2020

Come hear about how it was living in a large national park during the spring lockdown. The park was closed so there were no people but there were birds, seals, whales, coyotes and more.  Karen will share her experiences and also talk about how you can volunteer at a National Park.

You’ve probably seen people cycle in the winter but may have not tried it yet. In this presentation, Steven Malikowski will give tips for winter cycling. Many of the tips involve what you should wear, and that’s very similar to clothing you wear for cross-country skiing or winter hiking. Other tips will involve optional changes to a bike, where to ride, and there will be a short segment on riding under a full moon at night. Pictures of those night rides will be included.

Jim H and Liz describe a 10 day Rover eco-trip to Colombia last year. They visited Valle de Cocora for hiking and the cloud forest of Tatama National Park on the Western Andean slopes.

Jim has been a Rover since 2006 and has led trips throughout Wisconsin, also to Oregon, Nevada, Utah. He has also led Rover trips to Mexico and Colombia. He enjoys cross-country and downhill skiing, Camping and traveling.

Liz S. has been a Rover since 2005. She plants gardens to attract wildlife. She is a software developer and a Minnesota volunteer Master Gardener.

No matter how many times one goes to Yellowstone, there will always be something new or different to see.

Old Faithful is a must see, but there are also many other off the beaten path adventures to be had. Some of the hikes were planned, while most were spur of the moment (pun intended).

Animal sightings are a given, but it’s often times a matter of luck. One such sighting was once in a lifetime.

Darcy A. has been a Rover for about 5 years and has been the Director of Publicity for 4 years. Among the things she enjoys doing are camping, hiking, backpacking, snowshoeing, and biking.

Our Borneo Adventure: Back to Back Hiking Up Mt Kinabalu in Sabah and Climbing The Pinnacles in Sarawak

Mike S and Norrie went to Malaysia in January 2020 to experience the two World Heritage Sites in Malaysia, namely: Gunung Kinabalu in Sabah, Malaysia and Gunung Mulu in Sarawak, Malaysia. Both are on the island of Borneo.

Mike S. is a long time Rover who still enjoys hiking in the mountains.

What started thousands of years ago as a mode of transportation has evolved into a hot trend in winter sports that almost anyone can do. It is an excellent way to enjoy the winter in MN. Relatively inexpensive and easy to learn, snowshoeing offers an invigorating cardio workout for people of all ages and fitness levels. Tune in and learn more about it. Presented by Barry S.

Barry has been a Rover for about 15 years including 10 years on the Rover board. One of his favorite Rover trips is the England canal trips that he has done twice and was set to do a third time this spring. One thing he likes to do, in England and here, is long hikes, and he has hiked from Eagan to both Rover meeting locations in Saint Paul.

Meeting the Hiking Club Challenge!

No Presentation tonight. Vote and watch the election returns!

Snow Monsters and where to find them

Description: on top of the Zao Onsen ski resort in Yamagata prefecture in Japan live some mysterious snow monsters. Unlike Sasquatch, they have been more than just sighted and have been photographed, touched, and studied. In this presentation Johanna will show you where to find those snow monsters, discuss the scientific explanation of what they actually are, and present the best ways to get a close encounter with a snow monsters.

Johanna Ficatier grew up in France then moved to Japan for her first job after graduation. Living near the Japanese Alps she enjoyed 8 years of being an active member and volunteer of the Japanese Alpine club, participating and leading countless mountaineering adventures. Moving to Minnesota in 2016, She joined the Rovers and has enjoyed discovering different types of outdoor activities. When not playing outside, Johanna is a Quality engineer for Mayo Clinic in Rochester.

Smartphone Birding: How to use your smartphone to not only find birds, but to identify them.

There are dozens of birding apps, Sharon shares her personal favorites and even demonstrates how to use your phone to take pictures with your optics.

Sharon Stiteler is a writer and park ranger based in the Twin Cities metro area. She has written three books and appears regularly on tv and radio at “The Birdchick” answering your wild bird questions.

People may be looking for projects while social distancing during the pandemic this winter. This presentation demonstrates lightweight, seaworthy, easy to build kayaks which can be done by people not trained in boat building or woodwork from free downloadable plans.

More info to come.

Rover Tina B will be leading a discussion about your favorite gear, tips, tricks and hacks. Come with your own favs.

Everybody loves the Rover Intro Show that we have every spring and fall at REI. Now we are going virtual, with pictures, discussions about the varied activities we do, and a chance to connect with people who love the outdoors and would love to be Rovers, but don’t know it yet. Let your friends know and invite them to a Rover showcase.

Sleeping bees and costume-artist caterpillars. Crash-landing grebes in April snow and great blue herons swimming in July’s heat. Since Karen Kraco picked up a DSLR camera for the first time four years ago, she has been astonished by how many remarkable moments she’s witnessed. On reflection, though, she’s realized that what’s remarkable to us is simply day-to-day routine for the beings with whom we cross paths, moments that we might see more often if we were to sit still enough for long enough.  Karen sees her urban wildlife photography  as a form of street photography: candids of creatures simply living their lives, in spaces that are just as much theirs as ours.  She’s eager to share what she’s captured and learned about them.

Bio:

Karen loves birds and bees and spending quiet time outdoors. For many years she has alternated writing and editing with teaching high school science, sometimes doing both at the same time.  Her nature articles and photos have appeared in the Northeaster newspaper and the Outdoors section of the Star Tribune, and she writes and shoots regularly for the Northeaster,  lately about social justice topics. Her profiles, feature stories, and poetry have appeared in other local and regional publications, and her photos in juried exhibitions at local art center.  You can find her and her fine art photography at the Studios at Chautauqua Lane, #155 Northrup King Building, Northeast Minneapolis on Saturday afternoons and First Thursday evenings, or online at KracoCreative.com.

Description: Berry-eating, fish-hunting, beaver-ambushing wolves?? The Voyageurs Wolf Project was started to address one of the biggest knowledge gaps in wolf ecology: what do wolves do during the summer in forested ecosystems? Despite decades of research, the answer to this question has remained elusive due to the difficulties of studying wolves during the summer. With the help of advanced GPS-tracking technology and remote video cameras, the Voyageurs Wolf Project has been able to get an unprecedented look at the summer ecology of wolves in the Greater Voyageurs Ecosystem in Northern Minnesota. This research has revealed new aspects of wolf hunting behavior and shown just how variable wolf diets during the summer are. So come learn about the complex and fascinating lives of wolves in the Northwoods, and literally see for yourself (from our remote video footage) how these elusive wolves make a living.

My bio: Tom Gable is the project lead for the Voyageurs Wolf Project and he recently completed his Ph.D. at the University of Minnesota. He has been studying wolves in the Greater Voyageurs Ecosystem since 2014 when he started his Master’s at Northern Michigan University. Gable is particularly fascinated by wolf-beaver interactions and much of his graduate work to date has focused on understanding how wolves hunt and kill beavers, and conversely how beavers avoid fatal encounters with wolves. Much of Gable’s early interest in wolves stemmed from encountering wolf tracks, kills, and the occasional wolf while exploring the wild places around his family’s cabin just outside of Killarney Provincial Park, Ontario during the winter. During and after his Bachelor’s in Biology at Hope College in Holland, Michigan, Gable worked as a wolf research technician in Grand Teton National Park and on the Minnesota Wolf and Deer Project in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCAW). His time in the BWCAW fostered a deep appreciation and love for the iconic Northwoods of Minnesota.

Join us for some “Armchair Travels”!  We may not currently be able to travel as much as we might like, however we can immerse ourselves in a good book and live vicariously through the adventures of others.  You’ll meet five Rovers (Tina B., Margo H., Christy J., Kyra S., and Barry S.) who will each be featuring their favorite travel/adventure themed book.  At the end of the presentation, we’ll open it up to all the meeting attendees to see what books others recommend.  We hope you’ll join us!