2022

Many Rovers are involved in their neighborhood activities on National Night Out. We will not have a formal program. Rovers with no plans can gather at Como or can socialize at Gabe’s by the Park.

Kayak night. We will have different kind of kayaks and you will have a chance to sit in them and experience them. We will also have different kayak transportation systems so you can figure out how to get a kayak from your house to your next adventure destination.

Members with kayaks or an interesting kayak transport system are encouraged to bring theirs to show and tell.

Do you know how to use a map and compass? Are your skills rusty and you could stand to have a review? Jerry will be presenting a basic map and compass orienteering program.

Rovers  – bring your kids or your grandkids, nieces, nephews, neighbor kids. Or come to help out with some of the activities.

Kids, this is a night for you. We will have a variety of kid friendly activities ranging from geocaching to a slackline to a Leave No Trace table with fun activities to setting up a tent. After the activities, we will have a fire and make smores.

Kids, please bring your mom or dad or a grandparent or other adult with you to the park.

Have you ever wondered about the tents in the equipment locker? What is Rover gear like? how easy are they to set up? We will be bringing tents from the equipment locker and setting them up at Como Park.

This is a great program for you if you want to know more about tents, or if you want to see what our equipment is like. You can have the opportunity to see a variety and set them up when it is not nighttime in the woods or raining. You can learn more about setting up a tent or you can help someone new learn how to set up a tent. You may have a better idea which tent you want to use on your next Rover adventure.

This will also help our equipment gurus inspect tents to be sure they are not in need of repair and that all of the pieces are there.

Participate in our 2022 Backcountry Cook-off and help other outdoor enthusiasts expand their backcountry cooking repertoire! Show off your “old reliable” or try an interesting new recipe before you take it out on the trail. Here are the guidelines: It’s Day Four of a wilderness backpacking trip. Ingredients and recipes should be appropriate for the backcountry. Recipes should take 20 minutes or fewer to prepare and require only a single-burner stove. We’ll need lots of delicious entries, so we hope you’ll consider entering! Tasters— bring your plates/bowls and utensils to sample the goodies and vote for your favorite!

$25 gift card for first place and all other participants will get to choose from a swag bag.

We need YOU to share your nummy backcountry recipes! If you plan to enter, email Sue Wittkop at [email protected] with the following information:

1. Your name
2. Title of what you will prepare (Easy-Peasy Nut and Fruit Couscous, Spaghetti with Dried Veggie Sauce, etc.)
3. If you do not own a stove and will need a stove burner

Please bring everything you need (ingredients, pots/pans, etc.). Water available from the sinks in the nearby restrooms.

Cooking will begin as soon as the meeting part of our night is concluded (around 7:20). Sampling and voting should start by about 7:40.

Will YOU be the Minnesota Rovers 2022 Backcountry Cook of the Year? The winner and the winning recipe will be posted on the Minnesota Rovers web site!

We all have gear that we use all the time and love. Bring your favorite piece of gear to the park and we will have gear show and tell. be prepared to say why you are especially fond of this piece of gear. What is special about it? You can take notes and be start thinking about how to use your next REI dividend or Midwest coupon.

This is an interactive meeting,

Going camping in bear country? Bears can be an issue many of our favorite places, from the BWCA to backpacking trips out west. This presentation we be a demonstration of hanging bear bags. It will be presented by Rob C and Ron T, both longtime Rovers.

Rob has been a Rover for decades. A majority of his outdoor activities are with Rovers and include climbing, kayaking, canoeing, XC skiing, hiking, and pretty much everything outdoors.

Ron is a longtime Rover who enjoys paddling, camping, XC skiing, and snowshoeing.

Come give geocaching a try – or come to help teach other Rovers about our geocaching hobby! Geocaching is an outdoor “treasure” hunt that uses GPS coordinates to guide cachers to hidden containers.  There are geocaches just about anywhere you could want to hike, bike, paddle, or even climb — over 3 million worldwide!  Caches are up trees, under water, in caves, and just plain in the woods.  Some are puzzles, some are whimsical, all are fun! We’ll practice on a few right in Como Park and you’ll be set to cache on your own. Great activity for individuals, friends or families. If you can hike, you can cache!

To get the most out of this event, download the official geocaching app on a smartphone before the meeting and make a free account (be sure to choose a good username / geocaching nickname), OR set up an account at www.geocaching.com and bring a handheld GPS.  If not, no worries, we can share phones. Contact Deb at [email protected] if you need help.  Seasoned geocachers, come join the fun to provide 1:1 help for the first-timers. We’ll have fun experiencing geocaching together!

Deb Sweeney is a new Rover who completed the Beginner Backpacking program in 2021. She is an avid geocacher who has found almost 4,000 caches in 25 states since 2003.

Rovers own a wide variety of bikes: Road bikes, mountain bikes, recumbent bikes, 3-wheel bikes, fat tire bikes, e-bikes. Tonight people are encouraged to bring a bike to the park, ride it there if it works for you. Then we can admire each other’s bikes, possibly try out bikes, see what different bikes look like. also bring your system for locking your bike, so people can look at different systems. If you do drive, you can show us how you transport your bike on your vehicle.

After the meeting we will socialize at Gabes by the Park, a nearby bar and grill

We return to Como Park for our spring gear swap. Find all that gear that you no longer use and bring it to Como to sell to others who will use it. If you are looking for a good deal on some used gear, bring your cash to Como and check out the offerings.

We will be socializing afterward at Gabe’s by the Park

We return to in-person meetings at Como Park. There will not be a regular presentation, just a chance to get together outside with fellow Rovers. bring an appetizer, dessert, or beverages to share, enough for about 6 people. We will have some activities including a slackline. It will be great to see old and new friends in person. Of course, there is always the concern about a rainout. For this first outdoor meeting, we will rent a pavilion so there is protection and we can still meet even if it rains.

More info to come!

A program all about the Rovers, with a slide show of all of the amazing activities that the club does. Come check out our best pictures, hear about the wide variety of things we do, and how you can learn or teach new skills, help with conservation and trail clearing events, and join the fun.

Last fall, Christy and Randy flew to Las Vegas and spent 7 days traveling through SW Utah in a rented camper van. Their goals for the trip were to see how they liked living in a camper van; explore a bit of SW Utah and to live off the grid.

In this presentation, you’ll learn their process for choosing a camper van remotely, the pros and cons of dispersed and off-grid camping, helpful apps and websites, what to pack to maximize efficiency for air travel and  living in a small space – including easy meal planning, wag bags and a #2 briefcase.  During this trip, they visited two national parks, two national monuments, one state park, a couple of canyons and conservation areas.

Christy James and Randy Donelson, both longtime members of Rovers, met while on a cross-country ski trip in the magical setting of the Superior National Forest. For the past 22 years, their adventures together have taken them down whitewater rivers, canoeing and exploring the BWCA, skiing in the Canadian Rockies, snorkeling in Bonaire, hiking to the top of mountains in Colorado – and everywhere in between.  Their ever growing “must-go” list begs them to get out on future adventures

We all want to pass on our love of the outdoors to the next generation. They will be the ones to continue to love and preserve our natural spaces. But early positive experiences are important. Do you want to take your kids or grandkids or nieces and nephews on outdoor activities? Or maybe you already do, but are looking for new ideas. Perhaps you want to talk more about Rover trips and how they can be kid friendly.

Tonight a panel of Rovers will talk about tips for outdoor fun with kids. They will address younger and older kids as well as doing a specific activity, geocaching with kids. We will also talk about kids and Rover activities. Come and get ideas, or bring your own ideas on getting young people into outdoor fun.

We are welcoming back “Astro Bob” King to talk about easy spring star gazing.

This promises to be a busy season with lots of morning planets, a meteor shower and a total lunar eclipse, all visible without equipment. Who knows, maybe the aurora will drop by, too. I’ll provide viewing help and a handy, downloadable calendar of events.

The 65-mile Border Route is a crown jewel of the North Country Trail. It is part of the Minnesota Rovers identity, built by Rovers in the 1970s. Today, the Border Route Trail Association (BRTA) and Rovers maintain the legacy of wilderness adventure. This is the story of how it was created! We will also highlight future trail building plans, and showcase 25 day hikes you can do in the area.

Bob Jarvis first joined Rovers in 1970. He is currently Rover archivist, BRTA liaison to the Rover board, and Database Director. He has been involved with the Rover trails program from its start in the fall of 1970, and in recent years has been coordinating annual Rover canal boat and hiking trips to Great Britain.