Along the Shore

Spirit Mountain: Duluth’s summer mecca

By Chris Pascone

DULUTH—Duluth’s Spirit Mountain has built its reputation as a prime Midwest winter destination since opening alpine ski operations in 1974. Cross-country and alpine skiers, snowboarders, and fat bikers all flock to Spirit in the wintertime for its 678 feet of vertical drop, oak forests, and beautiful perch overlooking the St. Louis River.

But today, Spirit Mountain Recreation Area is a four-season destination, with just as much to offer gravity thrill-seekers, and other user groups, in the summer, too. The resort has transformed itself into a well-rounded destination with lift-served mountain biking, an adventure park, and a plethora of low-cost options like hiking and disc golf. There’s even a 73-site campground starting at $35 a night for walk-in tenting. Here’s a look at more summer adventures in Duluth’s west end.

Start by getting your full body armor on—it’s time for some serious mountain biking. If trail names like “Calculated Risk,” “Wrecking Ball” and “Blaster” don’t get your blood pumping, you have a heart made of stone. This is the stuff of adrenaline dreams. These three trails are for experienced mountain bike riders only, but there are easier trails mixed in to the 19-trail system at Spirit as well.

Caleb Schnell, who drove eight hours with his friends from the Quad Cities area of Illinois to check out Spirit in early June, explained his initial impressions: “The mountain was a little bit bigger than I expected, and a whole lot rockier. I’m not used to the rocks.” Schnell described the mountain biking as “challenging,” and added that he really enjoyed it. He insisted that the mountain biking in Illinois was “tame” compared to Duluth and said another huge draw for him and his friends was the “clean, fresh air” blowing in off Lake Superior.

Mountain bikers can buy a day pass for $46 at Spirit, which gives unlimited rides up the chairlift with your bike. Plan on getting in about two runs per hour down the long trails. The chairlift operates four days per week; Thursdays and Fridays from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Saturdays and Sundays from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. It is also open on the Mondays of July 4 and September 5.

Jon Regenold, director of resort services at Spirit Mountain, lists a bunch more opportunities for summer family fun besides mountain biking. He starts with the Timber Twister, which is an alpine coaster that riders can take down the mountain alone or in pairs, with complete control over their speed. Regenold describes the Twister as “unique for the region and fun for folks of all ages.” It’s open to ages 3 and up (passengers must be at least 38 inches tall and accompanied by a supervising companion at least 16 years old).

Mountain bikers can buy a day pass for $46 at Spirit, which gives unlimited rides up the chairlift with your bike. | SUBMITTED

Next is the Timber Flyer, which is a seated zip ride where people sit on a bench-style seat and wear a seat belt. They get zipped down the mountain and then brought back up to the start. Regenold describes it as “a little less intense than a conventional zip line.”

People can buy single-ride tickets to the Twister and Flyer, or they can do an all-day wristband, with as many rides as they want on the attractions, including the scenic chairlift.

Regenold suggests trying the chairlift “just to relax” if you’ve never ridden one in the winter before.

“Riding the chairlift in the summer is really cool because you’re not just using it as a mode of transportation,” he says.

Chairlift riders start at the top and ride the lift down to the Grand Avenue Chalet, with amazing views of the valley the whole way down. Check out the St. Louis River basin, the iconic Lift Bridge and Lake Superior, all from a bird’s eye view. The Riverside Bar and Grill in the Grand Avenue Chalet has a full menu for guests to enjoy, as well.

“In the winter you find yourself turning around in the chair and cranking your neck to see the lake. In the summer you have the full vista in front of you at all times. It’s spectacular. It’s a different perspective on a chairlift,” adds Regenold.

Scenic chairlift tickets are available for a single ride or an all-day ticket. Regenold adds that the chairlift is slowed down in the summer to help the mountain bikers load their bikes, and that this adds time to admire the view for those taking the lift for scenic purposes.

The Adventure Park is rounded out with nine holes of putt-putt golf and a jumping pillow. Regenold promises the jumping pillow will work muscles you didn’t know you had.

The scenic chairlift offers amazing of views of the valley the whole way down. | SUBMITTED

Another attraction is the 18-hole disc golf course, which takes advantage of both the open ski hill terrain and the surrounding forested areas. The course is in its fourth year and Spirit Mountain worked with the local disc golf community to establish it. Regenold explains that the course “climbs the hill in such a way that it doesn’t feel like you’re just throwing directly uphill the whole time.” Most of the holes go crosswise across the hill.

“When you take in the difficult terrain, the beauty of nature, and you add in the view, it makes a great course. There’s a couple of spectacular downhill throws,” says Regenold.

Disc rental is available at the Grand Avenue Chalet on weekends.

Last but not least, take a walk on the Superior Hiking Trail, which winds through Spirit Mountain for a 3-mile loop, and is absolutely free to all users.

For Schnell, who made the long drive from Illinois for a weekend at Spirit Mountain, the “super-friendly staff” was a bonus at Spirit that coincided with his overall impression of Duluth.

“The mountain bike community in Duluth has been super fun to talk to. Everybody’s really inviting,” he says.

To top it all off, there’s a pump track for beginning mountain bikers and a free bike wash station, both alongside the Grand Avenue Chalet.

Regenold harks back to the name of Spirit Mountain Recreation Area.

“That’s still our name, and recreation for all is still our mission. We serve a broad spectrum of people, including mountain bikers, runners, birders, hikers and campers, and the list just goes on. The summer really embraces that wide range of people we serve,” says Regenold.

If you’ve only been to Spirit Mountain in the winter and associate it with freezing cold skiing, you owe yourself a favor to see the summer sun shining down on this hillside full of adventure.

Garton Herbarium: Lakehead University’s time machine

By Peter Fergus-Moore

THUNDER BAY—On the third floor of Lakehead University’s Centennial Building is a time machine. Not as H.G.Wells and other fantasy authors have visualized such a thing, but rather a quiet room filled with rows of gray cabinets and sundry equipment. On a blackboard on one of the walls, a chalked sign tellingly reads: Sleep, Eat, Botanize. Repeat. Welcome to the Claude E. Garton Herbarium.

Why is the Herbarium a time machine?

Inside the bland cabinets is file folder upon file folder of preserved plant specimens from as far back as the 19th century. Kept in the carefully-controlled environment, these specimens can last hundreds of years past the collection date and botanical researchers in our present day, and even those who aren’t even born yet, might avail themselves of this trove of information.

“We have over 115,000 plant specimens here,” says assistant curator Myles Cummins. “Thirty-thousand are from our area and the rest from all over the world.”

The Herbarium is in a collegial relationship with similar agencies in Australia, Finland and many other places in large part due to the tireless collecting and networking of the late Claude E. Garton.

Assistant curator Myles Cummins shows visitor Emma Fergus-Moore how to press a plant specimen. | PETER FERGUS-MOORE

“He started collecting and preserving plants here in the early 1930s after he started teaching in Port Arthur in 1928,” explains acting curator Kristi Dysievick. “By the time he retired from teaching, he had over 10,000 specimens, so he donated them as the nucleus for the university’s herbarium. He was the first curator and contacted other herbariums around the world for some of their specimens.”

The passionate renaissance man Garton lives on not only in the Herbarium’s name, but in many of the careful “vouchers,” as the mounts with preserved plants are known. A voucher consists of a stiff, acid-free cotton rag or alpha cellulose, some 27.9 by 43.2 cm (11 by 17 inches) in size, on which a dried plant specimen is carefully mounted. The plant’s Latin name, common name, date/ location and collector’s name are recorded in the bottom right corner of the voucher. The vouchers are organized by plant family in the file folders, of which thousands are stored in the gray cabinets. Garton’s records are so thorough that it’s possible to return to almost the exact original location of any of his collected plants.

“Anyone who wishes can go back to the same location at a different time and see what changes have occurred in the flora there,” explains Dysievick. “We can then maybe track how plants react to changes in the climate, weather and human activity over the years.”

One such plant is the Carolina springbeauty (Claytonia caroliniana), which has been collected in the same location from 1937 to 1991—the voucher records show a noticeable lag time in the plant’s flowering over the years, possibly due to climate change.

“All of these are important because botanists are able to get a snapshot of how a given plant species behaved in certain conditions years ago,” Dysievick adds. “The collection is arranged by plant family, from the earliest evolutionary development of plants, like conifers and cattails, to the most recently evolved, like dandelions. This makes it easier to find what you are looking for.”

The Herbarium acts as a repository for collectors of plant specimens, many of whom locally are amateurs as members of the Thunder Bay Field Naturalists club. Collectors also take soil samples with the plants to track changes in the soils. Dysievick notes the Herbarium has previously provided researchers with viable material (e.g. DNA extracted from seeds, soil samples) from samples taken 90 years ago for study.

In addition to the vascular plants, which comprise the familiar flowers, ferns and trees, the Herbarium boasts a sizable moss (bryophyte) collection as well as a collection of lichens and another of algae. An army of volunteers is helping the Herbarium staff digitize the entire collection, an accomplishment which will take some five years to complete. With digitization, it will no longer be necessary to send a voucher to another institution for analysis—a digital image will suffice.

The Herbarium provides resources for five to six courses per year. Also, it is heavily involved in education, hosting student groups for tours and tutorials in conjunction with the local school boards and EcoSuperior environmental organization. All of the Herbarium’s activities and resources have an importance well beyond the facility itself.

Lakehead’s time machine serves not only as a preservation and research facility, but a tool in diagnosing and perhaps mitigating the effects of climate change in the northwest of Lake Superior country.

Cycling on the North Shore

By Eric Weicht

NORTH SHORE—Now is a great time to be a cyclist on the North Shore.

Bicycle technology has come a long way since the days of coaster brakes and “fixie” bikes. Developments in the industry like improved suspension, the evolution of the “gravel bike,” and the recent ‘surge’ in e-bikes have made more types of terrain accessible to a broader base of riders. Increased accessibility has led to increased interest in the sport, and increased interest has meant a spike in demand for new bikes and—more importantly—new trails.

Thanks in large part to grass-root efforts by organizations like COGGS (Cyclists of Gitchi Gumee Shores), the SCA (Superior Cycling Association), the Gitchi-Gami Trail Association, and the small army of volunteers and trail builders that make their work possible, the North Shore has not only kept up with rising demand for bike trails, but evolved into a recognized biking destination.

In Duluth, mountain bikers can now pedal from one side of the city to the other along a near continuous 40-mile stretch of singletrack known as the Duluth Traverse. The “traverse” connects close to 100 miles of multi-use singletrack trail and treats riders to a healthy mix of terrain through birch groves, pine forests, wetlands, and exposed rockfaces that open onto sweeping views of the city below.

For anyone looking for a more adrenaline fueled, downhill riding experience, both Spirit Mountain in Duluth and Mont Du Lac in Superior offer lift service to their growing networks of “best in the Midwest” downhill mountain bike (MTB) trails. These trails are not for the faint of heart, and take some practice and the right bike to ride confidently. But, boy are they a good time.

Information on Spirit Mountain and Mont Du Lac’s bike parks, facilities, hours and more, can be found by visiting their websites at: spiritmt.com/about-mtb and mdlresort. com/summer/mountain-biking respectively.

The Britton Peak trail system in Tofte is approachable for riders of all skill levels. Though taking the ramp to the left is a bold choice on the Crosscut Trail. | SUBMITTED

Further up the Shore, Lake County has been hard at work developing their own network of MTB trails to rival those of its neighbors.

Located 8.5 miles outside of the town of Two Harbors, the Demonstration Forest is home to the first purpose-built MTB trails in the county. While the mountain bike system at the Demonstration Forest is relatively small, all of the trails are well-made and varied, making them a great choice for beginner riders.

Split Rock Wilds—Lake County’s newest network of MTB trails—is a much different riding experience from the trails at Demonstration Forest. Split Rock Wilds comprises 21 miles of “rugged backcountry” trail that takes full advantage of the natural, rocky terrain of the North Shore, and is best ridden on a full suspension. Find them on Trailforks for current maps and information on the Lake County MTB trails.

In Cook County, the (relatively) new Jackpot/High climber singletrack trail that connects Lutsen Mountains to the Britton Peak trails system is an absolute blast to pedal. The trail is approachable for riders of all skill levels, though doing the whole 16 miles in one go makes for a big day, especially as an out and back.

It’s not just singletrack trails that are seeing an expansion along the shore. The Lake Walk in Duluth is 8 miles of paved bike trail that follows Lake Superior from Brighton Beach to Canal Park, and then beyond Canal Park, riders can continue cycling a combination of paved bike path and designated bike lanes to the “craft” district in Lincoln Park.

Further north, the Gitchi Gami State Bike Trail has expanded to include some 34 miles of paved bike path along Lake Superior, with the most recent 4-mile stretch between Grand Marais and Cutface Creek having been completed in the spring of this year. The Gitchi Gami will eventually span the full 89 miles between Two Harbors and Grand Marais, making for an awesome bike-touring opportunity once completed.

In addition to expanded trail networks, the quantity, nay, the quality of bike shops that can be found all along the North Shore is absolutely incredible. Today, riders can rent a well maintained full-suspension MTB from Sawtooth Outfitters in Tofte, sip an espresso at Spoken Gear in Two Harbors, and check out the latest and greatest bike tech at Continental Ski & Bike or the Ski Hut in Duluth, just to name a few of the shops available to North Shore riders.

New to the sport but want to get involved? Bike shops have finally started to move past the supply shortages of the pandemic, and have bikes on hand to meet just about any budget. Group rides, clinics, and events are commonplace these days on the North Shore, with the COGGS and SCA websites/social media accounts being good places to start looking for ways to connect to the broader cycling community.

The possibilities are endless when it comes to what you can do on a bicycle—nothing to do but get out and ride.

Lakeview Cabins turns 90 this year

By Jackie Larsen Hyovalti

CROFTVILLE—Larsen’s Lakeview Cabins, a five-generation business in Croftville, is celebrating their 90th anniversary this year. The celebration will culminate with a float in the Fisherman’s Picnic parade on Sunday, Aug. 7 and an open house for everyone after the parade.

Built by Lawrence Larsen, Larsen’s Lakeview Cabins in Croftville was established in 1932. | SUBMITTED

In the early 1900s, Norwegian immigrants Olai and Asta Larsen came to Skipper Bay in Croftville, about one-quarter mile west of the present location of Lakeview Cabins. Their three children, Elsie, John and Lawrence, were born in that house. Olai was a carpenter in the early 20s. He soon passed away, leaving Asta to raise the children alone.

While many tourists came for the fishing, they soon learned that this area was beneficial for people suffering from hay fever. The first of the cabins was built in 1932 by Lawrence. It was a duplex-style cabin and each unit was furnished with a gas hot-plate, water pail and ice box. There was a common out-house and an outside water pump. It is thought that they rented for $2 or $3 each! The laundry was done in a wash house with a wringer washing machine and then hung on the lines to dry.

In the late 30s, six more cabins were built and shortly after, four modern cabins were added to the business. When running water and indoor bathrooms were eventually added to the cabins, the name was changed to Larsen’s Modern Cabins.

Elsie started working at Cherry’s Bakery in Grand Marais, and Lawrence and John started fishing commercially. When Elsie and John moved to California in the early 40s, Lawrence continued his fishing business, taking private parties deep-sea fishing. Soon after, Lawrence was drafted into the Army.

Irma Haugen, who had graduated from the Duluth Beauty School in 1939, came to Grand Marais from Virginia, Minn. to work as a beautician. Her means of getting here was to catch a ride with the bread man, Walter Schulte. She worked at a shop in town until she and Lawrence were married February 1942.

Elsie Larsen Scott stands next to an old Lakeview Cabins sign. | SUBMITTED

Their first child, Jackie, was born in July 1943 and Lawrence was allowed to come home to see the baby before he was shipped out to Normandy. With Lawrence gone, Irma and the baby temporarily moved to Virginia to live with Irma’s parents. They would periodically come back to check on their home in Croftville.

Lawrence came home from the Army in December 1945. Two more children were born to them: Larry was born in 1946 and Curt was born in 1948. Lawrence went back to his fishing business and Irma ran a beauty shop in their home, alongside raising a family and helping to run the cabin business. Lawrence also worked at Silver Bay Mining and Hibbing Taconite.

One of Jackie’s first jobs was to help hang out the laundry as soon as she was old enough. Later, in her early teens, she learned how to clean fish and pick spawn, a job that, today, is called harvesting roe.

Today, five of the Lakeview Cabins are being run by Jackie and five are run by Karen, who is Elsie’s granddaughter.