It's kind of like Payson up here.Arizona Hiking

NORTHLAND ARBORETUM

Paul Bunyan Conservation Area, Brainerd, MN

Jack pine savanna

I hate being away from Arizona. Hate it. That's
because I miss my limitless hiking options. In Arizona, we can hike 365 days a year in myriad climes and terrain
such as deserts, alpine meadows, pine forests, creek side riparian zones, above
tree line, in world-class deep canyons, cedar-studded scrublands, high
elevation mountains and striking savannas. There's so much variety here, I've become a bit of a hiking
snob and have yet to find a place with as much trail diversity as the
Grand Canyon State. Still, I
occasionally must go out of town, and that means having to hike outside
my comfort zone.

While on a business trip this week to beautiful Brainerd
Minnesota, a lucky juxtaposition of the printing plant I was visiting and a
conservation area provided an opportunity to hit the trail.   Brainerd is a small-ish, but
strangely congested town on the Mississippi River.   Downtown is a grid of narrow, oak-lined streets populated with quilt shops and antique emporiums that give way to dusty railroad tracks
and frontage roads bolstered by big box retailers and chain restaurants. While idling in my rental car waiting
for a coal-laden train to pass, I saw the sign: "Paul Bunyan Trail", and my curiosity was
stoked. Happily, my work
assignment completed in time for me to spend a couple of hours exploring, that's when I discovered that the Paul Bunyan Trail is a long bike trail that begins just outside the arboretum. The arboretum includes property leased from The Nature Conservancy, so, given my limited time, I
decided to check out the Jack Pine
Savanna Habitat Restoration Project--a joint effort of TNC and other organizations.  Excellent trailside maps and well-signed junctions make getting around
the arboretum a breeze. I quickly
planned out a 4-mile loopy route heading first through some colorful flower
gardens and an experimental study area loaded with what appeared to be mutant
squash. Soon, the wide trail
turned to soft white sand and opened up into a sunny scrubland stabbed with
rail thin, frail conifers that looked as if they could be the wayward arrows of extraterrestrial archers---the Jack Pines. I thought Scotty (of Star Trek) had transported me to
Payson. The Big Ben and Little Ben trails twist around the stark habitat that
smacks more of Arizona's high desert than a forest less than a mile from the
mighty Mississippi. Next, I strolled through a deeply wooded area of Paper Birch, oaks, Blue Spruce, White Pines and
Red maple trees. Although it was
only late August some maple leaves already bore the crimson tinge of autumn. Finally, I walked the short
trail around “Minnesota Monet”--a secluded lily pond wrapped in Weeping
Willows—which reminded me of Dow Springs on the Sycamore Rim Loop trail and
made me glad I was headed home.