Monday, October 31, 2022 LaSalle SRA: End of 2022 Hiking Season

LaSalle State Recreation Area, the last hike of 2022. There are a few of these State Recreation Areas (SRA’s) in Minnesota that don’t have all the services of a state park, but are still set aside as protected wilderness areas. Most of them don’t have Hiking Club hikes, but this one does, a 2.9 mile trail. LaSalle SRA was established in 2011, so it hasn’t been around long.

It was a cool, overcast morning when we set out. We brought our rain jackets just in case. This was another out-and-back trail, rather than a loop. The advantage to those is that when you turn around to go back, you’ve already seen everything and the pace can pick up. I always tell Kris that I won’t be taking any photos on the way back, and I’m always sincere when I say it, but inevitably, something catches my eye that didn’t catch it before.

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There’s a sub-section of the hike that’s enclosed, a Scientific and Natural Area where there’s an effort to cause re-growth of jack pines after a windstorm in 2012 took down most of them. Jack pines are an interesting tree in that the only thing that opens up their pinecones to release the seeds is intense heat, like a forest fire, which serves well to revive forest growth after a devastating fire. The plantings in the SNA are from pinecones which had been forced open by other means. Time will tell whether or not man’s way will be a successful as God’s way.

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We got up to the lookout point which was halfway. I need to prepare you for the shocking disclosure that there is NO bench up there to rest your weary bones. We had a nice view of the toddler Mississippi River (if you consider the baby river to be that which leaves from Lake Itasca). Photos were taken and then we left to go back.

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I gave the usual assurances that I wouldn’t be stopping to take pictures. At this point I went through some chickadee-filled shrubbery and they were so close that I just had to stop and it took me so long to get a semi-decent photo of one of these cheeky fellows that I had to “run” to catch up with Kris. And by “run,” of course I mean walking at a challengingly fast pace.

After we got back, we enjoyed a late breakfast at a nice outside picnic area. While we were there a park employee came and I was greatly amused to see him using a leaf blower to clear part of an area not far from us. As they say in the South, “Bless his heart!”

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Thus ended our 2022 Minnesota State Park hiking season. We have now hiked 54 of our state’s 68 parks and have walked 158.5 miles out of a total of 197. Next year, we hope to finish them up, Lord willing.

Knee Score: 4 out of 10; some up and down equivalent to 6 flights of stairs.

Thank you for “hiking” with us thus far. You are honorary Hiking Club members!

I’ll probably delete this unless I get distracted by a cheeky chickadee in the shrubbery.

Next hike: Schoolcraft State Park