Dolomite Cliffs, Wildlife Sightings, and a Floating Walkway: A hike in Rasmussen Woods
This weekend was anxiously awaited for in my little apartment in Mankato. Why? Because my fiancé drove the 12 twelve hours up from Kentucky on Thursday so that we could spend Labor Day weekend together. Life is just better when Ryan is here.
Ryan in front of the fountain at Minnesota State University, Mankato.
Aside from taking him on a tour of campus, watching movies, cooking elaborate Whole30 meals together, and spending way too much money on groceries, I also wanted to to go on a hike, since that is one of our favorite activities to do with each other. I haven't had the chance to go anywhere except Minneopa State Park and Sibley Park, so I wanted to test out something new. That's how we settled on going to Rasmussen Woods in the late afternoon of Ryan's last day here in Minnesota.
There were only two cars in the parking lot when we arrived, and we were greeted by a marshy looking area with a sign mapping out the southern trails system. There weren't really clear arrows or signs indicating which way we should continue to get to the half of the trails that we wanted to hike, so we just set off in the direction that seemed right.
The area was an interesting mix of deciduous forest, marsh, and prairie ecosystems. Next to the path, Prairie Coreopsis (or at least, I believe that's what they are from my amateur botany skills) littered the meadows. Cute little bees were working away, and I certainly liked watching them more than swatting mosquitoes off. (It turns out that marshes attract a *lot* of mosquitoes.)
The forest was quiet and only dimly lit by the swatches of sunlight slicing through the gaps in the tree canopy. We watched a squirrel grab a seed the size of its own head and scurry into the branches overhead, and it was serene to walk with only the sound of crickets and woodpeckers breaking the silence.
We then reached the Dolomite Cliffs, though compared to Red River Gorge, they were essentially just large boulders.
After lingering a little on the edge of the cliffs, we reached an open meadow filled with a grove of what I think was Staghorn Sumac. They almost felt tropical, with their red-tipped leaves and huge crimson bundles of seeds. Ryan thought that the meadow looked "like the perfect setting for a zombie movie."
Then, as we reentered the forest, I instinctively caught Ryan by the arm and stopped both of us in our tracks. Ahead, not 30 feet away, was a juvenile white-tailed deer happily munching on grass. It looked up as we approached, and I tried to inch closer to get a clearer photo (I had my short lens with me). But eventually, the deer got tired of a human with a clicking camera encroaching on its territory, and it galloped away to a quieter spot, kicking up its legs in that cartoonish way deer do.
Only moments after our deer sighting, Ryan exclaimed, "AH! Babe! Look!" He pointed to the ground behind us, and I jumped, expecting to see a snake or something equally scream-inducing. Instead, there was an adorable little frog clinging to a fallen leaf in the middle of the path. Ryan had almost squished it and had luckily noticed at the last second, steering his foot away.
We got a bit turned around (remember how I said there weren't clear directional signs?), but eventually, we located what I was really looking forward to: the floating walkway. Unfortunately, it's not rainy season (and hasn't properly rained in over a week, if I remember correctly), so the marsh wasn't particularly marshy. But it was still easy to imagine how cool it would be to walk over the boardwalk as it shifted on the marshy ground beneath. The beautiful bright green foliage and twisted pathways bordered by lush undergrowth and wildflowers reminded me of the magical forests in Ireland. This was hands-down my favorite part of the hike, and I look forward to going back in the spring when there's more water on the ground.
All in all, I'm excited to explore more of the ecosystems that make Minnesota different than Kentucky (I even spied a place called the Louisville Swamp on the way to Minneapolis a week ago). However, I was significantly less excited to say goodbye to Ryan yesterday as he trekked back to the Bluegrass State without me. Life is hard when the person you love is 12 hours away.