The candle light hike at Split Rock State Park was the final candle light event of the year. I am sad they are over...but it's probably good to stop heading out of town every other weekend on these winter trips. Hopefully now I'll have a little more time for art projects.

The candle light ski at Lake Kegonsa State park was a loop trail around a meadow so it was really pretty when you were about half way and could look back across at all the glowing lights marking the trail. I still don't have a tripod...so these are pretty blurry, but they capture the mood of the event pretty well. On the way home we got to stop by Devil's Lake where we had been canoeing last fall - now the lake is scattered with ice fishing huts.

The fog came in and it started to snow lightly on Saturday night before the Amery Candle Light Ski, which made the 2 mile trail through the woods especially cozy and a little spooky.

The lantern-lit trail at Itasca State Park was beautiful and cold (negative 10 cold!) I think that's the coldest ski I've been on ever. I hope to go on at least 2 more candle light events before the snow melts.

Last night Matt and I went to the last candle light event of the winter, at Split Rock Lighthouse State Park, just north of Duluth, MN. It was a full moon, and candles lit the path along the shoreline, through the woods, and up to a beautiful overlook of the bay.

The Luminary Loppet in Minneapolis was by far my favorite winter ski event. I loved the lantern lined trails, the warming stations with hot chocolate & cookies, and just being outside with tons of people on a winter night.

I was feeling a little sad that I didn't have any fun trips to look forward to, so I was researching things to do in the area and discovered the Candle Light Events hosted by the Minnesota and Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. You can ski, snowshoe, or hike along a candle lit trail, and there's usually a fire and hot chocolate to warm you up. Matt and I are going to our first candle light event in Menomonie WI tomorrow, where I'll be taking my own pictures, but here's a few pics of other candle light events I found on flickr, by these flickr photographers: y entonces, Bl@ck Coffee , rkupbens.