George Crosby Manitou State Park - MN

Well, I'm back from a hiking/camping trip at Crosby Manitou State Park. I had a great time. It was much more rugged than I expected. It's a very natural unmaintained park. Lots of rocks, tree roots, downed trees and branches...WOW! I haven't really done much challenging hiking so this was new but I had a lot of fun. The park still isn't all the way cleared from the past winter ice storm but it was pretty good until the last leg of the hike from cedar ridge trail to campsite 12. I didn't see much for wildlife although right after I got to camp and was unpacking I saw a snake chasing a frog around on the ground trying to catch it. They were playing cat and mouse for about 15 minutes around camp. I got a little video clip of the snake. I also am currently uploading a short YouTube video and will upload it to the video library here shortly if it ever finishes uploading. I just got a new Canon SD780 IS camera so it was fun to try it out along with the Stick Pik. Slept great in the BB hammock and actually stayed comfortably warm with the Yeti 3-season underquilt and my light +30 sleeping bag. I didn't bring a pad for the feet this time and just used my backpack. WAY more comfortable with the pack in the hammock under the legs and absolutely zero condensation which I was really happy about. Oh...and one other thing, either permethrin rocks or the ticks weren't out because I didn't see or have to pick a single tick off of me and the park looks like prime tick environment!

http://www.hammockforums.net/gallery...1/img_0062.jpg

http://www.hammockforums.net/forum/v...ils&videoid=98

great trip report pizza! Looks like you had great weather and a good time. The stick pic rocks!

Adam

I enjoyed the report, pizza. The simplicity of sitting in camp and just talking to the camera like you would a fellow hiker is nice.

Thanks for sharing.

Nice video, pizza. That was just a common garter snake, right?

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Originally Posted by FishinFinn

Nice video, pizza. That was just a common garter snake, right?

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Yep, just a garter. It was pretty cool watching it chase the frog and the frog was actually red which was kinda neat. I think that's the first time I've seen a red frog in MN.

Thanks for the report.

regards Dirk

pizza, I didn't want to go back and dig through all the NCT thread pages, so I apologize if you have already answered this question there. Are you going to make the Northern Hang?

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Originally Posted by FishinFinn

pizza, I didn't want to go back and dig through all the NCT thread pages, so I apologize if you have already answered this question there. Are you going to make the Northern Hang?

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It doesn't look like I can make it at this point due to my work schedule. We have a forced PTO week in June and unfortunately it doesn't fall on the week of the northern hang and I have a dive trip planned the week after the northern hang. Bummer, but I will be looking forward to reading the reports and checking out the videos.

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Originally Posted by pizza

It doesn't look like I can make it at this point due to my work schedule. We have a forced PTO week in June and unfortunately it doesn't fall on the week of the northern hang and I have a dive trip planned the week after the northern hang. Bummer, but I will be looking forward to reading the reports and checking out the videos.

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I'd rather do the dive trip too, as long as it is somewhere warm (and without ticks.) :D

Bummer, we will miss you. Next Northern Hang, then.

Cool Pizza.... #12 is a wonderful sight and Crosby is always rather un-maintained. That is what I really like about it!!!!
The sites down the river from #13 on are great sites as well.
Glad you got out and had fun and shot some viddy.
Shug

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Originally Posted by Shug

The sites down the river from #13 on are great sites as well.

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I was wondering what those sites would be like...especially #16 because on the metal map sign on cedar ridge trail at the turn where you descend 200 feet down the hill to the river someone scratched "Don't ever go to 16" :lol: That's a tough hike going back up that hill. I kind of wished I had followed the river back up on the way out to try something different. I may have to go back up there again in the fall.

Great couple of days to be out there, Pizza! I love Crosby Manitou, it's where I first backpacked in the northern, piney woods and learned about the SHT. It's deinitely a bit wilder than your normal state park. I was up in Lutsen with my wife this weekend and did about 25 miles of dayhiking.:D I still can't believe the 3 days of perfect weather that we had. Hollar sometime when your heading up north, maybe we can hang together.

Randy

I went back up to Crosby Manitou State Park with my cousin this past weekend. We had a blast. It was hot and muggy on Saturday. Got to cover all of the trail in the northern part of park this time. We camped at campsite #1 which was a pretty neat site. Some people must have been watching Survivor Man because they built a two sided shelter out of pine branches at our camp. They did a pretty good job. The trail was really rugged, particularly Humpback Trail. Wow, lots of tough uphill stretches and huge boulders to climb over. At one point we had to sit down on a big boulder and slide down. Banged up my shin real good and twisted my ankle a couple times along the way too...OUCH!:eek: I was pretty beat by the end of the trip but it was worth it. I was really glad to have the hammock on this trip. It rained all night Saturday night and it was nice not to have to pack up muddy gear the next morning. My cousin had a tent and his gear was covered in mud and dirt. I was packed up in less than half the time it took him and I didn't even get my hands dirty. How cool is that! :cool: Will add few pics to my gallery.

Sounds like a great time. A buddy from work and I were at the Caribou Falls site on the SHT and it rained pretty hard most of the night. Stayed high and dry under the Speer Winter Tarp in the Blackbird! The pitter-patter of the rain on the tarp makes for good reading and sleeping. You're also very right about packing up:laugh:, I remember the days.:( Are you going to make the Fall Hang?

Randy