Holy shitmonkeys, this is a big fuckin' state.
If you're offended by silly profane phrases, I don't know why you're here. But also, if you've made a journey like this and not had that thought, I'm worried you might have some anger issues.
I hit Hayes Lake at twilight, the fourth park of the regrettable Northwest Corner wind odyssey. Somewhere over the rainbow... if the rainbow is all grey and takes an hour to get between each shade. Red River seemed like a long time ago by this point.
The other reason I was later than expected were the construction diversions for Old Mill and Lake Bronson, the latter more considerably. And with an hour, more or less, between each of these parks, by the time I got to the one that felt most remote of them all, the daylight was quickly fading. Sure, I could've saved this trip for a mere few days later when darkness would wait an hour to approach because it turns its clock ahead as well, but I remind you: I decided to do a Minnesota Hiking Club in not just the winter, but a winter, so perhaps reason and logic-based choices were not my strong suit in this pursuit.
Lake Bronson was like being on a dystopian planet where only aggressive deer and plentiful goose gaggles roam, but there was some semblance of a town nearby. By comparison, Hayes Lake felt like it wasn't even supposed to be there. Roaming through plains and farm fields, expecting to see a Kryptonian ship drop from the sky at any minute, then you have to turn off Nowhere Road and scuttle on up Desolate Drive, ohai white pine trees, what a welcome reprieve you are!
Only in Minnesota calls this park "little-known" and points out that the closest big city is Grand Forks, North Dakota, which I'll remind you is where I started the Northwest Corner excursion many hours before this. Of their top 11 lesser-knowns, I've covered only two others already in this ranking series, so clearly I thought well of their choices for the lesser-known favorites. The descriptions and pictures OiM posted shows a beautiful lake surrounded by forest, and from what little I could see during my half-dazed effort to finish off the day and head for home, I absolutely agree. By that point though, I just wanted to go home, since despite traveling all that way even after the five-hour trip to get to the first of this day's hikes, I still had another five-and-a-half hour drive home following this 1.7 mile night hike.
It's wonderful, it's gorgeous, the white pine is a lovely change from the Nothing that precedes it, and I absolutely did not appreciate it nearly enough for what it's worth on this day, which is my own doing and I understand that, no need to tell me. Give me a break! Even from here, it was still two hours before running back into the thriving metropolis of Bemidji!
The big question is, did you stop at Lou's?
ReplyDeleteHe's not open that late. I did try to go to the Waffle Hut, but Mike and the Kitchen Boys were in the parking lot and I thought better of it.
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