It's all downhere from hill.

What a day for a hike. The second Nonchalant Jaunt could not have asked for better weather. In case you don't remember, last year about this time 8 hardy souls decided to walk the length of Duluth. We took the low road last year so of course we had to go on Skyline Pkwy. this year. Paul Lundgren, God bless him decided we should start at the true beginning of the Pkwy., not just where the actual road now begins. This sounded fun enough until we realized that the Mission Creek Trail intersects the Mission Creek several times. Oh there used to be bridges I guess but not any more.


Well, this first crossing kind of had a bridge.



This picture is a better representation of the SIX crossings we had to make in ICE COLD WATER. We thought there would only be 4 crossings so the last 2 were extra tough.



We did finally make our way to the modern day beginning of Skyline Pkwy. The weather was warming up, our feet were dry and we were so happy.

Not to long later Laura joined the crew courtesy of Tony D. After scolding her for missing the early morning adventures we set off with a spring in our step.



After an hour or so we took our first break. We ate our PB&J's and our Bagels with Cheese. Then Lithis asked if we would like some Thunder Cookies. If you have never had a Thunder Cookie from the Positively 3rd Street Bakery, well you have never lived. In fact Paul Lundgren said he would run through a field of Blowjobs for a Thunder Cookie. All Hail Lithis, King of Geeks.

After the cookies we just walked and walked and walked. It was during this period that I forgot I even had a camera. Did I mention that I bought new shoes last night? About 4 hours in the blisters started forming. The only thing that kept me going was the beer waiting for me at the Buena. According to Lundgren's plan we should have arrived at the Buena about 2PM. Well that was not to be. We did arrive at at 5 however and much food and drink was consumed. This also was the end of the journey for me, Nick, Maria and Zoe. Lundgren, Lithis and Aaron decided to continue on for the final 8-10 miles. They are probably still toiling on as I a compose this post. So if you are driving on Skyline tonight beware of the weary travellers.



This is my favorite blister.



added: Spoke with Lundgren this morning. They did indeed finish the walk. 9:45pm to be exact. The only mishap occured when Lithis fell into a deep hole, no injuries received.