2016

Rovers owns about a dozen tents that need to be set up and inspected. I’m asking for your help. We’ll break up into small groups and each group will set up a tent and inspect it against a check list. You’ll hopefully learn something about differing tent designs and we’ll demonstrate how to apply water-proofing and seam sealing.

I’m also hoping people will bring their favorite tenting ‘hacks’ to share with the group.

What do you get for your labor? A warm feeling in your heart, a cookie or both!

Organized by Rob Chase, Equipment Director.

​If weather allows we will still meet in Como park to talk about trips and other announcements. If it is raining meet at Ol’ Mexico instead.

Do you enjoy the sight and sounds of bluebirds and chickadees in your backyard or local parks? Learn about what bird boxes to use, where to put them and how to maintain them if you would like to help bluebirds and chickadees.

Presented by Barry Shillingford

This event will be at REI in Bloomington.

Three sheets of plywood and a plank of wood…. Christopher Crowhurst will be talking about how to simply create a beautiful kayak using basic tools and a small amount of skill. The Shrike kayak is an open source project Christopher started with his father to help spread the love of kayaking, and put it within reach of everyone. A light weight kayak, weighing in at about 25 pounds, that can be adapted to suit the use and body weight of the paddler the Shrike is inspired by the Inuit hunters kayaks of West Greenland. Christopher will be bring several examples for you to touch hold and covet.

Join us Tuesday evening for an exploration of some of the Southwest’s most iconic destinations. A day of traveling brings us to Hoover Dam, Lake Mead Recreation Area and Nevada’s Valley of Fire State Park. Then we’re off to Zion National Park for a hike up the West Rim Trail where we’ll squiggle up the fittingly named Walter’s Wiggles and marvel at the bird’s eye vistas from the top of Angels Landing. Enjoy a wade up the Virgin River Narrows where the sun reflects erratically off canyon walls that tower above us as high as 2,000 ft. Discover dinosaur tracks in the Kolob Canyon area of the park after rappelling boulders and swimming the chilly waters of the 9.5 mile Subway trek. The grand finale of this most remarkable expedition brings us to the inspirational hoodoos of Bryce canyon and the stunning views from sunset and sunrise pass.

Presented by Dori H., Stephanie S. and Sue W.

On the northern coast of Colombia, the jungles and mountains that separate Ciudad Perdida — the Lost City — from civilization make getting there a hike worthy of Indiana Jones!

Rover Doug Johnson completed the five-day hike to these fantastic ruins, which predate Macchu Pichu by 600 years, just this January. He will illustrate his presentation with photographs and maps of the hike and give details about transportation, costs and tour groups.

Learn how to prepare your body, mind, and heart for a 24 hour endurance event. The presentation will be told through the eyes of the speaker’s preparation and participation in this event where she completed 50 miles. Topics covered:

Planning out your training calendar

Simulating the event

How to get your mind ready

Determining your expectations – what’s realistic and what possible 

Questions about preparing for a 24 hour event

Presented by: Lindsey H.

The 65-mile Border Route is a crown jewel of the North Country Trail. It is part of the Minnesota Rovers identity. The Border Route Trail Association (BRTA) and Rovers maintain the legacy of wilderness adventure. Past and future trail building, 25 day hikes, and wilderness camping.

Presented by Ed Solstad and Bob Jarvis.

Enjoy pictures, planning tips and highlights of a 28-day, no-resupply trip to the BWCA and Quetico, featuring Mooserider, Cap’n E and the intrepid J! Our trip took some unexpected twists and turns as we paddled from Tofte to the border and into central Quetico!

Learn the thrilling details at this talk! Was cannibalism necessary? How could we possibly live without Internet access for a month? What were the locals like? Which portage has most definitely NOT been improved by new maintenance? Is it possible to eat too many blueberries? 

Presented by Elisha Polomski.

Regular ticks are bad enough, scuttling into hidden niches on the human body and gorging themselves on blood. But their ick factor pales next to the danger posed by deer ticks, which can transmit Lyme and other diseases — and not just in late spring and summer.

Don’t stop hiking in the woods, but find out what you need to know to prevent infection: when and where you’re most at risk, how to identify nymph and adult deer ticks, symptoms of tick-borne diseases and what to do to protect yourself. Presented by Franny Dorr, epidemiologist for the Vectorborne Disease Unit for the Minnesota Department of Health.

Join us for a presentation that will highlight our adventures in the air, water and below ground. Learn about Maori culture, the 2015 World Cup champion rugby team (go All Blacks!), glowworms, glaciers, mining and much more. Presented by Darcy Amnuel.

Between wildfires and heavy rain, four Rovers squeezed in a week of hiking and camping in California’s Sierra Nevada Range, John Muir Wilderness and King’s Canyon National Park in August 2015.  Presented by Joe Bornong.

Before the presentation (below) vote in the 2016 Board of Directors.

Costa Rica is known more for beaches and bird-watching than for hiking, and for good reason: Only some of its many national parks have trails worth hiking.

But a few are spectacular. Rovers Torsten Muller and Beth Gauper will tell you where to find them, how to make your way around the country and how not to end up on the wrong side of the volcano.

The tiny Caribbean island of Bonaire has some of the best shore diving and snorkeling in the world. It’s also home to more than 150 species of birds, various cacti, a national park, salt pans and even a distillery!

Rovers Randy Donelson and Christy James will present pictures from their underwater and topside explorations as well as provide tips on equipment, preparation and transportation to this tropical paradise.

Learn how Outward Bound changes lives through challenge and discovery, generally in wilderness. Dan Stark, program coordinator for Voyageur Outward Bound School in St. Paul, also will tell us about dog-sledding and cross-country skiing courses for adults and offer tips for traveling through the wilderness.

In July 2015, six Rovers flew into Manitoba’s Woodland Caribou Provincial Park and paddled 220 kilometers on the Bloodvein River to Lake Winnipeg.

Part of the Canadian Heritage River System, the Bloodvein passes through calm marshes and small lakes as well as narrow gorges with Class I to IV rapids. Along its shores, bedrock outcrops and massive boulders illustrate the retreat of the last glacier, and paddlers have a view of vegetation and wildlife that  have evolved undisturbed and virtually free of non-native species. Tom Eckstein and fellow paddlers will provide a visual tour of the river, including <span>GoPro footage of some of the rapids they ran.

Once off limits to Americans, the Jewel of the Caribbean is slowly opening up for travel. Experience pulsating rhythms of Cubano culture in the sultry cities of Santiago, Baracoa and Havana.

World traveler Jason Sprayberry will tell you how to legally travel there, live on the cheap with locals — and stay out of trouble. So hurry to Cuba, before Starbucks beats you there!