Enjoying the 'Stay'-cation

Partly as a way to reduce our carbon footprint, partly because gas is so expensive we can't plan any long trips right now, we have embarked upon a stay-cation. The Superior Hiking Trail runs through Duluth now and we have nearly forty miles of trail to explore right in our own back yard.
This is the view from the top of the winding steps that we encountered near the beginning of the trail, from where we started at Spirit Mountain. We chose to start here and hike two sections of the trail, so we ended up on Skyline Parkway. We drove two vehicles, but neither of them drove much further than we would have if we went to the mall, if we did that much.
This is as close as Lulu would let me get with the camera.

This is a picture from the bridge over Kingsbury Creek, which flows into the Lake Superior Zoo.
A special thanks to everyone along on the trip that day- I had no idea how dumb I looked wearing that hat until now. I know I can count on you guys to let me wander around, oblivious to and resplendent in my dorkiness.

As we trekked northward on the trail, we emerged from the heavily wooded portion and meandered through several upland meadows. The wildflowers were in full bloom.

All along the way were amazing vistas like this one. I had no idea that we has such great scenery so close to home. It was interesting to have this kind of wilderness with the highway so close that we could hear semi's down shifting on Thompson Hill.