Minnesota Hiking Club #53 - Hayes Lake State Park

 

Minnesota Hiking Club

#53 - Hayes Lake State Park

Date Hiked: March 10th, 2025

Other Hikes That Day: Red River State Recreation Area, Old Mill State Park, Lake Bronson State Park

Wanderloon Ranking System Score: 2.5

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!

Minnesota Hiking Club #54 - Zippel Bay State Park

Minnesota Hiking Club

#54 - Zippel Bay State Park

Date Hiked: February 22nd, 2025

Other Hikes That Day: Big Bog State Recreational Area, Franz Jevne State Park

Wanderloon Ranking System Score: 2.5

This will be the first of two consecutive entries where I wish I'd seen the park under better circumstances, but more importantly, better times. 

The lack of a picture for this post is not due to a time crunch... well, not the kind that Carley State Park was anyway... and it's certainly not because there wasn't any interesting scenery. I know from the pictures and this park's reputation that there is. 

No, the problem with this hike for me was that I did it in the winter, it was very far away, and I ran out of daylight. 

Having read my previous entry on Franz Jevne, you'll understand why the light elapsed before my presence though, as the time was budgeted for a half hour, not 90 minutes. Zippel Bay had the same issue, for which I learned my lesson about seasonal alerts on the websites, but I digress. Like Franz Jevne though, I wasn't leaving without my stamp and password, because this park is really far away. When you look at the map of the state parks, it's the one on the very top, and a majority of people doing this Hiking Club will be... not there. At least not most of the year, anyway. 

I know of this park's reputation because on the way up, I got pulled over in Bemidji because I didn't notice a speed limit change. I told the officer that I was heading to Zippel Bay, and he seemed rather impressed and encouraging about it. I don't know if that's why he let me off with a warning, but I'm not questioning it either. I have rarely been that lucky. 

It only takes a single click on the Google machine to know how epically gorgeous this park is. Other than my thigh-high snow diversion, the reason I got there so late is that my initial plan was to do Zippel Bay, then follow with Franz Jevne and Big Bog on the way back. But after I'd already driven for five hours and the afternoon reminded me that it gets dark by the time most people are getting off their lunch break, I thought I'd better make sure to knock these out while I could, and I did them in the reverse of intended order.

I trudged through the Zippel Bay snow and the rapidly fading twilight to get my password. The bayside trail is a short one, and I'm exceedingly grateful for that, or a motel and some further regret may have been necessary. 

I stopped for food in Baudette on the way back, where I made sure Frank Peterson wasn't getting up to any green-based shenanigans (IYKYK). Then, my badass boast for travel skills was achieved for that weekend, because I drove from Baudette back home at night without stopping a single time. Not for gas, caffeine, wandering moose, nothing. I got a new perspective on what "up north" is though, since my previous referential point (Grand Rapids) was a mere halfway indicator. 

Minnesota Hiking Club #55 - Minneopa State Park

 

Minnesota Hiking Club

#55 - Minneopa State Park

Date Hiked: January 5th, 2025

Other Hikes That Day: Fort Ridgely State Park

Wanderloon Ranking System Score: 2.42

I've mentioned my January 4th trilogy of hikes that took place in weather cold enough that even a giant prehistoric elk would question, and given that I haven't written anything about them yet, that should also indicate how well I thought of the parks.

Naturally the one I did the very next morning was going to feel a bit underwhelming. 

Yes, I already wrote a bit about that for dear old Fort Ridgely (you're with us in sunshine and weather more drizzly... deep Daria cut for those who know), but this was the first one on January 5th. It was closer, and while it was cold, it wasn't "dangerous elk turned back and planned his revenge later" cold. Mercifully, because my sunglasses didn't turn to ice. 

A note on proximity: because it was winter, I didn't do Flandrau State Park between Minneopa and Fort Ridgely, even though since there was no snow, I probably could've. But if you're not doing the Hiking Club in winter, it's not an issue and those might line up nicely. 

Second note on proximity: if you're doing the Passport club simultaneously, it's good to know that the stamp location and the Hiking Club trail are not in the same place. The stamp can be found near this whip cream-esque waterfall, while the Hiking Club trail is closer to the river and the buffalo area. 

Are all these notes a way to avoid covering the hike itself because of its unfortunate time slot of following possibly my favorite day of my Hiking Club odyssey? It's not not that...

There's absolutely nothing wrong with this park, and the fact that it has a buffalo herd (not the last one I'll write about that does) is really amazing and awesome. From one vantage point on the Hiking Club trail, very close to the end, I could barely see a few of them. But, they're a herd of wild buffalo running free across the plains (second Daria reference of this post, sue me). It's not a zoo, it's not guaranteed that one will get a good view. 

Speaking of good views though, there is a fantastic view of the Minnesota River on the trail. For once, winter is an advantage, because it was easier to see without any leaves on the trees. Winter, ya ain't so bad! 

The trail is pretty decent. Some elevation gain, but not too much... again, following January 4th, my calves needed the break. It's in good condition, it's a good walk through the woods and prairie, and sometimes you get to see buffalo roaming around. It's a decent stop on this journey, and probably an even better one when there are temperatures that human beings ought to consider living in, everything doesn't look brown and/or frozen (except the buffalo, if they're not brown there's something wrong), and the river is flowing rather than stuck in icy stasis. 

Had the trail gone by this badass waterfall though, it'd likely be higher on the list.

Minnesota Hiking Club #56 - Old Mill State Park

Minnesota Hiking Club

#56 - Old Mill State Park

Date Hiked: March 10th, 2025

Other Hikes That Day: Red River State Recreation Area, Lake Bronson State Park, Hayes Lake State Park

Wanderloon Ranking System Score: 2.42

At least when I was "hiking" through a suburban neighborhood, it was still warm enough for short sleeves. It wasn't quite the 62 degrees it was back home, but it was tolerable nonetheless.

By the time I got up to Old Mill State Park, winds that would've made Bill and Jo Harding send the tornado chaser fleet had dropped the temperature below 25 degrees, and I was grateful that Old Mill's Hiking Club trail was mercifully short, especially with two more to knock out on the day of my Northwest Corner excursion. 

Unfortunately, I let the home conditions dictate my attire. A hoodie might've been enough for 25 degrees or for winds strong enough for a conversation on the Edmund Fitzgerald, but not both at the same time. While I hyperbolically call my quick completion of the Hiking Club a speedrun, this trail had me actually running to get it done quicker for practical reasons.

This would be the first park of the day, and not the last, where a road being closed off meant a ten minute-plus diversion. After leaving the comparatively thriving metropolis of East Grand Forks, Old Mill (at least by winter desolation standards) felt quiet and remote enough that the Langoliers might've been on the way imminently. 

It's a pretty simple loop. Mostly it reminded me of wandering through a yard trail of a rural home with a back 40, which I don't say pejoratively. Toward one corner of the trail, there's a really nice view of a river, but that was the extent of anything that could be accurately described as scenery, at least at that time of the year. 

The wind was strong enough by my time through the more densely forested portion of the trail that I had legitimate concerns about falling branches, or worse. My speed getting through the trail wasn't only because it made the frantic walk a tiny bit less frigid, but also because I didn't need a wooden Clothesline From Hell to make my day complete. 

I feel like I'm being snarky about this hike, but obviously I enjoyed it more than a few others or you would've read about it already. I suppose I would've enjoyed it a lot more if it lived up to its name implications. When I saw the name "Old Mill," I had hopes for abandoned structures, or at least some refurbished vintage sites. Maybe the park has them, but the Hiking Trail didn't take me near them like Banning or Crow Wing, for instance. That's not a flaw of the trail, but cool abandoned shit always gets bonus points on my scale, which I denoted in the beginning as incredibly subjective explicitly for reasons like this one. 

It's probably easier to not be snarky about this park if your face isn't painfully numb, or if you're not trying to get all four of the Northwest corner in one day. But, to be fair, I never described that decision as particularly logical or advisable. 

Minnesota Hiking Club #57 - Rice Lake State Park

Minnesota Hiking Club

#57 - Rice Lake State Park

Date Hiked: January 1st, 2025

Other Hikes That Day: Nerstrand-Big Woods State Park, Sakatah Lake State Park

Wanderloon Ranking System Score: 2.33

The concept of New Years means absolutely nothing to me. New Year's Eve, as Will McAvoy once called it, is a celebration of "the world's biggest non-event." That said, the prior two years, I'd used it as an opportunity to travel out of state, as the prices are low and the crowds are smaller, presuming you're not headed to one of those aforementioned non-event celebrations. While I wanted to continue my loosely-defined tradition, particularly with whom I spent that time, it wasn't possible this time around. So I spent my energy elsewhere, grateful I had something other than the void on which to focus. If it's not obvious, I was not having a good time at this point. 

While, on that New Year's Day, I couldn't use the habits of most for ease of interstate travel, I was awake and on the road early to pursue my first trilogy of parks. Nerstrand-Big Woods, Rice Lake, and Sakatah Lake form a triangle south of the Twin Cities, and this was a great opportunity to get some stamps and miles in. I wasn't pursuing the one-season completion yet, but the fulfillment I got out of this day's pursuit did a lot to endear me to the concept. 

Rice Lake was the second of three hikes that day, and all three of the triangle were comparable in terms of length and scenery. There were several unexpected occurrences during this short middle trek. For one, I saw another person, which in itself was surprising, given the habits of most the previous night. Second, while many Hiking Club navigational and password signs had gotten recent upgrades (that I now know in retrospect), I nearly missed Rice Lake's password sign due to its different color scheme, as well as half the letters being faded out. Fortunately, and I say that only for the ease of decipherability, this park has the least imaginative password one could possibly conjure, though I did confer with Geocaching Bronco's page just to be sure. 

Third, and most notably, the silence of my solitude became scored with an otherworldly soundtrack. While I learned that noises like this emanate from the winds in the woods, it's easy for me to comprehend why others might think that they're about to visit the Red Room. I got the noise on camera just to make sure it wasn't my imagination, and so that if BOB decided we were about to have some kind of unpleasant encounter, I might remember not to put on the jade ring. It's always good to have a plan. 

It was cold, it was remote, and the views weren't especially noteworthy. But, aside from wondering "is it future?" or "is it past?", the peace in the solitude was a minor comfort to my soul at a time where I was wishing hard that I was somewhere very far away. Most of my prior athletic experience was in team sports, but conversely, putting in miles on the trail never requires reliance on anyone. 

Minnesota Hiking Club #58 - Glendalough State Park

Minnesota Hiking Club

#58 - Glendalough State Park

Date Hiked: March 2nd, 2025

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

Wanderloon Ranking System Score: 2.25

With the options of non-W parks having grown slim, having access to some of them after considerable snowmelt was a productive aid to maintaining the productivity to finish the Minnesota Hiking Club by my self-imposed, arbitrary deadline. 

If one is looking to maximize proximity, as well as efficiency with common road usage, there are pockets of parks that make this possible. The North Shore is an obvious example, with most of the parks being on 61. While not as convenient, the 94 does the same, especially if the W code is (most likely) irrelevant to the pursuit. My initial idea for this day was to pick up the 94 Ws, since I'd already covered the others. Starting with Glendalough, I'd then grab Lake Carlos and Lake Maria on the way back. A quick glance to the Other Hikes will tell you that clearly didn't happen, but for people who don't get weird urges to go knock out three others in a different part of the state, it's a suggestion.

If one is unfamiliar with the park, particularly in winter desolation, searching for the stamp and the Hiking Club trail may take some time. Plan accordingly. 

After accidentally hearing a local radio station out of Detroit Lakes assault my ears with a weather report that sounded like Baby's First AI, I set out, thinking that enough snow had melted that I wouldn't need my spikes. You'd think I'd have learned from such mistakes earlier on in this hiking speedrun, but alas. 

Glendalough's Hiking Club trail is mid-range in terms of its distance. With the shortest Hiking Club trails being a mere 1 mile and several tied for being the longest at 6.2 (though I'd dispute that, more on that in a later issue), Glendalough's 3.3-mile lake loop fits right in that middle ground, and as a mostly-simple route around a lake, it's probably an easy stroll with pavement, green leaves, and temperatures with more than one digit. However, when penguin-walking over thick ice and seeking out the sections with more of the crunchy-crunchy, it adds a bit to the time elapsed. I blame no one but myself, for the record. 

Along the route, I couldn't ignore the urge to go see Itasca after hearing someone speak glowingly on the park. While it was part of another pocket of nearby parks, Itasca was over two hours from Glendalough, and likely just as cold. However, that would also give me the opportunity to knock out three more parks that day, so ambition won out over reason, logic, or any semblance of convenience. 

While I didn't wander into the nearby town of Detroit Lakes before heading toward Bemidji, I did momentarily question if there were any abandoned car factories there, just out of a namesake tribute. When that's the thought I wrote in my Passport journal, I can tell that circumnavigating this lake via boot skating didn't leave much of an impression. But, unlike the same day's #67 hike, it left one. 

Minnesota Hiking Club #59 - Minnesota Valley State Recreation Area

Minnesota Hiking Club

#59 - Minnesota Valley State Recreation Area

Date Hiked: January 3rd, 2025

Other Hikes That Day: None

Wanderloon Ranking System Score: 2.25

When I tell people that I wasn't raised in an outdoorsy family and culture, they tend not to believe me. 

I get it. A lot of people who are into things like hiking and kayaking learn it from their parents, or at least being raised around it and picking it up from friends while they're growing up. 

The first time I went kayaking, I was in my mid-20s. It was my first time in Northern Minnesota and someone asked me if I wanted to go kayaking, and I genuinely asked what a kayak was. 

Hiking? I was looking for abandoned railroad tracks, and I started documenting them. (Autism is fun!) Those searches led me to rail trails. Rail trails led me to walking longer distances. Longer distances led me to hiking. I fell into it backwards. 

And if you still don't believe me, the reason I went hiking on January 3rd at the Minnesota Valley State Recreation Area? I bought something from REI... for the first time. Exaggerate, I do not. 

The backpack I'd been using was perfectly fine, but not cut out for longer distance hikes. The jacket I had was perfectly fine, but with a polar vortex approaching and no sign of my hiking slowing down, I wanted a good one designed to hold up in the weather and strenuous activity. 

Thus, having made this purchase, I wanted to try them out. Since in January, it gets dark about nine minutes after the sun comes up, I opted for one of the closer trails. Those from the Twin Cities metro who have taken a gander at the map of Hiking Club trails know well, there aren't many nearby. The picture above will also show, even with the locality and no other hikes that day, I barely got it in before darkness. 

Why so much context before discussing the trail itself? Honestly, I don't think I could fill my allotted time talking about this one, for better or worse. It certainly does exist. 

I feel bad saying that, but it's hard not to compare it to other hikes in the same general refuge area. Up the river you have the Old Cedar Avenue Bridge, Long Meadow Lake, Bloomington Ferry, Rice Lake (not the state park one, this name is annoyingly common)... Even Memorial Park in Shakopee leaves more of an impression. The trailhead leads down along this nice view, then goes into a loop that traverses farmland and two road crossings, then you're back by this view before heading back. 

My new coat held up well, considering it was a balmy 10 degrees (only balmy in comparison to the January 4th trilogy later in the list). The REI employee spent a good deal of time teaching me how to adjust a backpack accordingly, which is good practice for when I start thru-hiking. I was still learning the rhythm of trekking poles at the time. 

I'm glad this place exists, because the hike was close and convenient on that day.