Minnesota Hiking Club #12 - Sibley State Park

 

Minnesota Hiking Club

#12 - Sibley State Park

Date Hiked: January 12th, 2025

Other Hikes That Day: Monson Lake State Park

Wanderloon Ranking System Score: 4.08

Just because I beat my demons' asses on January 4th didn't mean they were gone, but it did mean I had an advantage on them this time around. 

Sibley State Park's Hiking Club trail would've been a journey all on its own, but instead I spent half of it wrestling with trauma and coming out in an unexpected victory that I hadn't counted on  that morning. 

Traversing the prairie into the mystical woods of Sibley State Park, I set out in the snow and immersed myself in the silence of the woods, fresh fallen snow crunching under my every step. The rapid decrease in temperature hadn't happened yet and the trees protected me from the icy winds. The hills were rough and plentiful, my spikes gripping into the grade with all the hope in the world relying on them to hold so I didn't have an unexpected sledding journey. I never wanted a Rosebud, but more importantly, I never wanted to be Rosebud either. 

Along the way, something was said over my phone that could've resulted in a disaster from an emotional standpoint. And, at first, I let it start to fester. My brain wanted me to put it down and ignore the fire that stirred because of a misunderstood exchange. Something that bothered me took a spark and fanned it with flames that the Me of even several months prior would've dwelled on, allowed myself to be consumed by, and kept it in silence rather than assertively and calmly treating the situation with the care and deference it deserved while simultaneously hiking a small prairie mountain in a cold where my fingers shouldn't have been exposed to type the words. I hadn't woke up feeling dangerous, necessarily, but by the end of the trail, what could've been a distance-exacerbated, text-based conflict rather reached a copacetic conclusion that made me feel like we'd both grown with each other and worked something out rather than fall back on old habits and allow the spectres of our past to retain dominion over our behavior. 

Even if I hadn't gone through that during the hike, this would've still been ranked incredibly high on the list. This Hiking Club trail is freaking awesome, and I never would've expected it in this area of the state. I have no idea what it's like without the snow, cold, and solitude: the only other person I saw the entire time was someone working there to clear the parking lot. It was barely over 0, it's a longer trail, it has nearly 400 feet of elevation gain, and the snow made traversing that grade harder. 

I began this writing series to talk about Hiking Club trails, but I conquered more than the completion of a Hiking Club at an unusual pace and setting. I went out for passwords and stamps, but I really found the real E.A. Moon lurking in those snow drifts. 

I started wearing pants again, and I think I like the way they fit. 

Minnesota Hiking Club #13 - Temperance River State Park

 

Minnesota Hiking Club

#13 - Temperance River State Park

Date Hiked: January 4th, 2025

Other Hikes That Day: Tettegouche State Park, Cascade River State Park

Wanderloon Ranking System Score: 4.08

Hey, let's pick up right where we left off, except this is where shit gets real. 

I put on my ice spikes for the first time, figuring it out from the vague and confusing instruction graphic. I'd never used them before and I picked a hell of a day and park to hope like hell that they worked. After doing the world's coldest Slip 'N' Slide over Tettegouche State Park's Hiking Club trail, Temperance River State Park loomed ominously right off the 61, and it was clear from the parking lot that I either had to decide if I wanted to play golf or fuck around. 

This trail is a shade over two miles, but don't let that deceive you into thinking this is a quick trek, even without a polar vortex and enough ice to make you think the glaciers haven't actually retreated. There's over 200 feet of elevation gain, but there's a difference between going uphill and climbing steps carved out of smooth volcanic rock ancient river bed, next to an active river with a waterfall that's carved out of  the stone over a hundred feet straight down. One slip and you're suddenly part of the scenery. "There's the frozen waterfall, here's where a waterfall once was, there's an awkward hiker frozen in place who fucked around and found out during a polar vortex on a trail with dangerously smooth volcanic rock, steep elevation, and was 100 percent covered in ice." I once again reiterate that I'm not saying this was a good or wise decision, but I woke up feeling dangerous. I probably made it even more dangerous because I didn't tell my people what I was doing, but that was part of the process. They were all doing things with their people, and I had a feeling they'd try to talk me out of it, whether for the temperature, ice, or any other factor that went into it, and I didn't want them to have the chance. I didn't want to be talked out of it, and I didn't want them worrying about me, or thinking about me at all while I was doing this. This was my confrontation with the demons inside my head, and I gave them a double bird and told them where they could go and what they could do. 

This Hiking Club trail is goddamn majestic. Its two-plus miles feel like an ice-induced transformation, starting and finishing next to a frozen waterfall deep within jagged rock, going back and sampling a bit of that sweet Superior Hiking Trail goodness, and then descending steps nearly straight down, covered in several inches of ice, just waiting for the opportunity to teach you the error of your ways. 

I told my people what I did only after this day's hikes were done. I still had one to go, and it would be the hardest one of the three. I woke up feeling dangerous, and my demons got their asses kicked. 

My challenge: I won. 

Minnesota Hiking Club #14 - Tettegouche State Park

 

Minnesota Hiking Club

#14 - Tettegouche State Park

Date Hiked: January 4th, 2025

Other Hikes That Day: Temperance River State Park, Cascade River State Park

Wanderloon Ranking System Score: 4.08

It's finally here: The oft-aforementioned, life-changing, epiphanic trilogy of January 4th hikes that I haven't stopped yammering about since commencing this ranked list of the Minnesota Hiking Club's trails, and the "lowest" one is ranked 14/67. Buckle up, bitches! We're in for a wild ride on these three! 

This is the day that the Hiking Club went from an excuse to get outside and do a thing to a moment in which I had the choice of folding up, letting my demons and trauma get the better of me, and fading into the mist like a fog on the big lake upon the morning sun... or... to quote Baker Mayfield, "I woke up feeling dangerous." 

Dangerous this was, make no mistake about that whatsoever. I was not in my right mind. The New Year's Day trilogy of hikes detailed this, but January 4th is where it went from a distraction to a mission, and I cannot reiterate enough that I'm not saying this was entirely a good thing, nor would I say I recommend it, at least in this fashion. 

To further elaborate, it wasn't just cold, it was cold for Northern Minnesota. It was -17 without the wind chill, and that was just at the start. This was the first hike of the three that day, and it was partially because by the time I'd gotten up there, if I tried to go the whole way to Grand Portage, I may not have had the time to do anything else. I was hurting, my brain was making the worst of everything, my separation anxiety was at its height, and instead of spiraling into a dangerous puddle of instability, I ventured out into dangerous levels of cold, ice thick enough to do damage to any creature, and the joys/dangers of solitude in a place that is normally overrun with people when frostbite isn't a major concern.

Tettegouche State Park's Hiking Club trail is comparable to Gooseberry Falls State Park's, and not just because of its free parking and rest stop nature. It's on dangerous, jagged cliffs, and the short distance is deceiving, even if you're not treading over thick layers of ice on volcanic rock on steep elevation gains in temperatures that would make someone from the dark side of Saturn ask what the hell you were doing there. 

I did this trail without my ice spikes. When the trail started off being paved, I didn't think it'd be necessary. Within the short distance of this trek to Shovel Point, you go up, down, back up, back down, along the side, step on up, head back again, "oh shit, if I slip on that ice I'm unintentionally shipwreck diving on the coldest day of the year," I can't feel my face, "I've gotta climb all those stairs," holy shit, "what decisions in my life brought me to this point in time?" and then you have to go back. 

I made a bad decision, and it changed my life.

Minnesota Hiking Club #15 - Itasca State Park

 

Minnesota Hiking Club

#15 - Itasca State Park

Date Hiked: March 2nd, 2025

Other Hikes That Day: Glendalough State Park, Lake Bemidji State Park, La Salle Lake State Recreation Area

Wanderloon Ranking System Score: 4.00

Is that graphic representative of the majesty that is Itasca State Park? Probably not, but a lot of people younger than me haven't seen one of those outside of a Clark Kent super spinny locker room solo flash mob, so it's pretty unique nonetheless.

This is one of those places I'm gonna have to revisit. Not just because it's the second state park in the history of this country, not just because Mary Gibbs is a freaking badass, not just because of the Mississippi River headwaters or the Lost 40 or the Hiking Club trail itself or the sheer immense size of this park necessitating four different entry points, but because after three hikes and considerable commute times, it was already twilight and I was on autopilot at best. I couldn't even find the Passport stamp, though I imagine it's inside the visitor's center. Which, of course, was locked because I got there after 4 and it started getting dark, and because it's me visiting a place in this speedrun so it had to be closed. 

The fact that this place has a Hiking Club trail at all is not only a mere afterthought, but almost seems beneath it. There are seven state parks/recreation areas that don't have Hiking Club trails for whatever reason, but if this was one of them simply because it's Itasca and Itasca don't need to join no trendy clubs, I'd also believe it. If the Minnesota State Parks were each a theatre queer backstage at a performance, Itasca is the one with her own light setup and a cigarette in her hand, saying "watch and learn or you'll never work this show again, dahling." Don't let her age fool you, she's a shark and she'll eat you alive if you don't keep your wits about you. 

Twilight was falling fast, everything was icy, I couldn't find the stamp for this park (or La Salle Lake SRA for that matter), so I could either dwell on making the boosty parts of the brain happy with ink on a page, or I could go get a password, even if I wasn't sure I was supposed to just yet. W-codes and all, but there was no one to ask and I was already there and Itasca is no short commute. 

This New Hampshire-shaped loop is a pale blue dot in the universe that is Itasca's massive state park. I was amazed by how much infrastructure there was in this place. Multiple places to visit, entire inns and restaurants, and the echoing voices of how many people likely flood this place when the leaves are green and people can feel their faces. So I'd have to come back and give myself an entire day to experience it, but also choose that time carefully and make sure I had an out anytime I needed it. Autism is fun sometimes. 

It's on the longer side, it's got elevation gain, it's a mystical, ethereal setting far beyond what our species deserves. 

Minnesota Hiking Club #16 - Gooseberry Falls State Park

 

Minnesota Hiking Club

#16 - Gooseberry Falls State Park

Date Hiked: December 22nd, 2024

Other Hikes That Day: Split Rock Lighthouse State Park

Wanderloon Ranking System Score: 3.92

This is where it all started, in more ways than one.

Yes, this was my first stamp and my first Hiking Club trail of this speedrun, but it's more than that. This was the first Minnesota State Park I ever visited, years ago before I even lived here. I walked on a waterfall for the first time while I was on spring break from university. An unseasonably warm day, I was in a t-shirt and standing on a frozen waterfall on a lovely March day. That was the first time I even knew about the North Shore, let alone Split Rock Lighthouse, Two Harbors, or anything else. I owe Jerry a great deal for taking that road trip with me. He didn't have to go with me that day, I was just his kid's friend and he'd met me one time. Yet, he not only did that but wrote me a letter of recommendation for grad school. Wherever he is, I hope he's well. 

I say this was my first Hiking Club trail in more ways than one too. 

The Hiking Club and Passport booklets had been sitting on my table. A brief foray into a hiking-specific Instagram led me to discover that the Hiking Club was even a thing, and when I saw there were two options, I was a bit extra (as always) and decided to do both. It wasn't until I got the yearlong pass that I opened up the book and started figuring out where to go. Most of the names I didn't recognize, as I'm not from here and have mostly traveled along the eastern border of the state, both north and south. The two names (other than Fort Snelling, it was winter and I couldn't go there) that I knew: Gooseberry Falls and Split Rock Lighthouse. Those I could do.

But also, I'd hiked this exact trail before without knowing I could get credit for it. 

On a long Geocaching hike when the weather was perfect, I wanted to see Gooseberry but also needed to be far away from the hoards of tourists. I saw a single Geocache way out in the park, and the only way to get to it was to cross the bridge over the falls and follow a trail out to a cliff. I got that find, and the view I would see from that giant ridge down into the valley looked very familiar when I did my first Hiking Club trail. Though this time the trail was covered in ice, and those cliffs were a lot scarier upon realizing one bad slip and my booklets would remain forever one and only. 

Yes, this is personal and anecdotal, but what the hell else am I gonna write about Gooseberry Falls State Park that nobody else has? Multiple tiers of waterfalls, frozen in the winter, a ubiquitous rest stop always. The Hiking Club trail is on the side without all the people, tread carefully. It's a long way down. It's awesome. 

Minnesota Hiking Club #17 - Interstate State Park

Minnesota Hiking Club

#17 - Interstate State Park

Date Hiked: December 31st, 2024

Other Hikes That Day: None

Wanderloon Ranking System Score: 3.92

Everything I said about the New Year's Day trilogy in the previous entry on Nerstrand-Big Woods? Yeah, run that back, but make it a day earlier. 

We good? We good. Okay. 

Only the third Hiking Club trail trip, fourth stop overall, and it was somewhere relatively close. The lone St. Croix line trail that wasn't W-coded, I just wanted something to do on New Year's Eve that didn't involve thinking or personal insight, and instead I got a truly badass hike at a time when most people weren't in the parks. What an interesting revelation, I think in retrospect and likely noticed at the time: if I do them all on days like this, I won't have to deal with crowds, noise, people, bluetooth speakers, mosquitos, ticks, people, or any of that shit. 

Also, isn't this about where the Glacial potholes are? Holy shit, it is! This ain't gonna be a down-and-back, it's gonna be a down, check out the super cool adjacent park that is also usually super crowded, then head back. 

And thank goodness I didn't need the ice spikes on this one, because I didn't have them yet and that could've gotten dangerous. 

When I think of hiking near the St. Croix, this is what I imagine. Rocky cliffs, steep descents, aerial views of the river, all of these melding together into an experience that transcends arbitrary state lines and gives one a taste of feeling infinite for a while. 

But don't go in thinking this is an easy walk, ice spikes being necessary or not.

Interstate State Park might feel redundant to say, and even to type, but it's a legit experience. Tucked right in along the Minnesota side of the border, up in the cliffs before the road down to Taylor's Falls, the hike runs right along that road. Immediately the signs will advise you to be cautious about the rocks and be aware of the conditions, because the trail is narrow, steep, and covered in smooth rocks that only tolerate your existence and presence until they decide "nope, not gonna do that anymore. I'm a rock, not my problem." Climbing isn't inherently necessary, at least on this portion, but it's exceedingly obvious that it's an activity people do on the slopes right next to the trail. Why wouldn't it be? There are people who see giant slabs of rock above a river and think "I'ma climb that." Of all the places in Minnesota with that possibility, especially if heading out to Colorado or Washington isn't plausible in that moment (dammit), this is an option. It may not reach the same heights, but the difficulty is there regardless.

You've probably already beat me to it, but it's Minnesota, you know what that means.... GLACIERS! Glaciers forming river valleys and not repairing their potholes, infrastructure has always been unpopular, whether it be crumbling roads or ice giving rocks the finger. Don't drive over these potholes, or you better learn the phrase "embrace the void" pretty fast. 

Minnesota Hiking Club #18 - Nerstrand-Big Woods State Park

 

Minnesota Hiking Club

#18 - Nerstrand-Big Woods State Park

Date Hiked: January 1st, 2025

Other Hikes That Day: Rice Lake State Park, Sakatah Lake State Park

Wanderloon Ranking System Score: 3.92

It was New Year's Day, and I was alone.

We established that in the previous two entries, but it is impossible to talk about this hike without that context. 

I don't care about the World's Biggest Non-Event, but for the previous two years, I had spent that time with my special people. For reasons that are irrelevant to this medium, I was not, and it would've been really easy to be swallowed by that pit. This day is what led to the January 4th trilogy, which as you will likely note, none of those have yet reached this list. And somewhere along the way, I decided to do all of them in a single season. 

But this trilogy of hikes was just a means of not falling into a pit of despair and longing. It became mystical, and though I didn't stop missing my people at all, I found something to do with the energy, and that's the theme of this entire series. This is how I spent the time and energy that came out of being far away from my special people, and a descent into dense woods and frozen waterfalls truly kickstarted the concept. This was, by far, the best of these three. 

All three are within a reasonable range. Before I started going to the one farthest away and working my way back as a concept, Nerstrand-Big Woods was the closest of the three, and I don't think I even decided to do all three when I initially set out. i just wanted a place to be that wasn't in my own head, listening to the sound of water swallowing me and finding it even ironically endearing. 

Nerstrand-Big Woods State Park preserves magical forest in an area of the state where that kind of landscape isn't expected if you don't know where to look for it. I know I tend to be sentimental and a bit flowery with my language with the parks I really like, but this one truly is descending into a New World Fangorn without murder by swallowing or stomping, naturally. The loop shape isn't complicated, looking like a stone giant champion bowler trophy, but its sub-3 mile length is deceiving, for it is not a quick jaunt, especially once ice on the terrain is factored in.

The first notable sight along the trail is the waterfall, and early in the morning on a lonely New Year's Day, it didn't make everything okay, but it allowed me to forget about the gnawing in my soul for a little while. The fog of the latter two trails this day wasn't quite as present, but it gave the woods of the big and Nerstrand variety an even more ethereal feeling than the circumstances of the day already provided. 

This journey was never meant to be some kind of diary, as the people reading this initially are already aware of the emotional context, but this Hiking Club speedrun was never just about completing the hikes themselves either.