We booked campsite 20 at Afton State Park. It was secluded, surrounded by trees, and atop a bluff overlooking the St. Croix river. It was perfect.
I read reviews before we left, and the general consensus was that the hike in to the campsite was a *strenuous* 3/4 of a mile.
At the risk of arrogance, I thought ‘how strenuous could a less than a mile hike possibly be?’ I was patient and waited to find out. The morning we left my 5 year old niece told me to be careful that no ghosts get me in the woods. When we arrived to check in the very friendly ladies working the counter asked, somewhat ominously, if we were prepared for the hike up to the campground. At the beginning of the trail no less than two women stopped us and remarked, incredulous, "are you camping overnight? In...*there*?"
At this point I'm 1000% certain this place is haunted.
We completed the hike to the campground. When we got to the top I was indeed sweating and breathing hard, but I think to call it strenuous is a bit of an overstatement. Pack light and you'll be absolutely fine.
It started to rain as we were chopping wood. Running through the prairie paths back to our site at twilight as the rain started coming down, our arms full of firewood, was breathtakingly fun.
I did manage to get a fire going in spite of the rain and cooked dinner: potatoes, mushrooms, asparagus, corn on the cob, and heirloom tomatoes chopped up into bite size pieces, seasoned with Old Bay, and roasted over the fire. The rain was coming down harder and we were getting soaked, but I was determined. I helped Matt into the tent and then cleared up our belongings for the night. Once the veggies were done I tossed them on a plate and ran through the rain to pass them to Matt. I stripped down to the bare minimum, hung my wet clothes on top of the tent, and crawled inside. After I dried off we sat cozy and safe, eating a yummy dinner while watching the rain from our tent windows.
It was one of the happiest moments of my life.
When we were ready for bed we snuggled together and fell asleep listening to Band of Horses, which brought back all the sweet memories of our honeymoon at Rocky Mountain National Park this time last year.
This trip, even with the rain, was one of the best nights of camping I've ever had.
We slept in, crawled out of the tent when we were good and ready, and battled the hordes of spiders that had taken up residence in our shoes overnight. I made coffee and we snacked on our special treats for breakfast (dates for me, tropical flavored swedish fish for Matt), and then packed up our gear to head home.
At no point was I visited by ghosts, so I think it’s safe.
We're home now. We hung our gear up to dry and are booking our next trip to Afton.
Location: Afton State Park
Hike to campground: Not strenuous
Coffee: Treehugger by Peace Coffee
Album: Infinite Arms by Band of Horses
Weather Conditions: Rain, cloudy, humid, rainy, 70s.
Wildlife seen: spiders, crickets, pill bugs, American Goldfinch, Monarch butterfly, squirrels.
Lessons Learned: Do bring an extra tarp if it’s rainy; don’t stick your hand inside your shoe to find out what’s in there -- use a stick; and you don’t need as much food as you think you need, but you do need plenty of water.
kaledo-art
prguitarman
discoholicmusic
kianamaiart
germansingergirl
areudirty
ellievsbear
