Well we made it to Duluth unscathed by fate - as i promised Mike.
Now part of the tradition of these barbaric but musically inclined ancient people is to buy at least one CD at the Electric Fetus. However, although the sign said it should have been open, it appeared that nobody showed up for work because they're all obviously big sissies in Duluth when it comes to a little snowfall.
Tomorrow we were going to stop at Temperance River which Mike described with the phrase "Caverns, Cauldrons, and Witches" in an attempt, it seems, to convey to me a sense of the topography there.
But that was for tomorrow.
Today we would stop at Cascade Park and ascend Lookout Mountain.
So after the failed attempt to purcahse the traditional CD's, we set off again northward. We decided to stop at Cascade Park before checking in at the cabins cuz it was starting to get dark.
Now part of the tradition of these barbaric but musically inclined ancient people is to buy at least one CD at the Electric Fetus. However, although the sign said it should have been open, it appeared that nobody showed up for work because they're all obviously big sissies in Duluth when it comes to a little snowfall.
Tomorrow we were going to stop at Temperance River which Mike described with the phrase "Caverns, Cauldrons, and Witches" in an attempt, it seems, to convey to me a sense of the topography there.
But that was for tomorrow.
Today we would stop at Cascade Park and ascend Lookout Mountain.
So after the failed attempt to purcahse the traditional CD's, we set off again northward. We decided to stop at Cascade Park before checking in at the cabins cuz it was starting to get dark.
Here is Mike jumping into his jump-suit at the place where we parked. He's very excited about embarking on our journey to Lookout Mountain.
(Photo By Pat S.)Now THAT's a man who's ready for some real freedom!
I should point out that the wives of these two men don't get it. They make jokes about their husbands coming up here every year to satisfy some closeted homosexual attraction they supposedly have for each other. But come on, really. You girls go knit your sweaters and watch your romantic comedies, and let guys be free be guys and do things that guys do when they get together in the wilderness where there are very few witnesses. Nothing gay about men wanting a little freedom from their domestic "prison guards" (a.k.a. "wives") for a couple days.
Anyway, here's a photo i took, right where we parked, of Lake Superior. The thin dark line just under the horizon is open water. most of the rest of what you can see is an unsolid mixture of water and ice, and closest to the shore you can barely make out a solid ice-shelf formed by shore. This wasn't obvious to me until the next day.
I should point out that the wives of these two men don't get it. They make jokes about their husbands coming up here every year to satisfy some closeted homosexual attraction they supposedly have for each other. But come on, really. You girls go knit your sweaters and watch your romantic comedies, and let guys be free be guys and do things that guys do when they get together in the wilderness where there are very few witnesses. Nothing gay about men wanting a little freedom from their domestic "prison guards" (a.k.a. "wives") for a couple days.
Anyway, here's a photo i took, right where we parked, of Lake Superior. The thin dark line just under the horizon is open water. most of the rest of what you can see is an unsolid mixture of water and ice, and closest to the shore you can barely make out a solid ice-shelf formed by shore. This wasn't obvious to me until the next day.
(Click To View Original)Here's Mike giving the go-ahead! Hiking adventure is going to be "A-Okay" by Mike's expert assessment of the situation.
(Photo By Pat S.)As we walk further along the path toward Lookout Mountain. Mike, again, reassures the both of us with another promising thumbs up.
So far so good.
So far so good.
(Photo By Pat S. - Click To Enlarge)Still further, mike gives me what's called the "double thumbs-up". Things must be getting really good now.
(Click To View Original)
What's more, Pat, as you can see, gives the equally confirming, though far more subtle, knowing grin.
No more need for worries, that's for sure!
However, a little later, i became a little hesitant despite Mike's confident gestures of reassurances. Along the trail we saw scattered signs that read "Lookout Mountain Ahead" - something to that end anyway. But then I noticed a sign that read "Look Out Mountain Ahead" (sic.).
I discussed this disturbing anomaly with Pat at some length. What did it mean that the two words "look" and "out" were now separated? Was it now a warning?
Pat expounded upon a theory he had that for different people, the sign was intended to mean different things. To some it was a warning, say, or, for instance, to homosexuals maybe it was saying something like "Hark" an "out" mountain thar yonder be, yar! (An "out" mountain of course is one where homosexuals can come "out") - So to them its saying like "thar she be thar maytee? You scurvy dog, arrrrr!"
(and homosexuals talk like pirates too, i just decided)
Now at some point along this path Mike and Pat decided to reveal one of the sacred traditions of their old enduring culture: the great smoking of the tobacco pipes.
(Click To View Original)What's more, Pat, as you can see, gives the equally confirming, though far more subtle, knowing grin.
However, a little later, i became a little hesitant despite Mike's confident gestures of reassurances. Along the trail we saw scattered signs that read "Lookout Mountain Ahead" - something to that end anyway. But then I noticed a sign that read "Look Out Mountain Ahead" (sic.).
I discussed this disturbing anomaly with Pat at some length. What did it mean that the two words "look" and "out" were now separated? Was it now a warning?
Pat expounded upon a theory he had that for different people, the sign was intended to mean different things. To some it was a warning, say, or, for instance, to homosexuals maybe it was saying something like "Hark" an "out" mountain thar yonder be, yar! (An "out" mountain of course is one where homosexuals can come "out") - So to them its saying like "thar she be thar maytee? You scurvy dog, arrrrr!"
(and homosexuals talk like pirates too, i just decided)
Now at some point along this path Mike and Pat decided to reveal one of the sacred traditions of their old enduring culture: the great smoking of the tobacco pipes.
There's Mike smoking his:
(Photo By Pat S.)Pat had brought an extra pipe to indoctrinate me into this solemn tribal ritual. I partook, they partook, and we became brothers in smoke.
(Click To View Original)Their "ways" are curious, i decided, and I soon reverted to my own, fresh, cigarette tobacco.
Now Mike is a very wise man among the few surviving Bell-Beaker people, as one can surmise from the following photo.
One can only wonder what profound mentations are occurring for him as he sits there quietly toking on his ancient leaves. Or perhaps he is just sitting like that because he is dizzy from nicotine.
Now Mike is a very wise man among the few surviving Bell-Beaker people, as one can surmise from the following photo.
One can only wonder what profound mentations are occurring for him as he sits there quietly toking on his ancient leaves. Or perhaps he is just sitting like that because he is dizzy from nicotine.
(Photo By Pat S. - Click To Enlarge)Some things in this world, unfortunately, are not for us to know.
We also saw many deer on our way up and also on our way down. They ran when we got too close, but they didn't run far - they even seemed to hang out in peremeter around us at one point, staring at us, as if they were intending to kill us.
As we ascended "Look Out Mountain", or "Lookout Mountain", depending on which sign you consider authoritative, another tradition dictated that we all find walking sticks, So we all found walking sticks. We had slim pickings but we all managed to fulfill this rite as well.
I was the last to find mine. I had to learn from Mike and Pat how to do these things first.
We finally made it to the top - thanks to the sticks.
(Click To View Original)Mike and Pat threw their walking sticks over the edge when they got up here.
Being ignorant to their culture i held on to mine until we decided to head back down at which point both Mike and Pat stopped me. "You can't take that down", referring to my walking stick. I too had to throw mine over the edge.
You see, having attained the freedom of this mountain, we were obligated from that point on to propel our own body weight - like free men - without use of props
Now for some reason i thought that dark part under the horizon in these pictures was land, just on the other side of some water - like we were looking at a river or something. Mike and Pat tried to explain it to me but i didn't quite understand what i was seeing until the next day.
(Click To View Original)I found a bench to sit on up here. it was a long hike up to this point but well worth it. Mike and Pat meanwhile decided to enjoy their freedom on a cliff edge. Here's a better view of things from Pats awesome camera. Again this is a composite photo - very good job he did with these.
(Photo By Pat S. - Click To Enlarge)Here are Mike and Pat enjoying the freedom. I would not venture onto this rock where true "freedom" is experienced - according to Mike. I did not trust my boots and it was enough to just watch my friends experience this freedom. The vicarious experience was good enough for me.
(Photo By Pat S. - Click To Enlarge)Feel that freedom boys...feel the freedom!
(Click To View Original)And this, right here, is what its all about too. Male Bonding. Free from the P.M.S. and the nagging. Free, if only for a short while, from that terror of an institution so many men often find themselves in; that "domestic Abu Ghraib" of sorts, known to many as just "the wife and kids".
Yes, here it's just guys getting out in the fresh air together - out in the wilderness, no one around for miles - doing guy things.
Feel that freedom Boys! Yeehaw!!
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