The state park often takes a back seat to the national park. Yosemite, Yellowstone, Grand Canyon, etc. are all regarded as the ultimate places to experience nature. While none can/should argue the unique beauty of the national park, none can/should argue the equally unique beauty of the state park. These are places that don’t require a drive across the country to visit. Only have two days … Continue reading Minnesota State Parks Poster
When I told Audra I wanted to bike the 31 miles from Park Rapids to Walker and back, she told me I was nuts. We biked from Park Rapids to Akeley and back the previous year. It was a much shorter route, though we picked a hot, windy day for the ride. By the halfway point, we hated it. On that ride, I said I wanted … Continue reading Park Rapids to Walker to Park Rapids
Where there is death, there is new life. That’s what I told myself when I sold my Masi Speciale CX to buy a Salsa El Mariachi. Selling the bike reknewed memories I had atop my black Masi, the best of which was the 2014 Almanzo 100. This is a race in southeastern Minnesota. Aside from the starting line, the course is entirely on gravel roads. … Continue reading Race Bikes. Catch Trout.
“All you need is a credit card and you can be an outdoorsman on Instagram.” If you look at a cache of photos on any given hashtag–#campvibes, #camptrend, #liveauthentic, whatever–you’ll find a few photos of people doing cool shit. You can see people hiking the PCT, traversing glaciers or camping in Trolltunga. But most of all, you’ll see people standing in a field with their … Continue reading Slow Fishing
Pine forest meets shipping container meets hygge. A new Dakota County regional park opened just south of St. Paul on the border of Rosemount and Farmington. It’s called Whitetail Woods. The park has a few miles of ski and hiking trails, but the main attraction has been the camper cabins, which welcomed their first guests around Christmastime. Reservations for these cabins opened to the public … Continue reading Breaking In A New Cabin
“Is this your first time skate skiing?” I asked Andy as we approached the Wirth chalet to pick up trail passes. “Yes,” Andy replied. “Oh good. You’re in for a load of soreness tomorrow.” After all, skate skiing soreness is the best type of soreness. We fixed our trail passes to our jackets and hit the trails. Learning how to skate ski isn’t easy. It has … Continue reading Let’s Skate
It doesn’t feel like Christmas in Minneapolis. Temperatures are in the 30s and the ground is a March shade of brown. Some boulevards are even muddy. Mud. In December. This time last year, Audra and I already had our season passes to Theo Wirth Park and had been cross-country skiing a handful of times. There is truth to Minneapolis having some of the most unpredictable weather … Continue reading Christmas Hike
Well, kind of one last hurrah. But more on that later. While I was fishing Skunktown Creek in Iowa, my buddy Phil had a productive weekend on the Whitewater River in southeast Minnesota. He posted a photo of one of his fish, a 16″ brown that was more orange than anything else. It was a gorgeous fish and it was in that moment I decided … Continue reading Whitewater River. One last hurrah: Day One.
Yes. State twice. It’s fun to say. While we were planning on heading to the North Shore for a stay at Tettegouche State Park, we opted to hang around Minneapolis. Monday was to be included in the North Shore trip as well. Audra had the day off and I spent a day of PTO. This meant we had Monday to ourselves. How did we spend … Continue reading Mental Health Day at Interstate State Park
Birch & Flannel 