Tuesday, September 13, 2022 Big Stone Lake State Park: Frogs, Snakes, Pelicans, Sunsets…and more!

After our hike at Lac Qui Parle State Park, we made our way over to Big Stone Lake (BSL) State Park where we camped overnight. I’m going to subject you to some of the photos I took at the campsite because…well, no good reason I guess. I got a little carried away with sunset and fire photos, as well as finally getting a photo of a pelican flying overhead, which was harder than it may seem.

The hike at BSL was 2.2 miles and we wanted to get an early start. We decided to pack everything up first, so our “early” start was actually 9:55 a.m. But it was a beautiful day, NACITS! I have just unveiled for you a brand new acronym, pronounced “nackitz.” It stands for “Not A Cloud In The Sky.” Look how many syllables you can save by saying NACITS instead. A case could be made for the fact the the acronym takes away the beauty of the phrase. Actually, that’s a really good point. I withdraw my acronym. Let us proceed.

The entrance to the Hiking Club hike is about 7 miles from the official park entrance, which is kind of different. It’s in an area called the BSL Bonanza Unit. Ha ha – can’t hear that word “Bonanza” without remembering the TV show by the same name. Remember Hoss and Little Joe?

As we walked along the trail, we realized fairly soon that we were back in the world of frogs. Kris was walking ahead of me and therefore was the first to see them. He’d stop and take a photo and by the time I got there, the little buggers were gone. I had an unflattering moment of frog-photo-envy, but I needn’t have worried. We came to a beach and there was an abundance of frogs for everyone. I used to worry about exaggerating the number of them, but now, throwing caution completely to the wind, I will say that there were “hundreds of frogs, thousands of frogs, millions and billions and trillions of frogs!” Hey, if Wanda Gag can get away with saying that about cats in her book, then I think artistic license allows me the same privilege.

I saw a lone frog sitting on a stone looking meditatively out on the lake and felt a small (very small) measure of kinship with him. I imagine it’s hard to get any froggy privacy in a place like that. I ruined his moment by creeping up to get a photo. Worth it!

At 10:15 the cicadas started in. I’m beginning to see a definite pattern with these little buzzsaw insects. They’re definitely not early risers, which is okay by me. If they started in at 5:00 a.m., it would be like having your neighbor out there mowing the lawn at that time. Also, it was humid. Very humid. Just setting the scene for you.

Kris spotted a snake, crept around and got a splendid photo of its slithery head. Bravo!

You will have to put up with a little poetry right now, but for a change in pace, it won’t be mine. Emily Dickinson wrote a perfectly marvelous poem about a snake, a portion of which I will share with you.

A narrow Fellow in the Grass
Occasionally rides –
You may have met Him – did you not
His notice sudden is –

The Grass divides as with a Comb –
a spotted shaft is seen –
and then it closes at your feet
and opens further on –

Several of Nature’s People
I know, and they know me –
I feel for them a transport
of cordiality –

But never met this Fellow
attended, or alone
Without a tighter breathing
and Zero at the Bone –
Emily Dickinson

I’ll tell you – that says it ALL when it comes to me and snakes. “Zero at the bone” – *shiver*. I saw one in our front yard one time – it appeared right by my feet. It was a harmless garter snake, but I jumped a foot and screamed like a girl.

Big Stone Lake is a very long lake and we were never far from the lake as we walked. It’s a popular fishing lake as well – we saw flotillas of fisher folk out in their boats on the lake.

It took us a little over an hour to do the hike. Although the nice park lady had said it was a very flat route, there was definitely some up and down. My phone says we did the equivalent of 8 flights of stairs.

Knee Score: 3 out of 10 (with knee huggers on)

I almost forgot to mention that there was a very big hatch of midges at the campground. I couldn’t resist getting a photo of their teeming masses outside the restroom facility. It was gross. And how many do you suppose there were? Say it with me: “hundreds of midges, thousands of midges, millions and billions and trillions of midges!” Now wasn’t that fun?

And now, for the moment you’ve all been waiting for: I’ll probably delete this..yawn…you know the rest.

Next hike: Glacial Lakes State Park