Interstate Statepark Hike with the MN Rovers

A natural group picture at our first overlook, how cool is that! Kristen, Shelly, John, Annie, Beth, Kristen, Kim, Kim, Frank, Liliana, Marsha, Marsha's middle daughter and Ted (the latter during a rare eating break :-).

13 of us set out on Sunday at the Interstate State Park on the Minnesota side to hike a Minnesota loop and a Wisconsin loop on the Pot Hole Trail let by Marsha and cheered on by Liliana, who made sure my laces were tied properly before we got on the trail :-) a few more Rovers we picked up on the trail :-)

Beautiful deep forest trail that made our nostrils flare sucking in exactly what a forest should smell like!

Kristen and Kristen.

That incline was a doozy (long) and tought me what catching your breat really means. It sharpened my awareness, that when you burn lots of energy you need lots of oxygen too, otherwise the stove goes out!

Last bend before reaching the overlook.

Ah the St. Croix.

Onward.

Beautiful sandstone formations: Sedona, MN.

Frank, Ted and John (gotcha after all John, heehee).

We saw several of these nestlike bunches in Cedar trees and couldn't quite decide if they were some kind of nest or some kind of unusual growth.

On the stone outcrop you can see "The Old Man of the Dalles". (Dalles = dells is something like a bluff Beth explained to me.)

Thats a heck of a cave under a tree! Enough space for one big fairy...or a bunch of small ones.

Not many leaves have turned, but some of the trees did try to do their best to make up for it!

Ooh, sun coming out!

Behold the Taylors Falls Princess!

One of the "potholes".

Bald Eagle!

Everybody admireing the Bald Eagle.

Annie not impressed by Bald Eagle. Much more impressed by Irish Wolfhound she'd met on the trail.

We Minnesotans are proud to report that our potholes are bigger than the Sconies'.

Great walk! Thanks Marsha and Liliana for organizing. Thanks Marsha for baking your chocolate chip cookies. Thanks Marsha and Frank for taking one for the team each :-) You can see, Marsha was one busy woman!

Marsha made us eat 2 cookies each at lunch and then made us take another for the road. Sigh!