June 4-6, 2018 - Itasca State Park with Dana

First overnight backpacking trip
11 miles total

Day 1 - 4.25 miles 

Itasca State Park. We started at the south entrance parking lot. There is access to the North Country Trail which connects to the Itasca State Park hiking trails. I had made reservations online and we drove to the main entrance to get a vehicle sticker. I decided on an annual sticker this year. When we went to the Visitor center to check in they said as long as our vehicle has a permit and we reserved a site online we do not have to check in. Good to know!



We took a short break at the first campsite we came to after starting out, which is #6. That is a beautiful somewhat small site right on the lake and semi-open, not too brushy! We took our stuff off and dangled our legs in the cool water and enjoyed the sunshine and a snack. After that it got buggier and hotter and the going was rough. There was no way to stop for anything since the mosquitoes would have eaten us alive. We were pleased to see that our permethrin-treated pants worked wonderful on the ticks. Our legs were often covered in ticks of both kinds and we noticed that they started falling off by themselves after being on for about a minute or two. DD was most annoyed by the flies buzzing our heads. I handled the bugs well, but the temperature was starting to bother me. We wore long pants and long-sleeve-shirts of course and the temperature was only about 75 but without a breeze on most trails that was getting pretty hot.

Nothing felt better than to get to camp (DeSoto site #4), strip and run into the lake. I was swimming before DD ever got her belly-button wet, but we enjoyed a skinny-dip since we had not encountered anyone all day.

We set up camp and had a snack. Cooking dinner worked well and we ate a Knorr Noodle Side and an organic Ramen noodle package. We hung our bag in a tree a ways off and tucked into the tent. I was a little cool most of the night and was glad I had brought my scarf, a sort of hat and the leggings. Night was probably about 50 or 55. Slept decent with the tent flaps open. I found I was most comfortable with my pack under my knees.

Day 2 - 3.9 miles from DeSoto to Myrtle Lake.

We had reserved site #8 but we didn't like the site so I checked the online reservation system and #7 was not reserved so we just moved over there. It was a cute site with a little bit of a long brushy walk to the lake but two nice long trees sticking out into the lake that served as our dock for the afternoon.


On  our way to Myrtle Lake we stopped into site #5 on McKay Lake. It had lots of blow-down. Gorgeous site right on the water but hardly any room for a tent. We had lunch here and took about a 1 hour break. We also walked into #10 on Deer Park Lake, which was on the lake but very grown over and brushy. Not open. I don't think I would like that site for overnight.

At our site we set up camp and got ready to swim. We both jumped off into the crystal clear water at the same time and it felt so good. We got to camp just after lunch and so had lots of time to spend. We ate snack, collected firewood, swam again, sat on the logs, explored a little, changed the tent and finally cooked dinner twice!  Later we hung our bag outside of camp and when it got late we tucked into the tent but we heard a bunch of rustling. DD had seen a beaver several times earlier, but somehow our mind was on bears and our bag. We somehow both managed to get spooked and sat up to play cards with our headlamps on for a long time. I finally got tired and DD decided to listen to recordings on her phone. It also started thundering around 1 am and then pouring rain for several hours around 4 am. DD was finally asleep, and now I woke up and was totally freaked out! Although all we could hear was rain I could have sworn I heard bear snorts. Your brain can sure take you for a ride! I had failed to pack any sort of pepper spray but kept the SPOT on, ready to hit a button. We were both glad that night was over, when it was finally morning, although we managed to sleep in a little.

Day 3 - 3.25 miles from Myrtle Lake back to South entrance parking lot.

We wore rain jackets although it had stopped raining, but the bugs were numerous. I also wore the head net which was very handy. We had a nice hike back out. Shortest stretch and some nice conversation. DD caught me mis-navigating when we got to the way end, where I insisted on following the NCT to cross Highway 71, she had directed us to the left to get to the parking lot and she was right. Should have followed her.

What a great experience! Our first overnight backpacking went really well, although DD did not like the scary night #2. She did really well but does not want to repeat that.

Here is the food we brought:

Oatmeal packages and Protein granola bar for breakfast. Coffee for me.
Lunch: Crackers and guacamole minis, Hard chunk of Parmesan cheese, beef jerky, nuts, dried apples
Snack: Snickers bar, cocoa almonds
Dinner: Knorr Sides, next time I will bring tuna packets. Organic ramen noodles.

DD also liked having propel powder for her water. I liked my coffee and creamer and sugar.

May 23rd, 2018 Cut Foot Sioux Trail

Third Hike in the Woods
6.3 miles


Location:

Cut Foot Sioux Hiking Trail starting in the Deer Lake Campground by Lake Winnibigoshish. The trail was heavily wooded with mature stands of leaf trees.

Weather:
Humid and 68, sunny, when I started out after breakfast. It got hot pretty quickly but I was back by 1pm.

Miles: 6.34 in 3 hours with a longer break at the 3 mile mark and many shorter breaks.

Insects:
Only 3 wood ticks in the first 3 miles. Added several more to total 12 for the whole trip, with one being a deer tick. All of them picked off my cream-colored, light-weight hiking pants that were tucked into my socks. Hardly a mosquito in sight. Many spiderwebs across the trail that ended up in my face.

Wildlife:
Several eagles, a garter snake, 9 trumpeter swans on the wilderness lake I stopped at for snack break.

May 19, 2018 NCT

Second Hike in the Woods - North Country Trail
5.75 miles

I had scheduled a day hike on this day and although I woke up to 45 degrees, wind and clouds, I decided that at this point in my life, my motto is: "No excuses!" So I got the stocking hat out, a scarf, my puffy jacket and some knit gloves, grabbed my pack and got going. I had a lunch appointment at 12:30 so I decided to start around 9. I got delayed by family logistics but was at the NCT Trailhead around 9:20. I started my MAPMYHIKE app about 9:30. The Trailhead is at the Shingobee Recreation Area. I hiked the section that goes along the river. I started getting tired by 10:30 and figured I will run out of time to head back if I keep going so I turned around and did an extra loop in the Shingobee area instead to add up to 5.71 miles. It took me 2 hours and 26 minutes to get back to the car. My pace stays at a steady 2.9 mph but I took several breaks for potty, photos, snack, map checks etc.

I saw two eagles perched in a dead tree. They watched me walk along on the trail and screeched to me. On the way back I looked up and stopped suddenly when I spied a porcupine sitting in the middle of the trail looking at me. We both just stared for a moment and then he hurried off the trail, while I slowly moved along. I enjoyed seeing fiddle heads of fern emerge from the forest floor and admired evidence of beaver chewing a tree down and then chewing all limbs off the tree top. Each spot looked like a large pencil sharpener was used to sharpen the truncated limbs to a point.

I carried a my pack loaded with most of my final gear at about 15 lbs, not including food but including 1.5 liters of water in my water bladder and not having optimized gear at this point. I was pretty happy with my performance especially considering that this was one of my least optimal times of the month to do this.

May 12, 2018 Waboose Lake

First Hike in the woods with a pack
5 miles

Dear Daughter and I hiked 5 miles in the Paul Bunyan State Forest. We started at the beginning of Old Township Road 2a close to East Crooked Lake and headed toward Waboose Lake. Our pooch joined us and got to run off leash when we were off the forest road. Since all forest roads were still closed because of Spring muddiness it was very quiet in the forest. We didn't see any other people except a few out fishing in Waboose lake and at the access there. We had a small snack when we got to Waboose and tried out the Sawyer Mini Water filter by drinking straight out of the lake. It worked well! Doggy got the most ticks on him, we got very few. We discovered a very nice NCT campsite on a peninsula on Waboose Lake. We made plans to return to it and spend the night sometime soon. DD is a great hiking partner. She did the 5 miles fairly easily although she did not have a pack.


The weather was really nice with a temperature of about 68 and a breeze and sun.
I carried the old Jansport pack that I had loaded with about 10 lbs of stuff.