Outdoors Posts

Duluth Alligator Menace Documentary

Price Check: Off! Deep Woods Insect Repellent

OFF!BugSpray

It does not matter if you are eating at a restaurant with a lakeside seat, boating on Lake Superior, or strolling on the Lake Superior Hiking Trail, you are bound to encounter the force of the squitos.

Saying “avoid the outdoors at dusk and dawn” to protect yourself from mosquito bites is like saying “stay indoors to avoid sunburn.”

Purchasing a 6 oz. can of Off! Deep Woods is more practical than avoiding the outdoors for a third of the day. The aerosol spray contains 25 percent DEET, which is an active ingredient to repel mosquitoes, ticks, biting flies, gnats and chiggers.

The stench of insect repellent may “bug” you even after a few showers, but it beats the days of putting Xs on squito bites with your longest fingernail (or scratching with the nearest sharp object).

Here lies the ninth feature for the Price Check series where we compare prices of products and services in Duluth. The prices below reflect the rate the establishment charges with tax included. The combined tax in Duluth is 8.375 percent. This is the summation of Minnesota sales tax (6.875 percent), St. Louis County transit sales/use tax (0.5 percent) and Duluth general sales tax (1.0 percent). Hermantown’s general sales tax is the same as Duluth, and the same state and county taxes apply.

Think of the Children!!

The Duluth alligator menace continues unabated as this exclusive footage shows

Far and Away: Isle Royale National Park

Isle Royale MooseBroadcast television has been off the air in Duluth since the July 21 storm, so it was easy to miss CBS This Morning‘s feature on Isle Royale National Park. But, that’s why we have an internet.

CBS has tragically blocked embedding of the video in our region, so we can’t post it on this very page, but you can check it out on cbsnews.com.

On tap at Bayfront: a plethora of craft beer

All-Pints-North-2016

Duluth’s beeriest festival, All Pints North, is coming up on Saturday. Organized by the Minnesota Craft Brewer’s Guild, the tasting extravaganza at Bayfront Festival Park will include more than 120 breweries.

All Pints North began in 2012 and has mushroomed each successive year. In 2015, an estimated 3,500 people attended. The beer fest primarily highlights the guild’s roughly 100 members, but some national breweries participate as well.

Bumper crop

Wild blueberries

The wild blueberries are crazy this year. I picked six quarts today and didn’t even make a dent in the patch.

A Ride Through a Field of Daisies

DaisiesOn the North Shore of Lake Superior near Knife River, Frank Sander rides through a field of daisies with his new bike. Slightly promotional, mostly delightful.

Selective Focus: Moheb Soliman

SF-TeaserMohebSoliman
This week we stretch the boundaries of Selective Focus — both geographically and conceptually. Moheb Soliman is a poet who will be installing his writing in the form of very official looking signs throughout Apostle Islands National Lakeshore and the four other major Great Lakes national parks at trails, vistas, and beaches as part of the National Park Service centennial celebration. Some of the installations are already done and this month he will be finishing up at Isle Royale National Park.

Duluth Gate and Wayfinding Master Plan

Duluth-Wayfinding-Design

Duluth’s Parks and Recreation Division is in the planning stages of a Gate, Wayfinding and Trail head/Orientation Plan. A public meeting took place in June where the city’s consultants provided five concept designs to be used for park entries, trail heads, information kiosks and historical markers. The city is seeking additional input from the public until July 20 using an online survey, after which a summary of the survey will be provided to the Duluth Parks Commission.

The five concept designs and additional background are online at duluthmn.gov.

Direct link to design options PDF | Direct link to survey tool

Underwater Optics Slideshow

Some early underwater photography experiments, Lake Superior 2012. Pictures taken with a Kodak Playsport.

Kids Rolling Things Down a Hill

Hillside

The Trio’s Trek to (almost) Canada

The Trio‘Tis the season for North Shore hiking videos. This one is by Jake Oswald.

Selective Focus: Plein Air Duluth-Paint Du Nord

SF-TeaserPleinAir

Next week the Duluth Art Institute will be hosting its second annual outdoor painting festival, Plein Air Duluth: Paint du Nord, from July 10 – 16, 2016.

“Alluvial”

My contribution to the collaborative “Alluvial” photo project. Brainchild of Duluth artist Tina Fox, two local photographers (Leah Beltz and myself) took photos of her in different natural settings in different seasons. “Nature is my church.”

Three Beach Flips