Temperatures above 60 degrees have returned, and Minnesotans can’t get enough.

“It’s a lot of instant gratification these days for kids; I think it’s important to explore,” said Kate Downey, an outdoor enthusiast.

She’s passing her love of the outdoors onto the small children she watches during the day.

“You find a good spot and settle in and let them explore,” she said. “I mean, you give us rocks and water, and we’ll spend hours.”

But with adventure season, it also means tick season.

Elizabeth Schiffman, an epidemiologist supervisor with the Minnesota Department of Health, said a rainy 2024 means more adult ticks this year.

“Adults have had one more year opportunity to take a blood meal and get infected with the agent and then pass it on,” Schiffman said.

The concern now is a rare but possibly fatal virus to humans called Powassan, first detected in Canada.

It was found in Minnesota in 2008, with a record-setting 14 cases last year.

“For diseases like Lyme disease, you can go to the doctor and get an antibiotic, and you feel better; with Powassan, since it’s a virus, they basically can treat your symptoms, but they can’t really do anything to make the virus go away faster,” she said.

Symptoms include fever, fatigue and body aches. Schiffman said the virus is passed on typically by deer ticks, often found in wooded areas.

“If you think I’m going somewhere and I should remember my sunscreen, you probably also want to remember to grab your bug repellent as well,” she said.

“In the summer, I’ll keep tweezers in my bag just for the kids,” Downey said.