Hike 37 - Bass Pond and Old Cedar Bridge

Why yes, I’ll get outside during this beautiful fall weather. Fall is my favorite time to hike - it’s usually not too hot and not too muddy, the bugs are gone and if you catch it at the right time, you get to see beautiful fall colors. I’ve been wanting to check out the old Cedar Bridge for some time. The last time I came down here was when Jesse and I were dating, it was covered in snow, and the bridge was so damaged, it was unsafe to walk on. But years later, the bridge has been repaired and the trails around it updated.

Hike #: 3

Trail: Bass Pond and Old Cedar Bridge

Location: Bloomington, MN

Trail surface: earth

Date: October 11, 2020

Jo: ★★★★

Jesse: ★★★★

Riley: ★★★★★

This is another area where there are a bunch of trails to select from depending on how long you want to walk. We started at one parking lot, walked around one side of the pong, came across a newly built nature play area, crossed the bridge, and then headed back on the other side of the pond. There’s even a little library at the nature play area that’s so new that there aren’t any books in it yet.

Riley was in a bit of a funk on this hike, but once we got to the nature play area and the bridge, she sparked back to life. and it made all the difference. While I appreciate all sorts of trails, I really love those that pay attention to all ages like this one.

Hike 36 - Escarpment/Lake of the Clouds

Awe, the last week before school starts. We tend to use this time to get away one last time before getting back to the school schedule. This year was a little different as we wanted to be as careful as possible with the spread of COVID-19. We tried to make minimal stops as we drove from MN to MI and then we stayed at a campsite, and while they were mostly full, everyone seemed to be keeping their space. Michigan also had a lot of restrictions/instructions in place. Basically, there were a lot more people wearing masks in MI than in WI - probably because they had to.

At any rate, we had big hopes of hiking a lot while on our 4 day get away. Unfortunately, after a week of migraines and then 3 days of horrible sleep, I was dragging badly. So much so that Jesse and Riley went on a hike while I took a nap. But, I did go to Lake of the Clouds with them. You can park in the lot and take a short trek to a beautiful view, or you can continue on to various trails of different length. We headed down the Escarpment trail and walked until we were tired enough, but not to tired to make our way may and up hill.

Hike #: 36

Trail: Parts of Lake of the Clouds and the Escarpment trail

Location: Ontonagon, MI

Trail surface: earth

Date: 9/30/20

I’m a big fan of the trails around the North Shore and Lake Superior of MN, but I have to say that I think I like the Upper Pinninsula of MI better. I’ve heard wonderful things about this area of MI and I’ve always wanted to visit so I’m glad it happened, even if it was brief and I sprained my ankle on the last full day of our trip. I can’t wait to go back and explore more.

Jo: ★★★★★

Jesse: ★★★★

Riley: ★★★★

Hike 35 - Lake Minnewashta

Ahh, after a month of hot weather, August finally gave us some cooler days. The mornings feel a little crisp which reminds me that fall is on the way. It also gets us back out on the trails. This time I narrowed down our trail options because we wanted to check out Big Stone Mini Golf and Sculpture Garden after our hike. We headed to Lake Minnewashta and stayed mostly on the Lake trail for a 2.2 mile loop. There are many trails in this park so you could probably make this a 5 - 6 mile hike if you wanted to.

Along the start of the trail were signs along the path that told the story of 3 little owls. Some of them were a little beat up from the rain, but it was still fun to keep walking to see what happened in the story and it certainly kept Riley entertained.

Hike #: 35

Trail: Lake Minnewashta

Location: Chanhassen, MN

Trail surface: paved, nature

Date: August 2nd, 2020

This park was well maintained and wasn’t too crowded. In the middle of our walk, we came to a beach with a little library and I can imagine it was once packed pre-COVID, but we only saw one person there.

We all agreed that we’d come back here and look forward to exploring the other trails nearby.

Jo: ★★★★

Jesse: ★★★★

Riley: ★★★★