UP Overland Scouting trip

[upcruiser]

Just rolled home after a Thursday through Saturday scouting session. We had a lot of wet weather as well as some sunshine today but the overall theme was muddy and soggy! The trip route is turning out to be pretty cool and I am excited. I had Tom along as well Mark from UPJeeping who lent us a hand and some brain cells in pouring over the maps and sharing moments of frustration (many!) and moments of joy as well. Anyway, enough blibber blabber, I snapped some shots with my iphone I thought I would share and as soon as Tom gets his images and videos thrown together I will put them up as well.

Check out the size of this piece of natural copper (pure) found in the woods of the Keweenaw recently! Thomas sure was excited, he does his chimpanzee pound when he gets all happy. :elkgrin:

The UP has Pinzes

Socked in on Brockway Mountain

Our camp on the shore of Lake Superior

 

[upcruiser]

A couple of dual sport riders rolled in late that night and made camp near us after a muddy wet slog to the point.

Thomas is not quite as chipper when rolling out of the RTT at the crack of dawn

Tom and Mark hanging out at camp, we were pretty pysched to see the sun starting to burn through the Lake Superior "marine layer"

A very cool new beach that I hadn't discovered before which ended up being a TIGHT squeeze to get out to.

It is great to have so many fantastic beaches with no one to be seen on.

A view that we just had to stop and take some time to soak in....

More to come

 

[taco2go]

Beautiful shots, Kristian- man I love that fog. Looks like you are having a great time, as always, despite the frustrations. Really appreciate all the time and effort you guys are putting into prepping for this event.

I just love all that rain and wetness- think I'm going to head up this weekend. :wings:

Keep posting up pics and reports of your scouting trips- even the 'blibber blabber'

 

[TJDIV]

Those iPhone shots are sick!.. not sure who the monkey is :costumed-smiley-007


To add to the theme of a rainy U.P..

No comment...

I'm going to stay optimistic, but to briefly complain... definitely bummed out by all the gates in the ONF and Porkies / Copper Peak area. Essentially made it impossible for us to bring the trip through that area. FAIL.

Ready for views?

Awesome Lake Superior?

And that beach? (ahem, watch out for the quick-sand Kristian...damn...)

It's all starting... very soon....

:victory:

 

[upcruiser]

One of the funniest moments of the weekend there in that beach shot. I say something to Tom like.... "Hey, that looks like quick sand right there, is that quick sand?" Tom, who is looking at his iphone, not really paying attention to what I just asked, or where I am pointing, cooly replies "no" precisely 1 second prior to me stepping on the aforementioned spot and immediately started sinking towards my knee. Luckily my cat like reflexes saved me from more than a bad ankle soaking. Tradegy averted though a few tense moments of squeezing the trucks between the quick sand and the water ensued!

 

[TJDIV]

One of the funniest moments of the weekend there in that beach shot. I say something to Tom like.... "Hey, that looks like quick sand right there, is that quick sand?" Tom, who is looking at his iphone, not really paying attention to what I just asked, or where I am pointing, cooly replies "no" precisely 1 second prior to me stepping on the aforementioned spot and immediately started sinking towards my knee. Luckily my cat like reflexes saved me from more than a bad ankle soaking. Tradegy averted though a few tense moments of squeezing the trucks between the quick sand and the water ensued!

I was just getting tired of all your questions.... that's all....

 

[Haggis]

It appears that the UP is getting the same treatment that we're getting here...rain, rain and more rain with a heavy downpouring of gates. Between the continous crappy weather and the onslaught of shiny new gates in areas of both the State and National Forests that where always open before, we share your frustration.

On the other hand, the photos you guys took just builds our resolve to get back up to the UP as soon as possible...I still haven't figured out how to do that this year but am working with space/time conversions to make it work out. The '10 UP Overland trip looks likw it will be freaking awesome!

 

[upcruiser]

It is odd though about the gates really because so far, it is the only area in the UP that I have had such issues. Anything west of Ontanogon basically is impossible to link up an east/west route. We spoke to a few frustrated locals who were irritated that they were blocked from accessing public lands now on maintained, graded roads that were gated, and only used by logging companies and residents who owned property down them. I can now related to the frustrations of the folks in the Lower Peninsula.

Now that UP Overland is rolling into nonprofit status we are going to start focusing on efforts to help work on these kinds of issues with local and state governments as well as try to help bolster the image of off highway recreational users which honestly up in this area is a rather poor image. We have support from alot of folks already involved in the governing bodies. We'll see what happens.

Thomas, where is that video? I want to see a little of the :smiley_drive:

 

[upcruiser]

Beautiful shots, Kristian- man I love that fog. Looks like you are having a great time, as always, despite the frustrations. Really appreciate all the time and effort you guys are putting into prepping for this event.

I just love all that rain and wetness- think I'm going to head up this weekend. :wings:

Keep posting up pics and reports of your scouting trips- even the 'blibber blabber'

Thanks Jo! Where are you heading up to? I am heading down to Leelanau peninsula for the week to enjoy the warmer Lake Michigan a bit and visit family. Let me know if you swing through that way at all.

 

[taco2go]

Where are you heading up to?

I don't know yet, although my wife would like to go through the Seney Natl Wildlife refuge. I wouldn't mind exploring that area, as I've never been.

 

[Pskhaat]

Just came from (nasal accent added) derned neer da yoopee, i donno ah good stoune's frow fra da bourder and the weather was fantastic (70F) but did open up later, bugs were low and water was high.

Sorry I'll miss y'all, but we just traversed green South Dakota and greener Wyoming slowly heading home. Look forward to the pics...

 

[ChuckB]

Looks like a great time! I'll be up in Naubinway for a few hours on July 12th, but unfortunately I probably won't have time to meet up with anyone this trip. There is an outside chance I might be able to make the 2011 UP trip, keeping my fingers crossed...

 

[Co-opski]

Kristian,
Did you look at the Motor Vehicle Use maps for the Ottawa NF? It is a shame that all that access has been lost with gates. I wish we could go back to 2005 so we could get our public comment in on the Travel Management Plan.
http://fs.usda.gov/wps/portal/fsinternet/!ut/p/c5/04_SB8K8xLLM9MSSzPy8xBz9CP0os3gjAwhwtDDw9_AI8zPwhQoY6IeDdGCqCPOBqwDLG-AAjgb6fh75uan6BdnZaY6OiooA1tkqlQ!!/dl3/d3/L2dJQSEvUUt3QS9ZQnZ3LzZfMjAwMDAwMDBBODBPSEhWTjJNMDAwMDAwMDA!/?navtype=BROWSEBYSUBJECT&cid=stelprdb5110344&navid=360000000000000&pnavid=null&ss=110907&position=Not%20Yet%20Determined.Html&ttype=detail&pname=Ottawa%20National%20Forest-%20Maps

 

[TJDIV]

Kristian,
Did you look at the Motor Vehicle Use maps for the Ottawa NF? It is a shame that all that access has been lost with gates. I wish we could go back to 2005 so we could get our public comment in on the Travel Management Plan.
http://fs.usda.gov/wps/portal/fsinternet/!ut/p/c5/04_SB8K8xLLM9MSSzPy8xBz9CP0os3gjAwhwtDDw9_AI8zPwhQoY6IeDdGCqCPOBqwDLG-AAjgb6fh75uan6BdnZaY6OiooA1tkqlQ!!/dl3/d3/L2dJQSEvUUt3QS9ZQnZ3LzZfMjAwMDAwMDBBODBPSEhWTjJNMDAwMDAwMDA!/?navtype=BROWSEBYSUBJECT&cid=stelprdb5110344&navid=360000000000000&pnavid=null&ss=110907&position=Not%20Yet%20Determined.Html&ttype=detail&pname=Ottawa%20National%20Forest-%20Maps

I agree, if we could go back I wonder how hard people would fight to have the right to open access to public lands. Having to download and read through 50 megs of pdfs just to make sure we're "following the rules" is ridiculous. What's the purpose of Tread Lightly? LNT? What's the point in having an entity like Tread Lightly in place if you still can't do anything once certified? We've reviewed the MVUM's and unfortunately that still leaves out Copper Peak and some awesome ONF areas.

Complacency on our part allowed the government to take over and make the easy decision. The word "no".

I get a bit worked up about it all. I grew up in the U.P. riding miles upon miles of trails with my grandpa hunting & fishing. I don't remember a gate. Ever. It won't be long and stories of 2 to 3 day trips will be history in this country. It'll be too hard to get permission to do it!!!

The phone calls just to figure it all out were mind-bending. The permit person had to refer to the special use person who had to get back to us. Took 2 weeks, and we got the "well, it doesn't sound like you need a permit" answer.

Hopefully as we continue to cultivate a responsible travel ethic throughout this region and elsewhere as others are doing....hopefully we can re-align perception and gain access back to parts of the wild U.S.A that are nothing but memories anymore.

 

[Pskhaat]

Is there a UPO 2011?