The Things I Wish I Had Known “What is that thing?” “Oh, that? It’s just a little sea otter, nothing too crazy.” “Wow, I had no idea. I’m from Pennsylvania, we don’t have those there.” “That’s ok, I’m from Minnesota,…
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Moose Country
The Story Behind The Photo All my research had pointed to the Gunflint Trail. “There is no mileage in photographing a bear with a long lens—it has been done before—it is hackneyed pulp.” David Yarrow After meeting David in Chicago,…
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Your Dreams May Take Longer Than You Think
But They’re Worth Holding On To I have always been a dreamer. A big picture, can-do person who yearns for adventure and unique conversation starters. “Oh, I see you have a castle?” Yup, building a castle is on that list.…
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The 2023 Tanzania Photography Wall Calendar
The Calendar I would like to introduce you to the 2023 Tanzania Photography Wall Calendar. This is The Spur Trail’s third annual art calendar. Within its pages you will find adventures from Serengeti safari, living with the Maasai, climbing mountains…
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The Street Kitties of Lebanon
A tale of kings and queens, cushions and streets. When the rush of day and traffic fades away, the raucous sound of traffic jams and near misses transitions into a new auditory treat. Sweet Night Sounds To Sleep To Shadows emerge…
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The Minnesota State Parks Passport and Hiking Club Programs Project
Gotta Catch ‘Em All What Am I Doing? I have a photography/adventure project involving all of the Minnesota State Parks and Recreation Areas. Let’s catch you up. Lake Louise State Park played host to large groups of rambunctious pre-teens for…
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Gift Ideas For Adventurers
What is a ‘Great Gift’?
It’s complicated. But here is a good rule for you. It’s a great gift if you…
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How To: Get A Date On Valentine’s Day
If It’s This Easy, Why Wouldn’t You? This article is intended for all those who are hyper-adventurous, a little crazy, and have no idea where they might be on any particular holiday. So much so that you may even forget…
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9 Days of SHT ‘Part Two’
‘Part Two’ (We’re picking up where we left off, our adventurer trekking not only through the northern wilderness but also his troubled past. Ok not that troubled but it sounds dramatic right?) Four years ago the first .2 miles tuckered…
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9 Days of SHT ‘Part One’
A Harrowing Tale of Walking “So this is how it’s gonna be?!?” I thought to myself. I was no more than a few blocks from my starting point and had picked up what I thought was an auspicious find. That…
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2018 – A Year In Review
Blowing By Quickly As always, the start of the next year leaves me scratching my head as to what happened to the previous one. Well here’s a post that will outline some (I know, just some) of what happened and…
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99 Spur Trail Solutions For Everything
There can be many, varied roadblocks when you start to think about yourself and traveling in the same context. Some walls are put up by others. Some you’ve put up yourself without realizing it. At the end of the…
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Bike Tour – Part 4 “Wet Washington”
Remember that awesome mushroom book I bought on Day Two of the trip?
Yeah, after the night of infinite terror…
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Bike Tour – Part 3 “Washington In”
Alternate Titles “Washington is a Waste of Time” The two days that best described our time in Washington were the first day in, and the last day out. Advice given to us by a former Highway 101 bike rider suggested,…
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Bike Tour – Part Two
A Canadian Start Talking about big ideas is easy. I do that a lot. Getting started is the tough part. I began this bike tour slowly, attending an evening workshop on bike touring, researched gear, took a couple of longer…
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Bike Tour – Part One
How To Start An Adventure So I ticked the box next to something on my bucket list recently. An 1100 mile bike tour down the coast of the Pacific Ocean. Now, far too long after completing it, I shall tell…
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How To See Minnesota In 30 Hours
Why would anyone even want to do that? Minnesota is huge, it is the 12th largest state. It is approximately 360 miles wide and 407 miles tall. In order to see it all in just over a day…
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Things You Can Do With Free Time
How do you afford to travel, how do you get there, and how do you pick where to go? My secret has ultimately been to…
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Mille Lacs Kathio
Sometimes I will have a free day sneak up on me and I just won’t know what to do with it. They are rare and usually a surprise via cancellation or change-of-plans. However, a few weeks ago, I found myself with a…
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“Can you please roll up your sleeves? We’ll do two in each arm. These could hurt a little. Wow, no blood. You might feel those tomorrow or later on…when I last got my flu shot all the sudden a couple…
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The Beginning
(I’m too nostalgic to let all things old go, and this post is a great example of that. The interest in starting ‘The Spur Trail’ started way back in 2009, with a little website and a couple of blogs…
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