Try a First Day Hike on New Year's Day, or a bevy of other outdoor 'firsts'

If first experiences etch something deep within people, then New Year's Day on Sunday (or anytime in the remaining months of winter) is a grand opportunity to make a connection and deepen a relationship with Minnesota's outdoors.

For young people, the stakes are even higher. Numerous research studies find that time engaged outdoors can improve their mental health and general well-being.

First Day Hikes perhaps are the perfect entry point. The hikes have a national following driven by state parks, and Minnesota's system is vested: Eleven parks, from Minneopa to Lake Bemidji to Blue Mounds, have a variety of first hikes scheduled Sunday. By morning's light and by candlelight. By boot or snowshoe or ski.

Minneopa State Park naturalist Scott Kudelka will lead his 10th First Day Hike on Sunday at the park in Mankato. The hike attracts a mix of newcomers and regulars each year, he said.

"It is one of my favorite programs and that's how many of the returnees feel, too," Kudelka said. "People come out no matter the temperatures including those I've led when it has been below zero and a nasty windchill."

The 2020 hike drew the most he can recall with 97 participants.

"To me, it feels very much like a community event with people looking forward to seeing familiar and new faces. There is always a feeling of excitement and energy among the participants," he added.

The outing will be memorable and poignant for Kudelka. He will retire next year.

Of course, a last-day hike is an option, too. Members of the ambitious outdoors group Minnesota Rovers will get out at 10 a.m. Saturday for a hike of 3 to 5 miles in the Salem Hills Park in Inver Grove Heights. Non-members are welcome but asked to notify the coordinators and sign a liability waiver. Both are doable online at bit.ly/firstrover.

The Rovers are active year-round in a variety of ways. See trips and details at mnrovers.org.

"Anyone — beginner to advanced — can participate in our day trips, which are a great way for people who aren't members (yet!) to have fun outside with other outdoors lovers," wrote club president Stacey Grimes in an email to the Star Tribune.

Grimes, of Edina, said the club saw a surge in membership (about 510 to more than 750) since January 2020. She said a reaction to COVID might explain part of it, as well as a backpacking program for beginners launched in 2021. The club will mark its 70th year in 2024.

Carry that 'first day' attitude into other activities outdoors in the weeks ahead:

NOW Bikes in Arden Hills is among the bike shops that have lowered the bar for trying the fat rides with plus-sized tires. They run demo rides on area trails weekly, depending on conditions, offering up several of their bikes to try for free. Another happens Sunday at 8:30 a.m. at the Minnesota River Bottoms in Bloomington. Meet at the lot near 11115 Lyndale Av. S.

NOW Bikes, which has shops in Arden Hills and St. Paul, has also had rides at the Rice Creek Chains of Lakes in Lino Lakes, Carver Lake Park in Woodbury, and Elm Creek Park Reserve in Maple Grove — all popular destinations for all abilities come winter.

Service manager Ryan Saathoff said some rides have attracted as many as 40 fatbikers, but "we try to make our ride as beginner-friendly as possible. We don't leave anyone behind."

NOW Bikes provides eight to 10 bikes free to use at its demo rides. Call the store in advance at 651-490-7709 to reserve one.

Saathoff said that while fatbike sales have leveled off, interest in the activity remains strong. A deep calendar of races, how-to programs and group rides reflect that. Many park systems keep trails packed and groomed, too.

"[Fatbiking] keeps you off the trainer and gets you out of the house," Saathoff said. "It's a great way to keep you moving."

The Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge has regular outings through winter. One of three treks in January is focused on beginners: 8 a.m. Jan. 28, meeting at the trailhead at 9551 Old Cedar Av. S., in Bloomington.

The walks are led by volunteer naturalist Craig Mandel, who has led the walks and other interpretive programs since the 1980s. Mandel will educate participants on different species for sure but also the tools for understanding them, like binoculars and field guides. Mandel said the Jan. 28 outing is especially good for families because the outing can be shortened. Registration is required at signup.com/go/rLmKfrK. Groups are limited to 25.

"Everybody is welcome," Mandel said.

New Year's Day resonates among experienced birders, too.

Department of Natural Resources zoologist Bob Dunlap is one of them. He said some birdwatchers like to restart their annual count lists with an outing Jan. 1, looking to add all the common and winter species to the new year.

Dunlap said a few times he took part in "January 1 Big Day," in which he and others attempted to see as many bird species as possible within a predetermined geography. Dunlap said his "most hardcore" attempt came with friends in 2006. They started owling at midnight and finished well after sunset with 64 species counted, having spent most of the time traveling between the metro and Winona.

"This record has since been beaten, I believe," he said, "but there's usually a group or two of birders who 'officially' attempt it each year."

State and regional parks and outdoors groups hold programs to introduce the public to the essentials of the increasingly popular sport, witnessed by the wheelhouses and other shelters that congregate into sizable communities on some of the state's major fisheries like Lake Mille Lacs.

Tettegouche State Park in Silver Bay has a program Jan. 7, and there is a system-wide Take A Kid Fishing weekend Jan. 14-16 that allows Minnesota residents to fish for free without park or fishing permits when in the company of a child 15 years old or younger.

Whitewater State Park has a related program Jan. 14, with free gear and bait.