The long summer of planning, job-hunting, moving, and stress is over! Joe and I got married on September 6th, a perfectly beautiful day in central Minnesota. After the festivities were over, we packed up our bags and were off on our honeymoon. The plan was to drive down the Mississippi on the Great River Road, staying in little river towns and hiking along the way. This plan worked well for the first few days...and then the rain and cold blustered on in. Luckily, we got a few Hiking Club Trails under our belts before the weather turned.
Frontenac State Park is located near Red Wing, Minnesota. It's right off of highway 61 along the river - which at this point has widened into Lake Pepin. The State Park completely surrounds the old resort town of Old Frontenac, and has great views and bird-watching. The Hiking Club trail started at the picnic area.
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| Let's start at the very beginning |
Being bluffland, there's a lot of up and down. A LOT of it. It's been a long summer of not-hiking, so I wasn't in the best of shape. Joe was also a bit worried about the difficulty of the trail. These signs are meant for skiiers - we simply could not imagine tackling these hills on skis. Maybe this winter, Joe?
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| No skiing, please no |
We got so excited when we saw this sign. An Elf Guided Trail! We waited and waited for our Elf Guide to show up, but he never appeared. Bummer! All of the Elves must have been off doing Elf things that day.
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| Do not believe the sign, no Elves will come to guide you |
We huffed and puffed up and down 2.6 miles of rocky, steep trails. Luckily, we had great views when we needed to stop for a breather. It really was a magnificent late summer day in Minnesota. Some people might call me crazy...but I think that SE Minnesota is just as pretty as NE Minnesota. The whole state is beautiful. I love Minnesota! And I loved Frontenac. I bet that it's magnificent in the fall. We'll have to come Backenac.
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| Hail Minnesota! And hello Wisconsin, across the river |
Beware: our numbers for this year are pretty pathetic. 15.7 miles of recorded hiking? Pshaw, that's one good DAY of hiking in most other years. Don't worry, internet friends. We'll get back into the swing of things once we're settled into Married Life.
Total miles hiked today: 2.6
Total miles hiked in 2014: 15.7
Total Superior Hiking Trail miles hiked in 2014: .8
Total ticks today: Joe - 0; Elly - 0.
Total ticks in 2014: 11
Congratulations on your wedding. That is wonderful. Sarah, a very young James, and I stopped here for a short hike a few years ago. It is definitely a place I'd like to go back to.
ReplyDeleteI kind of wish we'd held off for a few weeks - the fall color will probably be amazing.
ReplyDeleteAnd thanks! It's only been three weeks...but so far, so good. :-)