Awestuck on the North Arm

When was the last time the world opened up and poured into all your senses until they were overflowing? Do you recall the feeling and can you replay the remembrance in your mind? Some find it on mountain top, in the resonance of music, amidst a river, fast in prayer, amongst dear friends, clinging to a rock, or in the love between souls. The list has no end.

On this day one of those such moments graced my life.

The sun rose upon a transformed landscape giving light to a foot of snow that clung heavily to the scene. Whole trees weary from the weight of the gripping snow leaned to touch the ground. As I drove away from my cabin I was greeted by the first of many inspiring sights. I passed through perfect tunnel of bent trees with the clinging snow blanketing their limbs. I smiled broadly at the exhilaration of bursting through snowy columns hanging limbs finally emerging to open skies.


I left work early, I couldn't any longer stand the thought what I might miss outside the monotonous hospital walls. There was never a doubt as to where I would go. Since the age 4 every summer I had walked the trails along the North Arm of Burnside Lake in wonder. And now I felt strongly pulled to them again. I drove faster hoping to have the woods to myself.

I pulled into the trail head and found that I was alone with the surroundings. I threw my small pack on my back, mounted my skis, and left the civilized world behind. A mere 50 yards in I was already enamored with what I was beholding. Every step floated upon clouds of untouched powder of shin to knee deep in depth. The trees bent so as to greet me.


I stopped in stood in reverence to the sheer silence around me. Not even a breath of wind nor a rustling branch dared interrupted it. Kingly boulders rested capped in a crowns of snow upon the buried and barren bedrock.



Going unnoticed, a grouse leapt from the trail beside me and landed on a limb eye level with me sounding it's alarm a yard from my gaze. We stood without motion eying one another for a long while, before she took flight to a distant limb. Any other time my hunter instinct would have elicited more drastic action towards a grouse, but it was clear that the bird had become clumsy amongst the snow. It would have hard enough time with the season ahead without my attempting to skewer it with a ski pole.

The daylight was waining and the tree's limbs shown golden in the rays of the falling sun. Despite the dying daylight, I couldn't stop; around every corner was painted a unique beauty and I was entranced.


I looked to the pink sky and noticed the white moon still ascending. I welcomed the darkness. In the dim light I set my pack down pulling out some warmer gloves, a down vest, and a headlamp, and headed into the darkness. The trail ahead was lit as if a lantern was hung in the sky. In the moonlight I sailed down powdery slopes heading back.

I drove home in a awestruck and content, brimming with bliss. My heart felt bloated as if over fed with beauty. The greatest tragedy couldn't wipe the smile from my face. Back in the warmth of my cabin, I sat wishing I could have shared the experience with someone else, wondering how would I ever find the eloquence to describe the sheer awe. Even now the preceding words feel inadequate.

Through it all, this day will be preserved amongst the fondest of memories, a day I will hold on to....

First Descent?

The Horizon line on Kawishiwi Falls
(those are people in the distant foreground)

After days in the hospital with dreary skies overhead the sun came out for day. I went out searching for whitewater. I left my cabin somewhat lethargically and hopped into the car to check out the local falls.

Kawishiwi Falls is not unknown to locals nor is in inaccessible. It in fact lies just of the main drag and is only a short hike. When I came upon it I felt my excitement grow. I scurried around the rocks like a small child taking photos from various angles and pondering lines in my head.

The main line on the Falls

The first thing to be discussed is whether it is truly a first descent or has someone in the past taken to this falls? In the months to come I will undoubtedly inquire with locals as to if has been run in the past.

As for the line there are two. Firstly the main line which is clearly obvious and looks promising. The one danger is that it manages to drop vertically onto a rock pile at the finish. But upon finding some pictures online of the Falls in the spring, it appears the pool below fills up substantially in the Spring flows and may cover the rock pile safely? (see comparative photos below)

For comparative sake... (bottom photo is credited Jon Davis via Flickr)

The second line looks equally interesting as the Falls drops over approximately 5-8 ft mostly vertical drop into a hanging pool. The depth of the hanging pool is unknown to me at this time... but I will scout it soon. The from the hanging pool it drops over another ~15 ft vertical falls. The depth of the pool varies, but I will probe it for certain soon enough.

In short there are some strong possibilities for a great couple lines on this falls. In the coming days I plan to put in below the falls at the current low water levels and poke around to see the depth of the pools.

A New Place To Call Home

After a fall filled with the delivery of newborns into the world, mixed with the occasional adrenaline of the lower St. Louis, or relaxing trail run up the North Shore, the daylight became more sparse. The clock ticked away the time as my days in Duluth waned.

I drove Northward in truck filled with all my belongings to my new home. I drove up to my small rural drive to my cabin on the shores of Lake Burntside near Ely, MN. I found myself within the reaches of the Boundary Waters Wilderness surrounded by beauty I had only known in my visits to the area.

The sunset over Burnside (from my kayak)

As the days pass I find myself pouring over maps, exploring the waters on my door step, and running over the trails out my back door. The season's change is at hand and as the waters come to freeze and the snow falls I will find the adventures and possibilities without limit in the winter.