If it weren’t for my husband and all his pre-planning, I wouldn’t get into any campgrounds. I am the one who plans activities. He is the reservation guru. We make a great team. He has it planned down to the day when we need to reserve for specific places. We plan where we’d like to adventure for the year, what we want to do, and the usual annual trips, the family trips, etc., and he sets alarms to make reservations.
Since the pandemic, more and more people have realized the value of nature. The value of being outdoors and its benefits for our minds, bodies, and overall health. The getting away. The fresh air. It is necessary. We have run our own small business for the past 14 years, and I see how it takes its toll on him mentally and physically. Camping has been so good for us. The hiking has been so restorative.
One of my favorite quotes I often say once I get into the woods is by John Muir, “And into the forest I go, to lose my mind and find my soul.” It is true for me. My mind is often bogged down by anxiety and the constant list of things I need to do until my week is so packed that time is flying by, and I haven’t even enjoyed any of that week's time to be present. Sound familiar to anyone else?
This is one of the reasons I enjoy camping season. One of the places we have gone not just to camp but to hike with our boys during all seasons is Jay Cooke State Park in Minnesota. It is a beautiful state park off Hwy 35, about ten miles south of Duluth.
Our first time bringing our camper there was in 2022. We planned a 4-day trip with our friends to Grand Marais and further north for a lot of hiking, and we were spending our first night at Jay Cooke as the halfway point. It was the second week of October, a week before our state’s MEA break, an educational break for schools. We knew the fall colors would be great, but fewer families during that weekend.
We knew the weather was going to be chilly and had packed accordingly. The bathhouse would be closing up for the season right after that weekend, so we decided not to book later than that at this park if we wanted to use water in the future! This park has nice, intimate campsites. Each site is private, with trees around them, but like all Minnesota State Park campsites, there is no sewer or water hookup, just electricity for heat.
We pulled into our spot after dark, which was already reasonably chilly, about 40 degrees, enough to use our heat. We used our phone flashlights to see our way around and find our friends’ camper. We met up and visited the campground area, walking around. There were sites for various campers. Some sites were more “rustic” for tents, like most state parks, not set up for electricity. Each site was provided its own firepit and picnic table.
We went to bed, and it was not what we expected when we woke up the following day. We woke up to a winter wonderland on October 14th, but in Minnesota, anything can happen! We decided to take our time getting started and hiked the State Park because it made all the rock outcroppings stand out so amazingly, which makes Jay Cooke so picturesque.
Jay Cooke is on the lower part of the St. Louis River and has a 13-mile gorge. The black rocks were gorgeous and covered with fresh powder, but the beauty of the fall foliage combined put it over the edge. We crossed the iconic swinging bridge and hiked some of the trails. I’m a daredevil at heart, and my husband thought I would slip over the edge of the rocks and fall into the gorge. I’ve scared him more times than I can count while taking photographs to get a better shot. If that is how I die, I can’t think of a better way to go.
