Biking - Camping Lake Louise State Park

 

This year's first biking-camping trip. Bud and I went further south (almost to Iowa) this spring to camp at Lake Louise State Park and cycle the Shooting Star State Trail.

Lake Louise is about 1 1/2 hours south past Rochester. We were the only tent campers in the park! The tent camping is split into two sections that are right next to each other. One is closer to the Upper Iowa River. Both are open but surrounded by large trees. There is a pit toilet near the tent area. There are nice showers and bathroom facilities just down the gravel road at the RV site.

We arrived in bright sunshine and warm weather. After quickly getting set up, we jumped on our bikes to explore the closest town, LeRoy. The bike bridge to LeRoy is being repaired and the detour is not marked but an easy ride over the road bridge. Not much to see in LeRoy. There is a hotel with a restaurant. There is a bowling alley down the street.

Back at camp we thought we would eat out on our first night. Having seen what LeRoy offered we drove in the other direction toward Austin, Minnesota. There are 3 towns - Taoli, Adams, and Rose Creek. There were no places to eat at any of these towns! Taoli has no restaurants. Adams has one that is only open for breakfast and lunch. The one restaurant in Rose Creek is not open on Mondays. 

So back at camp, Bud fixed us a dinner of chicken and rice. It was very good.

Tuesday, we biked the Shooting Star Trail on an out and back to Adams - 24 miles total round trip. We had lunch at Bubbles Cafe in Adams. It got busy with a good lunch crowd (makes sense since it was the only place to eat for miles!)

The trail follows the Upper Iowa River for the most part. It isn't a big river and more like a creek. We passed near newly planted fields of corn and soybean and a couple of pig farms. We also passed through a huge solar farm under construction. There are lots of wind turbines down here, too.

The Shooting Star Trail is very, very flat. Yay!

Back at camp we showered and put away most of the gear as storms were forecast. We headed to LeRoy and the Sweets Hotel for dinner. The hotel has a large restaurant, and the food was very good. It is an historic looking hotel with lots of wood and an old-world feel.

We got back to camp just before the rain started. And rain it did indeed. There was a long enough break in the weather for me to go to the restrooms to brush my teeth. On the way back I got to experience an incredible firefly show.

The rain turned into a big-time storm with lots of lightening, thunder, and rain. The field we were camped on turned into a pool of water but luckily or due to our preparations, we only got a little water in the tent. Wednesday when we checked the weather app, we saw that over 1 inch of rain had fallen!

Wednesday morning, we dried everything out, packed up, and headed home with a stop in Rochester to ride the Douglas State Trail. Either I was a bit worn out from Tuesday's ride or the trail was steeper, but I pooped out about 7.5 miles, so we turned around and rode back to our start. It was also very windy.

This was another really good trip and many thanks to Bud for all the food and preparations. We highly recommend the Shooting Star State Trail as it is very flat. We saw a variety of animals and flowering plants.

When you watch the video, the first audio you hear is of the songbirds that were all around. I recorded that from inside our tent on Tuesday morning.

Video link here.

Fall Biking - Camping Trip

 I forgot to write my usual story to accompany photos and the video. So here is a hopefully a short story of last week's biking-camping trip.

First a clarification...we did not bike with our camping gear. We drove to the bike trails and drove to the camp sites. Two guys in their sixties do not need to be overdoing anything :-)

We (my friend Bud and I) first went to Albany, Minnesota. It is just off I-94 between St. Cloud and Sauk Centre. Albany is along the Lake Wobegon Trail which has a side route that connects to the Soo Line Trail. The Soo Line Trail goes through Holdingford and Bowlus to the Blanchard Dam on the Mississippi River.

These are rails-to-trails -- old railroad rights of way converted to cycling, walking, and snowmobile use. Because they are old railways, they are super flat and nearly completely straight. While the countryside might go up and down a bit, the trails just glide right through. Perfect for biking. We also learned what State Rail Bank Property is (there are signs all along the trails)

We saw lots of different farms and fields but the rail rights of way also provide for trees to grow along the trails. I was surprised there weren't more flowers (asters, black-eyed susans, etc.) along the way but they mow along the trails and the farm fields don't have much of a buffer.

We stopped in Bowlus at Jordie's Trailside Cafe and ate the biggest sandwiches I've ever had. Our destination and turn around spot was the Blanchard Dam on the Mississippi River. It is much bigger than I thought. It produces hydroelectric power.

On the return trip, we stopped at BoHo Cafe in Holdingford for a beer and pretzel bites . It is only a year old and has a winery feel to it. Holdingford has a charming covered bridge over the trail. It is not as old as one thinks.

The first day ride was 40 miles! -- 20 out and 20 back. We were very sore but made it to our camping destination - Sauk Centre. We set up our tent at a campsite right in town next to a small lake. We were the only tent and were surrounded by giant RV campers. It was kind of comical.

We ate at the local Mexican place in Sauk Centre. The food was very good. Back at camp, we were the only ones with a campfire which felt good on a cool night. We could see stars but there were street lights and lots of car noise. Even so, I slept really well after a day of cycling.

Thursday morning we had coffee and breakfast at camp. I made scrambled eggs with my new camp stove. We drove to Brandon which was further north on I-94. Our destination was Chippewa Park in Douglas County. There was only one other camper set up when we arrived. This time we had a spot where only tents were allowed. It was very spacious. We went ahead and setup the tent before going on our bike ride.

Thursday's bike ride was on the Central Lakes Trail - another rails-to-trails path. We started in Brandon and headed north 15 miles to Ashby. Again it was very level and very straight.

Lots of lakes and ponds along this trail. In Ashby we found City Restaurant. We got there just 20 minutes before the end of lunch. Grilled cheese and chili were perfect. And best of all, homemade blueberry pie!

We got back to the campsite and were the only ones there. It was a bit creepy to be honest...out in the middle with no one around. There was no place to eat in Brandon. We had passed through Evansville on our bikes which was a bigger town. We ate at the Backroad's Bar and Steak House. I had a steak salad with a really nice balsamic vinaigrette. We were entertained by the stories being told a the table across from us.

Lantern holder?

By the time we got back the campsite, an RV camper had setup with a large family and a huge tent was setup 2 sites down from us. There was plenty of room and honestly it felt good having other people around.

I was hoping for clear sky for star viewing but clouds kept coming and going. The clouds ended up coming for good because it rained over night early in the morning. It stopped raining by the time we got up. We made coffee in camp and decided to close up camp, have breakfast somewhere, and head back to the Twin Cities. I had planned on making eggs goldenrod but it seemed a bit complicated and making toast was going to be a problem.

We had breakfast at the State Street Cafe in Garfield. We highly recommend the fritter French toast.

We took a scenic route back to Minneapolis and successfully avoided the interstate. It was nice driving through the towns and seeing more of the country side.

The video of the trip can be viewed by clicking here.

Root River State Trail

The Root River State Trail in southeastern Minnesota has been on my list for quite some time. My friend Bud and I got to ride (bike) the trail this past Friday and Saturday.

An easy drive from the Twin Cities down along the Mississippi River is a Fall adventure in itself. We stopped at Hanisch Bakery in Red Wing for breakfast and donuts for the road.

We arrived at the eastern end of the Root River Trail in Houston. The trail is a paved bike and walking path that is about 40 miles total from Houston to Fountain. It is primarily a rails-to-trails route and is very well maintained. The path crossed the Root River several times and has views of farms, crops and the driftless geology.

Friday was a bit drizzly and overcast but that didn't dampen (HA!) the ride too much. We were pretty much the only ones out on the trail. We road from Houston to Rushford and ate lunch in Rushford before returning to the vehicle.

From Houston to Lanesboro we drove along the same route we just biked. Are accommodations, The Guest Hus, were spot on. There was bike storage and an easy walk to the main downtown.

There was to be a bike event on Saturday so Lanesboro was busy. We ate pizza at a local bar because there wasn't any room anywhere else. We got to mix with some locals including a very friendly dog.

Saturday was sunny but not hot. The ride from Lanesboro to Peterson is very easy. There were many more other cyclers on this section. It is more popular and the weather was fantastic.

We passed a giant eagle's nest on the way out and on the way back two adult eagles were perched right near it. I can never get enough eagle sightings.

It was a great trip. Easy to do over a couple of days. We did end up with almost 60 miles of cycling but split over the two days made it enjoyable.

Click here is a short video of the two days.

Weekend athletics

I am going to count helping Kathy recycle her TV as an athletic activity. The thing weighed a ton. We pushed it down both her indoor steps and outdoor concrete steps. Then rolled it to her SUV. Thank goodness she has a hatch back so we could just slide it in.

From Kathy's place in Apple Valley, I rode my bike home. Total mileage was 26 miles. All but about a mile was on dedicated bike/pedestrian trails.

We are so fortunate in Minnesota to have a great trail system.

Crossed the Mendota Bridge for the first time. From the bridge you can see Minneapolis to the west and Saint Paul to the north.

On Sunday joined the Minnesota Martial Arts Academy fighters for hill sprints in Theodore Wirth Park. There were only four of us so it went quickly without much rest between hill runs. Ugh.