6-17-18 Sunday
The chance of rain has been high this weekend but Duluth lucked out yesterday & didn't get an precipitation during Grandma's Marathon. Today is really humid and warm with thunderstorms floating around the state of MN. I started thinking about the Munger trail and a bike ride & realized I have never ridden to Jay Cooke from my house.
When I got to the lake the humidity went away and it was nice and cool. It is amazing how much that large body of water changes the temps/weather.
I made it to the Munger Trail and was really happy about biking with no need to look over the shoulder for car/truck traffic. Relaxing. The earth is wet and there is a lot of water dripping off the jagged rock on each side of the trail. The ride out to Jay Cooke is a long gradual uphill which kept me pedaling non stop. Nothing too steep since this is an old train track. I made it to the top of the long hill and wound down a connector trail to the visitor center. The Saint Louis River is really flowing through all the tilted rock that makes the park so unique. I took the following photos and enjoyed the breeze coming up the river.
The ride down HWY 210 was really fun with a lot of downhill on a twisty road. Felt like I was in the mountains for a little bit. Once at the bottom and near the Saint Louis River again I pushed eastward into a small headwind. When I neared the lake I welcomed the crisp breeze after dealing with very humid air for most of the ride. An hour after I arrived home a large thunderstorm rolled through. Thankful that I didn't get caught in the downpour.
Total distance 46.44 miles
1879 feet of elevation gain
https://www.strava.com/activities/1645191616
