Yellow River State Forest (Iowa)

Arrival

By the way, the Yellow River area is Southeast of Rochester, MN and north of Dubuque, IA. Its a couple miles west of the Mississippi, just North of State Hwy 76. From Rochester, the drive took us 'bout an hour & 45. If they didn't drive so damn slow in IA, it would've been quicker (I swear, some of the cars and drivers down there have never seen 55 mph). There are two car-campgrounds (with something like 175 spots), one horse campground and two 'pack-in' sites.

Despite planning, we didn't arrive until 5:30 or so Friday. I had hoped to hike in to the first pack-in site, about three miles from trailhead. Instead, we did the car-camp thing to avoid setting up in the dark. The car-camp sites are actually ok; we had a site right next to the Little Paint Creek, and downed wood was readily available for a fire. Other than the other yahoos blasting Huey Lewis & the News, it was decent; in fact the owls (barred owls, I think; real haunting) were not bothered by Huey & friends.

Day Two: Walk 'in'

The trailhead is nestled between two bluffs, where a creek has cut a trough. The trail criscrosses the dry creek bed, slowly climbing up to the top of the bluff. Not far from the trailhead, the trail splits. To the East, the firetower, and the nearer pack-in campsite (~3 miles from trailhead). to the West, a longer section of the loop, ending (for us) at the other backpacking campsite.

Despite being early May, the trees were only beginning to bud. In the creek-valley, just the 'floor' was showing signs of life; various mosses and groundcover were beginning to green. Up the valley 'walls' there were only dried leaves. It almost felt like fall. I was surprised at the lack of growth; apparently Iowa also suffered from the late spring this year.

The first real climb of the day underscored the lack of use of the hiking trail. The trail planners/maintenance crew doesn't know the term 'switchback'. Climbs and descents tended towards the vertical; when cut across the face, the trails were 'slanted' sideways, as though there were no real trail at all.

As the morning progressed, we wound through the woods on top of a bluff. At one point we scared a whitetail; all I saw was the 'flag' as it ran off. Parts of the trail also serve as snowmobile trails in winter and service roads in summer. There are a couple clearings in the woods where harvesting has taken place for the sawmill (right next to the trailhead). Not the most scenic of scenes, but beats the heck out of staying in the city.

Our first descent back to creek level was via one of these 'multi-use' trails. To say it was steep is an understatement; I'm not sure if my Jeep could climb it(heh, heh, yeah, right; of course it could!)! Anyway, I did like the variety of walking both on the bluffs and in the valleys. We'd been walking for somewhere between one & two miles and Melinda realized she'd need to pad her feet with moleskin. Apparently the Vasque's were not completely broken in.

For about three-quarters of a mile, we paralleled the Paint Creek, following an access road opposite the car-campground. The trail is at the base of a bluff, which is covered in trees and has occasional sandstone outcroppings. Quite pretty actually. There was one spot where a huge sandstone boulder had been split off the bluff by a tree's roots. It rolled down the incline and across the road but was stopped by a couple trees before rolling into the creek. The thing was a massive football-shaped block, about 7 feet long and four feet high. The path of destruction from its former home to its current resting place showed deep gouges in the ground and destroyed trees. There was no stopping this thing, until it lost momentum rolling across the flat road.

After walking along the base of the bluff, the trail takes a U-ey by going nearly straight up the side to access the 'scenic views' on the bluff top. This climb is rather taxing; no switchbacks on a poorly maintained trail. Sometimes it feels like your boots are going to slide out from under you. It sure makes the rest at the top that much more enjoyable though. At this point, the bluffs aren't super-high, but you do get a good perspective of where you've been. There are several 'views', all along the bluff top. Essentially we were on the opposite side of the valley that we'd started on. The trailhead & sawmill are visible, we could get a good idea of where he'd been walking; which valleys we went up or down and where we'd be going. It also turned out we found a good spot for Melinda to add some moleskin to her feet. Since we started late, we decided to postpone lunch a bit. The trail turns into the woods here, and the walking would be relatively flat again for a while.

Finding a decent place for lunch turned out to be a bit of a challenge. I was hoping to stop on a bluff-top with a 'scenic-view', but there wasn't really anything good at that point of the day. We kept walking, and ended up descending again; this time on a gravel road. It kinda sucked. Once again, a straght shot down a dry creek bed makes for a steep downhill. Walking on gravel isn't exactly ideal either. When the trail re-entered the woods we just rounded the first corner from the road and plopped down in the middle of the trail to cook our Ramen. While not exactly a gourmet delight, the noodles & MSG sure hit the spot. Its true, things do taste better in the woods. Melinda fixed her feet again and we were off.

Only a couple hundred yards more and we were at the Little Paint Creek car-campground (our previous night's camp). This part of the walk is one I could do without. We walked by a bunch of Winnebagos for a half mile, crossed a highway and followed a gravel road another half mile to the horse-campground. One cool thing though; after crossing the highway, the gravel road runs between bluffs and the creek. We saw several hawks soaring the updrafts. What was bizarre though, was a bunch of crows chasing a hawk! It looked like a snake or something was hanging from the hawk's talons, so it couldn't fight. The crows would chase it around, and come down from above claws first. We could only watch them for a minute or so before they flew out of sight.

We were running out of the water we got at the trailhead, so we stopped in the horse camp to fill up from the creek. The state implies that water is only available at the trailhead for backpackers, but I have a filter, so we felt pretty safe drinking creek water. From the horse area, the trail heads back into the woods. We were following another dry creek up the bluff. These things must really rage during storms; the erosion was intense - huge boulders bare in the middle, trees & logs jammed together in a few spots. Yet, except for a few puddles, they were dry when we were there.

In the case of the trail from the horse camp, its a pretty easy walk, for a while. About a half mile in, there is barbed wire across the creek with assorted 'No Trespassing' signs. At this point, the trail again turns straight uphill, paralleling the fence line. Hoo boy, this one is steep. Probably the steepest section of the trail, and felt like the longest uphill. Meanwhile, we can hear cows making strange noises. It was difficult to tell if they were mating, in pain or just being cows. If I'dve had the spare energy during the climb, I would've made the same sounds.

By the time we reached the top, we'd both had about enough, and were ready to camp & eat. According to the map, we would do a half loop around the top of the bluff, and find the campsite either at the top of, or partway down the next dry creek bed. Melinda's feet were pretty sore & slightly blistered, and I was ready to take the pack off for the day too. We actually set a decent pace around the small pine forest and through a brief grassy area in our urgency to find the camp. At the top of the valley I was saying 'According to the map it shouldn't be far at all...'

So much for the map. It really wasn't that far, but when you're expecting to see camp around every curve the trip takes forever. At least this part of the trail was wide and flat, in a side-to-side sense (front to back, steep, as usual). I think its also a snowmobile trail at that point.

When we reached the bottom of the bluff, I was beginning to get worried. Did we take a wrong turn? Follow the wrong trail? Is the map out of date? This would not have been the time for that kind of mistake. Fortunately, we found the site. Its actually quite nice; grassy with plenty of space for several groups. There was another tent, already set up, but no signs of life. We picked a spot a little farther from the trail, and couldn't really see them, so felt pretty alone.

The site is close to one of the logged sections, so plenty of downed wood was available for a fire. We were far enough though, that the blight wasn't visible. We still had plenty of daylight, so the first order of business was to take the boots off and stretch out on the sleeping pads for a few minutes. Ah, to be still and know that I didn't have to get up and put the pack on until morning. Before losing all motivation, we gathered firewood & setup the tent.

Weird Noises

The thing would sound off every once in awhile with that creepy yell and we'd wrack our brains to diagnose what the source of such noise could be. At one point, it sounded like a cross between a cat in heat and a wounded dog, certainly not quite like either one though. As we cooked dinner (A Lipton pasta meal; the directions call for milk, we made it once without, with marginal results. This time we brought powdered milk and it turned out great - lightweight & easy to make in one pot; almost good enough to eat at home), dusk turned to darker and the noise started to remind me of another night in the woods, with strange, foul, man-eating beasts wandering through the night... But thats another story.

Whatever the creature was, it eventually stopped and more usual noises came out; owls, a crackling campfire, gentle breezes whispering in the trees. Neither of us was up for a late night though, so not long after dark we turned in to the tent and passed out.

Several times in the night, I awoke to rain. Seemed like nothing was getting wet, so I turned over, hoped it would stop by morning and slumbered on. When the sky was getting light, I noticed the air was a little cooler than when we turned in. The feets is gettin' a bit chilly (my bag has the deluxe feature of a zipper around the foot pocket - which I love 'cause my feet are always hot), I should sit up and zip up; hmmm, if I sit up, the rest of me might get cold - maybe just roll over, ball up and hope thats sufficient. I went through this process a few times, and maybe managed a couple more winks in the process. Eventually though, I gave up and got up.

Creek Crossing

Anyway, I take the trail towards where the river should be, and find it after only about three hundred yards. Lookit' that, another access road, a parked car? Maybe those other two aren't backpackers... So much for the 'pack in' campsites. Anyway, I fill a couple Nalgene bottles and head back to camp for a little & breakfast. How can anyone camp without coffee? As an FYI, the Folgers bags (like tea bags) work great; they taste better than instant, and are nice and light to pack, being in individual packets instead of a jar. I have some oatmeal with the coffee, Melinda has the granola with the powdered milk; it looks ok (has raspberries!), so I have some too. Its quite good, actually; we found it in the bulk foods section of the supermarket.

While I was getting the water & messing with the stove for hot water, Melinda was doing the packup thing. She was all packed & doctoring her feet (more moleskin & tape) before I even had my sleeping pad deflated. I hurried to pack while she waited.

Despite the cool & overcast weather, I wore shorts, but put polartec on over the t-shirt. Melinda stayed with the long pants and two warm shirts. Amazingly, the pack didn't feel too bad on the sore hips & shoulders. It took awhile to ease the overall stiffness though.

We walked the quick trip back to the river, to find another parked car & a couple day-hiking. They looked at us like we were crazy hiking in shorts in this weather (mid forties?), I was certainly warm enough with the polartec & carrying the pack (maybe one day I'll weigh the thing). Anyway, not too much further, we found a bridge (for cars) half constructed. Looks like a sign on the other side of the river for the hiking trail... It's pretty obvious that the bridge is to replace a ford across the river. The water looks cold & deeper than my boots are high. Melinda's worried that the moleskin & tape on her feet would not survive a dunking, and the last of our supply is already on her feet.

Being the gallant guy I am, I offer to carry her & ferry the packs across in subsequent trips. Unfortunately, I don't have any creek crossing shoes - my pseudo-Birkenstocks are the only alternative. We both dump our packs, I replace my boots & socks with the sandals and Melinda hops on my back. Its just a couple steps to the water. Cold. The footing is also less than optimal; rocks slightly bigger than gravel, not too stable; but at least they're not slippery. I'm not sure if I could acclimate to the water that quickly or if the feet went numb right away. The water is mid-calf deep and flowing a little stronger than I expected. I almost trip a couple times when the toes of the sandles catch in the water, like paddles attached to my feet (of course, that may be appropriate, as some folks call my feet 'canoes'). When I deposit Melinda on the far bank, there's definate pins 'n needles in the feet. I contemplate leaving our packs there and coming back in the car. Melinda makes my decision for me; she wants to change from pants to shorts, so I've no option but to return for the packs. Cold. I decide one trip with two packs is easier than two trips.

We followed the sign that I mentioned earlier. Turns out we shouldn't have. We followed two edges of a field on a nice trail before I reviewed the map. Ooops. We were supposed to follow the service road along the river at this point. Fortunately, we could just cut across a third edge of the field and be back on the road.

The road generally followed the river, but hugged the bluff. We gained a little altitude which provided a view of sorts, through some trees. At this point, the bluffs were farther apart (maybe a mile?), with a marsh in between. The creek is at the base of the bluff we're on. There's not much color, with the late spring, nothings really green yet. The flat light mutes everything even more. The feeling is more remote though, this portion of the trail is pleasantly removed from highways and campsites. I think we followed the dirt road for about two miles before the hiking trail turned back through the woods.

Again, it was nice to get back into the woods. We were continuously ascending, but the rise was slight enough that we really didn't notice. This part of the park has much more undergrowth than any area we've passed through. At least the grass is green (on the trial), although not much else is. After a half mile or so, we stumbled across the other 'pack in' campsite. The nearest water to this one is more distant, maybe 3/4 mile. Overall, the site is pretty nice, a large grassy are amongst what appears to be an apple orchard. There are two fire rings and a couple logs to sit on. One drawback is that the trail cuts right through the middle of it. I suspect though, that the trail is pretty lightly travelled, so I doubt there would be much intrusion. Since we took the most direct route, we'd only walked 3 or 4 miles since breaking camp. I think that taking other trails could make it a nine or ten mile hike. It appears that those trails do not follow service roads, so should be a great walk.

We didn't even stop at the campsite, the day was young, we were relatively fresh and had had a large breakfast. Unfortunately, we didn't have much farther to walk before getting back on a gravel road. In this case, we'd follow it for somewhere between a half and a whole mile, climbing the whole time. The summit would put us near the fire tower, and only a mile or two from trailhead.

At the top, we stopped right where the trail leaves the road for the woods. The climb was fairly steep, and walking on the gravel was a bit jarring. We had some gorp (cashews, banana chips, dried apricots & dried apples) and water. This gorp recipe is pretty good, despite the lack of M&Ms and cheerios. Maybe the apple hunks were a little big & chewy, but overall, its a good mix for flavor and short & long term energy.

The trail from the fire tower back to trailhead is one of the good sections. An airy deciduous forest, little or no undergrowth. Its quiet, 'spacious' and peaceful. We followed the bluff top for awhile before turning down yet another dry-creek bed. This descent was more manageable than others, which we were quite ready for. This section seemed to take less time than I expected, maybe because it was easy, maybe because it was pleasant. Either way, both Melinda & I were glad to see the fork in the trail with an arrow pointing to 'Trailhead'. We were back in another creek bed, this one with green groundcover poking through the leaves. We passed through just a couple bends in the valley and were finished.

All told, day two was only about a 6 miler; day one was 10, maybe 11. If I were to do it all over, I'd arrive sooner on Friday, and hike the 2 or three miles to 'pack-in site two'. That would leave all day Saturday to take the trails we skipped. I suspect that those are pretty nice, cross country skiing trails instead of the roads that we were mostly on. Of course, that would leave a fairly long hike for Sunday. Its certainly do-able though.

Would I go back? Probably not. Once was enough and the scenery wasn't fantastic enough to warrant another trip. Would I reccomend it? Yes; for a nice weekend trip, its within range of Des Moines, Dubuque, Madison, Milwaukee, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Rockford and maybe Chicago. If the weather up North looks iffy (particularly in terms of cold/snow), the park is a pleasant enough area. It makes a nice 'shake down' trip to start the season; for a late fall trip, the leaf colors should be pretty nice.