August 8, 2004: I started out this morning with the intention that I would visit six county high points. As it turned out, however, Chisago was my only successful one. It is located in a woods on private property at 45° 29' 07"N, 92° 43' 21"W.
I had just partially succeeded on Washington County, and was anxious to complete this one. From Washington's southern candidate. I drove on I-94 east to scenic State Highway 95, taking that all the way to Palmdale. Using Bob Packard's report as my guide, I turned right onto Chisago County Road 79 (350th Street) at Palmdale.
0.0 Turned off State Highway 95 onto Chisago County Road 79 (350th Street)
0.2 Turned left onto Silver Avenue (going north).
1.2 Turned right at T-intersection (360th Street)
1.4 Turned left onto Westlund Ave (marked as Dead End)
2.0 Road became narrow.
I rang the bell at the house at the end of the road. I was greeted by a man in a bathrobe. He was just about to shower, when he took the time to answer me. I told him I was looking for the Chisago County High Point. He said that it was not on his property, but was on the Dostal (sp?) Property, which he could see from the highest point on his property. He mentioned that someone else, last year, asked him about the same thing. He gave me the directions to Dostal's, mentioning that he wasn't living on that property. At no point did he suggest that I cross his own property to get there. I apologized for the interruption, and got on my way.
I got back to 360th Street and turned left on S.H. 95.
0.0 Turned left onto S.H. 95.
0.1 Turned left onto Chisago County Road 81 (going north).
1.5 Turned right onto 375th Street
2.7 Stayed straight onto a minimum maintenance road (where Sandberg Road goes to the left)
3.0 Parked at locked "No Trespassing Gate"
It really was minimally maintained, too, with ruts and sand composing some of its surface. It also narrowed and passed over a 30-foot deep valley at one point.. It curved sharply to the right just before ending at the posted gate.
The signature on the Warning sign may have been Dostal's. Although the sign did suggest that permission might be granted, there was no contact information for obtaining it. I called out "Hello", but did not hear a response. I proceeded through the gate, where the road immediately turned to overgrown weeds for over 200 feet with only tire tracks to mark it. I soon arrived at an abandoned building where I again called out, but got no response. At the building, the track turned to the right.
I don't know if there are any actual trails to here, but I expect not. Approaches would be from Dostal's gate to the north; from the southern approach; and from Wild Mountain to the east.
The trail continued winding through the woods. Where the trail veered to the right, however, I got off the trail and headed up a hill, following my GPS all the way to the summit area.
It is not marked with a sign, nor does it have Bench Mark nor Registration Book that I could find. I stepped around the area, stepping on all the high ground. From my truck to the summit took 14 minutes. This fallen log (picture on the right) looked like the highest ground:
Having realized too late that I had failed to mark my parking spot as a waypoint, I attempted to follow my route back. However, I got the pointer confused with the current position indicator, and somehow ended up going several hundred yards in the opposite direction. Once I realized that , it was easy getting back on course. I made the return trip in 24 minutes. My total time away from my truck was 41 minutes. I saw no one else the whole time.
I followed my same route out to S.H. 95, where I turned right, on my way to the Pine County High Point.
| Family Member | Count |
|---|---|
| Mark | 22 |
| Tammy | |
| Krystyn | |
| Matthew | |
| Faith | |
| Mark II | |
| Shads | |
| Zeke | |
This was actually my first successful solo HP.
Bob Packard (May 21, 2001).
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http://www.topozone.com
Minnesota Atlas & Gazeteer by Delorme, 3rd Edition, 2001.
| File Name: | |
| Written by: | Mark Ness |
| Last Revised by: | Mark Ness |
| on: |