climbing shovel point + ely fall-cation
cabin vibes, FAQs and useful answers, the pros of social media
Fall is always a season of change, but for me this year those changes have been bigger rather than smaller. I’m moving from full time work as a coastal kayaking guide/adventure trip leader into slower fall pace (and other changes, more on that next week), a natural change that comes with the end of summer.
I go from working in the sun and waves and sleeping on the ground to working in front of a computer and spending more and more of my time inside.
This year it’s an especially welcome change, but one I’m nottttt quite making yet.
early fall up the North Shore…
I moved up to Grand Marais, Minnesota from Michigan in 2020, after being evacuated from the US Peace Corps (Armenia) on less than a days notice and coming back to the States with no job, no plan, and feeling very, very adrift. I went back to sea kayak guiding, made more friends in the Duluth area, and when the paddling season was up decided to shop around for jobs in Duluth.
I landed a job in Grand Marais and an apartment a week later and just… went for it.
Now, the North Shore and Western Lake Superior feel like a part of me.
I don’t live here any more (again, next week!), but it still feels like home. I’ve hiked these trails so many times.
Over the weekend, I hosted a women’s climbing event with Forged Guides. This was the second event I’ve hosted with them, and both Emilee and Cheyenne (pictured above) came up for both— they met up with me Saturday morning and we hiked around Tettegouche State Park.
Mount Trudee is one of my favorite hikes in the area, with a set of stunning overlooks both of Superior and some inland lakes after a step climb.
the case for social media :)
To be honest, I was initially pretty apprehensive about hosting women’s trips. Believe it or not, I’m a pretty private person, and I really worried that it would feel too exposed to put myself, real actual me not online me, out there.
All four of the trips I ran this year were phenomenal, and it was really cool to watch everyone make friends with each other and grow into the outdoors community as a whole.
Alex, who came to both a sea kayak and climbing trip this summer asked me at one point, “Does it feel kind of incredible? That your social media, that you, made this happen?” She gestured around the fire.
And you know what, yeah, actually it totally does feel incredible. I didn’t see how cool that would be at first, how gratifying and meaningful it is to bring together a group of people and hang out and share a little bit of the home I’ve found in the outdoors.
None of that would’ve happened without social media.
Anyhow, thanks so much to everyone who came out this year, I genuinely enjoyed every single one of you and would gladly hang out again. I’ll be launching my women’s paddle trips for next summer soon, and you’ll hear it here in the newsletter first!
In the meantime, enjoy the start to cozy season💕
north shore fall color predictions:
Warm dry weather after an initial early start to fall has left the north shore of Minnesota looking a little dull when it comes to fall colors. My bet would be true peak for most of the shore (best all around hiking) would be closest to next weekend, the 5-6th just based on how things have been looking throughout the region. Even so, expect a slightly less impressive show.
Check out my favorite hikes on the North Shore
visiting Ely, Minnesota with Ely Log Cabin
The climbing event with Forged Guides was my very last group trip of the summer (after more than 10 group trips between guiding and custom women’s trips all longer than three days!), and now it’s time to slow down.
In the meantime, my partner Andy and I headed up to Ely, Minnesota for a quick getaway before settling into the next thing.
oh hey! the next part of this newsletter is about to be image rich! you may want to click “load all images” at the top of your email!
We stayed at the off-grid Ely Log Cabin and it was absolutely such a gorgeous vibe. Cabin core dreams, achieved.
transparency note: we were hosted here (ie, did not pay to stay) in exchange for shooting photos! i am also working on a blog guide to visiting Ely, MN, as I often do when I travel which contains affiliate links; between blogging and photography work I’m able to make travel like this a lot more affordable, which is how it often appears that I’m “travelling all the time”. If you’re interested in hearing more about this kind of work, let me know in the comments below and I can do a post breaking down how to break into the travel content creating industry.
Check out the Ely Cabin Collective here (locally owned!) for more cabin vibes and last minute availability.
explore more + questions and answers:
Between emails and messages on social media, I get a lot of trip planning questions! I love helping folks discover more of the Midwest, but I can’t get to all of the questions I’m asked directly. Worry not! Here’s a guide to my online resources for midwest adventure:
Find a full archive of sorted trail guides + resources here
Q: I’m planning a trip to the North Shore! Where should I hike/ where is that hike you posted on your Instagram?
A: I love the North Shore! I’m often hesitant to share trail names directly on Instagram, depending on parking lot size, and I often don’t get to all my DMs. That said, you can almost definitely find a detailed guide to the trail your looking for linked here!
Q: What cabin should I rent/what are cute rentals in the Apostle Islands / North Shore?
A: I don’t know! Honestly I’m not super into the cabin scene both because I have done most of my exploring in these areas while living there (so no cabin rental) and also I tend to camp to save money. Check out Nordic Media Maven for cabin rental content!
Q: You seem like you know about outdoor gear! What [insert gear here] should I buy?
A: Great question! Here’s a link to all the gear I use and would/wouldn’t recommend.
Q: Okay I want to work as an adventure guide. How do I do that?
A: like this.
Q: I want to start a blog. How should I do that?
A: Here’s a detailed guide to starting a blog and actually ranking in Google in this day and age.