Gooseberry Falls State Park, Split Rock Lighthouse State Park, Tettegouche State Park, Temperance River State Park, Cascade River State Park
Date Hiked: December 13-14th
Trail Hiked: Gitchi Gummi Trail, Day Hill Trail, Shovel Point, Lookout Mountain Loop, Carlton and Tofte Peaks
Distance Hiked: 10.8 miles, 8.2 miles
Elevation Gain: 1437 ft,, 1152 ft.
Duration: 4h 21m, 3h 31m
If I have a trait that can be considered both a blessing and a curse, at least in a hiking context, it's the drive to immediately outdo something that I considered impressive until the moment it was done.
Burying bad memories underneath new ones to compensate is probably a close second.
I've merged all these hikes into one entry. Four on the Saturday, one on the Sunday, I consider them a collective because of what they represented in my head at the time. If you've read my Hiking Club reviews, you know that my January 4th trilogy of hikes when it was -30 outside set the bar for what I considered one of my biggest hiking accomplishments of the year.
Unfortunately, those are laced with bad and redacted memories now, and when put in the position where the time and context are right, even something that stupid and dangerous needs to be outdone. I was at my favorite inn up north, the weather was nearly identical to January 4th, and instead of having to drive up there, I woke up right in the middle of all them already. -30 wind chills, overwhelming bright sun, sea smoke, Minnesota State Parks, but also, about 450 hikes in between created a capstone for a year that began with checking boxes and ended with returning to frozen roots/routes.
Yes, two of these parks I did a few weeks before January 4th, but I didn't want to just outdo time and distance. Why continue highlighting a day with three state parks hiked when I could do four under the same dangerous circumstances? It made sense in my head at the time.
First, my old friend Gitchi Gummi, before I had the amazing thought that maybe ice spikes would be a good idea when walking on cliffs while they're covered in ice. This time, it was a breeze, and at times I could even feel my face for a few seconds.
Second, Split Rock. With the snow at least ten inches deep, the daylight being limited, and at least two parks to go to complete my arbitrary quest, I opted for the Day Hill loop as opposed to the full Hiking Club route. While pursuing the Hiking Club would've made this a problem, I was doing this strictly because I felt like it, and perhaps also working on my Hiking Club Adventure Labs (4 done, 8 to go).
Third, Tettegouche. It's still a point. With Shovels.
Fourth, and the official end of my ice spikes, Cascade River. My best-ranked Hiking Club state park, and that still stands after revisiting many of them when it's not Jupiter outside.
Then on Sunday at Temperance River, I combined this ridiculous quest with my ongoing pursuit of hundred-percenting the Superior Hiking Trail, so I'll delve in more deeply on that entry. In January, all the hikes combined didn't match the distance or elevation gain from this one alone.
The view from Carlton Peak alone made it all worth it.
