Northeastern Minnesota

It is sounding like there are a lot of adventure riders in our area so if anyone wants to post any thoughts or upcoming rides of local interest feel free to share them here.

I'm up in Kenora, which puts me closer to MN than most of Ontario. Two hours down to your sandbox, or two hours to Winnipeg. How far north are you?

So far most of the local riders are between Duluth and Grand Marais but we are interested in what our near northern neighbors are up to as well.

There is always a few of us that head to Ely once or twice a year. Will keep you guys in mind for our next run.

On another note, anyone know if and when the next Aerostitch Rally is scheduled for ? Just curious, had a blast at the last one.

So, there's talk about a ride from Grand Marais Sat, Apr 30. My vote is to ride up the Gunflint to Greenwood, cross over the top of Greenwood and head to Portage via Ringo Road. I want to hit the Pigeon River overlook again, plus see if I can get in to Partridge Falls. S&T shows a road to the falls, and I've never checked it out. Time/meet location to be figured out soon; Arrowhead Rider???

If C-Zulu is coming, probably 10AM or so would be a polite meet time. Java Moose to meet in the morning? Let us know Jerry. Nace can meet us in town or at the Greenwood cut-off.

Pie/late lunch at Hovland Store is logical, since we'll be passing by.

As a thought, I wonder what the snow condition is up the hill. I've been working on Caribou, and there's plenty of snow. Plowed roads are clear and mud now.

Have a couple rides into your neck of the woods this summer with the wives etc but not sure how far in the dirt we will be going.

Want to do the Orr - Ely - Grand Marais loop at least once.

Also have a ride into the Houghton - Copper City - Keweena Peninsula planned, then around Lake Superior in September.

I'm out for the 30th (Work) Somebody take pics at the overlook please..

Does anyone have this coming Monday free? (May 2nd) If there isn't a foot of snow on the ground, I'm up for a ride.. Is the Delta Diner open ?
http://www.deltadiner.com/ Looks like they're open Mondaze..

I saw Nace today, and he's out on the dirt. C-Zulu is out. Unless I can get Woody S to come, it's me and Arrowhead. Java Moose??? What time??? I can go any time, earlier than 10AM is fine.

Hope the snow stops and then melts. This weather sucks!

C-Zulu: I'd love to ride the sand in the Bird Sanctuary east of Gordon, and eat at Delta Diner. I just heard about DD this spring, and haven't been there. Monday won't work, weekends are best for me. Enjoy if you go solo.

Backroader- I've been waiting to hear when you guys were going to reschedule your Ely ride. I'm guessing no date yet. I'll inquire at aerostich next time I'm there on the rally. I Know they have alaska,new mexico, and south american for tours this year.

I'll be there sat. morning in Grand Marais. Still working on the time. I talked to my father-inlaw and he still cant drive his truck to his cabin yet do to snow. The cabin is near Lost lake-brule river. I am thinking we are going to have to stick to plowed gravel roads but i'm willing to try whatever you have in mind.

All very fine rides. I am taking my daughter around Lake Superior and to copper Harbor in june or august. keep us updated on dates for Orr,Ely and Grand Marais.

No date set for Ely, will have to wait and see if Humvee gets some free time as he was going to set this one up.

Howdy all,

I just want to say hi, and throw my hat in the ring as a Northeastern Minnesota rider. I haven't met most of you yet...ok, so I actually only know one of you. I expect that will be changing. I live in Two Harbors and work in Schroeder.

Anyway, I'll definitely be up for some group rides. Right now, I've only got the KLX250S, so the dirtier the better, though I commute Hwy 61 to work on the thing regularly, so I'm not adverse to pavement (it's just slow and a bit boring on my bike).

Right now, I'm waiting on parts - I lowsided on Stewart Lake in early March and broke the shift star. Should I not have been riding without studs? ...it seemed like a good idea. I'm hoping to have it back together this weekend. 2 months off the bike is a long time...but I digress.

Here's to a good summer riding season.

Welcome. I am also from Two Harbors. I'm thinking the drummond line and stewart lake had plenty of snow in march. Sounds like fun. I wasn't so adventurous untill april. I am heading up to Grand Marais this sat. to join Mike S. Get yourt bike fixed so you can join us next time.

Thanks, and I'll try.

It was actually a warm day for early March...relatively...above 20 degrees anyway. Heading out of town most of the dirt roads including Drummond Grade were a mix of bare dirt with some ice sections, but Stewart Lake Road was totally ice covered. I didn't spend much time actually on the lake, and that was on the packed/frozen snowmobile/truck road. I stayed away from any deep snow on the lake. I rode a little further on the lake after crashing, but without studded tires the ice ruts were just too much to handle. I crashed once more as I was headed off the lake. Yeah, it was a lot of fun! Until I got back on the roads and discovered I no longer had 5th and 6th gear, and had to ride all the way home with an unknown degree of carnage inside my transmission.

I camped at Partridge Falls several years ago after hiking the Grand Portage. There's a beautiful campsite right at the falls, it is open and level and would easily accommodate several tents. While I was there, several groups of locals dropped by on ATV's, so there has to be trail access somewhere. Wouldn't be a bad spot for a small group gathering, though I walked some parts of the trail the ATV'ers were using and there were some little gullies that would be difficult to cross on a larger bike.

It's about a mile west of where the Grand Portage trail meets the old Fort Charolette, which along with the portage trail itself is owned by the National Park Service. Connecting old Fort Charolette to Partridge Falls is the North Country Trail, a hiking trail whose overseeing association is not permitted to maintain the trail on reservation land. I believe the majority of the land in the area belongs to the tribe, so it would probably be a good idea to check the status and inquire about any restrictions. But I'm sure there wouldn't be a problem if a few of us were to just show up one weekend.

I'm definitely game for a return to this place:





I'll be riding around up there sometime in the next couple of weeks. No plans, nothing concrete yet, but my friend wants to go to the OHV park in Gilbert next weekend, so after that I want to ride the to Ely, then down Highway 1 to our spring fishing camp between Finland and the Trestle bar. Probably Duluth for a few days after that, then a stop at my old man's cabin in NW Wisconsin before heading home to St Paul. If anyone wants to meet up, shoot me a PM or I'll keep posting here when I figure out my plans.


--Brian

Let me know when plans get a little more concrete, I'm riding down to the Ozarks the second week in May but might be free before then..

C-zulu you dont sit still often do you? What's going on in the ozark's?

That made me chuckle....might be free. Man, I don't know anybody who enjoys as much freedom as you! Two wheels and the open road...