Banning State Park: Hell’s Gate and Dragon’s Tooth

We planned an ambitious weekend: 3 hikes in two days: Banning State Park, Gooseberry Falls State Park and Tettegouche State Park. (Those of you who are clever will have deduced that there will be two more blog posts coming.) We’re really getting the hang of this thing! Banning State Park is the site of a former sandstone quarry, and part of the Hiking Club hike follows an abandoned railroad track from the Short Line of the St. Paul-Duluth Railroad that used to carry sandstone to the Twin Cities. (William Banning was president of that railroad company, so now you know important things.) We picked up a self-guided trail pamphlet at the park office and began the 2.6 mile hike which would also take us right by the Kettle River.

The trails were named Trillium Alley, Cartway Trail and Quarry Loop. On the day we were there, they would have been more aptly named Falling Red Leaf Alley:

Muddy Rut Trail:

and the Pine Needle Carpet Loop:

The act of naming is a dominion task and I wanted to take what little dominion I could.

There were numbered posts along the way, each one corresponding to a section of the pamphlet we picked up, so we dutifully stopped at each one and read the information.

In between these educational moments, we chatted about how quite a few of our friends or rellys have indicated an interest in joining us on a hike. This got us wondering if we could use the hikes as a springboard for an interesting talk show, much like Jerry Seinfeld’s “Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee.” We could call it “Hikers in Boots Getting Tired.” It has potential, don’t you think?

We came to a sign that directed us to Hell’s Gate Rapids – it would take us off the official hiking club trail but seemed well worth it, considering we’d finally be right down by the river. Plus, the name “Hell’s Gate Rapids” arouses a certain amount of curiosity. The pamphlet told us that it was named by loggers who “struggled with many log jams in the narrow passageway.” It’s also supposed to be one of the state’s most challenging and dangerous river experiences for kayaks and canoes. We stopped along the way to sit on a rock by the riverside and partake of a trail bar (an important tip we picked up from Dave and Julie last time).

The hike to Hell’s Gate Rapids was definitely more rugged and challenging and when we finally got there, it didn’t seem like the rapids in front of us could possible be considered a hell’s gate. We either didn’t go far enough, or it’s a lot more hellish at other times of the year. Both might be true, actually.

Back to the regular trail and more sandstone production and transportation trivia. It was rather fascinating to think of the bustle of activity at this site back in its heyday. One of the last places we passed was the old power house in which was the generator that powered the jack hammers. Kris thought Power House would be a good name for a church. I can almost hear Captain Jean-Luc Picard saying to someone “Make it so!”

At the end of the trail we had to climb up some steep stairs to get back to the parking lot and there ran into another hiker who was also looking for the parking lot, unsuccessfully. We stood around looking at the map, trying to guess which way to go, but then a young couple ambled by and pointed us in the right direction. We were up on a ridge by this time and heard and saw the roaring and roiling of Dragon’s Tooth Rapids below. If Hell’s Gate was worse than that, I had a new respect for it. And by the way, the rapids naming people really stepped up to the plate here at Banning, didn’t they?

Lest you think all we saw was the river and the old sandstone works, I want to note officially that there were lots and lots of trees as well (red and white pines and aspen). And boulders. And some plants and mushrooms. You get the idea.

I need to make an announcement that will surely cause wails of sorrow and denial from my loyal readers: I’m giving up on the Flora and Fauna collage. No amount of begging will change my mind (although I would be delighted if there was some). The only fauna photo I snagged at Banning was this one:

Those of you with small screens are probably wondering what this photo has to do with fauna, but if you look very carefully, you’ll see a small silhouette of a bird alighting on a branch. A bit of a step down after that deer photo at Whitewater. I’m admitting defeat and moving on.

We’ve now done 14.2 cumulative miles toward our first 25-mile patch!

I’ll probably delete this in the morning.

P.S. Thanks again to my B-I-L Rich for doing the traditional “Us By the Park Sign” photo editing. Too bad for him I’m not giving up on that one. 😉

Next Hike: Gooseberry Falls State Park