Grouse Medallions and Grouse Soup with Hand Parched Wild Rice and Fresh Shiitake Mushrooms

 Grouse breasts medallions with tenderloins and larger section of meat thinly sliced.  Light flour dredge and a light pan fry allowed the grouse flavor to come through and left them moist and tender.

 The rest of the carcass turned into stock then reduced to half.  Added onion, condensed milk, wild rice and fresh shiitake mushrooms.

 Stock boiling

 Breast frying

Our dinner earlier this morning.

Small Game Hunting

I'm off to a friend's cabin in Northern Minnesota for a little hunting and to help him pull his dock.  I haven't hunted for some time, but will enjoy the walk in the woods game or not.  

The kids are excited to taste both both grouse and squirrel. 

For the first time in 15 years I'll be bringing my shotgun afield to take grouse and/or squirrel.

Minnihaha Creek Bed Ride & Mark Twain Character Troglodyte

With rain coming this weekend, I wanted to try riding the dry (mostly)  Minnihaha Creek bed before it flowed again.  I parked at Fort Snelling and rode to the falls.  First I headed west under the bridges below Minnihaha Dr. and Hiawatha Ave.  This route ended when I hit a dam a hundred yards or so upstream.  I spent a few minutes visiting with a man who frequents the location to drink.  He suggested I try the downstream side of the falls.

Quick hike-a-bike down the stairs and I was riding the cobbles shown in the picture.  The rocks are large but flat enough to ride easily.  What a blast it was working my way down toward the Mississippi. I wore old shoes and committed to getting wet.  I was able to ride through most of the standing water, but spun out on slippery moss once the depth got about two feet.  The water was surprisingly warm as I waded feeling my fat tires float the bike against my hands on the bars and seat.

As I rolled onto the beach marking the mouth of the creek into the Mississippi, a group of young men approached me.  The leader, who reminded me of the King from The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, wore a top hat oddly sitting above his swollen black eye.  His hands held several apple-halve sized rocks. He informed me that I had scared away his dinner and pointed his club like hands towards two ducks swimming out in the river.  He said he and his companions were staying in a cave in the bank just south of where we were standing.

Deciding that it was time to get out of there, I let him know that I had seen fish trapped in some of the pools upstream.  Then rode off.  This felt like it could have become a dangerous situation.

I found a slightly different channel on the way back to to the falls, hoisted my bike on my shoulder and hiked up the stairs to the top of the falls and rode home.  The fat bike did it's job; another adventure on a Wednesday afternoon.

Minnihaha Creek: The New Fat Bike Greenway

 Jared called me last night and suggested we try fat biking the dry Minnihaha Creek bed.  I've hiked in the stream with water flowing, but still am not sure what the bed would be like.  I feared goat-head rocks.  An image search netted these.  Looks ride-able to me.

 Photos lifted from the Wildreed Blog.

Fort Snelling Fat Bike

A few photos from a memorable day of fat biking along the Mississippi around and below Fort Snelling.

Shot of the Pugsley  against the fort wall.  Note the rifle slits above the top tube.  We rode down stairs, through sand, in water, through grass, on pavement while having a blast.

Low river levels made for outstanding beach riding along the river.  The bottom was surprisingly firm allowing us ride in the water.

Another shot of my bike surrounded framed by almost identical shades of trim paint and sumac.

Finally, I love this photo my brother took of his Moonlander.

Late-night Fatbike

Early day optimism told Jared and I it would be no problem leaving at 10pm for a fatbike ride.  As the time came, after a day of work and of meeting family obligations we were both feeling tired and reluctant to go out.

The full moon, our fat tires and the knowledge that we'd feel better once we started riding got us to the trail head.

As expected the ride energized us.  We attempted navigating by moonlight alone.  But, the bright spots between tree cast moon shadows weren't quite enough.  With lights on we saw multiple deer on the trail.  Erie eyes of still more deer glowed in the darkness as I scan back and forth in the woods with my head lamp.

I ended up glad to have ridden.  Experiences like this must be the source of my earlier optimism.

Mississippi River Ride

 I've been looking at the exposed banks of the Mississippi each time I cross a bridge wondering if the receding water has created ribbons of fat bike goodness.  I had to try, so started took off riding below Sibley House on the East side of the river.  The first 100 meters was perfect until I came to a tree blocking the trail.  A quick hike-a-bike around the obstacle had me pedaling again.  Conditions began deteriorating.  More obstructions and wicked slippery mud made me claw my way up the bank to terra firma.

 Once on the bank 7' grasses surrounded me.  I used the bridge as a landmark to bash my way 100+ meters through dry swamp and snaring vines working up a sweat on this cool fall evening.

I felt great when I was back on the trail.  Dropping a few psi out of the tires made long stretches of sand feel fun and fast.  Twilight's onset brought my ride to an early end.  Next time I'll bring a light.

Bikes and Guns and Fun (But not for Mr. Potato Head)

 Tom and I drove up to his cabin Friday after work anticipating a weekend of  biking in the Headwaters 100 bike race, shooting and hanging around his cabin.

We were up early, checked in and on the trail by 8:30 Sat. morning.  Weather was in the mid 40's with overcast skies and occasional mist for about the first 20 miles facing a 15-20 mph headwind.  The weather cleared about the time we made the turn and began enjoying push of  the same winds.

Here are our bikes and a big fish at the second rest stop in Nevis, MN.  Tom had ridden < 20 miles this summer prior to deciding to go for 45 miles on a bike he had never ridden before.  I thought brave; he brought up stupid.  Either way he was a beast accelerating up hills.

 Back at the cabin we watched a pair of trumpeter swans hanging out in front of the dock.  They had their "babies" with them which were now as large as the adults.  The only difference was the four adolescent birds donned mottled brown feathers.

 Next we headed to the woods.  We brought three guns out for some shooting.  The long rifle is Tom's Mossin Nagant, a WWII vintage Russian gun complete with bayonet.  We figured out how to shoot it and had fun unloading on the ultimate capitalist, Mr. Potato Head.

 Mr. Potato Head also felt the sting of my mom's old Hoban single shot .22 and a Springfield XDm 9mm pistol.

He ate lead while we enjoyed a pot of hobo goodness Tom cooked up with his Dutch oven.

 Potatoes, carrot, onions, sausage, chicken and sweet potatoes were simmered together over our campfire until tender.  Then Tom topped the mixture with Bisquick batter and place red hot coals on top browning the biscuit.  What a great meal to top off a near perfect autumn day.

 

Sunday morning we worked on a few projects around the cabin an headed home.  We may need to make this trip an annual event.

Headwaters 100 make that 45

Friend Tom and I are heading up to Park Rapids to ride in the Headwaters 100.  We've chosen the 45 mile loop.  The forecast is for sunny and mid 50's.  I'm looking forward to a beautiful ride around Northern Minnesota.  The photo below, taken on a tour a couple years ago, shows a section of one of the roads I'll be riding.  I'm ready for Fall.

Camping With the Kids

I think it's wonderful to spend time with both Harris and Claire.  Last night I took Harris camping; just the two of us.  We went to St. Croix Bluffs Regional park where swimming, cribbage and Jiffypop added to the fun of sitting around the camp fire.  A couple of weeks earlier Claire and I made a similar trip to William O'Brien St. Park.  I'm lucky to have two kids who still enjoy hanging out with dad.  

Playing with Bike Parts and Camera Apps.

Removed chain rings from old cranks today.  Not sure what I'll end up doing with them, but for now they are a part of this backyard sculpture "Old Bones."   The ring directly above the skull is a pre-war or skip-tooth Schwinn crank with hearts.  

Use the App Pencil Camera's "cartoonist" filter for the first one.

 HDR Camera+ for this one.

Use the App Pencil Camera's "crayon'o'matic" filter for the final image. 

Ride at the lake.

Perfect weather for a ride. 

County Fair

 Annual trip to the Dakota County Fair tonight.  Corn Dogs, ice cream, corn on the cob, funnel cakes and deep fried pickles for dinner is outstanding.  Animals and the old time village are always fun too.

More Fat Bike Tour Pictures

Happy Chinese Father's Day: Who Doesn't love a good Homophone

Happy Father's Day! In Mandarin father is (baba) 爸爸 and eight is (ba)八, hence August eighth is 8-8 or (baba) 爸爸. Sound reasoning for a holiday. The picture is an old favorite from living in Taiwan during 04 & 05.