Kawasaki KLX 300

Jeez this Kawasaki 300 KLX is getting to be my favorite Moto...

Fuel the passion.

Wandering the River Bottoms, sure is much easier to wrestle around then my former BMW F800GSA.

Have a good weekend. Ride on!

 

Fat Biking into the Sunset / Camping into the Moonrise

Back in Camping Mode Along da River

Good clean campsite. With the mild temps, I was able to air the camper out and do a bit of housekeeping.

A bit of snack listening to the night sounds in the swamp.

Beaver didn’t finish his job...

Beef barley/rice soup for supper after a good twilight/night mountain bike ride along the Minnesota River. I’ve got the furnace set on 65 degrees to take the chill off.

The sunrise after a good night. Kinda get moving and climb on the mountain bike for a bit of exploring. Actually got out on a good 1 1/2 hour ride.

Still a bit of ice on the pond after the previous 51 degree day.

Ancient bridge.

Back at the camper for a brunch. 4” of snow on the ground a week ago in this area.

Ride on!
 

Daylight to Dark / Get That Campfire Started

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Always a good ride from daylight to dusk... Then duck into the trees off the trail and light it up. The fire drill for me is to locate a sheltered little nook and then create a campfire in less then 5 minutes. As if I had a situation on my hands, the need to survive with a fire in the cold winter temperatures. 

Well, first off good to enjoy the River and catch the Canadian Geese settling on the water for the night. The Geese are coming in from wherever they had been feeding for the day.  

 Cheers to a good ride and to get back safely. Always feel recharged after my adventures.

Fire Starting Kit

A inventory of the Mike Hall/Adventure Fire Starting Kit:

Strike Anywhere Matches / waterproof matches in waterproof container / several small squares of Fire Starter Squares / Bic lighter / candle / and the most important item... Hand Sanitizer / Plastic sandwich bag to keep everything dry.

Small stick matches are the best to ignite the fire, Bic lighter does work, but not very good in cold or at high altitude. The key is Hand Sanitizer, it is alcohol, it is flammable so it will even start on wet wood. Fire Starter Squares will burn for several minutes, to help ignite wood. Candle is also a source of fire starter that will burn for a while.

The drill that I use, is to gather some small dry twigs. A small supply of firewood about the diameter of your finger, that will get ya started. you can gather some larger wood after ya get the fire started. Crisscross small twigs, break off small piece of Fire Starter Square, drizzle about 1/3 bottle of Hand Sanitizer onto twigs and a small squirt of Sanitizer onto Fire Starter Square. Set the Square under the twigs... Fire time! I used to use a almost a full bottle of Sanitizer, I use less these days. Ya get better with practice.

Ride on!!

Leave it to the Dang Beaver / Snowshoe

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The local beaver showing off his wood carving skills.

Today was a good day to change up the river travels... switching from pedal power to snowshoes. Gotta keep it well rounded in our travels, this is good for the fat tire bike trails that don't get many bikes in the winter. Snowshoes can pack in the singletrack trail. Plus it slows ya down so ya can check out the surroundings at a slower pace.

 I'm hiking the Atlas mountain climbing snowshoes and Weez is sporting her brand new MSR Revo Ascent snowshoes. Ours are both 25" long, hers are a bit narrower, women specific. We are both using Black Diamond / Triple collapse poles. this is the snowshoe/pole setup that we use on our backcountry mountain trips. Good to use and test our equipment in a more controlled environment like this, plus we are packing in the bike trail. The bonus is that we are improving our fitness for the mountain trips in March and April.

The beavers sure left a mess on the river bank...

Here's lookin' at ya till next time. Snowshoe on!

Winter Boondocking Day / Fat Bike

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 Good winter day to dink around the swamp. Saw a prehistoric tree that has seen more water then a whale. The fat bike decided to hop up and throw out a couple poses, dang poser... Haha! 

The past summer this was all under water with the flood waters engulfing the river bottoms. This tree has all it's bark scoured off. Natures art forms are created over years of just hanging around. Could be 2 years, could be 100 years. Been wandering the Minnesota River bottoms for 47 years, give or take. Amazing that I can be within 20-40 miles from a huge metropolitan city and be standing by a tree listening to nature, oh and maybe a train or a few planes overhead. Bottom line is that ya make an adventure outta what ya got in front of ya.  

 The River Royalty keepin' an eye on me as I ride past on the swamp ice. They be thinking that if I slip and fall, lay there. Then they've got a fresh carcass... well I disappointed them because I'm running a good set of studded tires.  

 Ducking down into a creek bed, catching the sundown.

Ride on!

Minnesota River Trail Winter Fat Tire Biking / Fresh Snow Morning

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 Wake up at 4:30am, arrive at trailhead and gear up with lights on bike. On bike before 6am. Fresh snow overnight is the reason for a early start.

With a powerful light beam from my NightRider Pro 1200 light it is a very cool start to the ride. This is a massive cottonwood tree on the bank of the Minnesota River.  

 The beauty of the fresh snow and early start is the animal sign in the snow. This is the fresh tracks and belly slide of an Otter. Cool because I crossed his tracks, I saw where the Otter left the river and bounded through the woods to access this creek. 

 As I rode along the river I came to this huge tree with a hollow trunk.

 Heading back to my truck at the trailhead it was a view of the river that I had to stop and soak it all in. It is very cool to enter the woods in the dark and feel the temps drop as the sun rises. I was on my bike at 6:00am and arrived back at the truck at 10:30am. This ride included several stops to observe, listen to the river bottoms wake up. 

Ride on!