Tag: Minnesota
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Sand Dunes State Forest
First of all, if you are looking for information about Sand Dunes National Park, this is not it. Sand Dunes State Forest is in Minnesota. You will not find huge flowing waves of sand here, but you will find miles of good hiking that is not too crowded. If you have horses, this is also great for trail rides.
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Charles A. Lindbergh State Park
This park is a great place to stop and stretch your legs anytime that your travels take you through Little Falls, Minnesota. I walked most of the trails here in a few hours. It is a beautiful place with interesting history but not a place for an all-day hike.
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Poetry-Art Collaboration
Red Wing Arts in Red Wing, Minnesota is having its 20th annual Poet-Artist Collaboration. I created “Waiting for Something Unknown to be Made Clear” based on the poem, Downpour by Lisa Higgs.
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Minnesota
My heart is heavy for my home state. In some ways we are so lucky. While natural disasters ravage many other parts of our country and planet, our weather challenges have been the types of challenges that we know how to manage. My apologies to Minnesotans dealing with the aftermath of those challenges.
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Brown’s Creek Park
I noticed someone walking on a mowed grass trail a short distance away. Thinking it was a short dog-walking loop I decided to check it out before continuing west on the bike trail. It kept going and going and going. At each intersection I chose a direction I had not gone before. There were only a few times that I had to retrace my steps. I had no map but that did not matter because I was never very far from my starting point. The sun provided shadows to help me know which direction I was walking. There were enough open spaces to visually connect landmarks. This walk was a lot of fun.
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Brown’s Creek State Trail, St. Croix Loop, and Stillwater
Stillwater, Minnesota has a lot of history, a lot of hills, and a paved trail that pleasantly surprised me. This trail was suggested to me more than once after describing my ideal walk: 5-10 miles through woods with water and rock outcroppings. I do not like to have to walk on a road, and I do not like to drive too far from the Minneapolis area these days. I think I shied away from Brown’s Creek Trail in the past because on a map it looks like just another paved bike trail through a residential area. You’d think that people would have had enough of paved bike trails.
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Hike in Place: part 2
It is almost June. In Minnesota that means we are in our shortest season: spring. It seems that overnight we went from slush and ice to green plants and baby animals. I especially enjoy wind on my face with the scent of lakewater. The water is not ice and the wind is not cold. It is a welcome contrast.
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Stillwater, Minnesota
Even on a Monday in October, downtown Stillwater was active with shoppers, walkers, joggers, and bikers. I found a free parking lot and enjoyed walking along the riverfront and into some of the shops. The one where I spent the most time had a sign on the sidewalk that read, “Even if you don’t knit, stop in! We are very nice.”
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Superior Hiking Trail: Martin Road to Burrito Union
Many SOBO (southbound) thru-hikers end their hike at the Martin Road Trailhead, but this is where we started our southbound day hike. Why end a thru-hike here? I am not sure. Our hike had great scenery, woods, and I could hear a river nearby. It was a joy to experience.
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Bemidji Sculpture Walk 2019
This was different from my usual hikes in that it was downtown instead of in the woods. It was still outside in the fresh air and the lake is never far away. I enjoy looking at sculpture and trying to figure out, “How did they do that?” Each one is unique in subject, material, and presentation. The engineering of the connections is interesting to me because it is like a puzzle.
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Coon Rapids Dam Regional Park
At the end of my last post I ask about what we lose and find on the trail. Sometimes that means physical lost and found objects and sometimes it means losing and finding things that hold us back and things that move us forward. This story is about what was lost and found at Coon Rapids Dam in Minnesota.
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Paint a response.
Today I struggled with the demons of doubt and fear. Time was wasted. The negative thoughts told me that I am not good enough. They said I deserve to take a break. The demons did not want me to experience nature or paint anything, they wanted me to waste time. If I go through my one and only life without honing my art skills and without communicating my ideas, they win. I am glad that a different thought occurred to me: “Wait. How is it that I am both not good enough AND deserving of a break? I think I will no longer listen to you”.
Paint and Hike 