15 March 2024
I was planning on taking the rest of the week off, but I’m not good at not doing things, so I drove up to a local state park and did a bit of exploring 🙂
Trails Hiked: “Blue Loop” and “Green Loop”
Distance: ~7 miles
Trails here are both well and terribly marked. Each intersection was marked by a pole with a colored placard, except the official map on their website and at the ranger station listed trails by name, not by color…
Fortunately, I happened to spot this map in one of the parking lots that had the trails highlighted and color-coded!
…minus that purple loop… I spotted its placards several times but I’m not really sure what route it takes or where it goes.
Also not shown on the map: parking. I’m pretty sure I ended up parking in horse trailer parking? But it was right at the trail head and I had seen a couple other cars go into the park and come right back out, so I wasn’t sure if roads were closed further in? I dunno, parks up here aren’t fully “open” yet- no one else joined me in my parking lot and I wasn’t ticketed or towed, so it was probably ok?
Anyway…
Today’s hike is fueled by this cappuccino chunk muffin from Whirlybird Coffee Co (which I totally got lost trying to find- it ended up being right next to St. Joe’s Hospital, where I had one of clinical rotations, and was late to almost every time until I finally just caught a ride with one of my fellow students. I couldn’t for the life of me find that place and apparently nothing has changed. I’m so bad at navigating Chippewa Falls!):
It was a whopping 41°F / 5°C when I started this hike, and even though I know I’ll warm up quickly, I was very thankful for my winter jacket!
Paths here are nice and wide and flat:
A robin! It’s officially spring!
And a cardinal!
And another robin!
This guy was eating those red berries you can kinda see behind him.
The first part of my hike followed along the lake and there were several benches set up overlooking the water:
The lake was so still today!
Occasionally, a path would lead right down to the shore:
A family of loons:
Look at those views!
It fits!
Path down to the lake:
This staircase kinda just ends at the lake:
BUT IT’S SO STILL AND BEAUTIFUL!!!
The “green loop” aka, Staghorn trail:
Another wide, open path:
This part of the woods had so many huge, old trees, but this one tipped over:
Becca for scale: this picture is courtesy of my bandana, which I used to tie my phone around a tree
Also, I rigged up this sling to hold my camera:
More signs of spring!
Back on the “blue loop”:
This part followed a prairie that probably looks nice when flowers are growing, but right now serves as a dumping ground for trimmed and fallen tree branches:
This little guy was chittering away at me:
Pretty moth in the dirty mud:
And finally, a disappointingly tiny post-hike granola bar:
I wasn’t planning on hiking any more this week so I had pulled all the snacks out of my bag and was left with this little granola bar nibbler I found in my purse. Note to self: leave snacks in the backpack.
All in all, a nice long, leisurely walk.