Cabin Date Night

 As a Christmas gift for Shawn this year, I planned a night away at the Elk Lake cabin for us. (Time is a gift!) I had expected us to cross country ski, have a winter bonfire, maybe a snowy hike. But it wasn't the winter we expected.

So, instead - we went up this past Saturday. The boat was in, the sun was out, and it felt like summer in April.

Shawn has been wanting to kayak south of Little Elk Lake for quite some time, so he planned that adventure for Saturday. 

We dropped Logan off at a babysitting class, had Auntie KK come to Maple Grove, and set out on our adventure. We dropped a car off at County Road 15 at a boat launch in the Sand Dunes State Forest. We then drove back up to the cabin to put the kayaks in at the dock and head south.

The kayak on Elk Lake was nice since we were able to paddle so close to the shore. Most lots haven't put in their docks yet.

When we got to the dam on the south side of the lake, we pulled our kayaks out right next to it and put them back in to paddle under the road.

The next section was logistically tough. This was the Battle Brook section. There were a few downed trees and very thick brush to navigate through. We had to pull our kayaks out two times and climb over logs in place another time.

Once we made it through that section (which was short), the river opened up. It was beautiful.

However, the wind was very strong (gusts to 25mph!). It was so strong that it was stronger than the current! If you stopped paddling, you would either blow into the weeds along the river bank or go backwards. 

We made it all 12.9 miles from Little Elk Lake, through the Battle Brook, under County Road 4, down the St. Francis River to the boat launch where we parked the Jeep at County Road 15. Throughout this paddle through the Sherburne National Wildlife Refuge, we saw: eagles, sandhill cranes, geese, wood ducks, trumpeter swans, what we think were muskrat (3 of them!) and a couple turtles! That was pretty cool.

While it was definitely Type 2 fun, it was beautiful and nice to check something off Shawn's list together. 

After that excursion, we took the rest of the time at the lake pretty easy :) Our first stop was a visit to Lupulin Brewery in Big Lake (close to the boat launch) for a beer and gyros!

We did a boat cruise in the pontoon around the lake and then sat out on the patio at Ridgewood for wings and drinks. We hit 82 degrees for a high and we soaked up every bit of it.

On Sunday, I woke up early and was able to see the fiery sunrise on the lake and hear the critter chorus that went along with it. That never gets old. Once Shawn was up, we grabbed some coffee and took the pontoon out for another shoreline cruise while the lake was calm. We decided this needs to be a regular routine when we’re up there.

To make the most of our day, we reloaded on coffee and set out for a drive on the Prairie’s Edge Wildlife Loop. There was a nice spot to get out for a small hike, too. This is also in the Sherburne County National Wildlife Refuge.

Our last two stops before heading home were lunch on the Fore Season’s patio (great view, perfect weather) and a stop at Sunken Ship Brewing. 

Such a nice 2-day date. So thankful Mikayla was able to watch the boys for the night!