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.

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Hike #: 3

Trail: Bass Pond and Old Cedar Bridge

Location: Bloomington, MN

Trail surface: earth

Date: October 11, 2020

Jo: ★★★★

Jesse: ★★★★

Riley: ★★★★★

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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.

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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.

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Hike 30 - Minneopa State Park

My company continues to impress me with what they do for their employees. That has been extra clear through the COVID-19 pandemic and now George Floyd’s death and the resulting protests. It’s been a stressful time and they have found multiple ways to support all of us. On Thursday, my boss called and let me know they were giving me Friday off paid. It was a simple gesture, but greatly appreciated.

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We decided to use it to get away - at least farther than we’ve been in awhile. We drove about an hour and a half to Mankato to explore Minneopa State Park. Minneopa is known for it’s waterfall, bison and more. Minneopa is a Dakota word meaning "follows the water, two waterfalls."

We started with the loop around the bison (they are fenced in) where we were able to stop at the Seppmman windmill overlook to see the bison from above and read about the mill history. The trail was fairly flat and partly shaded, but there were large patches in full sun so make sure to bring a hat and sunscreen. We were able to see the bison and their babies at the far end of the loop, from the overlook, and from our car when we drove through on the bison road.

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Hike #: 30

Trail: Minneopa State Park

Location: Mankato, MN

Trail surface: dirt, grass

Date: May 29th, 2020

Jo: ★★★★

Jesse: ★★★★

Riley: ★★★★

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We’ve been doing a lot of 2 - 3 miles trails so this one was nice as it ended up being just over 5 miles. Riley was a trooper and didn’t complain once. I overheat easily and might have complained more about this trail with the open sun, but it was a windy day which made it much more enjoyable.

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From this trail, we hopped in the car and drove over to the water falls. This trail is less than a mile (although I understand that there were some off shoot trails that were closed off), but worth it. Things are still a bit closed down to COVID-19, but there were multiple buildings, shelters, open space, walkways, and of course the falls, to explore.

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Hike 29 - Lake Phalen

I’m sort of embarrassed at how many local trails I haven’t explored in my 48 years, but luckily this hiking challenge is putting an end to that. I’d heard of Lake Phalen, knew it was on the other side of the river (for non-Minnesota folks, that would be on the St. Paul side while I’m on the Minneapolis side of the Mississippi), but never found a reason to venture there. Due to COVID-19, a lot of businesses are still closed which has forced us to either stay home or find something outside to entertain ourselves with. We live close to a couple lakes on the Minneapolis side that get quite crowded so I hoped that this lake would have less people to run into.

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Turns out it was a good gamble. Plus, it had been a little wet recently so I selected a trail that was paved to avoid a muddy hike. This park had plenty of places to picnic, fish, a beach and beach house (currently closed), and a Chinese garden.

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Hike #: 28

Trail: Lake Phalen

Location: St. Paul and Maplewood, MN

Trail surface: paved

Date: May 10th, 2020

Jo: ★★★

Jesse: ★★★

Riley: ★★★★★

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Riley made up a story based on the name of the lake and deemed this a great place to boost your imagination hence her high score. I liked it well enough for a city, paved trail and would like to go back when more of the plants and flowers are in bloom.

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