Minnesota 150th Anniversary Coin - State Park History Challenge Quest TB

D's brother lives in Fergus Falls so we borrowed his Harley Road King for the day to do some geocaching. It was a bit rainy and chilly today but even a cold, wet day on a Harley is better than the best day at work! This was a fun park to visit. We loved the new picnic shelter and the memorials set up there. We support our troops and appreciate the sacrifices they and their families have made to keep the US safe!

We especially liked the hike which gave us a great cardio workout and took us to a different part of the park than the Hiking Club Trail did. Left a signature poncho and took memories of a wonderful spot. We even saw a woodchuck that quickly ran into the woods when we came around a bend in the trail.

Placed this little guy in the Lake Carlos cache so it could get credit for the visit. We had a nice time at Lake Carlos State Park. We had camped here in May 2003 and at that time enjoyed relaxing by the lake and discovering all the CCC buildings. Today, as we crossed the road there was a cicada laying on the side of the road as if it had been hit by a car. We picked it up to look at it a bit closer and suddenly it started "buzzing" and flew off into the woods after doing a few loop-d-loops!

Are you ready for a road trip!!! We are heading out for a geocaching adventure to the NW Region of the Minnesota State Park History Challenge!

#43 of 72 for the Minnesota State Park History Challenge. This was also the last cache of a 15 for 15 geocaching weekend that included four state parks and one multi-cache that took us over ten hours to complete!

We met another couple in the park office that had just finished finding the cache and they said it was a pretty long hike. We had read the logs and parked in the trailhead parking area and made sure we had extra water and bug spray along with some grapes and home-made beef jerky since it was getting close to lunch time. Headed on down the trail and recognized some of the sights from when we we camped here in June of 2004 and completed the Hiking Club Trail.

We were pleasantly surprised to find the second and then the third stage fairly quickly and with under a half-mile hike. Had a mini-picnic at the picnic table at the backpacking shelter nearby and then headed back to the truck to start the 210 mile trip back home. (Thanks to the stimulus check that President Bush sent us; we can afford to drive all over the state and work on this challenge!!!)

Enjoyed a second visit to this SRA due to the state park history geocaching challenge. We camped here back on September 30, 2003. We were a bit disappointed to note that the electric boxes and the modern restrooms in the campground still aren't being used yet. Seems like in five years that some development money could have been spent here. We may have to check out the "plan" for this park on the DNR website. Maybe the "powers that be" have a method to their madness that we aren't aware of. :o) I guess the rustic-ness of the campground isn't bothering others since it was full of campers/divers enjoying the scuba opportunities in the area.