Fits on the Road: Hiking in Willow River State Park

Go USA/Happy 4th of July- I definitely dressed the part today for work, donning every piece of red/white/blue I own. Overboard? Failed Fit?  I also enjoyed a red/white/blue bomb pop at the office as part of the soccer viewing activities. So good...

Are you a big soccer fan? I will be honest that I am not, but a lot of my coworkers are, so its easy to get caught up in the excitement.

So let me change topics here from soccer to hiking!

Last Sunday, we took advantage of the gorgeous summer weather and drove to Willow River State Park. Located in Hudson, Wisconsin, this park is about a 45 minute drive from Minneapolis. My friend Vicki (an avid hiker with lots of good advice!) had told us we should check this park out with Matilda, particularly because of the cool waterfall there. 

The daily fee to enter the park was $10, and the park ranger gave us a helpful map of the trails upon arrival. We drove about five minutes into the park before we parked our car and headed out for a hike. 

The trail we took was about 2 miles long to get to the waterfall. It was mostly shaded and had nice views of the nearby lake.

We could definitely hear the waterfall before we could see it; with all the recent rainfall, it was really moving fast!

Vicki had told me that they went swimming by the falls when she was at this park last summer, but the water was just too wild to swim this year. There were a few brave souls wading in the shallow areas on the sides, but most people just hiked around the water for the view. I'd love to come back when we could swim there!

Matilda seemed to enjoy her first waterfall.

A family photo at Willow River State Park.

I posted HERE with some tips for hiking with your dog. As a reminder, we are always sure to bring plenty of water for her. We also checked her for ticks afterwards, in addition to using Frontline.

More recently, we have to be sure to keep an eye out for the blue-green algae that has been blooming on some Minnesota lakes. Read this article for more information on what you should be looking out for. This algae is highly toxic to dogs, so you really want to be sure to avoid it. There were signs up at the park warning patrons of this algae in standing waters, so we did not let Tilda get in the water.

The trails we walked were all very easy. There were some more challenging trails in the park, but we only had limited time. We will have to come back to check out more of this cool state park. The campsites looked pretty nice too, so we discussed potentially camping here for a night as well this summer.

More things to add to my Minneapolis Summer Bucket List!

Have you been to Willow River? Did you go swimming in the pools by the falls?

Fits On the Road: Frozen Minnehaha Falls!

I may complain a lot about the Minnesota winter this year, but its not ALL bad. In fact, on Sunday, after returning from Anandale (where I was for all the bachelorette fun) Dustin and I took Matilda to the Minnehaha dog park....Yes, she is wearing a cowl neck sweater. The Right Fit in dog fashion?

By the way, today is Matilda's 5th birthday. She has brought so much joy to our lives over the past 5 years...we love that furry pup!

She had a great time racing around in the snow, despite the cold temperatures.

After Tilda wore herself out, we headed over to Minnehaha Falls. I had seen a few other people's pictures of the frozen falls, so I knew that I needed to see them for myself. 

Tilda found them fascinating as well!

The hike down to the falls was actually kind of treacherous. I would suggest wearing snowpants, and boots with good traction, or maybe even a pair of Yak Trax. Someone has put up some temporary rope to hold onto when you climb down, but its still pretty dicey! Be careful, but give it a go, because its definitely worth it. Here are just a few of the awesome pictures we took from underneath the falls.

Pretty amazing, right?

Gorgeous.

I suppose this makes winter a little bit more bearable.

If you have time before spring arrives (if it EVER arrives), head to Minnehaha Falls for a quick little hike for some awesome views, courtesy of Mother Nature.

Hey- did you do your 20 old school sit-ups today? I did! Actually, I did them as part of a kettlebell class at Balance Fitness tonight. We did 5 sets of 20, so I think I'm good for today's challenge. Let me know how you did!

Fits on the Road: Exploring Oregon by Foot- Part 1

By Cool J in Minneapolis

Home sweet home! I love to travel, but it's always nice to settle back into home, especially when you have this sweet face to greet you. We sure missed this girl.

So now I'm settled in, catching up on the TiVo, and ready to share all the Fits on the Road we found in Oregon. Dustin said we covered planes, trains, and automobiles on this trip, but actually, I think we did the majority of our exploring by FOOT!

Newport!
First and foremost, we explored 26.2 miles of the coastal town of Newport. It was a beautiful foot tour- one that only took Dustin 3 hours and 17 minutes to complete. My husband is so speedy! Me? A little longer.

Cape Perpetua!

The day after the marathon, we departed Newport, and headed down the coast. We made a stop in the Siuslaw National Forest for some hiking. 

The hiking here was not very tough, but with our sore marathon legs, it definitely felt a little challenging! 

The guide at the visitor's center gave us a map, and pointed us in the direction of a few 1-2 mile hikes. The trails were clearly marked, and the scenery was very pretty. It actually felt great to stretch our legs out a bit.

A few of the sights, such as spouting horn, were not visible for us. Apparently, the coast wasn't windy and wild enough that day. I would still recommend making a quick stop at Cape Perpetua if you're ever in the area, though it's probably not worth a separate trip.

Crater Lake National Park

Crater Lake National Park was the highlight of our trip. Upon our first view of the lake, the three of us seriously all said, "WOW" at the same time. It's that kind of a view. 

Well, let me clarify- it's always a beautiful view, but it's the most breathtaking in the summer, when you can approach it from the north entrance.

The north entrance had just opened a few days before we arrived. It's not plowed in the winter, and yes, there was still snow there in June! In fact, Crater Rim Drive (the 33 mile road around the crater) wasn't fully open yet, so we weren't able to do a few of the hikes, nor could we take a boat ride in the lake, but there were still plenty of hikes open to us.

Crater Lake Lodge:

There is only one place to stay within Crater Lake National Park, and that is Crater Lake Lodge.

This hotel was built in the 1920's, and the rooms are small and expensive. Be forewarned- you have to book a room several months in advance. Plan ahead, or you won't be able to stay in the park. Though it was pricey, it was well worth it to wake up to such gorgeous views of the lake, and we were at the trailhead of plenty of fun hikes.

Our favorite hike was definitely "Garfield", which took us about 2 miles up the mountain, providing stunning vistas of the mountains and the vivid blue lake.

This "Garfield" hike definitely gained some altitude, and we were all breathing heavily as we progressed. You wouldn't have guessed we were the same people who had just run a marathon two days before. We were struggling!

Hiking at altitude is tough!

Time for a quick breather!

The ground was covered in these strange icy mud crystals. They crunched loudly under our feet!

Rogue Gorge

After hiking around Crater Lake, we left the park to check out the Rogue River Valley. There, we took a short hike around Rogue Gorge. The Rogue Gorge is a very narrow passage way for the Rogue River.

There were longer hikes around this area, but we only briefly stopped for a few pictures.

Afterwards, we moved onwards to the "Natural Bridge." The Natural Bridge is a point where the Rogue River travels underground through volcanic tunnels, making a "natural bridge" across the water. 

There were lots of trails to check out in this area, so here we headed out for a brisk and steep three mile hike along the river. We weren't really sure what trail we were on, and we started to get a little lost, but it was easy to find our way back- we just followed the river!

Lunch Recommendation Outside Crater Lake National Park: Beckie's!

After all that hiking, we had worked up quite an appetite. There aren't a lot of options in this neck of the woods, but we had been advised to check out "Beckie's" for an Oregon tradition of some homemade pie.

Yay for Beckie's homemade pie!

Mill Creek Falls Scenic Area:

After a tasty lunch at Beckie's, we needed one last hike. We drove a little further to the tiny town of Prospect.

We had been informed that there were some pretty waterfalls here, and we weren't disappointed! A short hike led us to a sequence of beautiful falls.

The hiking here was easy, but we needed to keep moving to burn off that tasty pie at Beckie's.

The same scenic area included the Avenue of the Giant Boulders. 

We weren't sure what to expect but it was actually pretty cool.

But watch out for snakes!

Stay tuned for part 2 of Fits on the Road in Oregon!

Fits on the Road: Hiking in Zion National Park

By: Cool J
After the St. George marathon (which was amazing, by the way) my husband and I spent the following day hiking in Zion National Park. Hiking the day after 26.2 was pretty silly. Our quads were extremely sore (all that up-and-downhill in the race is tough on the legs), so we weren't quite as limber as normal.
Hiking is definitely a workout for the legs and butt, and a great opportunity for you to explore.  Here are a few pictures from the hike:

Angel's Landing is a strenuous hike, not for those fearful of heights.

I didn't think I was afraid of heights, until I got about halfway up this part of the hike. With chains to hold onto, but total exposure on both sides, my already shaky quads just weren't stable enough to make it to the top.

Without the top portion of Angel's Landing, I feel that we did get to do plenty of hiking (about 6 straight hours of it!)

The park is gorgeous- the views were very motivating!

My husband hiding in one of the caves at the park.

Taking a little breather...

Emerald Pools

Sheer majesty...

Top: Lululemon
Shorts: J. Crew
Headback: BIC Bands
Sunglasses: H & M