After the fun of the weekend, it was time to find some riding. The original plan had been to head to Duluth and check out the riding there. There's been a lot of buzz about the riding in the Duluth so we had been looking forward to spending a few days exploring. But the rain storms that had inundated Park Rapids had also hit Duluth and everything was indicating that the trails were too wet to ride. All of the trail systems were showing that they were closed with no reports of when they would reopen. We needed a plan B! I did some scouring while we ate breakfast in Walker and found the perfect option.
Cuyuna County State Recreation Area just outside of Crosby. It was even closer then Duluth and looked a lot more convinent then anything up in Duluth as well. There was a campground right on one of the trails and multiple areas to explore. Perfect! We changed trajectory and headed south towards the red dirt of the Cuyuna Mountain Bike Trails.
Stop one - the Yawkey Section. It was right on the drive into town and easy access for riding. We quickly got ready to ride and studied the map for a while. Seemed pretty straight forward as long as we could remember the one way trails! Something we aren't used to in Colorado - directional trails that flowed together and allowed you to string miles of singletrack without ever having to worry about running into traffic. These trails were awesome - not a lot of rocks, but plenty to keep you on your toes. Weaving around trees, tight switchbacks to ascend the punchy climbs, and swoopy descents. And being one way, you could rail into the corners - the only thing that slowed us down was the lack of trail knowledge! We did multiple laps, hitting every trail in the Yawkey Section. I think Nick would have stayed and played for hours but we were both out of water. Time to head back to the van and find the campground.
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| Pretty cozy campground - and right on the trails! |
After we got settled in the campground, I headed out to run. I'd been running early in the morning the entire trip, but wasn't able to that day. So it was time to face the repressive humidity and sun. But it was worth it to run on the trails around Portsmouth Mine Lake. Much easier then the Yawkeye section, but perfect for running. Sure, I wasn't fast, but it was still fun. I tried to do my planned workout knowing that it would be hard with the heat and the trails. There was nothing fast about the workout, but it felt decent running on trails outside of my comfort zone. A different kind of challenge for sure.
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| Getting the day started right |
In the morning, I got up and ran again - this time staying on the blacktop path. It was the coolest morning we had seen and I finally felt strong running. The lack of humidity most likely had something to do with that - the minute the sun broke through the clouds and the humidity rose I was struggling again. But it was such a calm and pretty morning to be out. I didn't run as long as I wanted because we had another ride planned.
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| A welcome moment of stillness after a busy and crazy weekend. |
This time in the larger section of the park. The maps online were a little outdated - some new trails had been built to keep with the one way traffic throughout most of the park. The first new trail was a flow trail on the south side of Huntington Mine Lake. Fun, but I'm not a fan of the flow style trails. Too sculpted and manicured for my tastes. But the trails on the north side of the lake? A mix of flow and chunk - some raw trails and some sculpted. We almost rode everything in that section, got a little turned around a few times trying to find the one black trail we didn't ride. Again, we could have ridden longer but we were both out of water and getting sticky. Doesn't take long in that kind of humidity to have jersey dripping and coated in salt.
We didn't take as many photos of the rides as we should have. Something about every time you stopped getting swarmed by bugs even with bug repellent on and the wet stickiness that made taking photos hard. But it was a worthy detour for riding and something to remember. If we ever find ourselves in Minnesota again, I know we will make Cuyuna Lakes a destination. The old iron mines turned lakes lend themselves to great riding in the red dirt.
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