April 5th - Trail Report

Finally! - First trip on the Sakatah this year. Started at Lime Valley entrance in Mankato, the trail was completely clear, a few muddy spots and small ice patches at Sakatah State Park, but otherwise very nice. A little cross-wind on the way back to Mankato in the afternoon, but otherwise a warm splendid ride.

Trees were bare of leaves and flowers had not yet come up. Moss is green and grasses are starting to green up. Birds were the highlight on this trip. Cardinals and Chickadees are pairing up. Robins and Slate Colored Junco's were plentyful. There was a fairly large group of Junco's at the entrance to Madison Lake observed coming and going on the trail. Several sighings of Downy Woodpeckers. Between Elysian and Waterville the pond used last year was again inhabited by Canada Geese and Mallards.

Found a "treasure box" left by a little girl in Mankato. It was out in the open, so I decided to make it an informal Geocache for her. I added some trinkets, covered it with a bag and hid it more securely. Jaylyn Olsen will be happy to know that her geocache is now hidden at

N44 11.929 W 093 56.928 I plan on registering it at www.GeoCaching.com

I also stopped by my GeoCache and cleaned it up. It got exposed during the winter, and I checked it and resecured it.

Observed a group of 3 volunteers repairing Wood Duck houses at the Eagle Lake bridge. They do so as a hobby. I asked about the effectiveness of the program. One of the three told me that they have placed out 50 houses on Eagle Lake, and of those 50, have experienced a 60% occupancy. Spring work involves cleaning the house and repairing any damage caused by winter.

Trail restaurants are all open for business.

The trail itself has the usual spring trash. Some cleanup is needed. Alarmingly, over the winter several noticable cracks have been observed in the trail pavement. One very noticable one is at the base of the Highway-22 entrance, a long split an inch in width that extends for several yards. It is a very dangerous one since it can easily catch a wheel, and it is right where people entry the trail. The other two are after the bridge on Eagle Lake (always a problem spot) and a new one east of Elysian just outside of town. I am going to email the DNR and let them know about the cracks. Hopefully there is some money in the budget to fill the cracks before summer sets in.

Otherwise it was a great day, got a lot of new pictures, got some fresh air and even a little color for the sun. Can't wait til next time, we are getting close to spring ephemerals coming up.