stop at the Valero at the corner of Academy and Kings Canyon. I put in five gallons, even to give us a comfort level today. Turns out gas is a little bit cheaper up the road in the foothills.

We stopped at Big Stump for a pit stop. I take over driving down the General’s Highway. We get to Giant Forest at 11:40. Our boots hit the ground a few minutes before noon on the Moro Rock Trail.

Just a note, we have done this route several times before. I noticed that the Moro Rock Trail at times I have called it the RimRock Trail. Later today day, I noticed a sign with RimRock on a different trail. There seems to be more people on this trail than what I have seen before. Still, it is not a congo line of people, so the walk is still enjoyable.

At the start, we get a view of Deer Ridge which seems like it should have more of a name since it is so prominent. This area got burnt in 2021 with the KNP Complex Fire. so the trees are sparse. We quickly get into the land of the Sequoias. Also there are several broadleaf trees which are in various stages of being deleafed. What leaves remain show color.

We get to where the trail turns towards Moro Rock, but that is not our route today. There is a large Sequoia where the various roads come together. About 1, we eat our lunch by this tree. Several groups go by us, looking us over-I do not think they were jealous of our peanut butter and Nutella sandwiches.

We temporarily leave our trail and walk about a third of a mile along the road to Crescent Meadows. At the Buttress root system, I play photographer and take pictures for a couple of groups before we move on. Before the Tunnel Log, we turn off of the road and onto the Soldier Trail. There we stop for a few minutes. Sherri’s phone will do satellite messaging. She wants to make sure she can use it, so I find a log while she plays with her phone.

Usually the Soldier Trail has maybe two or three people on it. While I am sitting there, at least two groups go by. When a third couple -a father and daughter I think-goes by, I make a comment about my private trail. They stop and we have a friendly talk. By this time, Sherri had joined me. I found out that they are from Minnesota where Sherri and I are going in June. Naturally we asked about what they think we should see. Turns out that Alice works at the aquarium in Duluth where Rachel will run her half-marathon on. Alice gives us some places to go:

Devil's Kettle
Generally, the North Shore of Lake Superior
Grand Marias

Alta Trail

They take off and we take off shortly after them-we will not be catching up-they look like they can travel. When we traveled the Soldier trail in November, it has been a week earlier. There usually is a brightness of red and yellow leaves, offsetting the red bark of Sequoia Gigantia. Today the deciduous shrubs and trees are mostly bare. Still, walking this area is usually peaceful. Today, there are more people than we usually see. It still has a sense of peace about it. I guess this is what Randy White, in his book Consummation! calls a vigorous peace.

We stop for a few minutes at the top of a 6800’ ridge to eat an energy bar. The rest of our trip will be downhill. The part off of the ridge is a step 200’ When we descend this slope, we come to a trail junction. It is starting to get dark, so we elect to go down the Alta Trail rather than head over our traditional route to Bear Hill. The Alta Trail takes us down another 200’, but a bit less steep. We stop occasionally to see light streaming through the trees and the few remaining Fall leaves.

The trail wraps around to the Giant Forest Museum. There we crossed the highway to the parking lot and our car. We could have probably made it to Bear Hill as it is 3:30 when we got back to the car. We are content with what we did today.

By the time we get back to Fresno it is dark and we are hungry. DiCicco’s on Kings Canyon sounds like it is a good place to fill our stomachs. Steven joins us about ten minutes after we get seated. We are content.