Man Trip 2017

The Man Trip usually marks the end of winter fun for me, by now I'm pretty much done with it but want one final hurrah. For this year I wanted everything we did to be new. While our modes of travel remain the same ,fat bikes, skis and snowshoes, I wanted to hit up some new places we haven't been...on the north shore there are many.

Robinson Quarry

random swamp crossing

AF going over

Vandy

 A couple weeks before the trip ArcFlash suggested we go ice climbing the first day...perfect...that was a new one for the man trip. On Thursday, on our way north the two of us stopped off in Sandstone at Robinson Quarry. Although the temps have been quite warm there was plenty of ice for us to climb. We set up only one top rope and ascended it three times trying to vary the route by moving either side of center. It was a lot of fun and three passes were plenty,for having only climbed that one day all winter. The second half of the day was spent finishing the drive and then a little snowmobiling on the two old sleds I purchased earlier this winter. I haven't had any chance to ride them, so I was just itching to get out even if it was only a brief jaunt up and down the local trails. With the purchase of a house on the north shore the Man Trip has been changed drastically, try as we may, we did not camp-out once. Instead we played really freakin hard all day and then came back to lounge around, eat, and watch movies.

Thor

trying out Altai Skis....would have been better with deep snow

.On day two there were four of us, ArcFlash, Thor, and Vandy. I laid out a route the would utilize the Northwoods ski trail,  Palisade Valley ski trail, cross Bean and Bear Lake, with two rappels thrown in to make it interesting, as well as a mid-way camp fire cook-out. It was a beautiful sunny day for our 6 hour jaunt, with the only really cold spot being at the top if the first rap. Vandy, AF, and myself dropped off the ledge quickly and comfortably, not giving it much more concern than walking down a side walk. Thor on the other hand did an awesome job pushing his own personal envelope and dropping over the edge with greater caution. Once off rope came the dangerous part of descending the boulder field below the cliff. From there we cut across the two lakes and then cooked our lunch. Next came the second rap followed by another boulder field, and finished with nearly an hour of skiing to reach the vehicles.

man down

After fueling up we headed out in the late afternoon for a creek ride on the fat-bikes. After visiting this creek for the first time this past summer, I was hoping for mostly hard ice with little flow. No luck...the creek was flowing well as we made our way precariously upstream on the rotted ice. I suppose it was better this way, we were all giggling and smiling as we took turns navigating the bad spots, trying to stay dry. We took the road back and ended up finishing in the dark. On day three Thor had to leave us on account of family duty. That morning Vandy and I went out on the sleds for a quick ride, mostly so I could convince him to buy one for next year. We got back mid morning and got ready for another fat-bike ride and cook-out.

AF wringing out socks after going in up past his knees

 The ride went better than I had hoped and was my highlight of the weekend. The route, an out and back with a loop on the end, (lollipop) finished at approximately 20 miles,  crossing five lakes, utilizing snowmobile trails and portages. It was not in the boundary waters, but pretty damn close...shoot me a message if you need info. As with most winter outings,it involved a camp fire and cooking something on a stick. The riding was phenomenal, the trails were hard packed snow and the lakes were windswept or crusty and made for fast easy riding.  We wrapped up in the late afternoon and headed back to the warmth of a couch. Since it was our last night of Man Trip we watched two movies and ate ice cream.

let the fun begin

hand grill packaging added for dramatic effect  

 Although we took the easy way out, and spent our nights inside sleeping on beds it was a physically demanding and fantastic weekend.

D Rider.....................................out

Winter Kayaking

Kayaking should't be reserved just for summer months. The clash between a typically warm weather activity and a season appropriate for snowball fights is surreal.

 I did two day trips down semi local rivers in early winter. The first was on the Straight River near Faribault, with ArcFlash and Thor. The second, on the Cannon right out of Cannon Falls. Unfortunately, by the time we got on the Straight, most of the snow was melted. On the upside the river was up and moving pretty quick, a fact that adds to the excitement and strong urge not to dump your boat.

A hot meal out-doors is the best

wavy 

The banks of the Cannon however were fully draped in fresh snow and gave us the effect of true winter paddling we were looking for. Fancy would be the only one joining me on the Cannon since everybody else I know was out fat-biking in the new snow, I think it was global fat-bike day too. Both trips down river were a ton of fun and included a mid-way stop for lunch....... and no one dumped their boat.

getting set up for real winter kayaking 

Fancy hitting some chop right out of the gate 

 Soon after these early winter kayak rides, things got cold and shut down any other rivers I might have considered. Things are opening up again as I write...I'll be out soon

hot meal...again

not normally what you see on the end of your paddle

D Rider..........................out    

Prospector Loop

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This isn't the way I like to start a ride

 Last fall  GMan and I set out for a dirt bike ride on a newly opened trail system in northern Minnesota...The Prospector Loop.

Water is always fun to ride in 

Bike killed in the deep water

mid-way...time for a snack and a little break 

   I knew not of it's existence until just the week before, while riding the Gravel Conspiracy. With fall coming to an end and all the trails set to close, I knew it would have to happen fast so a last minute weekend trip was in order. The trail, based on what we rode and what is on the map, is primarily forest trails and roads. I'm cool with that since it means I can ride my non street legal dirt bike on a designated OHM trail as well as my kids with an OHM safety certificate.

hang on 

more water....learned how to feather it a bit and keep it running

This is a beaver dam right across the road....saw three spots like this on our route

 The day started with a flat tire on my bike, I changed the tube twice after puncturing the first one and then patching it with a kit from a gas station. this cut into our riding time a bit but we still had fun and manged a little over 50 miles. We're both excited to get back out there in the spring with the rest of our crew...SuperY, BigD and Mom. The boy's just need their OHM safety cert and I'll buy them some bikes.

Tired? 

   

MEA Part 2

 Part two of our MEA week was spent in Moab, with so much to do in the area I had grand ideas of tackling a couple adventures each day. Getting a family of five moving in any direction usually counts as one of those adventures, so we were left with one decent event per day.

where's waldo

rock

I like this...fun is about to happen

GMan..second one down first rap

  On Thursday morning we headed south of town to Entrajo Canyon, a slot canyon with a couple rappels, it's easy, short, and I knew the route from my very first real canyoneering experience
 4 years ago. This trip didn't go as planned but was fun none the less, the water was really high and super cold. I'll usually suffer through some misery for the greater good of the experience, but this was too much for my family and I to go through without more gear and a bigger commitment. None of us had wet suits and the first impasse in the slot was a pot hole that might have required some work to get all of us through.

BigD

Add caption

SuperY  on second rap

Don't fall in water, it's super cold

 Walking away a little defeated, we continued down canyon bypassing the slot section and ended up at the final rappels. This was a welcome surprise and the part I wanted my kids to have some experience with. The raps are short, around 40' and are back to back. I dropped down first, with the kids going down in order of age, oldest to youngest followed by my wife. GMan and Super Y did great, but Big D made me a little nervous when he had to be reminded to never let go of his brake hand. Fortunately he doesn't weigh much, the weight of the rope acted as the brake as well as me standing guard with a fireman belay. On the second rap he did much better. Once back at camp, Super Y and I suited up for a short MTB ride north of town at Klondike Bluffs. While we rode, Lynn and the boys roamed around town checking out all the shops and ran into a couple friends from Mn.

My newest ride...Farley EX

Sunset at Dead Horse Point

 Our final non driving day of vacation was spent at Dead Horse Point State Park. It was  recommended by a friend to check out the sunset here and ride the trails..... I can now recommend this to you as well. The trails, while not as extreme as some of those in Moab, were fantastic. We saw more families and kids riding here than anywhere I have ever been. Despite the initial thought that these trails might be super tame, they were in fact a lot of fun and plenty challenging at speed. The views were absolutely stunning and had us stopping at many points along the trail. After wrapping up the ride we head to the furthest parking lot at Dead Horse Point and cooked up some dinner just before sunset. As the sun was going down a good sized crowd gathered for the show at the west facing overlook, it was impressive and a good way to end our last night in Utah.

Our wonderful van in CO

Our wonderful van after hitting a deer at 70 mph CO, NE border....out of commission and stranded. 

Drove this sucker home the next day after mechanic rigged up the tranny cooler and some blown fuses as well as some work with a sawsall....I duct tapped the headlights in at a Walmart in Grand Island and arrived home at 4:30 am the following day...then went to work

Until next time, D Rider.........................out