Minnesota Hiking Club #21 - Frontenac State Park

 

Minnesota Hiking Club

#21 - Frontenac State Park

Date Hiked: January 25th, 2025

Other Hikes That Day: None

Wanderloon Ranking System Score: 3.50

The snow and frozen water from the views of the bluffs felt apocalyptic, which considering my experience much later with Great River Bluffs State Park, ended up being oddly appropriate. 

Minnesota in January is not a pleasant time. Everything looks dead and brown, the bright sunny days are contrasted with temperatures that people aren't supposed to live in, and any situations or conditions are exacerbated by the depths of depression these times can induce. 

Without going into personal detail, I was mired in those depths more than usual, and the apocalyptic vibes only made me feel more irrelevant and invisible than I already did. 

Which is not to say this wasn't an excellent hike; far from it! It wouldn't be ranked this high if I had negative associations with it. The negative associations were with myself and my situation at the time rather than the only form of escapism that was able to temporarily divert my focus. Even stopping by John A. Latsch State Park afterward, which in the winter was little more than a picnic table and a cork board, was better than my reality at this time. Everything felt far away and distant, and I desperately needed something I couldn't have because it was a thousand miles from where I stood. 

Frontenac State Park and its Hiking Club Trail was a way to try to forget about life for a while and stand on some giant-ass rocks rather than pining for springtime and what would come with it. I still pined, but at least I was doing something while pining rather than sinking into a pit. I missed my special people so badly that I didn't even know what to do with myself once the trail was done. But I did finish it, I did get my stamp, and the sun did rise the next day, for the eight-and-a-half minutes that daylight lasts in January in Minnesota, but rise it did nonetheless. 

The elevation gain at the beginning of the trail is somewhat steep, though nearby Barn Bluff condenses the rise a lot more. To be fair, it was probably more than 70 degrees warmer, so the external factors were different flavors of difficulty. 

Frontenac State Park's Hiking Club trail combines deep woods and the rocky bluffs for which the southeastern Minnesota area is known, though it feels like more of a sampler platter than a main course. That isn't a bad thing, but the trail itself wants you to explore more than the route to get your password. Which, to be fair, you probably should if you like this particular kind of hiking. The heart-o-gram with a tail trail has a loop with a stem at the beginning/ending, and it presents views, descents into woods, and... you guessed it... Information on GLACIERS! Can't escape it, not in these here parts! 

I know it sounds like I was sad on this hike. That's because I was. Not even escapism can be the full solace I need sometimes.