Quick Stop: Sweet Spot

Sometimes you find beauty where you least expect it. Northeastern Montana is a dry, desolate place with nearly empty small towns and lots of posters depicting the evils of meth use. After driving all day we desperately needed a place to park. We pulled into Havre. There was an RV park (aka parking lot) along Main Street adjacent to a casino. Ugh! Let's rethink this plan.

Where can we go? Where can we go? Yes! Bear Paw Recreation Area just 10 miles out of town.

Bear Paw has a self-pay station like a lot of primitive forest sites. But this one is unique. Usually you shove your money envelope into a rusty old pipe. Not at Bear Paw. Some wonderful, creative and caring person built this adorable work of art. You open the door to retrieve the registration envelope and insert, well you get the picture. So cute...I wanted to take it. Just being honest, folks. Instead I took this photo.



This must be an ad for Sprinter conversion vans.











Just an end note about Havre. Good laundromat. Good lunch. And no one tried to sell us any meth.

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Maah Daah Hey Trail- Medora, North Dakota

The Maah Daah Hey Trail in southwest North Dakota, runs 97 miles near Theodore Roosevelt National Park. It is a multi-use trail favored by mountain bikers. To help us with our four day adventure, we hired Dakota Cyclery to transport our food and camping gear to our three campsites.


We shared the trip with Roger and Don who were visiting ND from the Seattle area.



The trail is well-marked with consistent line of site posts branded with a turtle, the official trail symbol.



The trail rambles through gently rolling badlands. The scenery is spectacular and the heavy spring rains and runoff brought an abundance of wildflowers.



Our primitive campsites were transformed into semi-luxury with the help of a cargo trailer, which was waiting for us at the end of each long ride.



Unfortunately, years of neglect and two wet years have significantly eroded the trail. Additionally, diminishing use by bikers and equestrians on northern sections have left many parts covered by vegetation. Quicksand-like mud along swollen creeks made for messy crossings. We needed to cover no less than 25 miles each day. Our first day we were averaging between 2 and 3 miles an hour. It was hot and we were quickly draining our 100 ml camelbacks and reserve water bottles. Fortunately, we had options to bail and reach our campsite via dirt roads to save time.






Trail conditions improved slightly as we biked south. We rejoiced if we could manage to ride for 30 minutes without hauling or pushing our bikes. On day two we encountered a rock slide. Day three, wet trails from the tremendous thunderstorm the previous night. Wet trails may not sound like much of a challenge, however the trails here are mostly clay and the mud covers your tires and everything else making it impossible to ride. So we stuck to the roads for the morning.




Petrified forest just north of Wannagan Campground.



On the fourth and last day, trail conditions improved greatly. We connected with the newer Buffalo Gap Trail. What a joy to have 25 miles of fun trails to ride! Did I mention the temperature reached 97 that day? Ticks and horseflies? Whoa! Am I sorry we embarked on this adventure? NO. We enjoyed the challenge and our time in a beautiful landscape. Would I recommend the trip to others? Only if they make significant improvements, which is unlikely due to budget strife.

We ended our visit with an overnight in T. Roosevelt National Park. The prairie dogs put on a show for us. So cute.



Parting shot: a vanishing landmark, the phone booth. Maybe we need to bring just the booth back for those people who shout into their cell phones at airports, in restaurants and even in the backcountry.





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Minneapolis-St. Paul Friends

We came out of the woods just long enough to spend two days visiting friends in the St. Paul area. Philip and Lisa became friends during summers at the Broken Arrow Ranch, where her family vacationed and worked. We camped in front of Lisa and Jeff's house, arriving just in time for their wedding anniversary. Sorry to crash the party guys. Hope the champagne made up for it! Thank you for your hospitality- yummy meals, peaceful walks and laundry and fax services.



And we got to catch up with our friends, Bruce and Bonnie. We met them on our Vietnam bike tour in 2009. We enjoyed an evening at their home- wonderful food, fabulous wine and great conversations. Bruce asked us a very thought provoking question. Rather than, "What is your favorite place?" He posed, "What did you learn?" I am going to revisit that question in a future post. Thanks, Bruce!








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The Upper Peninsula of Michigan

Well, I am getting further and further behind on my posts. Why? Not sure. Travel doesn't always allow the time and mind space for writing. It doesn't work when we are visiting people, out on the trail, too tired, with poor or no Internet access or just having too much fun. So, over the course of the next 500 miles I will attempt to get up to date. Please keep in mind, I post date the blogs to correspond with the date we departed from a particular region.

July 18. We drove and drove from Lake Placid, NY to Grand Marais, MI on Lake Superior's Upper Peninsula. Did you know that there is a Grand Marais, MN also on Lake Superior? Neither did I. Unfortunately. Because at 11:30 pm, Philip discovered that our campground reservation was at the other Grand Marais...the Minnesota one. Fortunately, there was still room for us at the quaint Woodland Park Campground in the right Grand Marais. Long day. Long story. Happy ending.

Our first view of Lake Superior from the bridge into the US from Canada...you know that country where your health care costs won't bankrupt you, they don't use their guns to hunt humans and Sarah Palin can never be President. Now I'm getting off the track.



A foggy morning bike tour of Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore. We visited Sable Falls, Log Slide and the Au Sable Light Station.



Logging operations were big business here in the early days. During that time, they would slide huge logs down this steep embankment to be transported over the lake to saw mills.









A Grand Marais attraction, the Pickle Barrel House was actually a residence for ten years. After touring the museum (if you insist) drop by the Lake Superior Brewing Company for some great brews and delicious white fish.



Lake Superior views from hiking trails along Miner's Beach to Mosquito Beach. We didn't encounter mosquitos, but the biting stable flies keep you hiking at a fast pace. To explore the west side of the park, we camped at Bay Furnace State Park. I'm sure you remember the now historic heat wave of 2011. Lake Superior is the place to be. The lake temperature range from cold to cold and we enjoyed chilling down at the Au Train beach.















Yes, there is skiing in the UP. Did you know the residents here are called Yoopers? Totally unrelated thoughts...



Further west, you will find Porcupine Mountains State Park. We camped along the lake shore at Union Bay and explored the coast in our kayak. This is Lake of the Clouds, and it lived up to it's name during our visit.



The sun broke through later in the day and we enjoyed a hike into the forest along the South Mirror Lake Trail. And the mosquitos enjoyed us.






We were surprised by the small number of visitors in this area of the UP. The small towns along the way are struggling for business. It is beautiful, green and refreshing. Worth the effort to get there.

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New York's Adirondack Park

Magnificent sunsets. Incredible full moon. And I'm sure the sunrises were equally beautiful, however I never made it to one of those. Six million acres to explore in the Adirondack Park. During our five days, we kayaked, swam, road biked and hiked. The Deer River Campsite near Malone was our base. The campground is on a smaller lake called the Deer River Flow. It was a full schedule that still left millions of acres to explore on our next visit.




The view from atop Debar Mountain. It was nice to have it all to ourselves, but we would have been happy to share the mosquitos with more blood donors.



Always enjoyable to eat lunch after a good hike up.



The Deer River Flow is shallow affording opportunities for beautiful aquatic flowers such as these lilies.



Hey! There's Debar Mountain in the distance.



On our last day, we had the pleasure of catching up with some former City Kids Camp staff. Jessica was with me my first summer in Wyoming. Here she is with her beautiful family.



Chris and Heather live just 15 minutes from Jessica, though they have never met (yet) they have a lot in common. Chris worked for City Kids many summers. Recently he returned for a summer with his wife Heather. Now they are starting a new generation of campers. Meet Max, the eight month old boy wonder. So cute!



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Burlington, Vermont

What a dynamic city! Home to the University of Vermont. Situated on Lake Champlain, the other great lake. Shopping. Food. Entertainment. Birthplace of Ben & Jerry's and Bernie Sander's political career. Why don't we live there?! Fortunately, my friend Stacey hosted us for two days in her downtown abode so we could at least experience the magic for a little while. Thank you, Stacey!



Church Street Marketplace in the evening. Sidewalk dining at its best. If you find yourself in Burlington, do eat at the Farmhouse Tap and Grill. A new addition to the downtown dining scene. Excellent!



The quickest way to get to the Adirondack Park in upstate New York from Burlington is to take the ferry from Charlotte, VT to Essex, NY. Luck was on our side this particular Tuesday morning. Upon arrival at the dock we drove on board and immediately cast off. While crossing I made lunch and we enjoyed it and the wonderful view.



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Vermont's Northeast Kingdom

Aaaahhh! The Northeast Kingdom, named so for its outstanding beauty and outdoor recreation opportunities. For years I lived, worked and played in the Kingdom (1977-1991). A shot of Burke Mountain as seen from Darling Hill. I took my first ski runs there.



The NEK has five significant lakes. From Burke's mid-base lodge you can see the Lake Willoughby gap.



The Kingdom is now famous for the Kingdom Trails, over 100 miles of trails including downhills and terrain parks. We only spent two days riding and we cannot wait to return for more.



Lunch is served on the trail most weekends. Amazing!



The beautiful Darling Farm. It's impossible to describe the beauty of this ridge line. It is dotted with magnificent barns, classic New England homes and even a mansion. Plus the views!



This former carriage house was my home for one year while I was attending college. We called it Peyton Place on the Hill. Four girls, three guys, one single dad and two teen daughters.



Lake Willoughby! Six miles long, 300 feet deep. Very clear and very, very cold. One of my favorite places.



Old friends- Lynn, me and Emily -gazing out at Lake Memphremagog. At this spot, in Newport, VT we can see the Canadian border. We all enjoyed a bike ride along the lake that evening. The previous day we kayaked together on Lake Seymour.



Lynn and Emily performing at a coffee house earlier in the day.



Once you've experienced the Kingdom it will keep calling you back. So many fond memories of friends, family and adventures. Our visit was much too short.


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