Wicked afternoon ski. Cruising through the woods on fresh snow, listening to my body as i breath deep and exhale, move cyclically, changing rhythm and pace only as the terrain dictates. Winter. Embrace it. Shortest days of the year, but also the most alive.


be well
and
peace all

e

When you're out in the woods hunting, senses attune, you tend to pick up on nuances that might otherwise go unnoticed on a normal day.

These two days were cold...-30C cold, with north winds to add extra snap to the air. This plant was carving a perfect arc back and forth in the otherwise untouched snow. The bend in the plant apparent in the shadow.

Animal tracks of all sorts.


peace
e

photo's by eric berglund

Bright eyed little guy..you've got a long winter ahead of you.

Boardwalkin a couple of weeks back before the snow really set in.

Beautiful early winter day.

Local lights while out walkin the dog with the family in the snow the other night.


peace
e

photo's by eric berglund

Stillness brought on by the depths of winter.



Plants, water...ground to a halt. Wind blows, ravens call, chickadee rings out, deer bounds, rush of adrenalin. Senses heightened. Changing Seasons. Never more alive.



peace
e


photo's by eric b

Big whitetails. Gliding the nordics. Stiff north wind. O'Yeah.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD.
photo by e

Birch Bowl



Posted this bowl back in March. Finally got to sanding it, after fashioning my sanding rig, which helps to speed the task along. Pulled this birch off a friends property over in the Slate River valley, southwest of town, two summers ago. Grain came out really nice, especially after applying two coats of Clapham's Bees Wax Salad Bowl Finish.

peace
e

photo by eric berglund
bowl by eric berglund

Monster bucks

Snowy Mornings


Winter out there. Finished loading down one of the two freezers last night with nearly 100lbs of moose meat and still have some venison to deal with. Seems like a lot of meat, but when Oskar polished off the same amount of tenderloin that i ate at dinner last night, all of sudden i'm not too concerned...and imagine what's to come?!

Winds cranking out there 37 knots ESE...someone should get some waves tomorrow morning amongst the snow and rain.

be well
peace
e


photo's by
eric berglund

Made in Sweden



Filling freezers and prepping for winter. Fun play time with the little man. For now it's some warm colors from Sweden.

peace
e


photo's by eric berglund

Yet a few more from last Wednesday. Specially dig Liam carving one off the top with style in the bottom shot.





peace
e

photos by eric berglund

More from yesterday. This time some shore pound. Pretty tough to convey the vertical height at this point, so you'll have to take my word when i say it was at least 10' and maybe more like 15'. Either way the Lake was showing some fury.


peace
e

photo by eric berglund

Stand out spots were just too burly, no way to paddle out into 20'+ swell on Lake Superior in 40knot winds. No channel, no current and a 10 second period. Still, some sizable sets were found even under more sheltered conditions. What a day!!

Liam sizing one up and charging it.



For the record from Weather Underground.com --

"Yesterday's 28.20" (955 mb) low pressure reading in Minnesota breaks not only the 28.28" (958 mb) previous "USA-interior-of-the-continent-record" from Cleveland, Ohio during the Great Ohio Storm of Jan. 26, 1978 (a lower reading in Canada during this event bottomed out at an amazing 28.05"/950 mb), but also the lowest pressure ever measured anywhere in the continental United States aside from the Atlantic Coast. The modern Pacific Coast record is 28.40" (962mb) at Quillayute, Washington on Dec. 1, 1987. An older reading, taken on a ship offshore from the mouth of the Umpqua River in Oregon during the famous "Storm King" event on January 9, 1880, is tied with yesterday's 28.20" (955 mb.)

So, the famed storm that sank the ore carrier Edmund Fitzgerald in 1974, , was weaker than the current storm."

So wild.
So much respect.

peace
e

On track



peace
e

I seldom if ever post without a photo, but in this case i'll stick with tonight's forecast from NOAA and let you conjure up a probable image.


And I shit you not!

OPEN LAKE FORECAST FOR LAKE SUPERIOR
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MARQUETTE MI
927 PM EDT SUN OCT 24 2010
FOR WATERS BEYOND FIVE NAUTICAL MILES OF SHORE ON LAKE SUPERIOR


TUESDAY NIGHT
SOUTHWEST STORM FORCE WINDS TO 60 KNOTS. RAIN
SHOWERS LIKELY. WAVES BUILDING TO 25 TO 30 FEET.

WEDNESDAY
WEST STORM FORCE WINDS TO 60 KNOTS. RAIN SHOWERS
LIKELY. WAVES SUBSIDING TO 12 TO 17 FEET.

WILD.


e

Some more fall colourage.


Wish i wouldn't have left my camera in the truck this morning. Perhaps one of the most amazing mornings i have ever had while out hunting...of course having a moose step out would have been nice too.

peace
e

photo's by eric berglund

So postless up in this joint, it ain't even funny. Peepers and mind far from the interwebs. Beauty of an October thus far, good days in the woods. For tonight, it's some vegetation in a transitioning state of being.




be well
peace
e


photo's by e.

Just when it seemed like the Fresh Aspect's surfboard quiver might be re-purposed as a jungle gym for Oskar or perhaps a series of end tables...a major upper atmospheric disturbance brought about a worthy low pressure system and with it some quality north easterlies typical of late September on Lake Superior. And so, waves were ridden and the stoke rekindled, leaving the great hiatus behind.
More surf please!

Winston turning into one of many last Thursday evening.


Had to skip out on Friday's clean waves
to get some work done out on Black Bay;
which was also entertaining i might add.



peace
e

photos by eric berglund and James E.

Morning skate with the dog has me riding up at the nose.



peace
e

photo by eric berglund

Yet another worthy sunrise out on Black Bay in mid September.

You can tell by the look on Lutsen's face, that he was lovin the day.



peace
e

photo's by eric berglund

Fun with backlighting

Salsa making


peace
e

photos by eric berglund

Changing seasons...mushroom picking, mushroom observing. Walks in the woods with the family; sit around the fire. Cold nights, shortening days. Wool sweaters. Pack away quality local foods in jars and freezer for times ahead. Hunter gatherer mentality sets in.

Not sure what this guys is; but it's rad looking.

Ahhh...pip pip....'british soldiers' as they're called.

Gathering

Surf? Yes please.




live well. be well.
peace
e


photo's by e.

Shred


Pavement surf. Maybe not as good as bein in the water; but you do what you've got to do. Freshly asphalted trails down by the creek were calling for some carving and cross-steps this weekend.

peace
e

photo's by eric

We forage and we like it!
Awesome mushroom hunt the other day, yielded some choice edibles.

Lobster mushrooms (Hypomyces lactifluorum)...(Note: a mushroom but not actually a mushroom; rather a parasitic ascomycete that grows on the Russula and Lactarius species). Same color as their namesake and seafoody tasting as well.

AhhYEAH! Golden Chanterelles (Cantharellus cibarius). So incredibly stoked to have found this stash.

A fresh home cooked creation using all local foods.


thankful

peace
e

photo's by
eric berglund

From this point, straight line it's 235km of open water to the south. Some cruising around google earth however reveals some fetches of double the distance; also evident when looking at the rugged coastline from the water.

Glassy morning, while slipping out of the Slate Islands, Lake Superior.


peace
e

photos by eric berglund

photo's by e.

Vantage point



peace

photo by e

Armed with the two hander, a box of small hooks wrapped in feathers, hair and fur i plied the swift waters of the St.Marys River that connects Superior with Huron in search of Atlantic Salmon (Salmo salar) last week, while down in the Soo for work.

It's a bit late in the season for atlantics, but i couldn't resist trying. 30 knot winds on Thursday afternoon made things interesting too. All said, i had an arm jarring connection on thursday evening with what was maybe a 20'' atlantic that jumped and flipped like nothing i've ever seen. That fish was released in the air a good 80' down and across from where i was standing. I was pretty stoked and fueled to really slay'em on friday. Late or not, they were there.

Ha...on the river just after sunrise, i'd spend the entire day snap t'ing, double speying and roll casting, only to hook up with a handful of small rainbows and watch atlantics do aerial acrobats for a few hours in the afternoon. Fun time non the less.

Muddlers

The International Bridge...cars lined up from one end to the other, waiting to go through customs on both sides.

Back on home waters, Scotty turned this wild gem yesterday.



peace all

photo's by eric berglund

Awesome week of working out on the big water.




peace

photo by eric berglund