According to MPR, tightened budgets led the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency to decide beach testing should be done by an outside contractor, because the issue was more of a public health concern than an environmental one. But the contractors haven’t started the work yet, meaning Lake Superior beaches like Park Point aren’t being tested.
Here’s the full story …
Beachgoers beware: Not all beaches are tested for bacteria
A friend pointed me to an article in the Wall Street Journal on communities that are replacing paved roads with gravel in order to save money. Which led me to think… Duluth really ought to de-pave Hawk Ridge and Seven Bridges Roads as soon as possible.
I think it was only in the last ten years or so that the city splashed a half-assed layer of asphalt on those roads–within a year or two, they had deteriorated to the point where the “pavement” was bumpier than the gravel it was supposed to cover. By now, those roads are a barely navigable moonscape. Judging by the condition of various residential streets and important thoroughfares, I anticipate the city will probably have sufficient funds to properly re-pave Hawk Ridge and Seven Bridges about ten minutes before hell freezes over–so why not admit defeat on this one? Would it be all that expensive to run a grader up and down there every week or two in the summer? Is there some other compelling reason to stick with the mess that’s up there now?
After hearing about all the great berry-picking this year, I decided today to go on a mission to pick wild blueberries for the first time. I headed up onto forest backroads way north of Two Harbors, in search of a good patch to harvest, and then of course keep as a closely held secret. Miles off the pavement, in the middle of nowhere on a rutted, rocky, bumpy single-lane track, I came around a curve and saw this…
Sign the kids up for Camp Miller! We have openings in every session and a special deal for registering your camper for Session 8 — a $50 discount! (Write “PDD” on your registration to receive.)
Every child should have the experience of summer camp and the Y Camp Miller has been making memories that last a lifetime for 112 years! Check out why this tradition is still going strong!
According to the Minnesota Dept. of Agriculture, blueberry patches from Stillwater to Cambridge are reporting a bumper crop.
While blueberries are peaking in the southern half of the state, they might not be ready for picking in northern Minnesota until July 17 — which is this weekend.
There are 26 blueberry farms statewide listed in the Minnesota Grown Directory. As for the wild ones, well … I’m not telling.
I’m thinking about getting a handheld GPS. We’d use it hiking, maybe try geocaching with the kids and when paddling. So if was waterproof and usable in the car, that’d be great, but not necessary.
Anybody have recommendations or have one they want to get rid of?
Anybody who lives in Lakeside has presumably figured this out by now, but others may be interested to learn that construction on the latest phase of the Lakewalk extension–from 47th to the highway– appears to be rolling along. It looks like the section nearest to 47th may take a little more preparation than the rest due to the slope, but the part farther east might be pretty close to ready for pavement. Based on the work the past couple summers, it doesn’t seem too farfetched to think they’ll be done before fall.
What is a Summit Cheeseburger you ask? Well, the mission of the Summit Cheeseburger Project is…
“To encourage, enable, and document the consumption of a Cheeseburger on every summit on earth.”
Granted most people are completely and totally unaware of the sport of Summit Cheeseburger-ing and perhaps that is why there is a lack of said activity in St. Louis and Douglas Counties so I will forgive you, good people of said counties. But, now that you are being educated on this activity I see no reason for easy targets like Ely, Bardon’s, Moose, Sugarloaf, Pike, and Sugar Camp Hill to be conquered with zest, vigor, and zeal!
Summit Cheeseburger Locations near Duluth
Do you like to hike, bicycle, drive, or just generally get off your couch and go do something but are looking for an excuse? Then attaining a Summit Cheeseburger just may very well be for you!
1. Grab a cheeseburger and your camera
2. Visit the Summit Cheeseburger website and find a summit.
3. Hike (bike, drive, fly, whatever) to the summit.
4. Photograph yourself nomming down a cheeseburger.
5. Post it to the S.P. site.
6. Repeat!
I’ve tagged summits in Minnesota, North Dakota, and Montana but Minnesota, and particularly Duluth is full of virgin first ascents just waiting for some PDD’ers to start tagging. Bon Voyage, Happy Trails, and Bottom’s Up!
Happy 4 July.
This week I had a chance to glimpse some of the immense cultural riches of the Ojibwe people who along with other Native American people have occupied this area for thousands of years. And you can check them out too, if you want.
Hello! Once again, time to fire up your bike and get to the co-op for a ride! Have you got a good secret road you wanna share? We’re running out of new places to go, and with the road construction, it’s a little harder to get out of town. So come one down, and let’s ride.
COGGS is a local nonprofit cycling advocacy group that builds and maintains many of the single-track trails in Duluth, including Piedmont, Spirit Mountain, Lester Park, etc.
In the past six months there have been some incredible things happening with COGGS that I wanted to take a moment to share with the rest of the Twin Ports community.
On eBay:
1882 Duluth PATD “Poirier Pack Strap Sack” Backpack Bag
Vintage Leather & Canvas Bag Camille Poirer Rucksack
Item condition: Pre-owned
Price: US $50,000
