Hiking Club Trail #35 HIKE DETAILS Date: September 17, 2020 Location: New Ulm, MN Length: 2.8 Miles Difficulty: Easy Cumulative Hiking Club Miles: 101.4 of 197 Since the Covid-19 Pandemic hit earlier in the year and basically shut the world down, the State Parks have been overcrowded. We have avoided doing any State Park hiking this year due to the fact that crowds make it hard to hike with my mom and I have heard stories of lots of people not following park rules and having dogs off leash which would present a situation for Penny. We finally decided we needed to get back out there so we would try a mid week hike at a less traveled park. It was great to be back on the trail. I didn't really realize how much I missed it. This was Rio's first State Park hike - and my first time with both big dogs out at once... I am going to need to find a better double leash solution. This Hiking Club trail had terrible signage by the end of the day my watch said we hiked 4.13 miles and the trail is supposed to be 2.8... Most of the hike was up against an electric fence (later I found out, much to my surprise, that area in the woods is home to many goats who are helping to get rid of an invasive plant species). Fall was just starting - paths were nice, wide and level. All in all it was a beautiful easy hike along the Cottonwood River. Today we received our 100 mile patch!!!
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Due to the Covid-19 pandemic and the new reality of working from home - I got the bright idea that we needed to rescue another dog. We lost Ruby 6 months ago and the house must be feeling a bit empty with just the other 2 dogs... haha! Winston is also getting pretty old (16) and Penny is the kind of dog that needs other dogs around. So I started to keep an eye on the Coco's Heart Dog Rescue website - this is the rescue we got Penny from. When Rio's picture popped up I just knew we needed to put in an application.
She has a sad story - she was found locked in an abandoned house with another dog. Left with very little food they were eating the furniture and anything else they could find. When she was rescued she was covered in more than 400 ticks but she was still the happiest dog. Well she will only live the best life now. Meet my new hiking buddy! I was supposed to be heading to South Korea this week for an epic vacation with my "Adopt-A-Mom" but Asia is being hit hard by a Pandemic. That trip was canceled and I opted to book a National Park Vacation with my Mom instead. The plan was to fly into Las Vegas, visit the Hoover Dam, see Cirque du Soleil - Ka, then head to California and spend some time at both Joshua Tree NP and Death Valley NP. I knew before leaving that I needed to be ready for anything as the threat of that pandemic becoming an issue in the US was quickly becoming a reality. Before I left my work had told all employees if they fly on an airplane they would be subject to 2 weeks of work from home quarantine upon their return - all of this was unprecedented. It made me think twice about going but ultimately we decided we were going to go. Flying into Vegas was just like any other flight to Vegas, full airplane, excited travelers. Arriving in Vegas was a little different the airport was pretty empty. We got our rental car and headed to our hotel - the MGM Grand - we get there the lobby is empty... it was so eerie but there was currently no need to change plans. The next morning we headed out to the Hoover Dam - here it was easy to forget we had a global pandemic looming. There were PEOPLE here (not normal capacity as there were open parking spots) but people none the less. We were able to walk around and explore (the dam wasn't open so we couldn't go inside), people were incredibly nice and the fear of illness seemed non-existent. My favorite part was walking across the Mike O'Callaghan-Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge. It spans the Colorado River between Nevada and Arizona 890 ft above the ground. The bridge give you a spectacular view of the Hoover Dam. We then headed out to Red Rock Canyon to do some hiking. What a beautiful place! I loved hiking here but some of the trails were pretty difficult for my Mom (she is legally blind and the desert sun wasn't helping) so we found a nice fairly long boardwalk hike. When we got back to Vegas we found out that the city would be shutting down in 2 days due to the pandemic... WHAT?!?!? Now the threat is real - we were scheduled to head out too Joshua Tree the next day - did we want to be in a small town in the desert as the world closed down? We decided to sleep on it. When we woke up it was pretty clear that California had plans of shutting down too - would the airports shut down too? We were in uncharted territory and decided to reschedule our flight and head home. During breakfast I literally watched the bartender take all the booze from the bar away - Vegas is hiding the boozed it is definitely time to go home. Turns out this was only the beginning of a Pandemic that would ultimately change our lives for a long time. Quick work trip to Chicago - it's been quite a few years since I have been here so it was nice in the very little downtime we had to get out and do a little urban hiking in the Windy City. Besides the pizza the best thing about Chicago is the walkability and the architecture. Spent 8 hours delayed at the airport just trying to get here. Earlier that day a plane had slid off the runway at O'Hare. So it was nice to finally get here - though our landing was one of the scariest I've ever experienced, we slid a bit but stayed on the runway - we were all safe and gave the pilot a standing ovation. It was cold, Lake Michigan is prettier in the summer - but there is something about Chicago and it is beautiful in all seasons. Hiking Club Trail #34 HIKE DETAILS Date: October 26, 2019 Location: Fairfax, MN Length: 2.6 Miles Difficulty: Easy Cumulative Hiking Club Miles: 98.6 of 197 This park is small but the trails are nice - though not marked super well. We started our hike looking at and walking through the historic old fort - the park was part of the Dakota War of 1862 - one of the battles took place on the grounds. The hiking club trail is mostly flat, mowed grass except for about 1/4 mile of hills through the woods. We stopped for lunch at a scenic overlook. Penny got away from me (pulled backwards out of her harness) and caught an opossum - thank goodness it scared her and she came running back to me - in the meantime Winston got so worked up he peed on my shoe... very exciting and crazy 5 minutes. We also saw quite a few hawks and some deer. We were getting toward the end of the fall colors but still had a bit of yellow showing through. Hiking Club Trail #24 Redo HIKE DETAILS Date: September 23, 2019 Location: Two Harbors, MN Length: 5.8 Miles Difficulty: Moderate Cumulative Hiking Club Miles: 91.3 of 197 Perfect first day of Fall and extension to my Birthday weekend. Winston and I did this hike last year so it was time to go back so my Mom and Penny could get their miles tallied. This park is one of my top 5 so having to come back and hike the Hiking Club trail again was just fine by me. It was a beautiful, sunny, crisp fall day with bald eagles and fighter jets (must have been a training day) flying overhead. There were lots of squirrels, a mouse and a snake that kept Penny busy and riled up for a lot of the hike. Fall color is just starting to show through and a long walk next to Lake Superior is just what I needed. And it wouldn't be a proper end to a birthday weekend without a trip to Portland Malt Shoppe (my favorite) for a malt on the way home! Hiking Club Trail #33 HIKE DETAILS Date: September 14, 2019 Location: Starbuck, MN Length: 4.7 Miles Difficulty: Moderate Cumulative Hiking Club Miles: 96.0 of 197 So in my earlier post about my trip to Washington D.C. I mentioned that I thought I had a broken thumb (damn you Giant Yellow State Fair Slide...) well it's confirmed it's broken and I will be in a hard molded hand brace for the next 6+ weeks. So this was the first hike with said new brace and I'm not a fan, my hand swells and it gets pretty tight but I'm just going to have to be ok with it. This park was BEAUTIFUL - one of my favorites! Rolling hills in the prairie left over from the glaciers that were here a thousand years ago. The Hiking Club trail could have been marked a bit better but we found our way. There were some fallen trees over the trail that we had to both climb over and crawl under with 2 leashed dogs... (keeps things interesting). Towards the beginning of the trail there was a partially submerged boardwalk/swamp crossing that somehow both our dogs fell off of. Poor Winston didn't see it coming at all and had to swim a bit. We ended up doing 5+ miles - lots of hills, beautiful views, wildflowers and 2 very tired dogs. This trail is in the open prairie and would be a scorcher in the summer. Hiking Club Trail #32 HIKE DETAILS Date: September 7, 2019 Location: Jordan, MN Length: 4.0 Miles Difficulty: Easy Cumulative Hiking Club Miles: 91.3 of 197 We've been waiting all year for this trail to not be flooded - the Minnesota River has been really high this year and we've finally had enough dry days that this trail is no longer underwater. It was still a bit muddy but we we're able to complete the entire 4 mile hiking trail (even tough there was a trail closed sign that we went around to do this). We moved pretty fast on this trail because the bugs were terrible. The trail winds along the Minnesota River, into the prairie for awhile then into the woods - but really nothing too spectacular. There were some pretty wildflowers and some changing leaves (though pretty I am not quite ready to say goodbye to summer). Also because we were the only ones on the trail Penny was able to be off leash for a little bit while we were in the prairie section - where we could practice her recall (in a place where I could see for long distances so I could leash her up again if people came by). Spent the past weekend in Washington D.C. visiting friends. This was my first time here so of course we needed to do the touristy things. Day 1 we kayaked the Potomac River - this was a highlight (even though I am pretty sure I have a broken thumb - the Giant Slide at the MN State Fair wasn't so good to me this year). Spending time on the river it felt like we were apart of the Movie National Treasure - mostly because you could literally feel the history of this place all around us. From the river you have views of the Washington Monument, which was cool and we also got to get pretty close to a lot of giant yachts. There was a lot of helicopter traffic overhead (presidential security?). I highly recommend this activity for your next trip to D.C.! We then went to see all the monuments which was amazing (didn't see them all so I will have to go back). Saw the Capitol and the White House in the distance, walked around the Washington Monument, to the WWII Memorial, down the reflecting pool to the Lincoln Memorial, to the Korean War Memorial. It's hard to describe the feeling you get while visiting these places so central to the core of the beginnings of our country. As much fun as the sight seeing was spending time with great friends was the highlight. I can't wait to visit again! Hiking Club Trail #31 HIKE DETAILS Date: August 18, 2019 Location: Carlos, MN Length: 2.9 Miles Difficulty: Easy Cumulative Hiking Club Miles: 87.3 of 197 Weather was beautiful, no bugs and the trails were pristine. Well packed with gravel - hardly any mud even though it rained yesterday. The trail was easy with a couple of small hills. We spent most of the time in the forest (aspens & red oak). Being August there weren't too many flowers but there was a good amount of interesting mushrooms. We did see some deer and the trail was lined with green reeds, which gives the forest a different look. It was great to get back out on the Minnesota trails - we haven't been out since May. Winston and Penny loved it and came home exhausted like usual... |
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