Minnesota Hiking Club
#65 - Red River State Recreation Area
Date Hiked: March 10th, 2025
Other Hikes That Day: Old Mill State Park, Lake Bronson State Park, Hayes Lake State Park
Wanderloon Ranking System Score: 2.08
#65 - Red River State Recreation Area
Date Hiked: March 10th, 2025
Other Hikes That Day: Old Mill State Park, Lake Bronson State Park, Hayes Lake State Park
Wanderloon Ranking System Score: 2.08
I'd put off the Northwest corner of the state as long as I could. I started (and intended to finish) the Hiking Club in the winter, after all. And being the autistic completionist that I am, there was no "skip that portion" option.
However, I also figured that if I saved the ones that were farthest away for last, it may have a demotivating factor, and with this damn self-imposed deadline, I didn't want something like my own head talking me out of doing the thing that nobody but me insisted upon doing in this amount of time in the first place! That would just be silly!
Who needs distance and time commitment for demotivation when you can have the same effect arriving at a Hiking Club trail to find a bunch of pavement and a suburban neighborhood instead?
There isn't anything inherently wrong with hiking on a paved path through a suburban park, or taking a stroll in a neighborhood on a dangerously windy day, but it's also not exactly what was implied by signing up for a Hiking Club either.
Hey, bridges are cool though. I could see North Dakota across the Red River, when my eyes weren't being assaulted by bursts of wind that should've been reserved for getting some farm chick to un-alive a witch with her house.
Truth is, this particular day of adventure made me feel very silly, and not for the aforementioned self-imposed deadline "must do them all in one day" reasons either.
Back at home near the Twin Cities, it was 62 degrees. For those who aren't from Minnesota, yes... it does get above 10 degrees occasionally, despite what the Fargo universe would have you believe, and even sometimes outside of the eight-and-a-half seconds of summer we do receive.
So, when it took nearly five hours to reach East Grand Forks, and when I had to drive through North Dakota to get back to Minnesota in order to make this first hike, I still had a t-shirt on. It was a good weather day, after all. But, those highway signs about wind advisories weren't kidding, and the temperature was dropping rapidly.
I cannot reiterate enough that I'm grateful every single one of these parks and trails exist, and I'm not trying to talk anyone out of visiting even the early ones that I've ranked at the bottom of my list. But, after leaving 62 degrees and sunny to have to drive five hours through another state to get back into my own, my first hike of the day being something I could've done outside my own home in far better conditions was a bit of a letdown.
Conversely, this would be the only one of the four hikes I did this day where I saw another person, and that probably says more about me than they, all things considered.
At least this time, the five hour drive was met with a hike that eclipsed two miles. Even mushroom clouds have silver linings.
However, I also figured that if I saved the ones that were farthest away for last, it may have a demotivating factor, and with this damn self-imposed deadline, I didn't want something like my own head talking me out of doing the thing that nobody but me insisted upon doing in this amount of time in the first place! That would just be silly!
Who needs distance and time commitment for demotivation when you can have the same effect arriving at a Hiking Club trail to find a bunch of pavement and a suburban neighborhood instead?
There isn't anything inherently wrong with hiking on a paved path through a suburban park, or taking a stroll in a neighborhood on a dangerously windy day, but it's also not exactly what was implied by signing up for a Hiking Club either.
Hey, bridges are cool though. I could see North Dakota across the Red River, when my eyes weren't being assaulted by bursts of wind that should've been reserved for getting some farm chick to un-alive a witch with her house.
Truth is, this particular day of adventure made me feel very silly, and not for the aforementioned self-imposed deadline "must do them all in one day" reasons either.
Back at home near the Twin Cities, it was 62 degrees. For those who aren't from Minnesota, yes... it does get above 10 degrees occasionally, despite what the Fargo universe would have you believe, and even sometimes outside of the eight-and-a-half seconds of summer we do receive.
So, when it took nearly five hours to reach East Grand Forks, and when I had to drive through North Dakota to get back to Minnesota in order to make this first hike, I still had a t-shirt on. It was a good weather day, after all. But, those highway signs about wind advisories weren't kidding, and the temperature was dropping rapidly.
I cannot reiterate enough that I'm grateful every single one of these parks and trails exist, and I'm not trying to talk anyone out of visiting even the early ones that I've ranked at the bottom of my list. But, after leaving 62 degrees and sunny to have to drive five hours through another state to get back into my own, my first hike of the day being something I could've done outside my own home in far better conditions was a bit of a letdown.
Conversely, this would be the only one of the four hikes I did this day where I saw another person, and that probably says more about me than they, all things considered.
At least this time, the five hour drive was met with a hike that eclipsed two miles. Even mushroom clouds have silver linings.
I mean... maybe someone somewhere wants to walk through suburbia on a hike...?
ReplyDeleteIf they want to drive five hours for it, I have serious concerns.
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