We took a walk at Jensen Lake on Wednesday afternoon. Work was a bit slow for Mom, and it was so nice out, we wanted to get outside and do something fun. Lebanon Hills is one of the Dakota County parks and it has so many great trails for walking any time of the year.
A cold front was coming in, but the weather was still nice for our walk, and in the woods, the wind isn’t so bad. Olivia and I are ready to hit the trails and do some sniffin’ and walkin’. It was in the upper twenties which makes the snow soft and helps it bond with our beards.
There are several portage spots around the lake. Unfortunately, we didn’t bring a canoe so we couldn’t paddle around. Now that I think about it, the lake is frozen, so canoeing would not work anyway.
On one end of the lake there is an island (behind us). In the summer we always wish we could go out there. Now the water is frozen, so we could walk over there. We didn’t get to try, though. Mom said she was afraid to go out on the ice more than a few feet just in case it isn’t safe. She is right, we definitely would not want to fall into the lake and not be able to get back out.
In the warmer months, there are a lot of wet areas along the walking path. A few years ago, they built wooden walkways over the areas to make the trails better. We love the way they curve around. In the winter they are snow and ice covered, but you can still see their form.
It looks like some beavers have been busy building a mansion! This is the only one we saw on the entire lake. It is fairly large and interesting to see. Mom would not let us go out to it, though.
Jensen Lake is always interesting for walking. We saw a small red squirrel racing around. Normally we only see gray squirrels, so we were pretty excited after that sighting! Most likely we won’t be back for a walk until springtime, but this winter walk was fun!
We are joining our friends at Living Laughing and Barking in Our Backyard is for their Nature Friday blog hop.
You lovely ladies are a glow with the sun and sparkles from the snow at Jensen Lake. What very fine pose is the first photo. Such crisp beautiful photos. OMDs do I 100% agree about Canada geese. Any time we walk on Shelley Lake trail close to the lake we have to remember how to play hopscotch. They are so messy. Often we call them Carolina Geese. There can’t be many remaining in Canada.
Hugs Cecilia
We are not far from Canada, so we have more then out share of those mean birds! At least they go away in the winter!
It never fails to surprise us (or please us) to see how many beautiful and natural areas surround where you live … a wanderer’s
dream …
We could walk forever I think. If only Mom had more time, but she has to work too.
your area is beautiful no matter what season… and you find the best places.. no wonder, you are da famous scent hounds ;O)
LOL! We love going out walking and exploring.
A girl just wants to have fun! Happy weekend!XOXO Sparkle
We all just want to have fun around here!
Getting outside for a nature walk with it’s pleasant out is the very best of walks. Great shots.
Have a woof woof day and weekend. Scritches all around an a big hug to your wonderful mom. ♥
Thank you. The outdoors are so nice and refreshing too.
Sounds like a wonderful winter walk. I’m glad you did not walk on the ice lake. That would make me very nervous.
People were out on it cross country skiing but Mom is not as adventurous as she used to be with ice she says. You just never know and it isn’t worth any risk.
What a beautiful Winter walk, I also love the way that, even though they are covered, you can still see(and walk on) the pretty boardwalk!
xoxo,
Rosy
PeeEss…Mama messed up and forgot to click a button for the blog hop. Thanks for linking back to us!
We couldn’t figure out how to get the linky so we just put our link on your blog and left it at that. Sometimes moms can be forgetful.
You girls sure do have the bestest adventures!
We all love to be out in nature when we can.
Wonderful places to walk! You girls are so lucky to have a mom that likes to keep in shape. VERY wise to stay OFF frozen lakes. They are dangerous!!!
Up here people even drive on the lakes but Mom is always afraid of something going wrong, so if we go on the ice, then never more than a few feet from shore.
That is a super interesting walk, and so beautifully illustrated with your photos. Gail wishes there were more wooden walkways over the boggy areas in Scotland. She also would not stray too far onto a frozen lake.
We hope one day to see a beaver in the wild in Scotland. They were extinct here but have been reintroduced in some areas, but not yet in our part of the country.
Happy Nature Friday.
Toodle pip!
Bertie.
Sometimes we see a beaver swimming in the summertime. They are pretty cool animals. Mom has been walking at this lake for 30 some years and it used to be super messy, but these days they really have it fixed up nicely.
I’m glad you had a fun walk girls. That last photo, oh my, those sweet faces!
Awww, thank you. We are mom’s sweeties.
A pretty day to walk in the snow sounds like the perfect mid-week break.
It is good to take a break and do something fun now and then. The weather was just right too.
We would love to have a truly winter walk with all the wonderful sniffs in snow and such, but we just don’t get that type of weather.
Thankfully this winter has been pretty good with lots of cold and snow. The past few years we had much more ice and it was often too warm.