Backcountry Camping: Jay Cooke
Camping Minnesota
For those that aren’t familiar, Minnesota is cold. However, that’s not necessarily such a bad thing. In fact, in Minnesota, people embrace the cold better than you could imagine. Instead of taking a car to a bar or restaurant, people in Minnesota will cross-country ski. It’s that type of atmosphere.
So when I decided to backcountry camp in northern Minnesota in winter, I didn’t think twice about it. It’s what people do! And the conditions weren’t horrible. It hovered in the mid-30s during the day and got down to 18 at night. Barely a shiver.
Backcountry camping
Backcountry camping offers an opportunity to hike to your campsite. Most of the time, campgrounds utilize drive-in campsites. But some campgrounds offer backcountry campsites. This is where the camper will need to hike with all of their gear, however many miles into the park, to reach their campsite.
There are a few reasons why this is the best way to camp. 1) You get away from people. I’m not anti-social at all. But when I camp, I love to immerse myself within nature. 2) Ever read Gary Paulsen’s Hatchet? Guess what? Backcountry camping allows you to live out your childhood dream of being stranded in a forest. When you get to your backcountry site, you’ll need to (respectfully) find firewood, figure out a good spot for your tent, and begin creating a spear in case wolves attack. Just kidding on the last part. 3) There’s no better feeling than getting to your site after a hike. Hiking on uneven terrain with a heavy pack can be exhausting. You know what cures that? A fire in the middle of nature.
For this trip, I was by myself. I brought my journal, my thermos, some extra kindling, and was ready to partake in some personal introspection while enjoying the nature around me.
Packing List
Winter Backpacking Tent
+15° and lower sleeping bag
Sleeping Pad
Water or locate water source
Coffee ; )
Waterproof hiking boots, Lighter, Extra socks, Hatchet, Knife, Food, Cooking utensils and cookware, Dry kindling
Jay Cooke
Jay Cooke is one of the better state parks Minnesota has to offer. Just south of Duluth, the gorgeous St. Louis River flows straight through the park and creates some beautiful bluffs and slight rapids going through. The St. Louis continues to the east and dumps into Lake Superior not too far down.
As I began my hike, I didn’t see a soul in sight. However pleasing this was to me, I soon found an issue not five minutes into my trek. The mid-30s temps created an ice sheet over the snow. The first slight hill I had to get up was impassable! I fell a few times and started to sweat. In my best Minnesota accent, “What the heck was I thinking?”
I eventually got up by traversing sideways next to the pathway and grabbing at tiny brush as I went.
I made it up and the rest of the hike was a piece of cake. And beautiful too.
Campsite
After about 2hrs, I arrived at the campsite. I was relieved as my shoes that I thought were waterproof (they said waterPROOF) began to become saturated which killed my socks. I had to get them off and get new ones on, but I needed a fire first.
I set my stuff down and headed out to find some firewood. To my delight, there were quite a few dead trees around to take from. The snow in some areas was above 1 foot, so I had to avoid those areas.
In the end, I got enough firewood to make a fire and keep it going through nightfall.
I got the fire going, warmed my feet, changed out my socks, and was ready to set up camp.
The surrounding area was breathtaking. I set up my hammock to overlook the St. Louis River, placed my tent between some trees with a nice bed of needles beneath for some cushion, and began setting up my camp kitchen.
Backcountry camping 101 is to have a small, portable stove that will heat water. My dinner consisted of cheap ramen (yum), an apple turnover thing I had left over from a previous camping trip, and of course, coffee.
After camp was set up and after I ate, I took my coffee to the hammock and broke out the journal. Perfect.
Wolves Howl
The rest of the night was pretty tame. I threw a few more logs on the fire and stayed close as the temperatures began to drop. A key to staying warm is ensuring your body isn’t touching the ground when sleeping, so some sort of pad beneath you is a must.
The highlight of the night was hearing some wolves off in the distance howling. A perfect way to go to sleep.