Blogmas 2022 - Post No. 3
It’s December 3rd – Day 3 of blogmas! Today I’m sharing our Midwest Winter ’22-’23 Wish List – a list of some things Eric and I would love to do this winter season! Hopefully there will be something on the list that you’d like to do too (or to try if you haven’t already). If you have a list too, I’d love to see it!
I spent a majority of the day messing with optimization again, mostly focusing on images this time. I had a realization midway through that Facebook users get different views from their links that vary based on whether a person profile or a Page profile shared the link. For example, if a person profile (such as my personal Facebook account) shares a link, then the image is shown to the left of the link preview and is vertical. And if a Page profile (such as the VolkmanAdventures Page) shares a link, then the image is shown on top of the link preview and is a completely different size (and is horizontal). Eye. Roll. In my opinion. Why can’t they just both be the same? Due to this, I made the decision to update the featured images of the last five blog posts from vertical to horizontal, so now there should be some consistency and formality regardless of whether a person or a page shares any links. Yay!
Winter 2022-2023 Wish List
Skiing at Big Powderhorn Mountain (Michigan)
We have the Indy Pass again this winter season and wow how they have grown this year! They’ve double their resorts within the Midwest region here, giving us Minnesotans even more opportunities to explore the snowy areas around us. And top of our wish list this year is Big Powderhorn Mountain Resort in Bessemer, MI.
Big Powderhorn Mountain Resort is located in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, and around a 4hr 45min drive from us here in the Twin Cities. Not too terrible of a drive as it goes through the beautiful northern part of Wisconsin, with plenty of parks and places to stop along the way.
Eric and I have been to Big Powderhorn in the past, and it instantly had risen to the top of our “Favorite Places to Ski and Snowboard” lists. (Oh! I don’t have a post on that yet!) Therefore, we can’t wait to get back there – which will hopefully be this season.
Check out their page, here!
*Update: Since this post went live, we now have plans to go! 🙂
Snowshoeing at Afton State Park (Minnesota)
Snowshoeing is something we haven’t done all that often as of yet, but is something we’re growing fond of! Once of the best Minnesota State Parks south of Duluth to visit in the winter season is Afton State Park in Hastings, MN.
We have been to Afton State Park once many years ago, and it was during the winter season. We didn’t have snowshoes at the time and definitely wished we did! This park offers multiple trail options, and over 10 miles of those trails can be used my snowshoers as well. Plus, you can snowshoe off trail in this park to add even more miles to your trek, which is pretty cool!
See the Willow River Cascades Frozen at Willow River State Park (Wisconsin)
Frozen waterfalls are so so SO beautiful! Eric and I stopped at a frozen waterfall last January – at Cascade River State Park in Lutsen, MN and instantly loved them. We were lucky enough to be driving in the northern Wisconsin area a few months later and was able to see another frozen waterfall again, this time at Amnicon Falls State Park in South Range, WI.
So we want to see even more!
There’s a park just across the border in Wisconsin that has been on our bucket list for a while, and it happens to also have an amazing and large cascading waterfall. I can’t even imagine how amazing these falls are in the winter.
The park is called Willow River State Park and it’s in Hudson, WI. Willow River SP is a popular park with miles and miles of scenic trails and a gorgeous river that carved through sandstone to create Willow River and Little Falls Lake.
Go Skiing Somewhere We've Never Been
We LOVE skiing and snowboarding. It’s been a big part of our history since we’ve been together, and we try to get out as much as we can each season.
And though we have been to many of the slopes around us here in Minnesota, there are so many more that we can’t wait to try out!
If you’re looking for new places to ski or snowboard this season, here are a few places in the Midwest that caught our attention:
- Powder Ridge Winter Recreation Area in Kimball, MN
- Granite Peak Ski Area in Wausau, WI
- SnowRiver Mountain Resort in Wakefield, MI
- Mount Kato Ski Area in Mankato, MN
- Loch Lomond Ski Area, Thunder Bay, ON
Snowshoe Once per Week
As mentioned earlier, we’re relatively new to snowshoeing, having only done it a handful of times over the past few years. We’ve learned that it’s a hidden gem of an activity that provides quite a workout each time.
And best of all, snowshoeing can be done anywhere! As long as you have snow, the world is your oyster. You don’t even need a designated trail. In fact, you can even help with other trails, like fat tire bike trails, by going out on the trail first to start packing the snow after a fresh snowfall.
Because it’s such a good workout and so easy to do in your own backyard (or anywhere with snow), I couldn’t not add this to my winter wish list.
Winter Hike the Superior Hiking Trail (Minnesota)
Winter hiking is a new love of ours. We’ve found that hiking in chilly (not freezing haha) weather is much more refreshing, comfortable, and energizing than hiking on a hot summer day. So we’re thrilled that winter weather hiking season is now here! Another big goal of ours is to hike the Superior Hiking Trail, so why not do both at once?
The Superior Hiking Trail (SHT) is an incredibly scenic route that spans 310 miles, with one end at Jay Cooke State Park in Carlton, MN, and the other end at the Canadian border where it connects with the 4,800 mile North Country Trail.
I’d love to hike the SHT in its entirety (over time), and hiking it in the winter sounds like the best, not to mention the least buggy, time to do it.
