Mille Lacs Kathio State Park: October 19th, 2014

The spring-summer-fall 2014 hiking season comes to a close.  The leaves have fallen off of the trees, the sun sets before most people get home from work, and the nights are too cold for leaving the windows open.  But we're pretty proud of what we've accomplished this year, despite being sidelined by pesky time-consuming things like getting married.  On October 19th, we completed our 50th Minnesota State Park Hiking Club Trail...and got our 150 mile patches.

Mille Lacs Kathio State Park has over 10,000 acres and is well-amenitied.  There are over 70 campsites (many with electric, if you're into that sort of thing), a group camp and a horse camp, backpacking and walk-in sites.  There is a huge picnic area, a swimming beach, canoe landings and boat launches, a playground, a sledding hill, an historic site, an archaeological site, and lots of programs.  Mille Lacs is a super-popular tourist lake, buzzing with both water-skiiers and anglers all summer long.  But today, we were just there for the hike.

This looks like a fine place to hike

The Hiking Club Trail starts at the Kathio Landmark Trail parking area, and the first section of this hike follows that trail.  There are plenty of signs to read about the history of the land by Mille Lacs.  We took a short detour to the Ojibwe village archaeological site by Lake Ogechoie.  It's a little off the path, but worth the stop.

I have always found it funny that the great outdoors are managed
by the US Department of the Interior.

Even though it was well past peak leaf and hiking season, this was a fun hike.  We were surprised at how noisy the birds were: perhaps they were all gathering at Mille Lacs before the big flight south?  Lake Ogechoie was filled with swans.

Swan Lake

The leaf-covered ground made for difficult hiking, especially with Thunderdog along.  She gets so excited about being O-U-T-S-I-D-E that she'll pull me all over the place.  Some people have asked why she doesn't get to go with us on all of our hikes.  She loves hiking, but she does NOT love riding in the car.  Since most of our recent hikes have involved long drives, she gets to either guard the house or spend the day playing with her puppy friends at Doggie Daycare.  She gets to visit local parks quite often, but those trips are not very interesting blog fodder.

But today, Thunderdog gets to hike!

Once the trail was complete - hooray! - we started back to the Park HQ to pick up our patches.  Then we came across the trail to the fire tower.  After a brief discussion, we decided to leave Thunderdog in the car (it was cool out, and the windows were down a bit) and us humans would check out the tower.  Despite the fact that we have never ONCE left her forever, Thunderdog began to howl once we were out of sight.  She kept it up for quite a while and we could hear her mournful cries echoing through the hills as we approached the tower.

Up we go!

The Fire Tower is 100 feet tall, and visitors are welcome to climb it during good weather.  Joe was not terribly keen on climbing it (remember Hermann the German???) but I convinced him that the view could not be beat.  So he braved his way up to the top, and was rewarded with hundred-mile views of the surrounding countryside.  It looked to us as though the trees were cheering for the University of Minnesota: maroon and gold, as far as the eye could see.

Rah rah rah for Ski-U-Ma!

So: if you are going to Mille Lacs Kathio, the Fire Tower is worth a stop if you're not scared of heights.  Also, the steps are a bit narrow so if you've got mobility issues you might want to skip this one.  I imagine the view would be spectacular at sunrise or sunset...or during leaf-peeping season.  We were glad to have caught the very end of it.

When we got back to the car, we were met by this smiling face:

"Hi Guys!  Did you miss me?"

And, with that, we managed to complete 50 State Parks and 150.4 miles of Hiking Club Trails by the end of the fall.  We have 17 State Parks and 43.7 more miles to go.  Most of the parks that we are missing are clustered around North-central and Northwest Minnesota, and South-central and Southwest Minnesota.  All will require at least an overnight trip.  You can bet that Joe is already planning for 2015, and getting those last two patches.  The backpack is ready for them!

Six patches down, two to go

Total miles hiked today : 3.2

Total miles hiked in 2014: 40.8
Total Superior Hiking Trail miles hiked in 2014: .8
Total ticks today: Joe - 0; Elly - 0.
Total ticks in 2014: 11

Forestville/Mystery Cave State Park: The Hike: October 13th, 2014

As the name suggests, there are two sides to Forestville/Mystery Cave State Park.  We covered the Mystery Cave section on October 11th, and on the morning of October 13th, we tackled the 2 mile Hiking Club Trail.

Forestville is the name of a small town that sprung up in the 1850's.  At its peak it was home to 100 people.  Alas, it had a similar fate to many small towns of the time: the railroad passed it by, and the town emptied.  The General Store was the last business open, and one night in 1910 it was locked up with all of the items still on the shelves.  It remained intact until the Minnesota Historical Society stepped in and took over the store and what else was left of Forestville in 1963.  Today, they maintain it as a historic site.  

The Hiking Club Trail, however, doesn't go near old Forestville.  After the previous day's 6.2 mile hike, Joe and I were up for taking a detour to look at the town.  

Yellow forest

It was still kind of rainy out for the hike.  It starts at the amphitheater and continues through the woods.  It reminded me a lot of the other parks we'd visited on this trip - lots of deciduous trees turning a brilliant gold, hills, and a spring-fed river filled with trout.

South Branch Root River, rivering along

As I mentioned above, it's worth your while to take a detour and visit Old Forestville.  The Hiking Club Trail is nice, but it's not amazing.  When the trail crosses over the main paved road, turn north and head towards Old Forestville.  First you'll cross a bridge, then follow the wide curve alongside the prairie.  You'll feel like you're walking into the middle of nowhere, but the town is hidden around the corner.

Joe sees something in the grasses...what could it be?

The prairie is bordered by bluffs - blazing with fall color.  It was beautiful and peaceful.  I bet it is not quite as peaceful during the high season, when carloads of tourists are driving this road to check out Old Forestville.  But on a cold Monday in October, we had the place to ourselves.

Arghh it's Bigfoot!

Suddenly, the bridge to Old Forestville appeared in front of us.  Being the off-season, we were able to just wander in without having to pay.  Everything was closed up tight.  The only signs of life were the Subaru parked by one of the houses, and the sound of a vacuum whirring somewhere within.  We tried to look through the windows to see the century-old store with everything still on the shelves...but alas, you don't get to look unless you pay.  We walked a little further up the road to check out the old schoolhouse and farmstead.  There's not much of either left: just the foundation, really.  We considered walking all the way up to the old cemetery but it was starting to rain again...so we walked back down the paved road to where we left the Hiking Club Trail, and finished it up.

This way to Ye Olde Forestville

If I were to plan this hike again, I would still take the detour to Old Forestville.  It's a flat, paved road and, although it doubled the length of the hike, it didn't add to the strenuousness at all.  I would make sure to visit on a day in which the buildings were open and maybe take a tour.

One interesting note about this part of Minnesota: there are very few mosquitoes in the summer.  We had heard rumors of this mysterious mosquito-free corner of the state, and found out that it was because of those 48-degree spring-fed rivers.  They are too cold for mosquitoes to lay their larvae.  On the flip side, there are rattlesnakes in this area of the state.  Give me a rattlesnake over mosquitoes any day!  Sounds like a slice of heaven.

One last look at the yellow leaved forest

So: our Southeast Minnesota Road Trip comes to an end.  We visited four State Parks and completed the Hiking Club Trails (Forestville/Mystery Cave, Carley, Beaver Creek Valley, Whitewater), and visited the Mystery Cave.  We hike ever closer to Joe's goal of getting that 150-mile patch this year!  We stayed at the Jailhouse Inn, which was our first Bed and Breakfast experience.  We stayed in the Processing Room - right next to the Cell Block and the Drunk Tank.  The room was comfortable, the bathtub was a delight (big clawfoot tub...ah!), the breakfasts were above and beyond anything we'd ever usually have (waffles, omelettes, fruit cups, home fries, etc) and we would highly recommend it to anyone looking for a place to stay while visiting parks and catching fish.

On the first night we ate dinner at the Branding Iron Supper Club.  Dang, it was filling.  Soup, salad, bread course, potatoes, main course, dessert...we very nearly had to be rolled back to the car.  It was good, but there was just so much of it.  Lucky for us we had so much hiking planned to work all off all of those calories.



Total miles hiked today : 4 (2.0 Hiking Club Trail)
Total miles hiked in 2014: 37.6
Total Superior Hiking Trail miles hiked in 2014: .8
Total ticks today: Joe - 0; Elly - 0.
Total ticks in 2014: 11

Beaver Creek Valley State Park: October 12th, 2014

Beaver Creek Valley State Park is located in the part of Minnesota bluffland where, if you get up high enough, you might be able to see both Wisconsin and Iowa.  It is not a large park - about 1,200 acres - but it has a 6.2 mile Hiking Club trail.  The trail takes you through the valley of Beaver Creek, and it's pretty fantastic.  It is a narrow path of a trail, definitely not one of the six-foot-wide paved paths that we have seen in other parks.  It reminded me of the Superior Hiking Trail, which is a definite compliment.

Into the woods we go

It was a bit tough to SEE the trail - it was narrow to begin with, and the leaves did not help at all.  We worried that we would get off trail and wind up lost...but the park isn't that big, and so long as we didn't stray too far from the river, we would be fine.  I think we were most worried about missing the Hiking Club Password (don't worry, we found it).

Joe on the hilltop

There were plenty of hills on this hike, but there weren't any any Big Hills like we saw at Whitewater.  The 6.2 miles meandered alongside the river, up and over hilltops, and alongside bluffs.  We saw a few spur trails to overlooks, but after checking out the narrow contour lines on the map we decided to save those overlooks for another time.

Hikin' along the bluffside

Unfortunately, we dealt with intermittent showers the entire time.  It wasn't cold out yet, but the rain made it kind of clammy and a bit unpleasant.  But even with the rain, it was still a great hike.

Joe in the yellow and green woods

At one point on the hike, you will see a spur trail to the source of the Beaver Creek.  Do not miss taking that little trail and exploring the springs!  It is not far off the main trail, and it is definitely worth it.  The water really does come straight out of the rocks - I don't care how old you are or how many springs you've seen, it's still cool.   Like Whitewater River, the Beaver Creek is the perfect environment for trout: the temperature of the water comes out of the rocks at about 48 degrees Fahrenheit all year round, and the fish (and anglers) are happy.

Water from a rock

If you're heading to the campground in your car, you're most likely going to have to travel over the creek.  I was able to walk across on the cement bridge, but nearly got splashed when cars drove through the water on the road.  I never found out what the deal with the slat bridges was - but I do think it has something to do with the spring-fed creek/rivers whose levels do not rise significantly throughout the year.  If you do not have to plan for periodic flooding, you can build a static bridge that doesn't need to adjust to rising water.  Also - the creek/rivers do not freeze in the winter (they stay at 48 degrees year round).  Not having to deal with the expanding/contracting ice would make life a lot easier for bridgebuilders.

Water on the road

The hike was one of the longest ones on the Hiking Club, but it was a good one.  I love narrow paths, and it was fun to go cross-country when the path was obscured by the leaves.  The park is beautiful but not crowded, and it was fun to stop and investigate the spring.  One of the trails was closed when we visited (the Quarry Trail) due to the hillside starting to slide.  Check at the Park Office before heading out to make sure the trails are open.

Another good reason to stop at the Park Office is to ask the Ranger which side of the trail is the "easy side".  There are two halves to the Hiking Club Trail (the bridge over the river is the middle).  Most of the pictures above are from the "hard side" - the one in which we went up and down the bluffs.  We intentionally did the "hard side" of the hike first so that we could take a leisurely stroll after working out our glutes on the hills.  The "easy side" took us through a beautiful prairie, which we imagined would be quite impressive with spring wildflowers.  This is a great birding park as well...they probably love that prairie.

And the fall colors are great!

Don't worry about the long length of the hike!  It is worth it.


Total miles hiked today : 6.2

Total miles hiked in 2014: 33.6
Total Superior Hiking Trail miles hiked in 2014: .8
Total ticks today: Joe - 0; Elly - 0.
Total ticks in 2014: 11

Whitewater State Park: October 11th, 2014

Continuing our leaf-peeping trip to Southeastern Minnesota...

Whitewater State Park is gigantic, crazy busy, and super amenitied compared to it's tiny neighbor, Carley State Park.  We were stunned by the sheer number of visitors we encountered at the park entrance.  It also seemed like there were two dogs for each person - it made us miss Thunderdog, who was at doggie camp for the weekend.  Whitewater is definitely a "destination" park...one to which we'll have to return someday.

The Hiking Club Trail is only 2.2 miles long, but it was a very impressive 2.2 miles.   The park is located in a deep valley (carved out by the Whitewater River, natch) and we were prepared to hike up to the top of the limestone bluffs and back down again.  There are some very, very steep steps and a ladder right at the start of the trail.  These weren't just a flight or two of stairs - this was a LOT of stairs.  It was similar to some of our previous climbs (ahem, Latsch and C.R. Magney) and we were pretty winded by the time we reached the overlook.  Be warned.

Up Joe goes

We weren't sure how Thunderdog would have felt about the ladder leading up to the overlook.  There was a "dog path" alongside the ladder (just a dirt path that would have been too steep for most people) for the larger pups, but we saw several dogs being carried up to the top.

Speaking of the top - check out the view: ah!  Fall colors, ahoy!  See the slanted cliff across the valley?  I got out my binoculars and was able to see people hiking on a path along the ledge.  We definitely will return someday to check out that path.

Fall colors in full swing.

The hike got easier once we reached the top of the bluff.  At least - easier in terms of elevation.  The path itself was kind of tough to follow given the carpet of fallen leaves, but we had no real trouble.  The trail was surprisingly varied: deciduous forest, limestone cliffs, meadows, overlooks, cedars.  It was great!

Leafy path

Limestone cliffs

This park has a lot going on.  Neat hiking trails, two huge campgrounds, several group camps, a group center (barracks for over 100 people, kitchen, etc), ballfields, swimming beach, historic sites, cross-country skiing, and - of course - excellent fishing.  The Whitewater River is spring-fed and remains at a steady temp of about 48 degrees year-round - thanks to the caves like Mystery Cave.   We will have to go back someday to check out the other hiking trails.  If we were camping, though, we'd probably stay at the mellower, smaller Carley State Park and just pop on over to Whitewater during the day.

Spring-fed river

One more interesting thing about Whitewater State Park: there is a tree by the Whitewater Valley Visitor Center that I'd like to learn more about.  It is this pine, with a birch/aspen growing out of the top of it.

Here it the tree...

...and here is the deciduous tree growing out of the top of it.

Several years ago I visited Olympic National Park and learned about Nurse Trees and Logs.  Basically, one tree becomes the "ground" for another.  I wonder if this is what happened to this tree at Whitewater?  I would like to learn more!

A couple of notes about this hike: the ranger suggested that we start at the picnic area/nature gift shop.  We did, and that's where the zillions of steps were located.  If we had started at the OTHER end - at the visitor center - we would have gone down the steps instead of up them.  Just a thought if you are thinking about hiking this trail and have strong opinions about stairs.  Also - the map shows just the ridge portion of the trail.  You will have to walk back 1/2 a mile or so on the road, which is not marked.  After climbing up and down a giant ridge, though, you'll be in the mood for some nice flat pavement.

Total miles hiked today (at this park): 2.2
Total miles hiked in 2014: 27.4
Total Superior Hiking Trail miles hiked in 2014: .8
Total ticks today: Joe - 0; Elly - 0.
Total ticks in 2014: 11

Carley State Park: October 11th, 2014

Our mission to get to 150 miles this year continues!  Joe and I decided to take a long late autumn weekend and travel to Southeast Minnesota for leaf-peeping and trail-hiking.  We visited four state parks in three days - including a trip to a cave - and you'll hear all about it here over the next week or so.

First off: Carley State Park.

North branch of the Whitewater River

Carley is an itty-bitty little State Park by Plainview, MN.  It covers only about 200 acres, and it is managed by the staff at the nearby Whitewater State Park.  The park is known for its spring wildflowers and its stand of white pines - rare in this part of the state. The Hiking Club Trail is 1.8 miles long, and quite pleasant.

Fall colors - ah!

We crossed over the river a few times, and were intrigued by these concrete slab bridges.  We had never seen them before in any other park we'd visited, but we saw them in almost all of the parks we visited this weekend.  Some theories we had were: having bridges capable of vehicles to drive over, the slabs created rushing water which trout like (lots of trout in these rivers, more about that in later posts), more sturdy in floods than wooden or metal bridges...?  We're not sure.  Perhaps I'll find the answer prior to finishing the next three posts.  Any ideas?

Bridge of mystery

The fall colors were very impressive while we were there.  We spoke to a ranger who said that they see two fall color peaks in this part of the state - first the oaks and sumacs go, and then later the maples and aspens.  Lots of yellows against the greens of the undergrowth and the pines.  Ah!

Leaves and shadows

Since this is a short post, I'm going to show you all a sign that we've seen in just about every park we've visited:

Gathering of Firewood Prohibited

Joe and I find this sign particularly funny when we envision a bunch of disenfranchised logs, unhappy that their right to assemble is being thwarted by the Minnesota State Park system.  Help! Help! They're being oppressed!





Total miles hiked today (at this park): 1.8
Total miles hiked in 2014: 25.2
Total Superior Hiking Trail miles hiked in 2014: .8
Total ticks today: Joe - 0; Elly - 0.
Total ticks in 2014: 11

Lac Qui Parle State Park: October 4th, 2014

I had all sorts of lofty expectations for Lac Qui Parle State Park.  For starters, it has a beautiful name: Lac Qui Parle translates to "The lake which speaks", which is in reference to the number of birds that use the lake as a stop on their autumn migration.  It is also a prairie park: I continue to hope for more showcase-the-prairie parks (like Glacial Lakes and Blue Mounds) and fewer showcase-the-things-other-than-the-prairie-in-the-prairie parks (like Upper Sioux Agency).  Unfortunately, Lac Qui Parle didn't stack up.

For starters, it was near impossible to find.  This is a very unpopulated area of the state, and we felt a bit isolated.  "...and they were never heard from again," Joe said as we tried to navigate with our paper maps and spotty cell phone service.  There is road construction on County Road 48 - the one we used to approach the park - and they just decided to take down all of the road signs and leave travelers to use only their wits to find the turns.  When we finally approached the park at the intersection of 48 and 33, we obediently followed the sign that read "Park Headquarters -->".  This took us on a loop around the lake, where we found ourselves in the Lac Qui Parle Wildlife Management Area.  Frustrated, we turned around and disobeyed the sign and finally found the entrance to the actual park.  Once inside we wound up driving all over the place trying to find the WPA picnic shelter, from where the darn trail was supposed to start.  We followed a sign to a picnic area: it was the wrong picnic area.  Once we found the correct picnic area, we were fooled by a WPA-style shower shack in the campground and had to get back into the car to find the actual WPA picnic shelter.

Can you tell this hike was off to a bad start?  Not only were we frustrated about getting lost, we were losing daylight.  We had a hike to complete, and we had to drive all the way back to St. Cloud that night.  We left Thunderdog behind because she's not too keen on spending the day in the car - we were now getting worried that she might have an explosion before we were able to get home and let her out.

Marshy dark forest

The Hiking Club trail is 2 miles long.  It starts at the picnic shelter, and goes in a heavily wooded loop along the Lac Qui Parle River.  It looked like there had been a damaging wind or hailstorm in the recent past - many of the trees were damaged or dead.  Without the canopy, the undergrowth had gone wild.  It felt like a northwoods bog.  At one point we crossed an earthen bridge over the river.  On the lake side, the water was clear.  On the backwater side, it was covered with algae.  It felt like we spent most of the time walking along the algae side.  Not that pleasant.  At least it was late in the season and we were not devoured by mosquitoes...snacked upon, but not devoured.

Lac qui Scummy Backwater

Oh, okay.  It wasn't that bad.  The trail was wide and grassy, and it was a pleasant day for a hike.  At one point the trail actually drifted alongside a prairie, which made me a bit happier.  The low, late day sun was ideal for leaf-peeping and we had the park pretty much to ourselves.

Look - a prairie in a prairie park!  So novel!  The sunset turned the trees beautiful colors, though.

The most frustrating thing about the whole endeavor was that after all of our driving around and hiking, the trail doesn't actually go anywhere near the lake!  We didn't have any time leftover to check out the lake after wasting so much time driving around, trying to find the park.  And, to be honest, when we finally finished the hike we were too annoyed to go looking for it.  We saw exactly seven migrating waterfowl at the park that should be singing with them.  Here they are:

Seven little ducks went out one day

Things that would make Lac Qui Parle better: good directions to get there (not the parks fault); accurate signage within the park (park's fault); and a Hiking Club Trail that gives hikers at least a glimpse of the Lac itself.  That's the showpiece of the park - why not show it off?  Surely it had to have been more interesting than our buggy backwater stroll.

Always jovial, Joe finds something to cheer him up:
a very Minnesotan sign on the picnic shelter.

So: when going to Lac Qui Parle with the intent of doing the Hiking Club Trail:  Find your way to the intersection of 48 and 33.  Turn left at the intersection before the gravel road - if you hit the gravel, you've gone too far.  Turn LEFT when the HQ sign tells you to turn right.  Once in the park, turn RIGHT when the picnic area sign tells you to turn left.  When you get to the campground, ignore the WPA-style shower shack and go to the LEFT to find the real WPA picnic shelter.

And have a better time than we did!

PS - Thunderdog was very happy to see us when we finally got home - no disasters.  Whew.



Total miles hiked today (at this park): 2.0
Total miles hiked in 2014: 23.4
Total Superior Hiking Trail miles hiked in 2014: .8
Total ticks today: Joe - 0; Elly - 0.
Total ticks in 2014: 11

Big Stone Lake State Park: October 4th, 2014

Joe is bound and determined to get our 150-mile patches this year.  We've earned two per year the last two years, and I've taken his and made them into Christmas tree ornaments (sewing the 25/50 and 75/100 back to back, adding hangers).  I said, "We're in no hurry!  We don't HAVE to go hiking just for the sake of getting another patch.  We can just enjoy ourselves."

"But Michele!" Joe says. "We need to get our 150-mile patch so that we can have another ornament!"  Far be it for me to squash his Christmas hopes and dreams...so we're taking some long drives in order to scratch off a few more parks before the weather turns super-cold.

That is how we wound up driving about 7 hours round-trip for a grand total of 4.2 miles of Hiking Club Trails in western MN: Big Stone Lake and Lac Qui Parle State Parks.  More prairie parks, hooray!  We listened to music and playoff baseball on the way out and back.  Pleasant drive!

And it was a beeeeeeautiful day

Big Stone Lake is the headwaters of the Minnesota River.  If you go north a few miles, you'll come across yet another Continental Divide - we've been to a few before - and Traverse Lake, the source of the Red River of the North.  On the other sides of these lakes you will find South Dakota.  This is all in that weird little knob that sticks out of the west side of Minnesota.  This is the most westerly park in the state, and you can gaze at a bit of the Big Sky that you'll see on the great plains.

Joe looks across Big Stone Lake and ponders the Western Sky

To get to the trailhead, you have to make sure you visit the Bonanza area of the park - the larger, more amenitied side of the park is the Meadowbrook Area.  Oh, and make sure you start at the Boat Landing.  There is a parking lot at the picnic area right in the middle of the trail - if you start there you'll still get the password, but you'll miss most of the hike.  Once you've got the right trailhead, follow the trail along the lake and over the little creeks tumbling down to it.

Starting the long, long journey to the Gulf of Mexico

There was even a waterfall.  Not sure who Benkowski is/was, but without the sign we might have missed the falls altogether.  This part of the hike - the turnaround, it's a lollipop loop - goes very close to the Bonanza Educational Center (a nature center that is not part of the State Park).  Maybe Benkowski works there.

Joe looks at the waterfall

The lake itself looks like a great place to be on a warm summer day.  It was a bit cold when we visited, but word is that it's an excellent fishing lake.  It was very quiet at the park that day.  I don't think that we encountered anybody else, with the exception of some people in the parking lot who looked like they just stopped in to use the restroom.

Cold waves

It was just a super nice day for a hike.  I wasn't even annoyed that, yet again, a "prairie park" was actually a "not-prairie-in-the-middle-of-the-prairie park".  The trees and grasses were turning, the weather was warm enough to hike without a coat, and the sun was shining.  

the path

On the way back I picked up some acorns, and I also found a woolly bear caterpillar.  For you who are unfamiliar with the folklore about this fuzzy little guys:

In Minnesota (and many other parts of the country/world), it is rumored that you can tell how severe an upcoming winter will be if you look at the center (brown) stripe on a woolly bear caterpillar in the autumn.  If the stripe is thick, it will be a difficult winter.  If the stripe is thin, it will be a mild winter.

This guy's brown stripe wasn't that big.  Maybe we'll be in for a milder winter than last year.

O Woolly Bear Oracle, tell me what the future holds

Total miles hiked today (at this park): 2.2
Total miles hiked in 2014: 21.4
Total Superior Hiking Trail miles hiked in 2014: .8
Total ticks today: Joe - 0; Elly - 0.
Total ticks in 2014: 11

Buffalo River State Park: September 30th, 2013

The last leg of our North Dakota Badlands trip was to stop at Buffalo River State Park.  With its 2.5 mile Hiking Club Trail, it was a nice place to stretch our legs.  And to take a little swim.

Great technique, but I don't seem to be making any headway

At first glance - of the sand bottom pool and the concession stand - it looked like Buffalo River was the Flandreau of the North.  Pools and refreshments...not exactly a wilderness park.  There were no screaming kids around, so that was an improvement.  I was worried that this park would be kind of meh.  Nice WPA buildings, though.

Under the tree

It turns out I didn't have any need to be concerned.  Once we got away from the picnic/pool area, it was a perfectly pleasant prairie hike.  Wide mowed trail, big sky, grasses and trees glowing red and gold.  We didn't time Maplewood State Park perfectly, but it looks like Buffalo River was at peak color right when we were out there.

Glassy bend in the river

 It was clearly full-on autumn, but there was one hanger-on from the summer: mosquitoes!  Joe got eaten alive by mosquitoes getting what may have been their final snack of the year (and their lives).  I was covered by long pants and a long sleeved shirt, so I wasn't on the menu.  We wondered how buggy the park was the rest of the year!

Joe swats some mosquitoes in the sumac grove

Check out the amazing color of the prairie.  Leaves get a lot of the glory, but the prairie grasses also turn color in the fall, and they can be pretty incredible.  I know most people head out to wooded hills and valleys for leaf-peeping this time of year, but don't discount what you can see in our prairie parks.

waves of grass, waves in the clouds

And with this hike, I think we're going to bring the summer to an end.  The Hiking Club Trail lead us through the campground, which was completely abandoned.  It was September 30th: kids were back in school, snowbirds were getting ready to head south, and it's about time for us to pack up the shorts and t-shirts and dust off our snowshoes.

Camp Gonesouthforwinter

Posts might be few and far between over the next month or so: I'm not a huge fan of "see-through season", which is a kind of cutesy way of saying "the leaves fell off the trees and are rotting on the ground, it's cold and windy but there's no snow yet season".  We will probably work on other projects until snow flies.  Until we see you again, thanks for hiking with us this summer!  See you in snowshoes.



Total miles hiked today (this hike): 2.5
Total miles hiked in 2013: 116.5
Total Superior Hiking Trail miles hiked in 2013: 19.7
Total ticks today: 0
Total ticks in 2013: 54