Minnesota

29^th June – Into Minnesota

We drove north into Minnesota known as the State of 10,000 lakes.  We stayed at Rice Lake State Park for our first night and apart from one tent and the camp host, we had the place to ourselves – and millions of mozzies!  In your hair, through your T-shirt, in your ears and up your nose – there was no stopping them.  Welcome to Minnesota we are told. 

We also learned about the Wild Parsnip which can create a reaction when the leaves come in contact with sweaty skin making the skin hyper-sensitive to sun, resulting in blistering.  So we decided not to stay here and moved on the next day..

30^th June – Through Minneapolis

We carried on heading north on the I-35W through the city of Minneapolis.  This is one half of the twin-cities – the other being St Paul, the state capitol, on the other side of the Mississippi River. There has been a lot of rain recently and we could see where parts of the Mississippi had flooded in the city.

We stopped at St Croix State Park – the biggest in Minnesota with over 200 camp sites.  Again in our campground loop there were only two other campers.  Is there something we should know?

We are right on the state line with Wisconsin here.  Paul did some fishing on the St Croix River, which joins the Mississippi just south of Minneapolis.  Alison went for a jog along the river side and not only had to contend with the mozzies but discovered the place was crawling with ticks!

1^st July – St Croix State Park

We went for a hike in the morning.  It was over-cast, but warm and humid, and there was enough breeze to keep the mozzies down; but the ticks ……….!

The place was infested with them.  They waited poised on the top of grass stalks between ankle and knee height.  Fortunately they were large enough to spot and showed up very well on pale trousers.  We must have disposed of at least a hundred during our 3 hour walk.

During our hike we came across the remains of the Camp used by the CCC when they were working here in the 1930s. The only remaining visible sign of the camp was the chimney stack.

2^nd – 6^th July – Bear Head Lake State Park

We headed even further north and eventually escaped from the ‘piranha- mozzies’ – or at least the insect repellent worked better here.  This campground was next to a good-sized lake and was about 20 miles outside the town of Ely.  This is a lovely spot in the summer and also a winter-sports resort with dog-sledging, snow-mobiling and ice-fishing (perhaps a return visit in 6-months?).

We visited Ely a couple of times including their 4^th July Parade.  We might have considered their firework display but a thunderstorm came in that evening.






Just outside the town was the International Wolf Centre.  We were fortunate that two of the wolves were quiet active during our visit.

A visit to the Soudan Iron Ore Mine, on Sunday, was very interesting.   The journey ½ mile below ground in the old mine cage, travelling at 10mph, was great fun.  We also visited the engine room, still operating as it had for years, bringing the cages up and down.

This was Minnesota’s first Iron Ore mine in 1882 and produced high quality ore until 1962 when open-cast mining elsewhere was cheaper and easier.  Some of the tunnels have now been converted into Science Laboratories where they conduct particle physics experiments searching for Dark Matter and play around with neutrinos etc.

The rest of the time was spent out on the lake kayaking and fishing.  We saw Loons with chicks, large snapping Turtles, Beaver and Deer and were told a black Bear had been spotted by the lake edge, but we ever saw it.  Paul went fishing early one morning and was greeted with a dawn chorus by 100 bullfrogs.