Hiking in Minnesota

Prior to moving to Minneapolis, I was convinced that living in a city would be amazing, and that the constant stream of things to do would satisfy my need to do something different than I did in Smalltown, USA for the first thirty years of my life. And that's true. Being in the city is amazing, and I absolutely love it here so very much. But (and I never thought I'd say this) there are definitely things that I miss about living in the country. I miss the quiet the most. Here, there is a constant hum of noise no matter where I am. I'm sitting in my apartment right now with the windows open, and I can hear traffic, and construction, and airplanes. I miss sitting on my porch and not hearing a single thing. I also miss the stars. Every night that I'm out past dark I find myself straining to find the Big and Little Dippers, and most nights it's just too bright.

There are some places to "hike" in the city - really expansive parks, trails through heavily wooded areas, and even some trails along the river (though, it's a bit of a stretch to call that hiking) - but they pale in comparison to my latest trip up North. A couple months back a friend, who happens to be of the male variety, (do with that what you will) and I decided to spend a few days hiking, and began planning out our trip away. Since I've needed some wide-open green space, I was looking forward to this trip more than I can even begin to tell you. We decided to hike along the North Shore near Lake Superior. I've never been that far north, but since I've moved here numerous people have mentioned how beautiful of an area it is to explore. Lake Superior looks more like an ocean than a lake. It's absolutely gorgeous, and I was so surprised at how expansive it was. No matter where we seemed to go, it managed to sneak into the background.

We ended up covering about 27 miles over the course of 3 days, and saw some of the most spectacular views. Spectacular doesn't seem to do it justice; at times I wanted to gasp when we hit the peaks. Of course pictures don't adequately capture the scenery, but I took plenty.

Though choosing a favorite spot is impossible, one of my favorites was definitely a secluded little beach near the place that we stayed. We had a steep hike down an unmarked hill, and then it opened up to a perfect, completely untouched private beach secluded by giant rock cliffs. It was a stone beach, so I practiced skipping rocks on the water, and then took one to keep. When I got it home, I realized it has a natural design in it that resembles a heart. Appropriate.

Other than some knee issues, I wasn't as sore as I'd anticipated. By the third day, my knee was aching really, really badly and it was a legit struggle not to focus on it. I usually don't ever have any issues with it since the surgeries, but the uneven terrain and all the uphill hiking we had done the previous couple of days were rough on it, and despite icing, it was still a little swollen. We only did 7 miles on the last day, so I toughed it out to see Eagle Mountain, which is the highest point in Minnesota. Totally worth it. One of the best views of the trip.

There were also s'mores with peanut butter (because y'all already know) and a stop at a little town called Grand Marais. It was absolutely charming. There were sailboats, and I grabbed a coffee with local maple syrup and homemade whipped cream at a little coffee house outside next to the water. We also stopped at a famous pie place, Betty's Pies, and grabbed a couple slices to go. Totes worth the hype - they were exceptional - and the perfect way to end our little trip.