I started at Banning State Park and then headed south towards my campsite for the night at William O’Brien State Park. I have visited this wonderful Minnesota State Park many times and continue to find it an enjoyable park to hike, camp, kayak, and fly fish. Close to the Twin Cities and a short drive to one of my other favorite places Forest Lake, this Minnesota State Park is nestled along the St Croix River.
Alice Lake- William O’Brien State Park
Less than a mile away is the small roadside village of Marine on St Croix where my ancestors in the 1800’s worked in the lumber industry and then moved North to Mora, MN. I have always felt a close connection to the place even before I found out my ancestors once lived and worked in this area.
Only 78 miles from Banning State Park it was a short days drive. I wanted to get into my campsite early (if possible) and dip my fly fishing rod into the St Croix and Alice Lake waters (all within the State Park boundaries). I had started my fishing season in Minnesota with a successful rainbow trout catch and was hoping to end the season with something on my line.
Before returning to Minnesota I had purchased a new camping tent, a Kelty TN3 tent. It came highly ranked and rated by backpackers for being small, lightweight and easy to set up within minutes. I was happy to find that this purchase was exactly as advertised. I was able to set this tent up for the first time (yes, I am slow and read all instructions) in less than 1/2 hour.
Kelty TN3 tent
foot print blue tarp with tent on top
Poles are up
Tent is up and standing…OMG, I did it without the Hubby!
Completed rainfly and nestled into my campsite for the night.
Then it was off to fly fish the St Croix. I wasn’t as lucky as I had hoped but I did enjoy seeing a group of REI kayakers enjoying their day on the river. I donated two fly fishing flies to the tree Gods. Not sure what they will do with my flies. Do trees fish when we are not watching them?
St Croix River with REI kayak tour group enjoying the water
I then tried to get away from the trees and located to the dock on Alice Lake. There are fish in Alice Lake! I can see them from the dock. Mostly sunfish but then some bigger fish come swimming up and I just knew they would find my flies irresistible. Not meant to be I fished about 3 hours and landed nothing. But had a nice time watching an osprey be about as lucky fishing as I was.
View from my campsite the next morning 15 Sept
A nice dinner at the campsite and falling to sleep to the couple next door having a very loud heated discussion about the political happenings within the USA. I sided with the gal. I guess that would not be surprising. I couldn’t wait to get on the road to continue down to my next destination Wabasha, Minnesota along the Mississippi River.
Nothing like a campfire in fall
Have you travelled the Great Mississippi River Road? Please share your comments below.
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The Cedar Journal 
How cool that you get to visit a place where your ancestors once worked! I’ve always wondered, whenever I’ve traveled, if any of my ancestors had ever traveled the same path. Cheers!
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Yeah, my dad is way deep into genealogy. So deep that he connects better with dead ancestors than to the living. So when I mentioned one time I was in Marine on St Croix and I loved the small village. He mentioned my mother’s ancestors lived there. Go figure! Next time I visited I went to the cemetery and found the brother of the ancestor I am related. Cool to walk in the same footsteps so to speak.
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Great adventure in the land of your ancestors! I liked the early morning shot with autumn mist lending a mysterious touch to your picture.
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Campgrounds before anyone wakes are always cool to me. The mist added another level of cool.
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I’m impressed that you got the tent up all by yourself! My husband and I struggle to do that even with both of us working together…. Maybe I shouldn’t have admitted to that!
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😂 ohhhh I have had those moments too. Glad you confessed, you can now enter camping heaven. LOL
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Traveled the Great River from the northern third of Missouri to Minneapolis, more or less – but that was decades ago. And it wasn’t labeled as such, yet – I was just getting as close to the river as I could, and exploring the small towns.
My tent was bought because it was very easy to set up, was free standing (except the fly), good cross ventilation, and has vestibules. Do I remember what kind? No – but we used it coming back from NC because the camper doesn’t really sleep three.
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Always happy to hear about your travels. I bet if you travelled it today you would see a vast change in the road and the small towns that line it. Thanks for stopping and taking the time to comment.
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I admire those that take on the challenge of tent camping. Linda and I tried it once up in Eli and was eventually driven out by those bird sized mosquitoes. These days we drive up in our Class B RV, put it in park, grab some chairs out of the carrier and relax next to a fire. By the way, love the first shot – deep blues, trees reflecting off the water and a composition that draws you into the shot. Well done!
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Thanks for the photo comment. I would rather be self contained camping too, but after my accident last year with my beloved Tiger Moth and CRV I have decided to low key it for awhile. Although I was constantly thinking this trip how I could sleep in my Subaru if needed. I did find that the front drivers seat relaxes nicely for when old lady has had enough of the road and needs to recharge the human batteries. LOL Those bird sized mosquitoes are meant to give you more photographic opportunities of being agile in extreme conditions. LOL. As always glad to see you stopping by here and your contributions.
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