Tales of a Shoebox Princess

Since the DNR of MN will be turning this park over to tribal agencies for management sometime in the future, I wanted to get in asap to get the Hiking Club password before the park is no longer on the list. Sept 23 was a good day to get out of the Twin Cities and go west. We planned originally to drive out to SD to drop off acorns for my brother's pigs and then head back to the park, but possible rain showers were forecasted for that afternoon, so Jim suggested that we go to the park first for our hike and then go out to SD. Fine by me. We left early in the morning--6:30 AM--so we could get back home at a reasonable hour.  We have visited this park before and knew where the Hiking Club password was. The Hiking Club booklet says the official Hiking Club trail was 4.3 miles long, but I remember previous maps saying it was over 6 miles. I think they changed it at some point, but the password sign was still in the same place. Park entry signage. I like the personalized signs that each ...

Sadly, vacations have to end and today is our last full day. I was up again for a hike. Even the little flowers are very pretty even the very TINY flowers are pretty the little creeks are pretty I got a little bit of vertigo, but the view is pretty Back at the lodge, this little one liked playing her version of pool.  creative activities Standing on the very tippiest of toes The lodge is a wonderful place and these kids loved it. the dining areas the kitchen stairs to one of the dorms water lily. It is almost alien in its construction Caroline could only get 7 marshmallows on her stick. more fire time  

 When we first committed to a Durango vacation, Jim mentioned the Durango to Silverton Narrow Gauge railroad as a possible activity. We reserved seats, and almost too late, but fortunately, they had 2 seats left in an enclosed car. The seats were both window seats on the left side. We drove down to Durango in the morning in order to get there early enough.  The train Our side of the train was single seats and we did sit together, just not right next to each other.  The view out the window of the train was amazing.  The engine blowing steam. The drive to Silverton was 3 1/2 hours long. I was not bored for a single second. The inside of the train car A shelf of dirty snow lots of little creeks fed into the river In Silverton we had 2 hours for lunch and exploration When we got back to the lodge, it was time for a little hummingbird interaction. A good day.

I started the day REALLY early, like before dawn when it was still mostly dark out. I got up early because Mike said he would drive me up to the trailhead to Potato Lake for my hike and I wanted to make sure he didn't leave without me. I was up for a bit, went outside and saw bats swooping in the not-quite-light-enough-to-see-very-much. I didn't get a picture, I just stood there and watched them circle around. I like bats. Finally Mike was up and we headed up Lime Creek Road. He and Lionel, his dog, went up to go fishing. I just wanted a morning hike. The trail Potato Hill     A swamp next to the trail The view is just amazing. I finally got up to Potato Lake where Mike was already fishing. I walked around for about 10 minutes and then headed back down the trail. Mike said he would pick me up wherever I was on the road back to the lodge. On the trail, I heard some crashing noise, and it was a MOOSE!!! I was a little afraid, I let the moose go where he wanted to go, and he left...