2015

The North Country Trail is the longest of 11 National Scenic Trails but is far less known than its sister trails, which include the Appalachian Trail, Pacific Crest Trail and Superior Hiking Trail.

Though Backpacker magazine has called it “the Next Great Trail,” the NCT is unknown even to many avid Minnesota hikers. Learn more about the NCT’s history and find out what’s along its 4,600 miles, which include 1,050 miles in Minnesota and Wisconsin. You also will learn how you can help the North Country Trail Association get the Arrowhead Re-route (a bill allowing the NCT to follow the Kekakabic, Border Route and Superior hiking trails in Minnesota) through Congress. Presented by Matthew Davis.

Buckthorn — give it an inch, and it will take over an entire forest . . . or even your garden, if it gets a chance. Learn how to identify and stop this aggressive shrub from spreading. Warning: Once you learn to see buckthorn, you will see it everywhere. Presented by Rovers conservation director Craig Gontarek.

New mountain-biking trails are popping up in parks and forests everywhere. Want to try them? Don’t let a few rocks and roots stop you. Veteran mountain bikers Jodi and Scott Stammer will demonstrate basic moves that will get you started. If you have a mountain bike, bring one; otherwise, watch and learn.

If you’ve got to have coffee in the morning, you know the most important piece of backpacking gear: the campstove. Rover Ben Warpeha will tell us how his favorite stove, the quiet, safe and wood-burning Littlbug, has changed the way he camps and cooks.

The world is full of wonderful bicycle trails and routes — but it’s not always cheap or easy to get to them with your own bike. That’s why it’s so nice to own a bike that can fold into a suitcase that qualifies as checked luggage.

Martha Garces, brand manager for Calhoun Cycle in Minneapolis, will demonstrate a Brompton, a folding bike that’s still hand-made in London, and Rovers Beth Gauper and Torsten Muller will show their Bike Fridays, hand-made in Eugene, Ore. This program will go on rain or shine! (Rescheduled from May 26.)

Are you afraid to lock up your bike in a public place? Bicycle thieves are increasingly brazen and often carry crowbars and power tools. So how to thwart them? Dave Bole, owner of the Bicycle Chain at Larpenteur and Lexington in Roseville, will show us the best locks and defensive techniques to keep our bikes from being stolen.

Let’s share ingenious ways to make camping easier and more fun. One favorite: creating a tent lantern by strapping your headlamp onto a gallon of water. Learn from others and show your own MacGyver-like techniques for being safe, light and happy on the trail.

Could you save a life if you had to? Many of us have had CPR training, but a long time ago. Learn the best current techniques from retired teachers and cardiac-arrest survivors Gene Johnson and Bruce Wizik and Rover Fran Lesicko, who (half) jokingly call themselves “the walking dead.’’

They’ll also show us how to use a portable defibrillator. Let’s be prepared out there!

Only a lucky few get to sail on a full-rigged, oceangoing ship like the Sorlandet. Built in Norway in 1927, it served as the Norwegian pavilion at the 1933 World’s Fair in Chicago and, during WWII, as a leisure vessel for German submariners.

It’s now a sail-training ship, and when it visited the Great Lakes in 2013, it accepted short-term trainees. A local sailor will tell us what it was like to be part of the Sorlandet crew on a Lake Michigan voyage and how people can sign up when the tall ships visit again in 2016. Presented by Arne Stefferud.

The South Island of New Zealand provides a smorgasbord of venues for outdoor adventures — seashores, plains, rainforest, mountains, lakes, rivers, glaciers, vineyards, fiords, grasslands, waterfalls.  Join Sue for a whirlwind photo tour of how she explored the island by bike, plane, train, boat, helicopter, foot and van. Presented by Sue Wittkop.

In 2011, two Rovers traveled to Nepal on a photo tour with a company called Grasshopper Adventures. They visited the Kathmandu Valley, the Chitawan Tiger
Sanctuary and a part of the Annapurna circuit, in the company of a professional travel photographer. Presented by Bob and Noel Jarvis.

Six Rovers biked 400 miles along the Mississippi River Trail from the Lake Itasca headwaters to St. Paul. This is the initial segment of Route 45 of the US Bicycle Route System, which runs all the way to New Orleans. This summer, we plan to go downriver from St. Paul to Galena or Quincy, Ill. Presented by David Byrne.

It is a common dream to hike the Appalachian Trail (AT), and people come from all over the globe to hike it. Wally Miars ( aka Silver Streak) will discuss his experience on the AT. You will hear funny stories and learn interesting facts about hiking the world’s greatest trail. Silver Streak found out that hiking the Appalachian Trail is not about a walk in the woods. Come and learn what he found out it was all about. The old and young alike will enjoy hearing this story. Presented by Wally Miars.

The Border Route Trail (BRT) is a not-to-be-missed hike along the Minnesota / Ontario border. With incredible views from many overlooks and 65 miles of trail through the BWCAW and semi-wilderness, plus an additional 20 miles of connecting trails, the BRT is often cited as one of the top trails in the United States.

We’ll show photos to inspire you, let you know how to do a moderately paced BRT through-hike in five days and provide tips on day hike and combined canoe/hike opportunities on the BRT and connecting trails. You’ll get advice on when to go, where to find the best stands of old-growth timber and most spectacular overlooks and, if you promise not to spread the word, where to find that hidden mine shaft. Presented by John Elliott and Ed Solstad.

Hopping on a bike for a joy ride or a quick trip to a meeting is fun, easy and convenient, thanks to Nice Ride Minnesota. Find out how to check out one of those green bikes you see all over Minneapolis and St. Paul, so you always have a bike handy. You can also learn how Nice Ride is working locally and nationally to bring more people to biking through community-based equity programming, a bikes-by-prescription program, a Greater Minnesota vision and development of bike share’s first industry association. Presented by Tami Traeger, Director of Outreach and Sponsor Relationships for Nice Ride Minnesota.

New Rover Andrea Prichard just spent 2.5 years living in Bolivia and took the opportunity to visit some of the most extreme landscapes on Earth. From the largest Salt Flat in the world to circumnavigating the highest volcano in the country (base at 14,000 ft) to the Amazon rainforest to dinosaur tracks to Lake Titicaca. While focused on natural beauty and trekking, there will be some fascinating cultural slides aswell from her time among the Andean Aymara people. Presented by Andrea Prichard.

In 2012 Steve spent seven weeks traveling in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia by planes, trains, boats and on foot. See photos of the beautiful landscapes, people, ancient ruins and temples. Learn how independent travel in SE Asia is easy, safe and inexpensive. Presented by Rover Steve Mueller. 

Come share our hiking experience hiking hut to hut for 6 days and 5 nights in the French, Swiss, and Italian Alps. September weather was great, packed about 15 lbs each and stayed in huts with showers, food service and beer on tap! Presented by Mike Hogan.

Probably the two biggest reasons Minnesotans don’t try whitewater kayaking or canoeing are that they A: don’t think there is access to decent whitewater from MN, or B: don’t know where to go to learn the necessary skills. This presentation will have a little something for paddlers of all skill levels from the absolute newbie who has never been in a boat, to those with advanced rodeo or creek skills who would love to find new rivers to paddle. Learn about the differences between river running, playboating, and creeking; and different gear and skills needed for each. Enjoy a photo tour of rivers with whitewater within one,two, four, six, ten, or fourteen hours of the Twin Cities. Last but note least, find out where you can learn how to whitewater kayak or canoe. Presented by Melissa Hirokawa. 

Part of the mission of the Minnesota Rovers is to keep the places we play in beautiful! As one of a number of conservation activities, we have adopted part of a woodlot in Elm Creek Park Reserve. Come and hear how it started, why we chose that location, and what we hope to accomplish there. (Die, buckthorn, die!) Presented by Tom Harris.