Woah. It has been a crazy journey hiking through Minnesota. One that has left me with a much deeper appreciation for this beautiful state, and which has given me a lot to be grateful for over the last two and a half years. Hiking around the state gave me a much-needed break during stressful seasons of my life, and was often where I found my peace during the craziness of it all.
It was oddly emotional visiting my last two parks, and part of me didn’t want to do it at all. Of course, I wanted to check it off my list, but it felt a little too final for my liking. I know I can visit any of my favorite parks at any time, but visiting the last two parks signaled an end to this particular journey or quest in my life, and that was a little bittersweet for me.
After reflecting on my favorite parks, I was ready to hit the last two. I initially planned on visiting them the Friday after Thanksgiving, but found out that Minnesota was supposed to get hit with some snow during the latter half of the week, so I spontaneously took Tuesday off and drove south so I could visit them before the blizzard.
My first stop was Myre Big Island State Park. The second I stepped out of my vehicle, I looked up and saw an adolescent eagle circling the air, which was pretty cool. I’d been seeing an eagle almost every day for about three months, so I was pretty stoked to continue seeing them.
You can see him in the lower left corner. He was just kind of gliding through the air, looking for something to eat. I watched him for awhile before heading down the trail toward an esker that led to the “island.”
As I was walking, a huge adult eagle flew right past me, toward the lake, which was sweet. I always get a little giddy when I see an eagle that close, so I shouted, “HI BUDDY!” and then immediately hoped that there wasn’t anyone else on the island or along the trail who heard me.
While I wouldn’t exactly consider it to be an island, as there was a pretty decent sized trail leading to it, the area and lake was beautiful.
There was one eagle flying around this lake, an adolescent eagle still flying above me, and then I turned to my right, and saw a third eagle flying above the other side of the lake.
He or she is pretty far out in this photo, but you can see it as a linear speck in the center of the photo.
I walked around the little island, and checked out the dock for an even more beautiful view of the water.
It seemed like a really nice park, and I was totally sold on the eagles. I was racing the weather to beat a whiteout snowstorm on the radar, so having spent a solid hour at the park, I decided to head to Whitewater.
However, on my way out, I ran into two more buddies!
They were just hanging out in a tree along the road exiting the park, so I pulled over to look at them and snap a few photos. After a little while, one of them took off across the lake, circle around something before disappearing.
Feeling satisfied with my eagle adventures, I drove to Whitewater, which was about an hour away.
I excitedly walked into the park office when I arrived, pumped to get my very last stamp in my passport. They had a self-service passport station just outside the office, as all parks do, so I stamped my own passport before going in. The park rangers will stamp your passport for you if you want, but I wanted to do my last stamp myself.
I purchased a shirt from Whitewater, so I could have a little souvenir, and told the ranger that Whitewater was my very last park! She was super excited for me, and gave me a pass for a free night of camping, and had me fill out a form to get my very own plaque in honor of having visited all 75 parks. That’s right, there’s a plaque involved.
I had looked at the map and highlights of the park, and decided that I wanted to go up to Chimney Rock, as well as hike along a trail that I had seen while driving into the park. Whitewater is a huge park, and I’d definitely love to camp there someday so I can explore more of its trails.
For this trip, I started with Chimney Rock.
The trail began with a cool bridge and sick set of stairs, so I knew it was going to be a great adventure already.
I’m easy to please.
Whitewater opened in 1919, and you can tell – in a good way. I’m biased toward the 20s, so I enjoyed the 20s details at the park, like its main sign, the stairs throughout the park, and this little brick bridge.
I love a good bridge, so I hung out here for a minute and checked out the views of the river.
I’m also pretty biased toward any area remotely near Winona, where I went to college. I loved the landscape in Winona, and to this day the area has a special place in my heart. Whitewater reminded me of it a lot, as it should, since it was only about thirty minutes away from Winona.
Here’s a sweet shot of my fully-stamped passport at Whitewater.
75, folks. 75. Man, it’s been a fun two and a half years!
After a few minutes, I was on my way again!
I started my hike with my winter coat on, anticipating that it would be cold, as it was freezing at Myre Big Island. However, Whitewater was still quite warm and I was able to make it through without my jacket for the rest of my hike.
After the bridge was a sweet set of stairs that led all the way to the top of the bluffs.
There were quite a few of them.
The trail at the top was pretty thin – it reminded me of the eskers that I’d hiked along at the last few parks I’ve visited, minus the water.
Since I was alone on this hike, I propped my camera up on some rocks and my mittens in an attempt to snap a few photos for the blog and gram, and I would like the record to show while I truly thought the below image would capture my whole body, when it in fact, did not. I do like the interesting new perspective it has, though!
So I’m still using it.
I wised up and propped my camera on the bench along the trail, and still didn’t get exactly what I was hoping for, but I was afraid that someone would come along me having a small photoshoot in the woods by myself, so I kept on moving toward Chimney Rock.
I wanted to climb to the top of it.
There was a small cave inside of the rock formation, with two tiny entrances.
I very much wanted to venture inside.
I could see that the cave had two little windows that would overlook the side of the bluff, and presumably all the way to the bottom of the trail where I’d initially begun hiking from. I love heights, so I really wanted to peak over the side of the bluffs from a cave within a giant rock formation at the top of the park.
I also knew that there are lots of timber rattlesnakes in southern Minnesota, and definitely at this park. And this 1,000% is the exact kind of place they would crawl into.
Howeverrrrrrr, I also know that rattlesnakes, like most rational creatures, do not enjoy the cold and move a lot slower the colder it gets. I assumed that most of the rattlesnakes at the park were already hibernating, or getting to that point. Either way, they wouldn’t be moving too quickly. I touched the inside of the cave, and felt how cold the rock was, and guessed that the rattlesnakes would have probably chosen a warmer place to hibernate, especially with the window-like holes along the side of the cave, which let in a lot of coldness and wind.
I learned later that they definitely still hibernate in limestone bluffs, such as the cave I went into. I was very cautious as I entered the cave, and examined every crack and crevice to make sure it was empty before crawling inside.
This spot in particular made me hesitate, as it was near the head of the cave, and was covered in spiderwebs (which almost made me turn around altogether, except it was so cold I figured spiders would also not want to be in the cave), but also because it looked like a rattlesnake’s HGTV Dream Home and some of the mysterious bits in the crevice looked a little like snakeskin that had been shed.
But there was no snake there, and no snake in the rest of the cave! So I crawled on in to check out the view. I managed to neglect taking a photo of the view, as I was pretty pumped about exploring the tiny cave, and instead stared over the edge and took a short video of the drop from where I was to the bottom of the trail and the river I’d crossed.
I did manage to take this blurry selfie as I was trying to (and obviously did not succeed in doing so) adjust the focus on my camera; but I like this photo, even though it’s annoyingly blurry, because you can see exactly how jazzed I am to be out exploring.
I was a little nervous to enter the cave, because of the whole rattlesnake thing, but once I got in it, I felt wayyy safer there and didn’t really want to leave. So I just kind of hung out for a few minutes, feeling snug as a bug in a rug.
By the time I left, I was covered in dirt.
That’s how you know it was a good hike.
I continued onward and upward to a landing a little higher than Chimney Rock, which had stunning views of the bluffs.
To get there, you had to crawl up these rocks that reminded me of Lord of the Rings for some reason.
One bluff to rule them all.
At the top, the landing had a nice slab of rock that you could sit on and enjoy the panoramic views.
It was really beautiful.
I also got another glimpse at Chimney Rock from the landing.
That black hole in the side is the “window” I crawled to so I could look over the edge of the cave.
I hung out at the landing for awhile, looking at the view and searching for eagles, and eventually made my way down to the start of the trail again.
There was a bridge I’d passed while driving the the park office that I wanted to check out, so I headed that way and started down the short trail.
The path took me through some very tall grasses, and I could tell by the hoof prints in the mud and the gentle indents in the grasses that this was a place that deer frequented, and probably slept in.
It wasn’t a far walk to the bridge.
I just liked the look of it, burgundy against the gold and orange of the grass. It had a nice view of a bluff directly behind it.
It also had a pretty nice view of the river.
There were people in the parking lot near the trailhead that were unpacking fishing gear, so it must have been a pretty decent place to fish, too.
I’d spent quite a lot of time at Whitewater, and was getting pretty tired and hungry, and with the blizzard on the horizon, I decided that it was time to say goodbye (for now) to Whitewater State Park, and to hit the road.
And that was it! My 75th and final State Park. It was exciting to finally make it. Adding this to my list, and starting my 25 Things List in the first place has been challenging and stressful at times, but the best decision I’ve made in my life to date.
But, hey, stay tuned. There’s still more adventure ahead.
Want to read more about my 25 Things list? Click here for more adventures.
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