Whitewater State Park (MN) hike TR

“Nine people -- including three Trail Talkers -- met for a group hike at Whitewater State Park Saturday afternoon. Location: Maybe 25 miles northeast of Rochester, MN. Conditions: Temps in the mid- to upper-30s, a little windy and sunny. Not much snow on the ground other than in the shady areas.

Elementary 1 hosted the hike through her "Liking Hiking" group, which has an e-mail notice list of nearly 100 people. (However, I think this is the most she's had come on a hike, which also occurred one other time. This was undoubtedly the most fun and noisiest with lizs along. lol)

http://www.likinghiking.com/

I'd never hiked at Whitewater before, a park with lots of hills, bluffs and trout streams. We met at 12:30, with hikers from as far away as the Twin Cities. I don't know the trails well, but I think we did the Coyote Point Loop on the Dakota Trail. It's 2.7 miles.

We left from the campground area, crossed Whitewater River, climbed the hill up a long gradual trail, went through prairie on the bluff top and had great views through the trees without leaves. Went above an ice cave. Then climbed down wooden steps from the top of the bluff. Awkwardly spaced steps, might I add! lol

Back at the parking lot, we saw a DNR demonstration of cutting and harvesting ice going on, yes, despite the sorta warm temps we've been having. We then did the Chimney Rock Trail, again climbing up a hillside to the top of the bluff for nice overlooks.

Then Dave, who had been on the trails before, led us on what used to be a trail to take us to Inspiration Point. That got a little hairy! Nothing like walking on exposed bluffs and steep ravines that have ICE on the snow in places (and other places were just dirt, where the sun hits)

Inspiration Point brought out everyone's fear of heights, if they have it. Proud to say I wandered out on the rocks. :-)

Then it was back downhill on more steps, mostly, then along Trout Run Creek, back past the pond and to our cars. Am guestimating that at 2.5 miles.

Oh yeah, I did pretty darn well for having been sick for two weeks. I did fine on the slippery, icy hillside only to fall flat on my butt (and not quite on my back, I angled the trekking pole to keep it off the ground) as we went down an icy, snow-packed area to cross Trout Run Creek. SHEESH!!! LOL! (I can laugh when neither I **NOR THE CAMERA** got hurt)

Then six of us went to Elba for burgers and beers. Good time! We all got wind burned, red faces.

Will see if I get inspired to post pics or not. :-)”

“A link for the park. Plus, it's surrounded by a huge Wildlife Management Area open to hiking or hunting.

http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/state_parks/whitewater/index.html”

“Ah-h-h..Whitewater SP..this was one of my best "finds" when looking for a place to camp on one of my 3 day visits to the Mayo clinic in July...it's a very civilized, family campground with some nice, short trails but it's main claim to fame was the almost complete absence of mosquitoes...in July...in Minnesota...I could not believe it! Sitting outside at sunset enjoying a bevy, no bugspray, no headnet, no problem! The DNR website for this park even lists that amazing fact under "Park Highlights"...

I've hiked all those trails, Lizs...I don't think I'd like hiking on ice up to Inspiration Point, either...”

“I'll get some pics up. :-)”

“I seem to remember a childhood school trip to a park. The park probably wasnt very far from C-ville. The thing that stands out most about this park is the train that was on the ridge. Trains generally stay on or near tracks. Therefore, I'm kinda wondering if there is a railroad track on a ridge there?”

“hmmmm... don't know of train tracks on the ridge.

This park is north of St. Charles and south of the little village of Elba.

Here are photos!

http://forums.backpacker.com/thread.jspa?messageID=1572637�”

“So, at the heart of it, wasn't this essentially one of those "private" trips? Eh?,lol”

“;-P

Join the "Liking Hiking" group. Link's above.


Hey, it's not my group. Actually, it's kinda funny. I have only ever gone on the first hike they held and now this one. And it's been around like three years. Usually I'm out backpacking or camping or covering something for the paper, so can't go.

Here's to you, Private (the hiker formerly known as Nimblefoot -- or THFKAN)

LOL”

“Well, okay then, I tried to join. There's no direct thingee to apply on. I had to send them an email and someone will call. You must have some pretty tough requirements. I sent the email with "Go Pack" all over it, so they'll likely not call.”

“LMAO! They'll think you meant backpack, I'm sure. (and everyone around here sure as hell is not a fan of the purple pansies!!)”

“Another take on the trip from the organizer:

Trip Report
January 21, 2006
Whitewater State Park

Everyone rolled into the park around 12:30 (and I wasn't even late this time!!!)...

After looking at the trail map, we decided to start out the hike with a warm-up walk thru the campgrounds to the Coyote Point Trail, a trail that Dave described as a "gradual" hill, rather than starting on the steps that lead directly to the top of the first bluff... "Gradual" being defined as "Holy Cow! How long is this hill!"

The scenery along the way was pretty awesome (when I wasn't looking directly at my feet so I wouldn't trip on a rock or tree root!). You could look across ravines, under the rocks jutting out from the sides of the hills, and up the bluffs, seeing EVERYTHING since there aren't any leaves or shrubs in the way this time of year.

We didn't encounter much snow, but had to be cautious at times due to the patches of ice created by the trekkers packing down the trail in the months before us.

Once on top the hill (or "mountain" depending on whose vocabulary we listened to... right Julie???), we took a break and Larry shared some healthy options for snacks and energy supplements (Sharks?). The bluff top also provided us with some spectacular views. The Lookout on Coyote Point was amazing!

The angle of the sun lit up the bluffs across the valley and made the rapids on the river sparkle! Because of the unusually warm temps this year, the river wasn't as ice covered as it should have been. Oh yeah, the weather was a balmy upper 20's I think, with SUN... YEAH!

When we got back to the parking lot, an hour and a half later, no one was ready to call it quits, so we took on another trail that I'll call the "No-Trail Trail". We left the swimming beach area (NO, we didn't take a dip this time!) and headed up the steps to another lookout point and Chimney Rock (a mini cave), then backtracked across the side of the hill, to another lookout point.

Amy yelped (nervously giggled) a few times at the treacherousness of the trail, but chose to wait to pass judgement on the trail until after she arrived back to her car safely. Once down on flat ground again, she determined it to be "Fun!".

The "No-Trail Trail" led us up even higher, through a few ravines, and along the steep side of a hill, where we all had to practice our mountain goat abilities, using the side of our feet to dig into the leaves and sporadic patches of snow to avoid sliding down the hillside.

I think Linda was wondering if this was in the job-description when she signed up to be a member of LIKINGHIKING... (Yep, just read the fine print for "Difficult" under hiking levels.)

12 year old Tyler made it all look like a piece of cake. And then there's Tom, who's training for a mini-triathalon, and kept running ahead on the trail to try and get in a good workout...(Like the hike alone wasn't enough?!).

Three-plus hours later, we ended back up in the parking lot where Lisa's adventurous spirit persuaded us to imbibe in some other type of spirits at a local establishment, the Elba House.

What a great hike!

PS: Am I the only one whose calves are screaming today?

Elementary 1”