Gary Larson and his happy Lab, Copper, move through the snow at Hartley Park today. (Sam Cook photo)
Gary Larson and I took a 2 1/2-hour snowshoe through Hartley Park today so we could fully appreciate the storm. Mighty nice.
We stood atop the “rock knob” at Hartley to feel the full northeasterly blast of the storm, which has registered winds beyond 55 mph. Almost knocked us over.
Then we dropped into the Norway pine plantation, left from the days when the Hartley family farmed much of this land. The snow had pasted itself to the northeast side of all the pines, creating a nice visual effect.
The snow was 6 or 8 inches deep, and the walking was a good workout. We didn’t see another soul in our time at the park, but on our way out, we saw two sets of footprints from other folks who wanted to get the feel of this storm.
Moving north on my way home, I felt the full effect of the wind. Snowflakes stung my cheeks and big gusts sent all of the trees swirling.
Freshly flocked pines stand at attention in Hartley Park during the storm. (Sam Cook photo)
Gary Larson moves through the pines on snowshoes. (Sam Cook photo)
Love it! Still miss the blizzards. Watched the harbor webcam for half hour yesterday enjoying the waves. Powerful storm
Thanks Sam for letting those of us that are not able to be there to live vicariously through your words and photos.
Glad you had fun. I rode out the storm in the shack! Good times…
I spent a lot of time as a youth in the late 40′s early 50′s in Hartley Field, had the best wild strawberries that my mother picked and made into homemade jam. Hartley pond was our skinny-dipping pool in the summer and in the winter a skating rink, course had to shovel it to skate. Most of the pines were planted by the 6th graders from Cobb and Washburn schools. Planted the trees and then put our names in a jar for posterity, with Duluth winter you know how long those jars lasted. Go to the Center and visit every time we go to Duluth.
Such a great addition to the city. Did lots of skiing in the field and on the hills and bluffs around the area of the field.
Beautiful photos. It kind of makes me wish I was there to see all the snow – kind of
.