Root River Ride

Friday, September 10, 2010

We started out pretty early from Madison, I think it was around 4 pm. Jill had finished her work duties early and I had the day off. The drive up the interstate was easy, with no traffic tie-ups. It was smooth sailing all the way up to LaCrosse. Near LaCrosse, I stopped at one of my former Coworker’s house. Gary wasn’t at home, so I left a note for him.

Before proceeding any further, we decided to call the hotel we were staying at to see if they had a room available for the night. We had already reserved a room for Saturday night, but we had not reserved a room for Friday because we were not sure everything would work out for Friday night. I called Loken’s Sawmill Inn in Houston, Minnesota, and they had a room available, so we proceeded on. Otherwise, we would have gotten a room in LaCrosse.

So we headed across the big bridge into Minnesota. We stopped at the Visitor’s Center and picked up some maps and information. Then we headed down through LaCresent and turned into the Root River Valley at Hokah. Immediately I knew that this was a very scenic valley. It had big bluff on each side, farm fields, wetlands and of course, the Root River.

We traveled down the very scenic highway 16. Soon, we were approaching Houston. I told Jill to look for Cedar Street, which is the street the hotel is on. But as soon as we got into town, Jill saw the hotel on the right hand side of the street. So, we were already on Cedar Street. But, I had overshot the hotel, so we decided to take a quick tour of the town of Houston. We went downtown and turned to see the trailhead, then went back to the Hotel. We checked into a Jacuzzi suite, which was really nice. Besides the Jacuzzi, it had a little kitchen room with a small refrigerator and microwave. Plus it had a long wall area where we could park our bikes inside the room. Evidently, the room was made especially with bike riders in mind. The room had a sliding glass door, which went out to a little patio area next to the parking lot where the van was parked.

I really wanted to go on a bike ride. So I convinced Jill to go on a ride so we could eat. We rode into downtown Houston, and stopped at the American Legion. Surely, they would have food, I thought, but they didn’t. But the bar patrons directed us to a couple other places that has food. There was the German place next door, but they closed at 7, and then there was JT’s Bar and Grill about a block away. It was 6:50 and we didn’t want to barge into the German Restaurant right when they were closing, so we decided to go to JT’s

JT’s is a very nice bar. It has a rustic sports bar feel to it. There were two other couples there when we arrived. So it seemed like a place where couples went. Both Jill and I ordered the Chicken Sandwich. We started a conversation with the bartender, who happened to have lived in Madison in the summer of 2009. He was a younger guy with blonde hair. He said he was trying to start a band in Madison, but it didn’t work out and he couldn’t find a job.

We ate our chicken sandwiches and drank some beer. Everything was good. We headed back to the hotel using a back street that had no traffic. This would soon become our favorite little street to take us to the Trailhead. We got to the hotel and tried out the Jacuzzi, then had a good night’s sleep.

Saturday, September 10, 2010

We didn’t get up particularly early. We decided to eat some muffins and fruit that Jill had brought. By the time we started biking it was around 9 am. We biked down our favorite little side street to the Trailhead. We went in the Trailhead/Nature Center Building and got a map of the trail. The whole trailhead area was really nice. There is a park behind the Trailhead building where I saw some people tent camping. I didn’t see any place for RV’s to park, but I saw 3 or 4 tents set up at different places in the park and there is a park shelter with picnic tables.

Jill and I decided to take some photos for the start of the trip. I set up the timer, and we got some shots of us on the bike trail with the word “Houston” in the background, which was written on top of a nearby bluff. We headed out. The trail starts out on a flood control levee with some beautiful wildflowers along the trail. Soon we see the Root River to the right of us, and soybean fields to the left of us. The trail travels in some small wood next to the river for the next couple of miles. You can see very beautiful bluffs on each side of the valley. One bluff was pointed, and almost looked like a pyramid.

We started see little yard signs for an Alzheimer’s Memory Walk. We figured we needed to watch out for some approaching walkers. Eventually, the trail veered away from the river and we came upon a campground where I could see several RV’s parked. As we approached the campground, we met up with several people walking for the Memory Walk. We stopped to say hi, and ask if they were participating in the Memory Walk. One of the people made a little joke that they were okay with walking, but they forget where they are going.

The campground is called the Cushon’s Peak Campground, and at its entrance is the beginning of a big uphill stretch of the trail. The Trail Map had warned us that there were “relatively steep” hills in this area. I had to get off my bike and walk for a ways. The trail is very straight here. When we got to the top of the hill, there was a nice white house with an old tractor sitting in the yard as a yard ornament. I took a photo of it.

On the top of the hill the trail travels next to Highway 16 Soon we got to a sign that said “Caution, Steep Grade, Stay Right.” Then the trail veers away from Highway 16 and goes downhill behind two houses. It is pretty straight for a ways, but then it has a series of downhill curves. I can see why they want you to stay right, because visibility is limited around those curves, and you are traveling at a pretty good rate. Soon, we made it down the hill and were again traveling with Highway 16 directly to our left and a soybean field directly to our right. At the end of the soybean field, the trail takes a 90-degree turn and travels along the western edge of the field with a tree line to the left. Soon I could see that there was a big bridge crossing the river ahead. And it was a big bridge, as far as bicycle trail bridges are concern. I’d say it must be at least 75 yards long. It had metal beams and wood planking. We stopped on the bridge, and that’s where we met Joy and Jeff from Rushford. Joy took a photo of Jill and I on the bridge. I took a photo of Joy and Jeff and gave them one of my “I Saw Tman” Cards.

Joy was riding her bike, but Jeff was just out for a walk. He was just dropping off Joy, so she could ride back to Rushford. I was taking photos from the bridge. Meanwhile, Jill was talking to Joy about a place in Rushford to eat. It was called the Hoiland Mill, and Joy was giving Jill directions to it. Evidently, it had just opened up, and Jeff’s cousin owned the place. I was busy taking photos and not paying very much attention to the conversation.

We continued on and after the bridge soon reached a junction. The Root River Trail went to the left and to the right down a paved trail was a picnic area. This is where the Root River Trail becomes a Rail Trail. The previous 6 miles from Houston was not made on a railroad bed. That’s why there is a big hill. The sign said it was 6 miles to Rushford, so we were about half way. We headed down the trail with the Root River now to our left and some tall bluffs to our right. It was very scenic. The Root River is a very winding river. Sometimes over the next 6 miles we would have the river next to us, and sometimes we would have a farm field. Eventually, the River would wind its way back to the trail. We crossed a few creek bridges and saw some beautiful bluffs in this section. At one point we came upon a stone retaining wall next to the trail. It was an odd set up. It had a chain link fence holding the stone in place. I had never seen that before, but evidently it works.

Soon we could see a big bluff ahead with the word “Rushford” written on it, so we knew we were getting close. At this point Jill said that she wanted to go to the Hoiland Mill for Lunch, so I made up the saying that we were “A Hauling to the Hoiland.” We came to a long wooden bridge with wooden railings that crossed over Rushford Creek using an old railroad bridge as its base. There were a series of levees around the creek and houses on each side of the creek.

Within a couple blocks of the creek, we came to the main street in Rushford. There is an IGA Grocery store and a hardware store right next to the trail. Across the street is a bowling alley and The Creamery Restaurant that has ice cream and pizza. But Jill wanted to go to the Hoiland Mill, which was recommended to us by Joy. We traveled around downtown looking for the mill. I was taking photos of the churches and businesses. But we couldn’t find the mill. Jill didn’t remember the directions, and I wasn’t paying attention when Joy gave the directions. I would have paid more attention if I had known Jill was serious about going there. Soon we stopped at the depot next to the trail, which was now an information center. I asked the lady for directions, and she showed it to me on a map. The Mill was about six blocks away from downtown next to Rushford Creek.

We took a side street, which was parallel to the main street to get to the mill. But the side street had a hill. If we would have taken the main street, it didn’t have much of a hill because the hill dissipates within that block. We traveled down the six blocks and found the mill. Unfortunately, the streets near the mill was under construction, making it just that more hard to get to. It is an historic old brick mill about three stories tall. We were greeted by a Black Labrador dog, which evidently is the “Mill Dog.” He was very friendly. We were also greeted by the Mill owner, who was out checking on the dog.

We went into the mill where there is a new deli counter set up. They custom make each sandwich. You order the type of bread, meat, cheese and other toppings, and they make the sandwich. We grabbed our sandwiches and chocolate mill, and went into another room where the tables are. It was a good meal; in fact it was too much for us to eat, so we got a go box. We chatted with the owner who had just started the restaurant a few weeks ago. They were open only on weekends for now, but was hoping business would pick up so they could be open everyday. We said he would be selling pumpkins in a few weeks, and thought that would draw people to the mill. It definitely was a great place, and had a great porch and patio where you could dine also. We headed out, using the flatter main street to get back to the trail. I’m not sure what the name of the street is; all I know is that it’s the main drag in Rushford and is also Highway 43.

We made it back to the trail and headed west. We passed the American Legion and a small trailer court and we were out of town. The trail was flat and traveled along Highway 16 for a few miles. We had farm views for most of it, but then there is a big commercial building on the right side of the trail. It is the Tri-County Electric building, which is pretty new, and is one of the biggest buildings in the county.

After passing a really old farmstead, highway 16 turns away from the trail and now we are traveling with the Root River on our left and some bluffs to our right, again. Soon, we reach the small town of Petersen. As we get into town, there is a feed mill then there are two Bed And Breakfast Inns. At one of the B and B’s there is a picnic table set out for bike riders to use, we stopped there and took a break. I ate the rest of the sandwich we bought at the Hoiland Mill. Actually, the name of the restaurant is the Feed Mill Café. The mill building was called the Hoiland Mill.

As we were taking a break, I noticed that across the street some guys were loading up an old car. I walked across the street and asked the guys if it was a Studebaker, and they said it was. One of the men, the younger one in black, was buying it. He was from the twin cities. The older guy that looked to be in his 50’s was selling it. They were going to be pushing it on a car hauler, so I helped out. Our break was over and we headed out of Petersen. On the way out, I noticed there was a city park through the trees next to the trail. Soon there was a grassy area and the park was right next to the trail. We stopped because there was a restroom building. It was a nice restroom considering the building was a plain little brick building. All they needed was some soap, otherwise everything was good. Down from the restroom was a series of RV camping spots. There was only one RV parked there, but it looked like it had enough room for about 10 RV’s. Also included in the park were a Park Shelter, Baseball Diamond and Playground Equipment. Beyond the park was a school and we couldn’t figure out if it was a High School or Elementary School. After using the facilities, we continued on down the trail.

It was less than 5 miles from Rushford to Petersen, but the next town Whalen, would be about 7 miles. As we continued, there was a big gravel pit to the right side of the trail and the Root River continued to wind around on the left. Eventually the River turned away from the trail and we came upon a really old farmstead on the left side of the trail. The outbuildings were made of logs, and the silo had a checkered pattern painted on it.But it had some modern amenities. It had a basketball hoop out near the trail which they actually was using the trail as part of the basketball court. I figured that would work out fine because on most days there would not be much traffic on the trail. But it might be hard to play basketball on weekends in the summer because of the bicycle traffic.

Soon the river was back on the left side of the trail, and we came upon a rather big Trailhead. There were at least ten cars parked there and there looked to be pit toilets, too. We also started to see some modern log buildings back in the distance. I figured this must be the Cedar Valley Resort because that’s what they looked like on the Internet. And sure enough, as we traveled down the trail we saw a bunch more of the modern log buildings, a Frisbee golf course, then the sign for the Cedar Valley Resort. We pulled in and Jill ate a snack in the shade while I went up to the office.

The Cedar Valley Resorts is on the outskirts of the small town of Whalen. We had already ridden our bikes 26 miles to get there. The Resort will give rides to people to get back to their cars. I called them a few days earlier, and they said it would be $15 per person to take us back to Houston from the resort. All we needed to do was call them a few hours ahead to arrange it. I walked up to the office, which was more like a little store with camping gear and groceries, plus they rented bikes and canoes. I tried to arrange a ride back to Houston in a few hours. I figured Jill and I could ride down to Lanesboro and back, and then get the ride back to Houston. Or we could ride all the way to Fountain, and have them pick us up there. It would cost more, but might work out. But the gal in the store said the rest of her family was gone on vacation, and that there was nobody around to give us a ride. But she contacted Dan at River Rat’s Outfitters in Lanesboro about giving us a ride. He said it would be $50 from Lanesboro to Houston, or $70 from Fountain to Houston for the shuttle, and he said it was all uphill from Lanesboro to Fountain.

I went back to the spot where Jill was and discussed it with her. We were tired but she thought we should be able to make it back to Houston on our bikes, if we took it easy. It was about 2:30 pm, so she thought we had enough time to make it back before dark. I called Dan back and said we would be biking back to Houston, but if we have trouble that we would call him. Before we headed back, I wanted to bike through Whalen to see what it was like. So we biked down about three blocks to where there is the Aroma Pie Shop. It seemed like a really happening place because there were people sitting outside on some picnic tables and also inside the restaurant. We continued on down to the city park where there was people camping right in the middle of the town. I thought this was an unusual arrangement, but it seemed to work. There was also a picnic shelter and playground at the park. And down the block there is a museum. After taking the very short tour, we headed back to the east on the trail. We biked past the Cedar Valley Resort, which looked like a really nice place. I should have double-checked with them about the ride, but you live and learn. We passed the trailhead and quaint little farm with the log outbuildings. This time I got some photos of the farm, I passed the farm without getting a photo before. That was pretty much the theme for the ride back. I would take photos of stuff I didn’t take photos of the first time around.

We stopped at the Petersen Park again to go to the bathroom. Then we decided to ride around Petersen. We rode past a little bandstand and then we found Geneva’s Hideaway Ice Cream Shop and we stopped. We each had a cone which some chocolate in it. We talked with the owner, who said the building in back of the Ice Cream Shop used to be an Apartment building but they converted it to a hotel. The shop also sells sandwiches and rents canoes and tubes. I’m not sure if the rent bikes.

Next to Geneva’s Hideaway is a Railroad Depot that is now the town Museum. We went down and looked around. There is the old depot building, and then behind it is a newer building attached by a walkway. The Depot building has mostly old photographs and relics from the town history. The new building has more recent displays including a military display with actual uniforms from several People from Petersen who were in the Services. It also had memorabilia from Petersen High School, which closed down when the Rushford and Petersen School Districts combined. The School we saw in Petersen was the old High School, which is now a middle school. The Museum also had a John Deer e bike that was painted green and yellow. We got some people to take a photo of us at the depot. Then we headed for Rushford.

I felt pretty good after having that Ice Cream Cone. We were making good time getting to Rushford. As we were nearing the town, I looked at the bluff behind Rushford and saw some people standing up there behind a cement railing. I showed Jill it, and said there must be some way of getting up there. But we wouldn’t be trying to do that with our bikes. We stopped at the Rushford Depot to rest. I took some photos of the little historic building they had moved there. One was the old jail. Jill took a photo of me pretending to be escaping from the Jail. I decided to go over to the Creamery and get another Ice Cream Cone, while Jill rested. I got the cone, and noticed that the Restaurant was open until 10 pm. Then we headed down the trail again.

We made pretty good time. We stopped once to find the camping shelter that is shown on the map right before the big bridge. Jill had seen the roof from the trail, but it was down a path and pretty secluded. We continued across the big bridge, where we knew we had 6 miles left and one big hill yet. I went up the hill without having to get off my bike and walk. Then we flew down the hill passing the campground. We biked along the river again and on the levee back to Houston. When we got to Houston, Jill wanted to take some photos of the flowers at the Nature Center Park, so we stopped. Then I took a photo of Jill hugging the 42-mile marker post. We had completed 52 miles.

We passed the Trailhead Building and took our favorite little side street back to the hotel. It was getting dark. I had my bike lights on. We put the bikes in the hotel room along the long hall, then took a shower and hopped in the Jacuzzi. That felt good.

We rested then decided around 7:30 that we would go out to eat. We thought that the only place in Houston that would be open late was JT’s Bar and Grill. We like experiencing new places when we go places, so we decided to go for a pizza at the Creamery in Rushford. We drove into Rushford and ordered a meat pizza, without the pepperoni. So it was a sausage, bacon and hamburger pizza. They serve beer at the Creamery, which surprised us, so Jill had a beer. It turns out that the Creamery and the Bowling Alley are connected and are part of the same business. It seemed to take a long time for that pizza to get ready. We read the paper and some travel brochures. I was really hungry, and it was taking a longer than I thought it should. But finally the pizza came and it was worth the wait. It was really good. I was hungry and ate 5 slices of pizza and Jill only had 3 slices, which was fine with her.

We went back to Houston, and to our surprise, the Sub Zero Pizza and Sub Restaurant was still open, and it was almost 10 pm. I guess we were wrong about JT’s being the only place open late for food. We went back to the Hotel and used the Jacuzzi one more time, then slept like a baby.

Sunday, September 11, 2010

We woke up at a reasonable time and started getting packed up. I put the bikes in the van, and then we ate breakfast, which again was a muffin and some fruit. I was still pretty full from eating all the pizza late the night before. Then we packed up our snacks for the day, and our personal gear. Jill turned in the room keys, and we were on our way. Loken’s Sawmill Inn was definitely a nice place to stay. Plus, it was a pretty good price, around $85 a night for a Jacuzzi suite.

We headed down Highway 16 to Rushford. At Rushford, we decided to drive up to the overlook that we had seen while biking the day before. The waitress at the Creamery Restaurant had given us directions the night before. We drove out of town on Highway 30 and we found the sign that said Scenic Overlook. We turned on the paved road and went up fairly steep for about a half a mile, where there is a house. Then the road turns into a gravel road and it climbs steeply for another half a mile until we reached a bluff top park. The park had picnic shelters and pit toilets, and lots of grassy areas. It was quite big. We parked at one of the turnarounds, and walked down to the overlook. The had a cement wall at the overlook about 3 feet high. It was a great overlook of Rushford, looking south at the southern part of the town. Jill decided to sit on the cement wall to write in her journal. I sure hope she isn’t writing anything bad about me in there. But the way she describes it, it’s more like a letter to God each day. I let her have some peace and I walked down to another overlook where you could see all of Rushford. You could look north, up the Rushford Creek valley and see the newer parts of the town. I took photos at both of the overlooks. I went up to the first overlook and Jill was finishing up her writing. So we walked up to the van and headed out. We went back in to Rushford on Highway 30 then headed west on Highway 16. We reached Petersen fairly soon, but it took a while to get to Whalen. Highway 16 generally travels on the south side of the Root River while the Root River Trail travels on the north side of the river.

We made it down to Whalen, and decided to park on the street in front of some houses. There was a nice gravel shoulder next to the street that looked like it was made for parking. There was no other place around with a gravel shoulder, so we thought this was the designated parking spot. There seemed to be plenty of spots in front of these four houses to park. In fact, some of the houses looked like they may be vacation homes, and not presently occupied. The house where right across from the park where the bike path goes through.

Well, we unloaded our bikes, and were about to get going when a boy came to the door of one of the houses and shouted at us that this was not a Parking Lot. I asked the boy where we are supposed to park, and he pointed over by the park across the street. I really didn’t want to argue with the boy, saying that it is a public street so I should be able to park here. So I moved the van down around the corner and parked it on the grass next to the Park Shelter. Hopefully this would be satisfactory. I really didn’t want to come back to my van and have all the tires deflated.

Jill and I discussed the incident as we biked. She said that they must get tired of people parking in front of their house. But, I said having the boy come out and yell at us was a really backwards thing to do. And the boy kind of reminded me of the boy in the movie Deliverance. When I lived in Sun Prairie our house was a half a block from Main Street and about one block from the High School. Every time there was a football game or parade, there would always be people parking in front of our house. So what’s the big deal? The whole incident in Whalen rubbed me the wrong way. Sending the boy out to yell at us just makes it seem that there are a bunch of backwards people living there that get upset over petty little things.

We passed a Miniature Golf Course on the outskirts of Whalen, and then headed down the Trail with the River on our right side and woods to our left. After a little ways, we could see a fairly big campground on the other side of the river. Soon we came upon a three-side Adirondack shelter for camping. The Trail went along the river for a long ways, along a big curve in the river. Then the trail veered away from the river and went next to a farm field where there was big rolls of hay every so often in the field. After that we went past a gravel pit and a house with a big mowed yard. Ahead I could se a big bridge with a trestle overhead. When we got to the big, there was a sign saying it was the convergence of the Root River with the South Branch of the Root River. And sure enough as we crossed the bridge I could see the piece of land where the river split. I’d guess you’d call it the fork in the river. After we cross the bridge there was a section of the trail where there was a river on each side of the trail. It’s a cool stretch of the trail. I tried to get a photo of both rivers and the bike trail. This might be a good spot for a panoramic photo. We continued on towards Lanesboro. We passed a farm with some old junky trucks and we also passed a campground. Maybe it’s a municipal campground, I’m not sure. We crossed another river bridge and we were in Lanesboro. The first thing you see when coming into town is a big roof of a building on the right hand side of the trail. We figured that it must be some type of stockyard, least that’s what it looked like.

Soon we made it up to a main street of Lanesboro. We stopped at the street and noticed there was a depot building across the street that now served as a trail building. So we crossed the street and stopped at the building. We were in the middle of a very rustic downtown area of Lanesboro. It’s a nice depot building with new bathrooms and plenty of spots to park your bike. Near the depot is a sign written in white bricks on an embankment that said Lanesboro. Jill took a photo of me by it.