February 1, 2025

Brush removal

Park staff have cleaned out overgrowth of willow and plum trees in several areas of the park. Here are two pictures of what was done around the irrigation pond recently.  Before the removal you could hardly see the lake with all the willows and reeds. Becky and I can remember when there was a trail around this pond and beautiful lobelia flowers were blooming along its shores. Hopefully some of them will come back.

Springs in the park

I was fascinated to see all the cascades of ice in several places around the park.  What little snow we had has mostly melted but water is flowing out of hillsides and forming ice flows in places I never have seen before.  Though there has been little precipitation of any kind for several months now there must be an abundance of underground water from large rains last fall and summer.  Some of these ice flows are springs from underground aquifers. Joanne Svendsen told me that the county has tried to direct the flow of the first spring shown below away from the road, so it does not form ice on the road going up the hill by the office.  Dan Merkel, owner of the farm just below the park, told me that there are many springs in the area and some farms in the valley use them for their water source and haven't even needed to drill a well., 

There is a big patch of ice on the trail leading to the southern bridge across the creek from the east. The Minnesota Department of Transportation did quite a bit of excavating in the valley leading to this trail over a year ago.  They replaced two culverts under highway 4 that link two ravines from the other side of the road into this valley.  I thought that water came from there but as you can see below the valley is dry from the road to where the little stream flows out onto the trail. The whole hillside on the south of this valley seems to be a spring that flows through this swampy area. I have shown this area many springs in this update because marsh marigolds cover this area with their beautiful yellow flowers.

There is a narrow little stream that flows most of the year.  You can see the narrow stream in both of the pictures below.  I could hear water flowing below the ice and as you can see it seems to flow out of the hill in the background and into the narrow channel. I did a video to show the extent of the flow.  Try this link to see this video.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/vbN2WDb3T8RmWGEEA

The stream has flooded over its pass and onto the trail and the whole area south of the trail.  It also may be part of the source of the water in the marshy area north of the trail.  There are lots of marsh marigolds there too in the late spring.

I am not sure why the creek below the south bridge is not frozen over but the creek below and around the north bridge (by the campgrounds) is frozen over.  I thought it was maybe the warmer water coming from the spring just described but after investigating it is unfrozen long before the bridge and this spring flows into the creek after the bridge. It must be that either there is another spring further upstream, or the water flows faster in this part of the creek.

In the middle of the campground across from the north bridge over the creek is an ice flow that I have never seen flowing into the edge of a campsite. I am not sure if this is a spring or a drainage pipe put in for some reason in the past.  I don't know why anyone would put a drainage pipe in that area.  Looking down the hill in the second picture toward the bridge, you can see a large pipe that may have been used to tap this spring if that is what it is.

Several streams through the ravines have ice covering their flow. They could be fed from springs or just be drainage water. The first one below is in the ravine that you cross to climb up to airplane hill. Notice the small bridge in the first picture that you cross over at the bottom of the trail to airplane hill. This stream and ravine starts at the marsh next to highway 4 at the top of the hill above the old primitive campground.

On the other side of the road going up from the north bridge to the old primitive campground is another stream that is flowing down and creating lots of ice.  The ice is all the way up the ravine but as you can see from the two pictures below it also flows into the valley and across the trail as well. I am not sure if the source again is a spring or drainage into the ravine above.  Be very careful walking on this ice.

Leave it to beaver

On the trail just west of the south bridge we saw evidence that a beaver had been busy cutting down small trees and eating bark off of some of them.  A number of years ago there was a beaver in this area that built a small dam and spent the winter in a makeshift lodge under some fallen trees.  It left in the spring and did not come back to this place at the curve in the creek just above the south bridge, This may be a beaver just roaming in for snacks from some trees in the area.  We saw similar trees cut off last year a little farther upstream.  Then and now we never saw the beaver or a dam or lodge. We had a similar roaming beaver that came to the pond near Fairfax for the winter and lived in a culvert under highway 4. I noticed that I did a short thing on beavers in the February 11, 2022 Update and mentioned that the beaver built the dam and lodge on Fort Ridgely Creek in the winter of 2012.

CCC Stone Picnic tables and grills

Here is what I put on Facebook in the group Fairfax MN Depot Museum along with the pictures I posted.  Any information and pictures would be appreciated and posted in future updates. Joanne Svendsen gave me several hundred megabytes of pictures and publications about the CCC and VCC construction during the depression to wade through on a thumb drive.  I will put more information that I glean in future updates.

Does anyone have any memories when these grills and picnic tables were functional and being used at Fort Ridgely?  They are found north of the old bathroom and shower across the creek from the campground. There are at least 4 tables and two grills.  I assume they were built during the depression at the same time as other rock picnic shelters and rock buildings.  There must have been wooden tabletops and planks for chairs.  The bolts that held the wood are evident and some decayed wood that may have been a seat plank is visible in the first picture. Pictures, paintings or drawings of people using them would be great. I hope to do an article about them in my next update for Fort Ridgely. 

I did a short similar article to this in the January 25, 2021 Update and called it 85+ Year Old Picnic Tables and Grills. There was also a pdf by Scott Kudelka, the DNR Naturalist at the time, included about the CCC and VCC stone structures in Fort Ridgely including these tables and grills.

Barred Owl Sighting

Driving home to Fairfax from New Ulm on the bottom road (21) to Fairfax, Brad saw an owl in a tree near the road.  We turned around and slowly approached the place with our cameras set to take pictures. Becky, Brad and I all took pictures of the owl and it stayed in the tree for several minutes before flying off into  the woods. Brad got the best pictures and here are the best after I cropped them.

Candlelight Walk on February 8

Don't forget that this is coming up this Saturday.  Joanne is concerned since there is a fire ban due to the dry conditions and unless it rains or snows, the normal candles would not be permitted.  She has ordered tea light battery-operated candles, but they are not as bright as regular candles. If you have a headlamp, it may be a good idea to wear it that night.  Here is the description on the website.

Get outside this winter and see the wonders of Fort Ridgely State Park at night, with hundreds of candle luminaries to light your way through some of the most scenic trails. There will be two loops to choose from to create your own adventure for a truly unique winter experience! Warm up and spend time with friends and family over campfires and enjoy free hot chocolate available at the Chalet.

The self-guided trails are available anytime from 5 to 8 p.m. The first loop is about 1 mile and features rolling hills and the second loop is less than 1 mile and relatively flat and open. Please dress for the weather and wear sturdy and comfortable boots.

To join, please meet at the Chalet or the Upper Picnic Area.

The program is free to attend but requires a valid Minnesota State Parks Vehicle Permit. These may be bought online at MN DNR State Parks Vehicle Permit or at the park office.