Birthday on the Trail

I was fortunate enough to take my pup out to Frontenac State Park to hike the beautiful bluff trails over looking Lake Pepin. 

I started the day by dropping off Jessica at work then heading home to pack up and grab Cedar. We took more camera gear than we needed but it's good to be prepared! I really wanted to "vlog" about the day and share my experience from my point of view so it was completely necessary to bring them all.

We made sure to take some snacks for lunch and plenty of water. I made sure to bring Cedar's favorite treats as well! 

I strapped on my hiking boots, loaded up the mutt, threw the pack in the car and took off. Drove the 1.5 hours down to just South of Red Wing. We arrived to a closed ranger office where we paid for parking in the park and found a map to plan our route. 

We decided to take the easier route through the lower plains area since we arrived so close to lunch time. The path was a wide mowed area through fields of tall grasses. As we were walking down the trail there were dozens of yellow butterflies swirling all over the place!

After we returned to the truck we took a little break, eating and drinking. The lower loop trail was about 3 miles and I wasn't quite sure how far the next section of trails would be so took off my hoodie but packed it with just in case. 

The next trail was the Hill trail. It was slippery! My boots were caked in mud by the time we finished. It was quite the interesting hike. The path climbed a ton and there were places where you could see where a couple people had slipped quite a few times coming down. That made me appreciate that I was going up and thankfully I didn't fall.

Finally we made it to the bluff trails. It was a sight to see! The bluff dropped off so drastically that it appeared the water was up at eye level, but it was actually way off into the distance! I suited up in the GoPro harness to get some trail footage. As we descended the bluff we stopped at the In-Yan-Teopa formation. It's really a stand out landmark in the area. Nothing else around even approached it's geological composition! 

The downward trail was littered with wet leaves, tangled roots, and moss covered stones. Many of the "steps" were wooden and very tightly stacked. Thankfully they were not very slippery. When wood is wet, it is super dangerous to tread on. I always say, "never trust a root" for this reason! We made it down safely and headed along the lower bluff trail, continuing all the way to the end! The first turn off the path had been closed so we had no choice but to complete the trail. 

The hike up the other side was terrible! The stairs were extensive, almost never ending. At least on the way down the trail takes a switch back approach. The views were well worth it though, as you can see! Spectacular viewing areas were found on top of the bluff on the East side of the park. Cedar and I took another break to drink and catch our (my) breath. 

We sauntered on back to the park office, following the hiking club trail. It was partially paved until it dropped us back down in elevation, turning to gravel. As we were heading down another switch back, a doe got startled and started to crash through the forest. As I looked back to where she came from I spotted a 6 point buck! He was staring right at us. Cedar noticed the doe and was concentrating on smelling the air for her and growling. Thankfully she must not have picked up on the buck and we were able to move on without any issue.

Finally back at the car I stopped into the ranger's office and told him of our day, the deer encounter and the slippery hill trail, then bought a Gatorade, a shirt, and thanked him for his service at the park. 

All told, we put on 8 miles! It was a picturesque birthday for sure. Cedar was an angel on her harness/lead. The weather was perfect. The trail was restorative. 31 might not be too bad ;)