Dry Lake

Dry Lake, Minnesota (Jun 7, 2013)

On Friday the weather was good enough to go for another hike. I decided to go back to the Bass lake hiking trail, this time taking the shorter loop around the Dry and Little Dry lakes. These two lakes are of course not really dry, but they have an interesting story. At the beginning of the XX century, these two lakes were still part of Bass Lake, which was twice as large as today. At that time, logging started in the area, which led to the construction of a sluice way on a ridge separating the lake from the lower Low lake. In 1925 seepage collapsed the sluiceway, creating a gorge and emptying Bass lake lowering its level by 50 feet in 10 hours. In the process two smaller body of water (the Dry and Little Dry lakes) became separated by the remnant of Bass lake. Local newspapers wrote about the unpredicted event as a natural marvel (rather than the consequence of human activity). The hike as pleasant, with several scenic overlook on rocky outcrops on the lake shore, one of which slopes gently in Dry lake, and provided a bathing opportunity for Kero. The shore of the Little Dry lake is flatter, and quite rich in mosquitos, so we didn't linger there for very long.