Interstate State Park

Last Sunday, the kids and I were going to take off to do some hiking in another state park.  Two of them were convinced to stay home (which I will get into that story soon, which will be fun), but Lukie is always up for something to do with me and being outside...

So he and I took off to Interstate State Park in Taylors Falls, right alongside the St. Croix River.  It's a park that we've been to before, we've never camped there but have spent some time, just not doing the hiking club trail...

It's also the first time I've been able to get a picture of the sign...

We got there just in time to fall in with a nature guided hike around the pothole area.  Here's Luke holding a corestone, which was originally thought to have carved the potholes.  Now it's much more likely that swirling eddies in a raging glacial outburst flood carved through the soft basalt and rocks caught inside became rounded and smooth (a corestone)....

It was cool that Lukie was able to answer a lot of questions that the guide asked...apparently he's actually been listening to me...

I even had to help the guide out when he was asked a couple of questions...I know enough geology to be dangerous...

We went in big potholes...

And found some sized just for Luke...

We explored cracks in the basalt...

And took our first picture (it was going to be a selfie...Lukie likes selfies...but someone volunteered to take a picture) out on Angle Rock...

From that point on, it was time for some hiking...we had a 3.5 mile trail to take and find the password we were looking for...but it came with some nice looks of the river...

Lukie saw this sign explained the geology of the area and said "dad...you're going to take a picture of this so you can read it later, right?"  Um... yes...yes I am...

Lots of overlooks looking at the St. Croix and Wisconsin beyond...

Someone even asked to take our picture again...I'm not a big fan of being in pictures, but okay...

Eventually, we found the password sign....we know the password...you don't...

Not that the hike was over yet...we still had to keep moving by going under the highway...

It wasn't too longer before Lukie and I went off-road...he was confused why we'd walk up a little creek off the trail....the reason why was so we could see this...

That now dry waterfall isn't whats cool...what's cool is Lukie is standing on 1.1 billion-year-old basalts of the Mid-Continent Rift System while about at his hip level is Cambrian Sandstones that are around 500 million-years old.

That's over 500 million years between those two points...and that's frickin cool...take that you 'young earthers'....

After getting back on the trail, we left it again to walk to this sign...

Minnesota's the best place in the world...why not welcome newcomers?

Back at the parking area, we checked out the paddleboats moving upstream...

And took a selfie (after almost 5 1/2 hours at the park in 85-90 temperatures)...

A good day...