After the summer flood

On the stormy drive home the night of June 19, I remarked to my passenger how the water that was rushing down the steep avenues of Duluth, Minnesota, bore a strong resemblance to rivers.

The following day, after 15 inches of rain had fallen over a two-day period from Moose Lake up past Two Harbors, a friend and I set out for an appointment in Superior despite the warnings indicating travel was not safe. We made it over the bridge in 10 minutes - in record time. Experiencing no delays, I figured we would be fine on the way home. Man, were we mistaken.

Not much more than 45 minutes later, we attempted to get back over the bridge and were rerouted. We joined the bumper-to-bumper traffic on Grand Avenue in West Duluth caused by high water on a section of the freeway making it impassible. We encountered road after road either flooded or washed out.

Camping overnight in the car started to look like our only option until Kris Glesner of Northlandrunner.com appeared out of nowhere. Out for a run, Glesner jumped into the car and guided us down all the back roads he knew were open. Two hours after we had set out, we arrived at home.

Being the avid outdoor silent sports lover I am, immediately after the rain stopped I began inspecting the trails with a camera in hand. I found roads and bridges washed out, trails eroded, homes flooded, overflowing sewers and breached dams.

I also saw the destruction of many of my favorite land and water trails in Duluth. Over a month later, despite the hard work of numerous volunteers and city employees, damage to local silent sports lovers' playgrounds is still abundant.

While the damage has created challenges for race directors, most Nordic skiing destinations survived the floodwaters.

Read the entire story in the September 2012 issue of Silent Sports. Don't miss an issue by subscribing here.