Comments on our move to Minnesota were of two types: (a) nice people but it’s SO cold or (b) it’s SO cold but nice people. Thus far, the nice people part has been true. Today we finally got to the SO cold part. An anticipated “Arctic Blast” arrived from Canada this morning, cooling things down to a brisk -2℉ (-17.2℃) at sunrise.
It warmed our hearts to hear the local weather people describe this as “extreme” cold. If they’d said “…now it’s just cold enough to warrant an extra sweater…,” I think we’d have been sorely tempted to call a realtor in Orlando. 🙄
Despite this “extreme” cold, it was sunny 😎 and there was little wind! We’re real suckers for windless sunshine, so that was enough to get us headed outside. We were helped along by the arrival of this cheery insolation after a few days of heavy snow and general dreariness. We needed a sunbreak…
After weighing our options, we decided to pay another visit to Baker Park Reserve. It’s not too far away, doesn’t charge a vehicle fee, and has a short trail on its east side designated for multi-use (i.e., we could walk on it). We had hiked part of this trail last summer and so thought a seasonal “compare and contrast” might be interesting.
Although not wildly obvious from the park’s map, parking for this multi-use trail is at the horse lot off County Road 201. We stepped out of the car into brilliant sunshine and an air temperature that had made it all the way up to 0℉ (-17.7℃) – heading toward the day’s high of 9℉ (-12.7℃)! 😒
The hike itself was straight forward – the snow was firm and not deep and no traction devices were needed. The trail was even been groomed while we were on it.
The trail loops back through an open area of restored prairie. Out here in the open, there was a light breeze. But at 0℉ (-17.7℃), even this slight air movement was enough to induce a noticeable – and biting – windchill. Every small failing in our winter kit was immediately revealed and holding the camera became a race with numb fingers. More adjustments need to be made.
Walking through the cold air wearing insulated boots and swaddled in winter clothing requires a bit more effort than swanning along in shorts and a T-shirt. Thus, when we got back to the parking lot, we decided to skip the piece of trail that runs to the Outdoor Learning Center and back. Today’s 3.3 miles (5.3 km) was still good exercise – and we got a few more winter kit improving pointers from the wind. And so to home for a hot lunch… 😋😁
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BOOTS on the TRAIL 
Thanks! In other places we’ve lived, these anti-galloping devices look like metal fins. As for snow – well, we were complaining that we didn’t get enough use out of snowshoes in Oregon. So be careful of what you wish for, I guess. 🙄
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Nice photos. I think the things on the electric wires may be to stop them “galloping”. When they get ice on them and the wind blows they start bouncing up and down. I read my electric coop’s newsletter!
As far as the weather…they people that seem to hate it the most are native Minnesotans that have lived here all their lives. As I’ve only been here for 30 years and I never got enough snow in Britain, it is still a bit of a novelty.
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See Barry’s comment. Apparently the coil things are to suppress powerline galloping (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conductor_gallop). Should have guessed wind and ice were at work here, this being Minnesota. 😏
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“Electrons on the move” is an interesting shot. Do you know what all those lumps on the wire are? I have seen orange balls to keep helicopters from flying into wires but not large numbers of little objects on the wires.
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Knoxville humidity is not getting any better! We tend to enjoy 3 season hiking; summer is not included.
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We’ve noticed that it doesn’t seem all that cold until the temperature gets below 20℉. But now that it’s down near 0℉ we definitely notice. On the other hand, we lived in Knoxville for a couple of years and we were completely undone by the summer humidity. We did all our hiking there in winter and then went out West whenever we could during the summer.
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The cold and snow make for interesting pictures. I remember dating someone from Minneapolis, a long while back, 10° F was considered sweater weather.
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