Big Bog State Recreation Area

—Big Bog State Recreation Area—

Waskish, MN

After a long hiatus (over a month), we are back to working on the Avian Adventure... The clock has started to tick down with only 6 weeks remaining until the DNR removes the geocaches, and we are NOT going to miss it.    This was a BIG weekend, and it all started at Big Bog State Recreation Area.                                                     I have to be honest that I had really low expectations for this rec area.  It had two things going against it... (1) it was just a state recreation area, and (2) it was only started in 2006.  Boy, was I wrong!  It blew me away, and I am actually adding it to the short list of state-parks-to-revisit.                                        Here is what the Minnesota DNR has to say about this park: "Big Bog State Recreation Area has been called Minnesota's last true wilderness. This two-part recreation area includes a northern unit and a southern unit. The 500-square-mile peat bog, the largest in the lower 48 states, is located in the northern unit. A mile-long boardwalk, completed in 2005, enables visitors to get a first-hand look at the unique plant and animal life of this rare resource. The bog, which has long been a source of medicinal plants for the Ojibwe Indians, represented a barrier to European settlers who tried in vain to drain it. Today, many of the native plants, including yellow-eyed grass, bog rush and two kinds of sundews, are on Minnesota's endangered or threatened species list. From orchids to carnivorous plants to rare birds, visitors will see a mixture of fascinating and rare resources."

When we got to Big Bog we knew we had a sleeping boy, so Luke ran in to check out the facility.  It was actually really cool.  I stayed in the car with Marcus.  When Luke came out he decided to check out the fire tower while I hung out and read about the park—I think I got the short straw on this one.  His view was pretty awesome from up there.                                                                                                          

 

 

Vonnie and Marcus in the car below.

Check out the view of Upper Red Lake from the top of the tower.

Not quite peak colors yet!  (As we drove north we fast-forwarded into deeper autumn colors.)

 When he got back to the car, we headed to the beginning of the geocache – which was actually a long way up the road.  Big Bog State Park Recreation Area—it is almost a state park!—is broken into two units: the fire tower and ranger station is in the south, and the "Big Bog" and the geocache challenge are in the north unit.  The good news is that they are not far apart, and on the way, Marcus woke up!

 

 This park is in really good condition because all of the facilities, and its resources are only a few years old.  When we got the new location, we all go out of the car.  Marcus was a tad bit groggy still.

 It didn't take us long to find the first location.  There was ONE thing that was strange.  This is the first time (that I remember) that we have not seen the Avian Geocache signs.  It actually almost made me wonder if this was the RIGHT geocache, but it was the only set of coordinates that I could find.

 

 We entered the coordinates, and off into the big bog we went...

Isn't he cute here?...

 After a bit we made it to the spot where the GPS brought us, and we looked EVERYWHERE...

In the woods, on the trees... and we couldn't find a thing.

Luke even ran back to see if I typed the coordinates in wrong... (we usually enter the coordinates independently and both have GPSs: he has the trusty old standard-issue yellow Garmin, I have my cell phone app with maps on it)

 He came back, and I did do it right, but we still couldn't find anything.  I started reading all of the logs on the geocaching website and quickly learned we were not alone.  Many people could not find this one... eventually I found a log that stated they had put a picture of the next set of coordinates in the photo section... so we looked it up... I know it is technically cheating, but we looked everywhere to no avail.  When I saw the picture I knew I had not seen anything like it, so it was a good thing I checked to see what other people said.

We headed down the path towards our next stage.  When Marcus had gotten up, he insisted on wearing his boots, and for the first time EVER, he was better prepared for the wet and slippery trails than we were!

I was a bit jealous of his boots and dry feet...
"Have galoshes.  Will geocache."

When we got close to the next spot we started looking... and this ranger really did something I had not seen before...  A board on the ground with marker...

Good thing Luke saw it – I might have actually missed it.

  

Not the easiest thing to read: Sharpie on slimy wet plank.

Our adventure continued, but it was not far until our next and final stop.

 When we got there we could see a platform to overlook the lake... Marcus loved it!  According to the GPS, the Geocache was 60 feet from here.  Luke and Marcus climbed the platform while I looked around... and looked around...

 

 

 I found nothing close to where the actual coordinates brought me.  So I decided to head back to the boys... I also decided to investigate the platform a bit closer—we had had quite a few goecaches hidden on similar platforms after going up some stairs to an overlook... (Like Lake Carlos State Park's final geocache hiding spot under the lookout deck.)

 And there it was!!!!!  (It really is there in the shade.)

We were here.

We grabbed our cards, signed the logs, and headed back to the car.

 

On the way I decided to see if I could find the missing marker... I did but was about 50 feet from where it belonged... and not legible... Good thing we were able to get the information off of the website.

Sharpie on slimy wet rock.

I must admit, I want to go back to big bog to see the bog.  They have a one-mile-long bog walk that seems really cool.  I guess we will have to go back again!

 

Here are some last views of the lake!

Using the old digital camera a lot on this trip (with the wrong timestamp because we had to pull the batteries).  It still takes some really great pics.  For the next trip we might have to go back to it more.