Birthday week marches on, and so did Mom and I on the Minnetonka Loop Trail System. When we first moved back from Germany we lived with Gramma for a few months in Minnetonka and walked these trails a lot! The past few years we haven’t really been walking much at Gramma’s, so this was a fun little adventure for me and Mom.
Signs like this one are found all along the Minnetonka Loop Trail System, which is pretty big, covering some thirty three miles! Trails are usually about eight feet wide, can be dirt/gravel, or asphalt, and are intended for for walkers, joggers, and bikers. Police on bicycles do patrol the trails, and they are plowed in the winter, making them usable all year long. Roughly twenty percent of Minnetonka is wetlands or lakes, which explains whey so many trails seem to be near water or swampy areas.
The particular trail we took was about three miles and runs along Minnehaha Creek. Minnehaha means laughing water and this was the case for us. The creek which leads to the beautiful Minnehaha Falls in Minneapolis was laughing at us because it had overflowed its banks and made the trail impassable in some parts.
Railroad tracks cross over the Minnehaha Creek on a little bridge at the point where it was flooded. My mom is one determined individual, as am I, so we decided to climb up the small embankment to the rail road tracks to bypass the flooded portion of the trail. We were very careful to make sure no trains were coming. Mom grew up along these tracks and knows all about watching out for trains.
Did I mention swampland earlier? Behind me in this photo is one huge marsh next to the Minnehaha Creek.
Since the trails often cross water, the park department has built a lot of cute bridges to get people across the water. Mom and I both love these pretty wooden bridges.
Katie was always with us when we walked these trails. This was the first time Mom and I walked them without her. Bailie was home because Mom wanted to go alone with me. We talked a lot about Katie. Mom did lots of crying, but it was good. At one point I was laughing my furs off when Mom remembered the time she wanted to take a short cut and we ended up so very lost! Our walk took over three hours because Mom was so off! Katie and I had a lot of fun, though. That time was pre-blog, so we have no photos of Katie and I on these trails. Bailie has been on some of the Minnetonka Loop Trail System trails, like the one right by Gramma’s house.
At least if you get lost, you can usually find the railroad tracks and follow them to get to where you are going. There is plenty of room on the side to be safe in just in case a train comes along.
It was a fun walk for my birthday week, but it was getting a bit warm for me. Mom wouldn’t let me swim since the water looked dirty and was moving pretty fast. I was panting up a storm, and was happy to be back at the car. Only a few more days until my birthday, but I sure am enjoying my birthday week so far!
that looks like the best place ever to go exploring
It was a lot of fun.
What a beautiful pre birthday walk.
It was a lot of fun.
that was great to walk there while remembering your sister…. I like this place it looks very peaceful and perfect for long walks. The mama had a friend who grew up near rails and once the two girls placed a coin on the rail to see what will happen. Then both had a sleepless night haunted by fears they could be guilty for a train derailing… what crazy little monkeys they were once :o)
Mom used to play on the tracks a lot as a kid, or count the train cars.
Tongue out Thursday! It was nice you and your mom had a nice stroll down memories with Katie lane. XOXO Sparkle
It was a fun walk, and she loves to talk to me about Katie since we both loved her so much.
That looks like a super walk Emma, it sounds like it was good for you and mom to go to share memories of Katie together. We have another trail opening up this month, it’s connecting to other trails, future plans are to go as far north as the next county. We can’t wait to check it out. Love Dolly
We have so many trails, it’s impossible to get to them all, but we love exploring them.
That trail looks like it had lots of interesting things to see!
It is a fun trail with lots of different things to see.
A fun walk is a good birthday week activity. Don’t let your mom take too many pictures on the tracks. Even though she knows about them, I don’t want you to end up like a damsel in distress facing down a train! Yikes!
Love and licks,
Cupcake
She promised no flat Emmas!
Emma you know how to celebrate a bday!!
Hugs madi your bfff
I’ve got to burn some calories so I can eat a lot on my birthday.
That sounds like a wonderful outing in a beautiful place. We have a lot of train tracks around our trails here, too. They do make the best photo props, I think. 🙂
We’ve never done track photos before, but it is a nice setting.
Mom always wanted to visit Minnesota. We hear it’s a beautiful place
Lily & Edward
Most people dread coming here because of the winter, but once they are here, they don’t want to leave. We love it here, but it could be a bit more dog friendly.
What a wonderful activity for your birthday week, Emma. Those look like great well marked trails. We can’t believe there was high water there as we’ve had such a dry summer that everything is drying up around here! I remember the first times walking where I had taken Kobi – it was tough but good to enjoy the happy memories.
We are several inches above normal. I think for Sept. alone we are already an inch ahead.
It’s nice that you and Mom have some time alone to talk about Katie. She will always be in your hearts.
Mom and I share that special bond with Katie. Bailie didn’t have the chance to really bond as much with her.
What a beautimous trail system and it sounds like you and your Mama enjoeyd your hike…and reminiscing about Miss Katie.
Hugs!
Dory, Jakey, Arty & Bilbo
We had a very nice time together.
That looks like a fun trail! You might want to let mom know that most people actually don’t hear the train coming because of the way the railroads are set up. It’s actually quite dangerous and in most places illegal to take photos on train tracks. I only know this because I follow a lot of photographers and safety is a huge concern. We went for a walk near a railroad before and we didn’t hear the train coming until it was on top of us. The track is fenced off so we were safe but it completely quiet until it was right there.
The trains are real infrequent, and you can see a long ways away. Mom is always nervous on the tracks, but we were careful.
What a pawesome place to walk! You and your Mom sure do some great things!
We love adventures.
I love that my girlfriend is a rebel and walks the tracks! BOL! Minnehaha is one of my mom’s favorite names for a creek. It was the answer to what she thought was a hilarious joke when she was a kid. What do you call a little laugh…a minnehaha. I’m sure you’ve heard it a million times but it still makes her smile. ☺
Being surrounded by those names here, Mom said as kids they were always making jokes or playing hang man with those long silly names.
Looks like a fun walk!
We had a real nice time.
What a great birthday week you are having Emma. I’m sure it’s was good for mom to talk about Katie and to have a good cry, it’s good she had you with her to keep her on task.
I’ve been dealing with this sort of thing my whole like. She used to talk about her previous dog Trine with Katie and I and cry when we went places they used to go. I don’t mind.
What a great trail! I’ve never been to Minnetonka but need to tell my humans about this!!! 🙂
My mom grew up in that area, so she knows it pretty well. A lot of the trails have been there since she was a kid, but there are plenty of new ones as well.
Brown dawgs would have been all in that marsh for sure…lol. Looks like a great walk.
I wanted to get in, but Mom always holds me back.
Happy trails, Emma and even happier birthday walkies later on to a fellow Virgoan. 🙂
Thank you. Had a wonderful day, and I’m kind of worn out.