2021

Voyageurs National Park is Minnesota’s own National Park. it encompasses 4 large lakes and is accessible only by water. Paddle or take a shuttle boat in and experience beautiful hiking trails, front country and back country campsites, the opportunity to backpack into an interior lake and have a campsite and canoe waiting for you. See extensive  wildlife: beavers, moose, wolves, loons, and more. It is also a newly designated Dark Skies location. The presentation will include the history of the park, recreational opportunities here, wildlife, and geology.

Erik Ditzler is a supervisory park ranger interpreter new to Voyageurs National Park.  He arrived last fall, coming from Arkansas Post National Memorial.  He enjoys hiking, canoeing, and watching wildlife.

In winter, the stories left by our non-human neighbors are visible in the snow. With time and attention, we can learn to read the snow like we read the morning newspaper: What happened here? Who did that? How does this affect me? Learn questions to ask & how to identify the tracks you find on your next adventure, whether in your backyard, nearby park, or the BWCA.

Kirsten Welge is a volunteer with the Minnesota Wildlife Tracking Project, and has led teams for wildlife track surveys and monthly trailing practice for the last four years. She holds a Level II in Wildlife Track & Sign Identification and Trailing through Cybertracker International. Through her business, Natural Awareness LLC, she integrates her background in public health with wildlife tracking to help others relax and thrive through connection with themselves and the natural world.

Tune in before the presentation for the Minnesota Rovers Annual Meeting where we will announce the results of the Board of Directors election.

In this presentation you’ll get a sampler of the best hiking and paddling routes on Canada’s Lake Superior coast. Routes include Pukaskwa National and Lake Superior Provincial Parks, Sibley’s giant whale tail, the Slates, Pic and Michipicoten Islands. David Wells will describe key must see features for each route along with logistics and tips to facilitate your travel.

As Director of Naturally Superior Adventures, David has been leading and organizing adventures on Canada’s Lake Superior Coast for more than 25 years. Based in Wawa, his objective is to share the power and beauty of Canada’s Lake Superior coast with you

You can easily spend a small fortune on gear. Or you can find ways to get it inexpensively, or even to make your own gear.

Tony Schmitz got bitten by the make-it-yourself bug about 20 years ago, when he started building kayaks in a basement workshop just barely big enough to accommodate a finished boat. Since then he’s built dozens of kayaks, canoes and baidarkas. Along the way he’s also constructed paddling garments, sprayskirts, paddles, tarps, alcohol stoves, neoprene mittens, mukluks, a composting toilet, and other stuff he’s probably forgotten about. For the cheapskate paddler and hiker, he’s got advice that will help you get started — and finish — a project that will leave you with affordable gear in your hands.

Rohan presented on January 5 on trekking in Nepal with his wife and daughters.  During the descent he had a medical emergency pop up unexpectedly. He  had to leave the trail and get to Kathmandu immediately to get the appropriate treatment before the illness could become life-threatening. Though Rohan trekked in Nepal three times and knew the area, as well as having a medical background and search and rescue background, it was quite difficult despite having evacuation insurance. He was able to arrange a helicopter evaluation. He will discuss the decision making process, the logistics and complicating factors in organizing the evacuation.

Rohan was born in Sri Lanka and then emigrated to the US 30 years ago to live with his wife, who he met during her second year of solo backpacking around the world. For our honeymoon we took a year off and backpacked around the world for a year, spending 9 months in the African continent and the rest in Nepal, Sri Lanka and Thailand. During this time (1993 – 1994) he did his first alpine hiking for 35 days exploring the Mt. Everest region. In 2004 he spent 24 days hiking the Annapurna circuit. As parents, Rohan and his wife have focused on taking our daughters and showing them the beauty of raw nature, different cultures, different ways of living  and the need for nature to be respected and taken care of for the future generations. Taking them hiking in Nepal was a bucket list item.

This will be a group presentation about tricks and hacks to stay warm in Minnesota winter while playing outdoors.

More to come!

Our presenter, Anton, has hiked in many parts of the world and there is no place in the world he would want to go to do an alpine hike. There is no place in the world that has the sheer beauty, the people, the food, and the culture as one gets trekking in Nepal. When you add to that it is a safe place where you can hike at your own pace, stay as long as you can with no need to pre book lodging and food, no need to follow a set itinerary, don’t need to carry a lot of stuff, and spend $ 15 to 20/day for all your meals and accommodations – it is hard to beat. He and his wife and daughters, aged 16 and 19, hiked the Langtang Trail.

Anton was born in Sri Lanka and then emigrated to the US 30 years ago to live with his wife, who he met during her second year of solo backpacking around the world. For our honeymoon we took a year off and backpacked around the world for a year, spending 9 months in the African continent and the rest in Nepal, Sri Lanka and Thailand. During this time (1993 – 1994) he did his first alpine hiking for 35 days exploring the Mt. Everest region. In 2004 he spent 24 days hiking the Annapurna circuit. As parents, Anton and his wife have focused on taking our daughters and showing them the beauty of raw nature, different cultures, different ways of living  and the need for nature to be respected and taken care of for the future generations. Taking them hiking in Nepal was one of their bucket list items.