Playing in the snow at Donald Park

Back when I wrote about my adventures at Indian Lake Park, Brad V. of the blog Letters in Bottles recommended I check out Donald County Park, too. Interestingly enough, I'd passed the trail head a number of times while on the way to visit friends who lived out in the country beyond Mt. Vernon, but never realized what it was.

Thanks to Brad's tip, I remembered to suggest going to check it out when me, The Boy and my sister, who was out visiting for the weekend, decided to go snowshoeing on Saturday.

Donald Park has two trail heads - the main entrance along Hwy. 92 called Pop's Knoll and an equestrian access point along Hwy. G. We headed to the Pop's Knoll entrance, only to find ourselves confronted with a decidedly unplowed driveway with a closed gate. According to the signs, though, the park was open. We grumbled about the lack of plowing, but decided to check the equestrian entrance to see if we could get in that way. It, too, was unplowed, but that entrance is just a stone's throw from "downtown" Mt. Vernon, so we parked along the street and just walked up to the trail head.

It was nearly a perfect day for the trek, with the temperatures finally rising above zero and into the twenties with almost no wind. On top of that, because of last week's snowfall and the park's somewhat off-the-beaten-path status, the landscape was relatively unmarred. We spotted just two other sets of snowshoe tracks. There isn't any cross country skiing in the park, either, so the rest of the snow was flawless and sparkling.

From the equestrian access point, the hiking trail goes down through the woods and alongside some low bluffs before emerging into the middle of a wide open field. We marveled at the quiet beauty of the place, also taking a moment to catch our breath, and then headed out across the expanse. The trail disappears into woods again before veering right and crossing a low wooden bridge that spans a small creek. Covered in snow as it was, the crossing made for quite the picturesque vista. I snapped a few pictures before we went ahead.

By that point, we'd gone just over a mile and a half and were feeling a little worn out. We were further encouraged to turn around and head back when we realized that our trail was about to run alongside a snowmobile trail. A group of them were whizzing noisily up and down the track, breaking the wintry silence we'd previously been enjoying.

So we turned around and made the trek back. By the time we got back to the car, we were all pleasantly exhausted and ready to eat. We drove back into town and stopped at Java Cat, my favorite place for gelato this side of the Atlantic.

Overall, I'm very glad to have been tipped off about Donald Park. I definitely intend to go back in the spring or summer to do some proper hiking and exploring, as the park contains much more than what we saw on our snowshoe outing. It's a lovely space, with rolling hills, woodlands and trout streams, and close by to the very tiny, very cute town of Mt. Vernon. Heartily recommended.

Snowshoeing Indian Lake

One of my favorite county parks is Indian Lake, located just off Highway 19 near the town of Marxville and just north and west of Madison. It's a short drive (or longer bike ride) to get there, and it's a decent sized space with a lovely little lake, forested slopes and plenty of trails. During warmer months, the hiking is great. Come winter and a decent amount of snowfall, like we had this December, and it's a fantastic place to cross country ski or snowshoe.

A couple of weeks ago, we chose the latter activity and, with some borrowed shoes, headed out for an afternoon of hiking through the beautiful, powdery snow.

The trails are relatively well-mapped, but be sure to bring your own color print-out of it, as the posted maps along the trails at the park tend to be washed out and hard to read. There are several difficulty levels available, as well as trails marked specifically for snowshoeing (in addition to skiing, usually). Tip for those of you not wanting to be jerks: don't walk/snowshoe in the middle of the groomed ski paths. Stick to the sides or blaze your own trails.

Heck, half the fun of snowshoeing is being able to wander off wherever you want to go, unfettered by the beaten path or thigh-high snow drifts. I'd never been snowshoeing before and discovered that it was great fun to be able to set off into the woods, high above the tangle of the forest floor and surrounded by the snow-silent woods. The other nice thing about Indian Lake is that, unlike the UW Arboretum, it's not usually packed with fellow travelers. We passed on average of one or two skiers (and no other snowshoers) every ten or fifteen minutes, all of whom were very friendly and polite. Everyone just seemed happy to be out and enjoying the great conditions.

The real jewel of Indian Lake in wintertime, however, is the warming house: a small, one-room log cabin built at the very end of the yellow loop (or very beginning, depending) and at the top of the park's modestly sized sledding hill. Inside the warming house are two long tables and a wood-fired stove that's kept roaring all day long. Without a doubt, one of the best feelings in the world is coming in from activity in the cold and sitting down in front of a warm fire with a thermos of hot chocolate (which we'd brilliantly thought to have brought along). The only things we didn't think to bring were sleds, which would have been a nice way to end our trek. A group of children were having a grand ol' time bombing down the hill on everything from the usual plastic discs or planks, to at least one traditional toboggan and a few inner tubes.

So I found that I really enjoyed snowshoeing, and am now on the hunt for a pair of my own. And I think that, as soon as the snow builds back up again (knock on wood), another trip out to Indian Lake is definitely in order.