Brendon
Minnesota Overland
As promised a trip report about the Midwest Overland Society's trip to scout out an overland route around the sixth great lake, Lake Nipigon.
Mos members, please post pics/videos here, as I don't have too many.
Tuesday afternoon we met at a beautiful piece of property, just north of Duluth, owned by a club member. Nice easy evening, adventurers showed up at their leisure, a bonfire and beers commenced.
Wednesday morning we broke camp:
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A few guys took a swim in a small river on the property(not me though, that water was COLD!), and a hard decision was made - the clutch started slipping on Forestderp's FJ-40, and it was decided the truck would stay in the US.
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Here was the lineup: Defender 110, crew of 2, Flip-pac Taco, crew of 2+dog, Super Disco, crew of 2(Forestderp now riding shotgun), and me in the Rusty Mongoose. We headed north on US-61, an absolutley stunning drive along the north shore of Lake Superior. A quick stop at The Angry Trout in Grand Marais for a lake-side patio lunch, another cup of coffee, and we were off again. Border crossing went fine, only the crew of the Disco had to go in the border patrol's building. What happened in there can only be speculated about...
Flew through Thunder Bay on our way to the town of Nipigon. Great drive, the landscape is unbelievable. Stopped by an old friend's place off the highway near the town of Red Rock.
[URL=http://s1011.photobucket.com/user/mongoosevrx/media/nipigon/DSC05218_zps081d59b9.jpg.html]
[IMG]http://i1011.photobucket.com/albums/af235/mongoosevrx/nipigon/DSC05218_zps081d59b9.jpg[/URL][/IMG]
The landowner, Phil, was one of the nicest and most generous people I have ever met. He told me to take a drive around and up the mountain, with a mischievous look in his eye, "it's only one mile". Rain clouds were closing in, so Forestderp and I hopped in the Mongoose and headed out with Tom and Mary Beth in the Taco. Soon after the two Rovers caught up to us, they knew what was up there, so we let them take the lead. What started as a cute little drive through the bust soon turned into a challenging rock crawl up the back side of the mountain, then it started to rain...
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I got soaked!
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We returned to the farm wet, tired, and hungry. Mary Beth suggested we eat the lasagna she brought, and since our generous host offered to use his oven, we did. Now full, dry, and tired, setting up camp in the dark wet Canadian evening seemed like the last thing in the world I wanted to do. Phil to the rescue again! "set your tents in the greenhouses" he said. "Brilliant idea!" I said. It was warm and dry, probably the best night's sleep I got on the whole trip.
Next morning we were up, packed, and planning the real meat and potatoes part, no more pavement if we could help it.
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This next leg consisted of old and active logging roads.
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Passed a nice little hunting camp. Moose are so huge hunters have to build these log structures to hang their prizes.
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Nice fun little tracks through the woods, until we came to a washout. Beavers had plugged a culvert, and the road washed out. Some ATVers had constructed a small log bridge, but not big enough for us.
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Beefed up the bridge and continued on.
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Breathtaking scenery, even where it had been recently logged. We found it interesting that the loggers left some big white pines, made for a very cool landscape though.
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We found a great campsite on the shores of Black Sturgeon Lake. It was on a bit of a point with a nice breeze to keep the skeeters up in the woods. Plenty of beaver-provided driftwood for the fire, and a view that couldn't be beat!
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Mos members, please post pics/videos here, as I don't have too many.
Tuesday afternoon we met at a beautiful piece of property, just north of Duluth, owned by a club member. Nice easy evening, adventurers showed up at their leisure, a bonfire and beers commenced.
Wednesday morning we broke camp:
A few guys took a swim in a small river on the property(not me though, that water was COLD!), and a hard decision was made - the clutch started slipping on Forestderp's FJ-40, and it was decided the truck would stay in the US.
Here was the lineup: Defender 110, crew of 2, Flip-pac Taco, crew of 2+dog, Super Disco, crew of 2(Forestderp now riding shotgun), and me in the Rusty Mongoose. We headed north on US-61, an absolutley stunning drive along the north shore of Lake Superior. A quick stop at The Angry Trout in Grand Marais for a lake-side patio lunch, another cup of coffee, and we were off again. Border crossing went fine, only the crew of the Disco had to go in the border patrol's building. What happened in there can only be speculated about...
Flew through Thunder Bay on our way to the town of Nipigon. Great drive, the landscape is unbelievable. Stopped by an old friend's place off the highway near the town of Red Rock.
[URL=http://s1011.photobucket.com/user/mongoosevrx/media/nipigon/DSC05218_zps081d59b9.jpg.html]
[IMG]http://i1011.photobucket.com/albums/af235/mongoosevrx/nipigon/DSC05218_zps081d59b9.jpg[/URL][/IMG]
The landowner, Phil, was one of the nicest and most generous people I have ever met. He told me to take a drive around and up the mountain, with a mischievous look in his eye, "it's only one mile". Rain clouds were closing in, so Forestderp and I hopped in the Mongoose and headed out with Tom and Mary Beth in the Taco. Soon after the two Rovers caught up to us, they knew what was up there, so we let them take the lead. What started as a cute little drive through the bust soon turned into a challenging rock crawl up the back side of the mountain, then it started to rain...
I got soaked!
We returned to the farm wet, tired, and hungry. Mary Beth suggested we eat the lasagna she brought, and since our generous host offered to use his oven, we did. Now full, dry, and tired, setting up camp in the dark wet Canadian evening seemed like the last thing in the world I wanted to do. Phil to the rescue again! "set your tents in the greenhouses" he said. "Brilliant idea!" I said. It was warm and dry, probably the best night's sleep I got on the whole trip.
Next morning we were up, packed, and planning the real meat and potatoes part, no more pavement if we could help it.
This next leg consisted of old and active logging roads.
Passed a nice little hunting camp. Moose are so huge hunters have to build these log structures to hang their prizes.
Nice fun little tracks through the woods, until we came to a washout. Beavers had plugged a culvert, and the road washed out. Some ATVers had constructed a small log bridge, but not big enough for us.
Beefed up the bridge and continued on.
Breathtaking scenery, even where it had been recently logged. We found it interesting that the loggers left some big white pines, made for a very cool landscape though.
We found a great campsite on the shores of Black Sturgeon Lake. It was on a bit of a point with a nice breeze to keep the skeeters up in the woods. Plenty of beaver-provided driftwood for the fire, and a view that couldn't be beat!
