{"id":8587,"date":"2019-03-13T09:33:16","date_gmt":"2019-03-13T14:33:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/oldnaturalist.com\/?p=8587"},"modified":"2019-03-13T19:33:54","modified_gmt":"2019-03-14T00:33:54","slug":"north-country-pilgrimage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/oldnaturalist.com\/?p=8587","title":{"rendered":"North Country Pilgrimage"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Three nights of winter camping in a yurt can change your perspective on life. Jim Gregory and his son David joined me for the adventure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Jim Gregory’s water color of our yurt.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Often working with only the light of his headlamp and a lantern, Jim was able to create his work. This was his first experience using water colors. When we left, Jim generously gave his painting to the owner of the property.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Plenty of time for creative activities.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

City boy
Brought a cell phone charger
Now I am out of juice
Can’t plug it into a pine tree.
City boy
<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Jim Gregory on the trail<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Creative Snow Plops – Nature is the Artist<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Snow bird<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
Snow Moomin<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
Climbing Snow Creatures<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Lost my glove liners
Tearing everything apart
Going crazy
Heck with the liners…
Going skiing
Out on the trail now….
I adjust my hat
And feel something.
Hey! I found my glove liners.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Gray Jay<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Whiskey Jacks
Pirates – Scavengers
Fearless ……If food is involved
Gray Jay<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Culinary Art by David Gregory<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I went out before sunrise, skiing. When I returned to the yurt, I was hungry and was going to make some hot cereal. David had not skied, but made this special meal. In 50 years of camping, I have never had a breakfast like this. It was a wonderful gift. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Canada Lynx Tracks<\/strong>
I originally thought these were the tracks of a cougar. But my tracker friends, told me that the 16-18 inch distance between the tracks was too small for a cougar. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
Canada Lynx Track<\/strong>.
A wolf track would have visible claws. This is a 4 inch wide track, but has no visible claws. The claws of cats are tucked into the skin until they are ready to be used. It wasn’t a bobcat, because their track would not have been so wide.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The foot is very wide on a Canada Lynx, to keep it from sinking in deep snow. It has been classified as a Federally Threatened Species. Barbara Young, the owner of Poplar Creek Guesthouse said that she has seen many lynx over the years. Once she saw a lynx jump 5 feet high and knock over a bird feeder.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Two nights – The same dream
The eyes of wildness
Burning into my Soul
Waking me from a restless sleep.<\/strong>

On the ski trail
Fresh tracks of a Canada Lynx
The lynx’s essence
Passes through me
But remains unseen.
The eyes of wildness
Deep in my bones.<\/strong>

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
David Gregory used cross country skis for the groomed trails. He carried Back Country Skis that are a modified ski\/snowshoe for the deep snow, off trail. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

When David was two, I carried him on my back while I cross-country skied. I often wonder if that has something to do with his love of skiing and the outdoors. <\/em>
Jim Gregory<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
White Pine<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

There were no more than a dozen mature white pine near our yurt. Loggers cut down most of the giants in the early 1900’s. I can only imagine what this land was like when the old growth white pine dominated the area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
More work by Jim Gregory.
Jim says, “This highly grained wood chip fascinated me and consisted of a lot of detail.” <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Where Does Beauty Hide?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
In the lichen on a fallen birch<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
In the fresh tracks of Snowshoe Hare<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Where Does Beauty Hide?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
In the shadows of the branches on the snow<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
In moss and fungus on the birch tree<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Where Does Beauty Hide?
In the simplicity of nature
And deep in my heart.<\/strong>
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Do you need to make a Northwoods Pilgrimage?
Contact Barbara Young at Poplar Creek Guesthouse. 11 Poplar Creek Drive.
Grand Marais, MN 55604
(218) 388-4487
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Three nights of winter camping in a yurt can change your perspective on life. Jim Gregory and his son David joined me for the adventure. Often working with only the light of his headlamp and a lantern, Jim was able … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[12,18,16,6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8587","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-connecting-to-nature","category-nature-poetry","category-photography","category-winter"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/oldnaturalist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8587","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/oldnaturalist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/oldnaturalist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/oldnaturalist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/oldnaturalist.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8587"}],"version-history":[{"count":19,"href":"https:\/\/oldnaturalist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8587\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8641,"href":"https:\/\/oldnaturalist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8587\/revisions\/8641"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/oldnaturalist.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8587"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/oldnaturalist.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8587"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/oldnaturalist.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8587"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}