Episode 2

The second day we awoke to warm temps and lots of clouds. The sun is nice but I prefer it to be warm if I'm spending the whole day outside so I was ok with no bright sunshine. Mark cooked a large breakfast for himself and I must have looked pathetic enough that he shared it with me.Thanks bro. While chowing down it was hard not to notice the large amount of snow that would make riding the rivers impossible. I didn't want to admit to myself that we would not get as much fat-biking as we were hoping for. Our fun would have to come from snowshoes and x-c skis. Mark announced that he was looking at some maps and would like to hike to Eagle Mountain, the highest point in Minnesota. I've been there before several times but not in the winter. We all agreed with his plan and headed out. As the crow flies, it looks to only be about a mile and a half on a map but in reality it's 6+ miles round trip. Someone had been down the trail the day before so the going was easy in the two feet of snow on either side of the snowshoe tracks. It was really easy for me and Mark and Dale since Steve was constantly leading the charge. The peak is somewhat unspectacular, there is no breathtaking view, unless a bunch of underbrush and pine trees do that for you. The plaque at the top was frozen over with ice. We grabbed a snack and headed back. Near the top is a nice overlook we stopped there but the clouds and blowing snow would not afford an awesome view. We all had a good time despite the lackluster surroundings on this particular trip.

I'm hungry

Onward and upward to Eagle Mountain

The Top

The plan was to head out by 2pm, it's about 5:30 pm here when we actually did

Are we there yet?smiling early on in the hike. Smiles would be replaced with a grimace hours later 

Most of the food was Mark's, which he graciously shared 

Heaven and the "angel"

Secret hiding spot for moonlander

     Next up was a top secret mission to find a cabin in the woods that I had only overheard someone talking about several years ago. I could not find any info on it on the "internets", as we set out, I was kind-of running blind, leading my friends into hell or sweet salvation. I did get some clues from a friend, he was reluctant to tell very much about it, but it was just enough that I could locate the "target". To get there we drove around for a couple hours and got lost trying to find the right road that we would start from. From there we rode our fat-bikes, navigating a dirt road until we turned onto a snowmobile trail. From that trail we ditched the bikes in the woods, strapped on the snowshoes and lashed all our camping gear to our backs. We trudged through deep snow for several hours, (Steve in front of course), bushwhacking some of it and praying we would find the place. We all had tents just in case, but my mind was set on a shelter with a warm fire inside.  I would have nothing to do with a tent, even if it took me all night to find the shelter. We pushed on until 9:30pm when my headlamp illuminated a moose skull affixed to the side of a small cabin. It was like seeing an angel. I yelled back to the gang telling them of the find, I was relieved and elated. Inside was a fireplace, a table, a bunk bed, some candles, and a lot of things left behind by people which might be useful to other weary travelers. We got the fire place going in no time and brought the room up to sauna-level temperature. About an hour later we were all fed and lazing around in our long underwear, having a debate about who would get the bed and who would get the floor. I got a bed. Don't ask me where the cabin is. I won't tell you ,but I may bring you with on another adventure