Excitement on the Sakatah Singing Hills State Trail out of Faribault. First we encounter two Kildeer parental birds playing the broken wing dance in the middle of the bike trail. Will looks to the side and narrowly misses riding over the wee kildeers hopping along the trail. We get to go through this charade again on the return trip. Then the winds that kicked up from the Southwest knock over a good size tree across the trail outside of Elysian. Will takes on the tree by himself and breaks a path through the branches for the screamer (that would be the bike not me).
It's our first trip out from Faribault. We typically start at Shager Park on Cannon Lake to avoid the stoplights and traffic out of the trailhead. It was early for us 9:30 am and the gulls were lined up along the lakeshore single file looking for goodies. This trail goes through a number of small towns. Today we cruised through Warsaw, Morristown (celebrating Dam Days), Waterville to Elysian. You get to see people's backyards and gardens. The main attraction and the most scenic part of the trip is the Sakatah Lake State Park. One rides along the lake under a high canopy of trees. The trail is interrupted in Waterville so you get to ride through the town following very small trail signs. They have a great watertower by the way. Elysian is a pretty town. We recommend the ice cream store on the trail. Nana's Nook is worth a stop for gifts made from recycled plastic bags. I bought my knitting bag there last year. There is also the funky LeSueur County historical society museum in the old school building.
Vestiges of railroads: a few stone mile markers remain, a signal post outside of Waterville and rails in the road near Faribault.
Amenities: Full automated rest area at the trailhead in Faribault, Biffys at Morristown and Waterville and bathrooms in Elysian.
Wild flowers: Hillsides of purple Dames Rockets, white campion, wild roses, columbine, goat's beard, virignia waterleaf, wild geranium.
Wildlife: herons, egrets, cowbird, kildeer family, red tail hawk
Sad news: Starbucks in Faribault is closed.
Sunday, May 31, 2009
Saturday, May 30, 2009
Playing hooky
What is better than working a half day and then taking the sunny, warm Friday afternoon off for a bike ride? All seemed idyllic until Will picks me up at the U and says “do you hear a hissing sound?” Alas, our BMX front tire had sprung a leak! Fortunately we had a spare tube…for once our planning worked. We headed south to the Cannon Valley Trail AGAIN this time to do the complete trail in one ride. The parking lot at Welch was full of yellow school buses…our kid alarm went on. Fortunately they were loading up the Lakeville school to go back to school. Whew. Will did a quick tire change and merrily biked first to Red Wing, catching a glimpse of the adult parent at the eagles nest; the other was soaring above the nest. There was also the annoying woman who felt compelled to tell us every move of the eagles in the last several days including feeding on baby geese. I said the latter might help reduce the excess goose population. She didn’t appreciate that comment
It was another day full of wildflower sightings. We’re getting adept at identifying number of petals to the bloom, the shape of the leaves and the height of the plant. With those three pieces of information one can frequently identify the flower. Color helps of course. There is one yellow flower that covers the hillsides near Cannon Falls that we can’t find in our book. We did add Canada Anemones, Wood Anemones, and Yellow Sweet Clover.
One of the purposes of this blog is to document amenities of the trails. The Cannon Valley Trail goes from one town center to another with only the village of Welch in between. It’s never far to get to civilization. For bike riders it’s important to have bathroom facilities. There are plenty on this trail including both trailheads and Welch station. Biffys are also available at Spring Creek, near the trail to the Anderson Center (on the Red Wing end); at Trail Run Creek on the Cannon Falls end. Water is a problem though. Welch has a fountain. The fountain at the Cannon Falls depot has been broken for a while. We don’t ride to the Cannon Falls Trailhead but since it’s a city park I’m assuming there’s water available.
We did have some great wildlife sightings other than the eagle. Vultures were soaring low over the meadows near Cannon Falls. We sighted a hummingbird just outside of Welch – thought at first it was a butterfly. A three inch caterpillar fell on me from a tree (yuck) and a deer stood on the trail as we approached Welch on our last leg. It watched us for a long minute before running ahead of us down the trail and finally up the ridge.
It was dinner time by the time we finished the ride. We packed up and headed to Red Wing and the Staghead Restaurant. The service was vastly improved since the last time we ate there but the food was not. My salmon was supposed to come with red potatoes but instead they substituted plain white rice. The steamed vegetables were done nicely but some seasoning like herbs would have been a nice touch. Still the beer and cider were greatly appreciated and I tipped the guy playing kind of lounge organ.
It was another day full of wildflower sightings. We’re getting adept at identifying number of petals to the bloom, the shape of the leaves and the height of the plant. With those three pieces of information one can frequently identify the flower. Color helps of course. There is one yellow flower that covers the hillsides near Cannon Falls that we can’t find in our book. We did add Canada Anemones, Wood Anemones, and Yellow Sweet Clover.
One of the purposes of this blog is to document amenities of the trails. The Cannon Valley Trail goes from one town center to another with only the village of Welch in between. It’s never far to get to civilization. For bike riders it’s important to have bathroom facilities. There are plenty on this trail including both trailheads and Welch station. Biffys are also available at Spring Creek, near the trail to the Anderson Center (on the Red Wing end); at Trail Run Creek on the Cannon Falls end. Water is a problem though. Welch has a fountain. The fountain at the Cannon Falls depot has been broken for a while. We don’t ride to the Cannon Falls Trailhead but since it’s a city park I’m assuming there’s water available.
We did have some great wildlife sightings other than the eagle. Vultures were soaring low over the meadows near Cannon Falls. We sighted a hummingbird just outside of Welch – thought at first it was a butterfly. A three inch caterpillar fell on me from a tree (yuck) and a deer stood on the trail as we approached Welch on our last leg. It watched us for a long minute before running ahead of us down the trail and finally up the ridge.
It was dinner time by the time we finished the ride. We packed up and headed to Red Wing and the Staghead Restaurant. The service was vastly improved since the last time we ate there but the food was not. My salmon was supposed to come with red potatoes but instead they substituted plain white rice. The steamed vegetables were done nicely but some seasoning like herbs would have been a nice touch. Still the beer and cider were greatly appreciated and I tipped the guy playing kind of lounge organ.
Monday, May 25, 2009
Return to the Cannon Valley
Memorial Day with American flags decorating Victory Memorial Drive. We left at 9:00 am to return to do the second half of the Cannon Valley Trail from Welch to Red Wing and back. It's our tune up to doing the full trail next time. Remember we are geezers!
On the rails to trails it's an adventure to try and see vestiges of the old railroad. On this trail the concrete mile markers still exist include WX (water crossings). On the way to Red Wing from Welch you can see one old telegraph pole and overhead a telltale. The brakeman used to stand on top of the cars. When they felt the telltale sweep over them they knew to lay down before the bridge hit them.
One new wildflower sighting - a Golden Alexander. There is an eagle nesting just before milepost 14. It was on the nest when we cruised by. Swallow nests on the bridge. The swallows were flying over the Cannon River scooping up insects. We saw a dragon fly. No turtles on the pond. Sigh.
Great ride - sunshine and cool. Lots of people but mostly well behaved. The bike didn't have any hiccups. Remember - no coasting!
On the rails to trails it's an adventure to try and see vestiges of the old railroad. On this trail the concrete mile markers still exist include WX (water crossings). On the way to Red Wing from Welch you can see one old telegraph pole and overhead a telltale. The brakeman used to stand on top of the cars. When they felt the telltale sweep over them they knew to lay down before the bridge hit them.
One new wildflower sighting - a Golden Alexander. There is an eagle nesting just before milepost 14. It was on the nest when we cruised by. Swallow nests on the bridge. The swallows were flying over the Cannon River scooping up insects. We saw a dragon fly. No turtles on the pond. Sigh.
Great ride - sunshine and cool. Lots of people but mostly well behaved. The bike didn't have any hiccups. Remember - no coasting!
Sunday, May 24, 2009
First ride of the season
It's Memorial Day weekend and the start of our third year on our Rans Screamer. It's tradition to have our first ride on the Cannon Valley Trail leaving from Welch Station. The bike is tuned and hopefully ready to go. At the end of last season we were stopping every few miles to adjust the chain. An early morning rain had cleared out to mostly blue skies and temperatures in the 70s. The parking lot was full when we pulled up so it was on to the overflow lot. Welch has bathroom facilities and water. Musts for a good start. Bought our annual passes for $20.00 each. This is well worth the cost; the trail is the best maintained in Minnesota. There were crowds of people including lots of families. The kids were attracted to our "cool" bike as usual. Why are the pedals way out there? We still had long stretches of trail to ourselves. The Cannon River is low for this time of year due to our dry spring. This is the best trail for wildflower viewing. We ride past woodland to meadows seeing Dame's Rockets, Columbine, Wild Geranium, Winter Cress, Virginia Waterleaf, and lots of dandelions. The stoker holds the wildflower book as we slowly pass the flowers. Heard an owl!
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