-Anne M.
Day Hiking Ambassador
January was a hit or miss month for snowfall in Minnesota. Warm ups followed by bitter wind chills made snowshoeing a challenge. During one particularly snowy weekend, my friends and I heard a rumor about ungroomed snowshoe trails at a state park about an hour northeast of the Twin Cities. We had to see if it was true. Ungroomed trails are a snowshoer’s dream – no sharing of the trails with cross-country skiers or other hikers and the chance to trail blaze wherever we wanted. Kirsten, Kristy, and I headed out in the brilliant sunshine and low-20 degree temps with my dog Lucy in tow. This was shaping up to be a perfect day after the bitter cold we’d been experiencing.
William O’Brien State Park, named after a lumber baron during the mid-1800s who harvested the area’s large white pine forests, is located along the St. Croix River amidst rolling meadows and upland hardwood forests. A quick check with a park ranger confirmed the rumor and sent us in the direction of a little known section at the southern end of the park. It seems we weren’t the only ones who had heard about these ungroomed trails. Several snowshoers greeted us as we entered the park at the top of a beautiful meadow. We discovered that our fellow snowshoers loved dogs, which was great because Lucy has to greet everyone she sees.
While Lucy ran about in happy circles, the rest of us soaked up the sunshine and warm temps while trailblazing our own path through the open meadow. There’s just something about being able to forge your own trail with no particular route in mind. We wandered through the rolling hills among dried fall wildflowers and small shrubs. High up on the ridges above the St. Croix River and Wisconsin, we entered the hardwood forest. With the recent snow, the forest was glittering white and looked virtually untouched, save for the typical squirrel, rabbit, and deer tracks. Little nuthatches and chickadees chirped and chattered above as we climbed over fallen trees and snowshoed along the small ridges back to the meadow where we started.
Fresh air and sunshine while snowshoeing provided an instant pick-me-up during the otherwise extreme weather of January. I hope we get out soon in search of more fresh snow and ungroomed trails.