Fall Hiking and Exploring in the North Woods
Continuing on the theme of my last post, here's another Fall trip we took in Northeastern Minnesota. This was in the Superior National Forest, in early October of last year.
Hope you enjoy the pics!
All kitted up and ready for some exploring...
Birch Polypore, a very useful mushroom. They can be used like a gauze sponge to stop heavy bleeding, and the outer skin can be peeled off and used as an antiseptic bandage for smaller injuries.
Lots of Rose hips, a good emergency food source.
Picking some for later.
Turkey tail, a medicinal mushroom, was everywhere.
A small lobster mushroom.
We set up a quick base camp on the shore of this small lake, then headed out to do some exploring.
A quiet little beaver pond.
Red squirrel.
My lovely photographer, sporting her Everest backpack.
The leaves were just starting to change.
Examining some pine resin from a wound on a red pine. This is an incredibly useful material. The Native Americans used it to construct and repair their birch bark canoes, it's a highly flammable fire tinder, it can be used to seal and protect cuts and minor injuries, and can even be chewed as a source of vitamin C.
Collecting some birch bark. Note the birch polypores.
Crossing a sedge meadow.
Another beaver pond.
We had to cross a few beaver dams, which is always a little treacherous. (The blade pictured is an Ontario SP-8 survival machete)
Thankfully we managed to cross, but got wet socks in the process.
Back at our makeshift base camp, preparing for a much needed fire.
Socks drying...
A bit of tea.
Enjoying a nice break before heading out again.
There were lots of mushrooms around. This is a coral mushroom, which is edible and has a good flavor.
Another lobster.
There's a BIG moose in the area...
More unidentified mushrooms.
We even discovered a new lake! I'm hoping to fish this one next spring.
More moose activity.
Thanks for coming along with us!