Triple Treat

First off, I have to tell you how quiet it is around here.  It's so peaceful during the week.  It certainly is that time of year when we only see people we know.

Secondly, you will be so proud.  Especially if you have been on this journey with me since A Little Slice of da Harbor.  I got to adventure three days in a row!

That's right.  No death-defying Brockway mountain descents, but some of my most favorite things to do around the harbor in the winter time.

I better back up and say that this was the first week in a month and a half that I didn't need to blow snow or take care of administrative duties while Brady P. was at his short three days of school.  So I took some freedom time.

Monday my friend Stacia and I traversed the harbor from the Harbor Haus lot to Porter's Island.  It was a blue sky day, baby!  Just what I was hoping for.  

The ice was thick and the wind was tolerable.  Here's a picture of the ice.

 

Sleek and sexy bubbly ice

I try to make it there every winter to check out the ice volcanoes and broken tundra of ice fragments, but this year I saw something new.

Other people's tracks.

What???  Other people went out there too?

Yes, siree.  It filled my heart with glee!

We saw snowshoe tracks and fat bike tire tracks.  Signs of life from friends in the harbor!  Here is proof of the bike track next to the lake.

 

Bike tracks on Porter's Shore

Now don't be upset that the background is blurry.  I was focusing on the tread in front.  Besides, I really didn't get any good landscape pictures to do the scenery justice.  I'm a writer, remember?  But here's another try.

Looking toward East Bluff

Tuesday was a super duper treat because it just doesn't happen every year.

WE ICE SKATED ON THE HARBOR!!!

Yeah, buddy!  As Stacia and I traversed Monday, I thought, Man, I bet we could skate on this!

So I told my pro ice skater friend Tanya about it, and she was all in.

We shimmied out a bit past the snow patches until we found a decently smooth area for two.  Before you knew it, we were spinning, jumping and whirling through the air!  

No, wait.  That was Tanya.  Only Tanya was doing that.  I just marveled at her and tried my own meager tricks.  I only fell hard once!  (If I ever get pictures of that day, I will post them here!)

It was awesome.  We seized the day.  It's pretty much the way to do it up here.  I'm so grateful for my friends that are up for anything when I get the chance to be just Amanda again.

Wednesday was a bit drizzly, but there was one other place I've been eyeing up during cross country skis this winter: the ridge across Lake Fanny Hooe.

Brady P. and I take the wagon out to the fishing dock by the boat launch on Fanny Hooe often, so I knew the ice was thick.  I couldn't find anyone to go with me in a pinch this morning, so I just went alone.

I've done dumber things alone.

Looking east on frozen Lake Fanny Hooe

One cool spot of note was Manganese falls, of course.  

 Manganese Falls from the bottom

And here's a slow motion video from below that bridge for you just for fun!

After that rushing action, I climbed pretty much straight up the ridge until I hit the Keweenaw Point Trail.  Someone had been skiing up there!  

Want to know who else I saw evidence of?  Otters!  I imagined them sliding down those slopes on their bellies (because I saw their slide marks) as I huffed up the hills.  Ah.  So lovely.

It was really refreshing to be out there all by myself after all this time that I used to do those adventures everyday.  Now they are sparse, but I am still so grateful to be breathing that fresh air, following my curiosity, finding treasures in Mother Nature and just plain feeling connected to the earth.

I think we all need to do that, so I am glad that it's still a priority for me when I can swing it.

Well, thanks for spending another few minutes of your time with me!  See you next week -- spring break for us!