A featured article by Sam Cook in the Sunday edition of the Duluth New Tribune.  Learn more about where the idea to hike around the Lake came from and what the journey ahead means for Mike and Kate and Lake Superior.

On The Brink, The Great Lakes in the 21st Century, Dave Dempsey, Michigan State University Press, 2004

Geology of the Lake Superior Region, Gene LaBerge, Geoscience Press, 1994

The Living Great Lakes, Searching for the Heart of the Inland Seas, Jerry Dennis, Thomas Dunne Books, 2003

The Great Lakes Water Wars, Peter Annin, Island Press, 2006

Whose Water is it?  The Unquenchable Thirst of a Water Hungry World, McDonald and Jehl, National Geographic Press, 2003

Superior, Under the Shadow of the Gods, Chisholm and Gutxche, Upper Great Lakes Group, 1999.

Cold, Clear, and Deadly, Unraveling a Toxic Legacy, Melvin Visser, Michigan State Press, 2007.

The Great Lakes, The Natural History of a Changing Region, Wayne Grady, Greystone Books, 2007

Superior Science, Sharon Moen, University of Minnesota, Minnesota Seagrant, 2004

The Dynamic Great Lakes, Barbara Spring, Independence Books, 2001

Water the Epic Struggle for Wealth, Power, and Civilization, Steven Solomon, HarperCollins, 2010

A fundraiser at the Wildlife Science Center on February 21, 2010 will combine wine and wolves to support the Full Circle Superior hike that will begin on April 29, 2010.  The Wildlife Science Center has a history of wolf research that has prepared researchers from around the world and is home to many wolves that serve education and research purposes, plus two five month old mountain lion kittens, raptors, and other predators; all can be found in the forests and wild lands that Kate Crowley and Mike Link will walk through as they make an historic hike of Lake Superior’s wild shoreline this spring, summer, and fall.

During the two hour open house and fundraiser ( 3 – 5 PM, February 21, 2010), they will share their dreams and motivations for this expedition with supporters attending the event. Peggy Callahan, Center Director, will share her perspective of the wolf country they will explore, observe, and analyze. 

Walking the shoreline of Lake Superior is the equivalent to walking from Miami to Duluth, through three states and one Province.  Kate and Mike, both of whom are in their 60’s, aim to stay as close to the shore as possible, sometimes on trails, sometimes on roads, and often on the shoreline itself.  From clay to sand to rock, the Lake Superior shoreline surrounds the largest body of freshwater in the world (by area) and contains 1/10^th of the surface freshwater in the world. 

During the hike, they will conduct research in partnership with a number of college and university partners and present educational programs with the help of their Sag wagon support education coordinator, Amanda Hakala, and the staff of the Great Lakes Aquarium and Audubon Center of the North Woods.

In discussion with the Natural Resource Research Institutue we decided to set up a protocol for photographing as many river mouths as possible.  With all the talk about lower Superior to aid Lakes Michigan and Huron or shipping the freshwater to the desert, we have to add to our baseline data and take photos of the streams to see their mouths.  If we lose the connection between streams and the lake we have a potential to do devastating damage to spawning and the overall biological system.

This will be an additional aspect of our records and our contribution to future analysis.

An article about the possibility of Asian Carp having gotten around barriers built to keep them out of the Great Lakes as DNA is found in Lake Michigan and a nearby river.

Genetic material from the Asian carp, a voracious invasive specieslong feared to be nearing the Great Lakes, has been identified for the first time at a harbor within Lake Michigan, near the Illinois-Indiana border, ecologists and federal officials said Tuesday….

Government officials were careful to underscore that they had not found any fish -- dead or alive -- despite much effort, and that the Asian carp's DNA could have arrived in Lake Michigan by various means other than the fish's swimming from river basins it has already overtaken farther south.

Access the full article at:

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9401EED9123BF933A15752C0A9669D8B63&scp=2&sq=Carp%20DNA%20Is%20Found%20in%20Lake%20Michigan%20&st=cse

January 27, 2010.  Great news about the news.  January has seen a surge in interest for the trip and there have been articles in Moose Lake, Askov, Sandstone, and Two Harbors newspapers in MN plus an article in Marquette, MI and Sault Ste Marie, Canada.  There will be a feature article in the upcoming Duluth Sunday paper and we just interviewed with Kim Ode at Minneapolis Star Tribune.  A short article in MinnPost, the state e newspaper can be found at
http://www.minnpost.com/markneuzil/2010/01/22/15122/love_affair_with_lake_superior_leads_to_major_expedition.

We are also pleased that WTIP radio in Grand Marais, MN, and KTCZ - cities97 - in the Twin Cities will have on the air updates before and throughout our travels.