First solo at Afton State Park’s best-kept secret!

TRIP DETAILS  LENGTH N/A DIFFICULTY Easy with some elevation DATE  October 20, 2017 MAIN FEATURES  St Croix River, Fall Foliage, Remote camping On Friday, after a week of the “me too” movement, reading discouraging public responses to the Boy Scout announcement allowing girls in the program, this Outside Magazine article about women alone in the woods, and years of ‘helpful' … Continue reading First solo at Afton State Park’s best-kept secret!

Myre Big Island State Park and Hennesey Hammock Gear Review

TRIP DETAILS  LENGTH 8 miles (6.2 mile Hiking Club) DIFFICULTY Easy wide trails. DATE  Sept 10, 2017 MAIN FEATURES  Wildflowers, Pelicans, 16 miles of trail and sleeping on an island. This summer started out full of hiking in preparation for our trip to Glacier National Park and ended with weeks of biking, camping, kayaking and paddle boarding.  It's been … Continue reading Myre Big Island State Park and Hennesey Hammock Gear Review

Hiking Minneopa and Flandrau State Parks

TRIP DETAILS  LENGTH 10 miles (3 hikes in two parks) DIFFICULTY Easy wide trails. DATE  June 10, 2017 MAIN FEATURES  Bison, Minneopa Waterfall, Prairie views Today's post is a DOUBLE FEATURE and marks hike #25 of my 52 hike challenge, almost half-way there!  I wasn't able to join the scouts camping this weekend, so I met them down at … Continue reading Hiking Minneopa and Flandrau State Parks

Isle Royale Part 2: Training Hikes

As promised, here is the follow up post to Part 1 with a few helpful tips on how we prepared physically for our trip! Our training locations were based the following: Sturdy trail, able to withstand a large group hiking on it Nearby for easy access Accessible to all levels since we would be focusing on distance and … Continue reading Isle Royale Part 2: Training Hikes

Backpacking in Isle Royale National Park: Part 1

I’m pretty stoked to finally get to share about our backpacking trip last year to Isle Royale National Park! There a ton of resources out there to help you plan your trip, but my perspective is of a thrifty Scout Leader that went with a large group of youth backpacking for a week. The trip went … Continue reading Backpacking in Isle Royale National Park: Part 1

Hiking Crow Wing State Park

TRIP DETAILS  LENGTH 2.3 miles DIFFICULTY Easy DATE  May 27, 2016 MAIN FEATURES  Historic frontier town, Mississippi River, St. Francis Xavier Chapel Part 2 of our two for one Hiking Club Trail adventure took us from Charles A. Lindbergh State Park to Crow Wing State Park!  Hiking Club Trail #21 & 22...only 46 trails to go! Crow Wing is a park … Continue reading Hiking Crow Wing State Park

Hiking Charles A. Lindbergh State Park

TRIP DETAILS  LENGTH 2.5 miles DIFFICULTY Easy DATE  May 27, 2016 MAIN FEATURES  Pink Trilliums and Historic Lindbergh landing site Woke up this Friday of Memorial Day weekend, got the kids off to school, made a huge to-do list for myself and then decided to BURN IT DOWN (metaphorically, of course) and grab another Hiking Club Trail.  Woke up a … Continue reading Hiking Charles A. Lindbergh State Park

Hiking Sakatah Lake State Park

TRIP DETAILS  LENGTH 2.5 miles DIFFICULTY Easy, a few rolling hills DATE  February 12, 2017 MAIN FEATURES  Ice, ice baby.  Biking and paddling in the Summer. Sakatah State Park is an 842 acre wilderness area on the shore of Sakatah Lake.  The Hiking Club trail and other trails in the park are fairly short, but you will have access to … Continue reading Hiking Sakatah Lake State Park

Hiking Cascade River State Park

TRIP DETAILS  LENGTH 3.5 miles DIFFICULTY Moderate-steep incline up to Lookout Mountain DATE  February 17, 2017 MAIN FEATURES  Lookout Mountain, SHT, Cascade Falls After our morning trek to Judge CR Magney State Park, we headed south to Cascade River State Park.  This park is just south of Grand Marais and has a great view of Lake Superior the whole way.  This … Continue reading Hiking Cascade River State Park

Hiking Judge CR Magney State Park

TRIP DETAILS LENGTH 3 miles DIFFICULTY Moderate-Hilly, with steep overlooks DATE  February 17, 2017 MAIN FEATURES  Devil's Kettle, Brule River This weekend we took a trip to Grand Marais to enjoy two more Hiking Club Trails in the snow, see frozen waterfalls and log some more miles on the Superior Hiking Trail! Judge CR Magney State Park was about a 20 minute … Continue reading Hiking Judge CR Magney State Park

Hiking Savanna Portage State Park

TRIP DETAILS  LENGTH 5.5 miles DIFFICULTY Easy to moderate DATE  April 23, 2016 MAIN FEATURES  Historic Savanna Portage passageway Today's hike took us up to McGregor MN, Savanna Portage State Park! We grabbed the pup and headed up North to hit Hiking Club trail #20!  As we got closer to the park, we were struck at how quickly the … Continue reading Hiking Savanna Portage State Park

Hiking Father Hennepin State Park

TRIP DETAILS  LENGTH 2 miles DIFFICULTY Super easy DATE  March 28, 2016 MAIN FEATURES  Very accessible trails, shoreline trail, great for young families Today we were able to hike not one, but TWO Hiking Club Trails in one day. We started at Mille Lacs Kathio State Park, hiked their 3.2 mile Hiking Club trail and climbed the tower. Packed up, … Continue reading Hiking Father Hennepin State Park

Hiking Mille Lacs Kathio State Park

TRIP DETAILS  LENGTH 3.2 miles DIFFICULTY Easy with a couple of hills DATE  March 28, 2016 MAIN FEATURES  9,000 years of human history, 100 ft fire tower Our 2nd and 3rd Hiking Club trails of 2016 were Mille Lacs Kathio and Father Hennepin State Parks.  We drove about 1.5 hours north of Minneapolis to Mille Lacs Kathio and Father Hennepin … Continue reading Hiking Mille Lacs Kathio State Park

Snowshoeing at Fort Snelling State Park

TRIP DETAILS LENGTH 5 miles DIFFICULTY Easy when the trail is not covered in ice. DATE  December 29, 2016 MAIN FEATURES  Bdote, Pike Island, views of the confluence of the Minnesota and Mississippi Rivers After a week at home eating holiday treats and taking the dog for a walk in the neighborhood, we needed to get out!  The snow has been scant … Continue reading Snowshoeing at Fort Snelling State Park

Hiking Frontenac State Park

TRIP DETAILS LENGTH 9 miles DIFFICULTY Moderate DATE  August 13, 2016 MAIN FEATURES  In Yan Teopa Rock, Birdwatching, Hill training Saturday’s adventure took us to Frontenac State Park! The view of Lake Pepin is beautiful and the bird watching is one of the main features of the park, we saw 6 bald eagles! The lower trails near In Yan Teopa … Continue reading Hiking Frontenac State Park

Kayak Camping on the St Croix National Scenic Riverway

TRIP DETAILS LENGTH 26.6 milesDIFFICULTY easy until Stillwater, motorized boatsDATE  September 18-19, 2016MAIN FEATURES  St Croix National Scenic Waterway, Interstate Park, Osceola Landing, William O'Brien State Park Took my first overnight kayaking trip down the Lower St Croix River this weekend and camped one night in the National Park sites. We have small recreational kayaks, so those lightweight backpacking skills … Continue reading Kayak Camping on the St Croix National Scenic Riverway

Winter Hiking at Banning State Park

Trip DETAILS LENGTH 6 miles DIFFICULTY easy with occasional hills and rocky terrain DATE HIKED NOVEMBER 25, 2016 MAIN FEATURES Waterfall at Wolf Creek and Scary Trail names! It's Black Friday and we decided we would skip the holiday shopping for the day and  #optoutside along with REI and the 6 million other people who skipped the mall! Most of my … Continue reading Winter Hiking at Banning State Park

Wandering Pine

Wandering Pine is a blog resource for hiking, gear reviews, health, and adventure. I'm a Southern California native, transplanted to Minnesota.  After decades of resistance, the land of 10,000 adventures has finally won me over.  Its beauty, especially in the winter is something I have come to love.  Hiking, backpacking, camping, snowshoeing, and basically any time … Continue reading Wandering Pine