Skip to main content

Mucking Through Blackdog

Today, my wife and I went hiking in the Black Dog Preserve of the Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge. I took a 45-minute side trip by myself, through some pretty wet and sinking mud.


The red arrow shows my approximate location. It is where a natural gas line runs through the preserve.





This is some of the terrain I was going through. The photo is deceiving as to how unstable the ground is in places.





If possible, I try to walk where trees or woody plants grow. These areas are less likely to sink when you walk on them.



The large gas pipe runs beneath the water filled trench visible in this photo. Along here, it can be stable in one area, and deep mud and water a few feet away.

I always find it interesting to walk into those places few people are willing (or dumb enough) to go into. Eventually, I had to backtrack and find my way out. Luckily I have a patient wife who waited for me to finish "mucking through" the slop...

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Hormel is Dumb: No More Little Sizzlers

We appreciate your interest in LITTLE SIZZLERS® Sausage. Unfortunately, this item has been discontinued. We value our loyal consumers and apologize for any disappointment our decision has caused. Please visit www.hormel.com for coupons, promotions and recipes using many of our other products.

SPRUCE Project

We were lucky enough to be given a tour of the SPRUCE Project in the Chippewa National Forest, North of Grand Rapids, Minnesota. Our tour guide was W. Robert Nettles IV, SPRUCE Project Operations Manager at Oak Ridge National Laboratory . I went into the site fueled primarily by my lifetime of interest in the natural environment; as well as my interest from volunteering as a park ranger in the Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge. However, by the time I was done, my interest in technology, from over 10 years as an IT professional, was thoroughly peaked! Definitely off the "beaten path," in a spruce bog in Northern Minnesota, this site boasts an incredible array of scientific equipment that is supported by an amazing technological infrastructure! There are control sites and some of the chambers have added heat, carbon dioxide, or both. A lot of equipment and experimental testing goes on 24/7, 365 days per year. These guys know their stuff. The 10 chambers are connected ...

Blastoff!