Yes. weather does figure prominently in many of our blog posts. Why? Because, once we heave ourselves off the couch and head for the Great Outdoors, whether we’re likely to freeze 🥶 or sweat 😓 or burn 😎 or wrinkle 🌧 is of some interest. As you would expect from Minnesota in January, lately we’ve been contending with not freezing. That, however, is apparently soon to change.
The daytime temperature here is forecast to approach 40℉ (4.4℃) over the coming weekend, with nighttime temps staying above 32℉ (0℃)! With maybe some rain instead of snow. Wow! California is underwater and we’re trading puffies for shorts! Sure glad climate change isn’t real (not). 🤨
Anyway, we have the last (we hope) of our DIY home fix-it projects teed up for this weekend. So, today, we decided to get in one more walk on snow before it turns to slush. Casting about for somewhere new (to us), we came upon Salem Hills Park and adjacent Harmon Park Reserve in Inver Grove Heights.
Together, these form an elongated rectangle in the heart on the Heights. Through the use of a staggering number of twists and turns, clever park planners have managed to squeeze 4.3 miles (6.9 km) of dirt trails into this rectangle, in three interconnected loops.
In summer, these loops are favored by trail runners and mountain bikers. Today they were a sinuous path of snowshoe- and boot-packed snow, with the occasional posthole opportunity. We’d brought our snowshoes along but didn’t need them. The LovedOne did wear her microspikes, mainly to safely negotiate the ice slick parking lot. 😲
We started on the “A” (Sawmill) Loop, went south on the “B” (Foul Pond) Loop, around the “C” (Prairie Fire) Loop, and took the “B” back north to the parking lot. There may be warm days ahead, but today was a cloudy one in the depths of Winter, with a color palette tending toward austerity.
On the way back, the twists and interior loops in the Prairie Fire Loop started to get a touch monotonous. This twisting is certainly appealing to mountain bikers and will likely be to us come Spring when there are distracting wildflowers available. Today, not so much.
So we cut out two of the shorter interior loops, which wasn’t hard since they pass within sight of one another. Then we were distracted by ice donut decorations. 🙄
This series of loops came to 3.8 miles (6.1 km) with 150 feet (46 m) of gain across this rolling terrain. This is definitely a trail system that deserves another visit once the snow leaves and the wildflowers arrive. Then its convolutions will simply give us more time to look for flowers and enjoy the sunshine. 😁
Even without snowshoes, today’s hike was good balance exercise since the snow surface was uneven and prone to a posthole (or two). We assumed the sun would come out as we reached the car, but it didn’t, sparing us the irony of having hiked through the gloom unnecessarily.
We noticed a camera crew setting-up in the parking lot as we were leaving. Later we’d see the big, yellowish Inver Grove Heights water tower (which rises directly above the Salem Hills parking lot) serving as background for the nightly WCCO weather segment – which went on about how it had been cloudy all day. Yes, we got that. 😒
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BOOTS on the TRAIL 
Stunning landscapes and closeups!
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Thanks for the info on winter gear. I have heard of YakTrax and wondered how well they work. Like you, my two broken bones (two summers in a row) did not occur on ice. I missed a step AT THE HOSPITAL on my way to donate blood and broke a shoulder. The second fall was while descending rain-slicked wooden steps to pick rhubarb in a friend’s garden. That resulted in a broken wrist and subsequent surgery. So, yeah, I don’t want to break another bone, whether on ice or steps. Your suggestions are good ones to help stay upright in winter.
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We have winter boots with deep lugs. And microspikes that fit these boots. These spikes (or YakTrax) – and two hiking poles – are really good at keeping you upright on slick, icy surfaces. For deeper, softer snow, we have snowshoes – also used with two hiking poles. The snowshoes are the kind with teeth so they too are good on slick surfaces. And then you just have to pay attention to the trail. I should note that the only time I broke a bone falling on a slippery surface was on a freshly washed floor at the supermarket – no ice involved, just not paying attention. 🙄
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It is the icy trails that keep me from meandering in the winter. I’d like to hear about the gear you wear to stay upright on iced trails. Two broken bones in past years make me weary, neither of which happened on ice.
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Maybe. Although popular with mountain bikers, the City of Inver Grove Heights does sponsor 5 mile & 10 mile trail run events there in early September. I’m sure it gets plenty of use by runners at other times too.
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I think I actually went for a run on some of these trails a few years ago, though it looks very different with snow.
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