Great North Woods

At first thought, it seems a bit mad to head north in the heart of winter.
Okay, seems crazy on second thought as well. Still, if one can brave the cold, few sights can match the beauty of the North Shore in January.
This was our third trip to Gunflint--our second this year and also our second in winter. Although it is a popular Summer destination, we prefer it cooler--and less crowded.

Anyone who has been to Gunflint is familiar with the welcoming committee.

In spite of the cold clear nights, we missed the Aurora Borealis (again), but did have a fantastic full moon. Note the similarity between this photo and the one we took for the "Winter Wonderland" entry exactly one lunar month ago.

In addition to skiing, we went snowshoeing for the first time.

We also did some birding in Zax-Sim Bog, which has lots of great avian life and these unusual (if somewhat gruesome) deer carcass feeders.

In the Fall, we came across a wolf while on a hike. This trip we saw several moose. They are usually quite reclusive, but the males especially seem a little less shy in winter.

It can be difficult to find someone to take your picture when you are in the wilderness, so we just had to do it ourselves.

And here's what we are looking at, Lonely Lake (that's our showshoe tracks along the left).

Puerto Vallarta

Having endured a month of winter since our visit to the Yucatan last month, we were glad to be back in sunny Mexico. Our good friend Patrick has been living in Puerto Vallarta for the past couple of months-- a gracious host who, along with his upstairs neighbor, Luis, provided this trip with a lot of local flavor.
Of course, one great benefit of the Pacific coast is spectacular sunsets, and we were certain not to miss this daily opportunity to sit with friends, revel in beauty and transition from daytime activities to nocturnal fun.
As much as we enjoyed the town, we also managed to see much of the surrounding countryside. We first ventured north to San Blas, where we toured hillside coffee plantations, bays and mangrove swamps-- all filled with birds. Later we headed south into the jungle clad mountains, where we soared above the valley gorges on zip lines hundreds of meters in the air and over a quarter of a mile long (some we even did hanging upside down).

Winter Wonderland 2010

A truly rare occurrence, a blue moon on the last day of the year, still hung in the early morning sky on January first as we headed North- ward into the teeth of an arctic blast (a much less rare occurrence). Although our hopes at seeing lots of bird activity were not realized, our spirits remained high, as we were headed on an 800-mile round trip journey through western Minnesota, where prairie, deciduous and evergreen landscapes converge. How different in every way this trip from our recent foray in the Yucatan!

The picture below was taken in the truly remote reservation lands to the west of Lower Red Lake. At -33 degrees, the soil begins to deep freeze, creating a low hanging a fog. We have witnessed this phenomenon over water, but never over land, as this is the coldest temperature either of us have ever seen.

From Thief River Falls, we navigated across back roads to Itasca State Park, which we had visited over the summer. Along the way, we saw a few white winged crossbills and grouse, and marveled at their ability to be "out and about" in such extreme con- ditions. The Mississippi headwaters, while far from mighty, remained unfrozen.

We took some cool "car cam" video as we drove through the park.

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

In spite of the cold, we did manage to get some skiing in at Maplewood State Park north of Fergus Falls (it was a balmy -8). That's Kristen below, all bundled up in our thwarted attempt to do some hiking. Without show shoes, the drifts proved too deep.

This fox, seen as we were headed to ski at Bunker Hills, seemed quite well equipped to handle the cold and snow.