Back on the Road Again-Finally #2

Itasca State Park, MN May 12, 2021

As one drives around this area with its mix of forests, water, agricultural land and small towns, you might think all is well with the world. Unfortunately, not so much. Enbridge Energy is constructing a replacement oil pipeline from Canada across Minnesota to Superior WI called Line 3. The line has been hotly debated and evidence of the construction is evident frequently as we drive through this area.

The most visible evidence we observe are the proliferation of yard signs saying: Minnesotans for Line 3. They are in yards throughout the area and along the many locations where the pipeline crosses roads or where access roads for construction have been built. The lure of jobs and a replacement oil transmission line that is promised to lessen the chances of an oil spill has them supporting the replacement line. We have passed numerous swaths of land with cleared land where the pipeline has already been built or staging areas with various construction materials stored.

Not as visible but vocal and with legal challenges outstanding are the concerns of the Ojibwe tribes of northern Minnesota. Remembering many lifetimes of broken treaties, land theft and failure of corporations to address environmental disasters and potential disasters, they believe this latest intrusion on their native lands threatens the environment and their traditional way of life. Pipeline oil spills could wreck havoc on the many marshes, streams, and lakes throughout the region.

It seems likely the Line 3 replacement will be going forward. In the years to come, we will find out if environmental damage occurs, and if so, how extensive the damage was and how well the clean up controlled environmental damage.

On a happier note, our lodgings at Itasca are sweet. The two pods of six year round cabins with heat, indoor plumbing, kitchen and linens for $105 per night are a great get away option. These units are newer. More traditional log style cabins, many without kitchens, are located around us and along the lake shore. The primary focus for lodging and eating at Itasca State Park is Douglas Lodge. (See picture at top. I have not yet figured out how to add captions to photos.) Douglas Lodge is seasonal and not yet open. Cleanup work is still going on of the grounds close to the lodge so everything will be looking immaculate for Memorial Day opening.

Some of the cabins here, the headwaters rock crossing, and many of the trees were planted by the CCC-recall that the loggers cut down most of the trees in the park back after Mary GIbbs was replaced as superintendent.). Itasca State Park is but one of many monuments to the work done by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930s. Amazing how many of their structures are being used almost 100 years later and they are still in great shape. We have seen them in numerous parks throughout the state and throughout the country. Our state and national parks would be so much less well endowed with the facilities that enable us to enjoy the outdoors without the CCC.

Last night Chris and I walked down to the lake shore and just sat and listened to the silence. Periodically we would hear the call of a loon or other birds that we could not identify. https://loon.org/the-call-of-the-loon/ Hearing loon calls lets us know that we are truly Up North. Otherwise the silence was golden. It is not yet busy here, although I expect we will have more company as we get closer to the weekend. After the pandemic hit, we really cut back on talking to people walking along various trails we took in the Twin Cities. Thus it was refreshing to accept the offer to take the photo of the only other people walking along the headwaters of the Mississippi. After Chris took their photo, it turned the couple was from Red Wing MN. He works for an agency in Saint Paul and one of his co-workers lives in our condo. She just retired from a suburban government from a town where I lived as a child. Small world.

Today’s major outing was a drive over to Tamarac National Wildlife Refuge; it is about an hour west of Itasca. As we drove west, we left the forested areas and rejoined the richer agricultural farm lands of Minnesota. The soil is a rich dark color but irrigation was still obvious throughout the drive.

Minnesota has four biomes, or environmental regions of varying characteristics. The four are the Laurentian Mixed Forest, the Eastern Broadleaf Forest, the Prairie Parkland, and the Tallgrass Aspen Parkland. In this part of the state, the first three come together and you can come drive from one to the other without fully realizing it. (There are no boundary signs!!) Even the Tallgrass Aspen Parkland is just a short drive north of here.

Generally speaking, the Laurentian Mixed forest is in the northeast part of the state, the portion we call the arrowhead region, along Lake Superior. Here the forests are thicker, the coniferous trees are abundant, the ground is rocky and waterfalls and rivers are more abundant. The eastern broadleaf forest runs in a narrow band up near the north west corner of the state in a narrow swath until it widens at the south east corner of the state. The Prairie Parkland is wide at the southern and southwest corner of the state and narrows as it moves northward. The Tallgrass Aspen Parkland is a small rectangle near the northwest corner of MN but inland a bit from the North Dakota border.

Chris and I learned all this through a 12 week course that says we are now a Minnesota Master Naturalist. Believe me, the title has not gone to our heads. There is a lot to know and we have just started to scratch the surface. Our course only covered the eastern broadleaf forest, the area around the Twin Cities and NW and SE of them. This Zoom held course was one of the activities that we picked up during the pandemic. Sometimes the technology of handling the Zoom class and related breakout sessions was more challenging than we desired. However, we persevered.

Now when we walk and drive through a natural area, such as Tamarac National Wildlife Refuge, it takes a lot longer. We used to have to watch our footing so we would not trip on tree roots and stones as well as enjoying the vista in front of us. Now besides those, we have to listen and look for birds, look for the plants and wildflowers at our feet, as well as trying to guess what types of trees we are passing. We have given up for now trying to worry about what types of rocks and geology we are going through. We will save that for hikes with Chris’s brother.

We saw a few new birds at Tamarac; we are still hoping other users of iNaturalist will come through and confirm their identities. (Thursday morning-iNaturalist people came through and identified several different types of swallows.) Otherwise old familiar friends such as Canada geese and Redwing blackbirds were abundant. For lunch we returned to our old standby of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches but were able to enjoy the view of the water and birds under blue skies and temperatures in the mid 60s. Visitor centers here at the park and at Tamarac were not open yet but we’re hopeful more will be as we undertake our driving journey to Arizona during June.

Dinner was hot dogs, baked beans, cole slaw and root beer. Great meal for being in the woods and traveling. After dinner it was back to the lake and listening to silence and watching the sunset. (Although we did meet and talk to one other person-back to post vaccination behavior.)

{break in time} So the new WordPress editor lost my first three paragraphs which were simply sublime. Under the old system, I knew how to find earlier versions. Then it would not let me enter pictures.{break in time} Okay so now I know where to find earlier drafts and have my first three paragraphs back but still no pics. Oops, there goes my Coke all over my papers, the counter top, and the floor. **&%)!**. {break in time} Now, since the free Internet is so slow, (we already stopped in Park Rapids to upload pictures from the camera knowing about the slowness) Verizon says I am about to run out of data. BUT, I can’t stay connected to the Internet to increase my data plan. **&%#!!**. {Overnight break in time} So, now refreshed, with more data and a sunny day ahead, lets try for pictures. Sometime I wonder why I bother with this blog. Anyway, here goes, you will know the results. Ed

Ed Heimel, Chris Klejbuk May 13, 2021