Van-Tramp adventures 2017

[rvpopeye]

You definitely should have been towing a life raft.
Just kidding , but yes , you were lucky.
(I once has a 7' sail punt and the raft I had was bigger than the boat ! With 2 in the boat there was about 5" freeboard!! )

 

[Ballenxj]

Interesting, from what I gather here, the longer the kayak, the more stable it is?

 

[Van-Tramp]

Interesting, from what I gather here, the longer the kayak, the more stable it is?

The better it can handle waves basically. Too short and it can be swallowed up by small waves. Longer means you can use that length to stay on top of the waves. My 15 foot sea kayak is about as small as they come. It is considered a "beginners sea kayak". 18 feet is where the real sea "expedition" kayaks come into play.

Sea kayaks have smaller cockpit holes, better bulkheads to prevent water filling up the kayak, and inflatable bags to also prevent water fill and provides flotation if it does get a lot of water in it. A recreation or lake kayak would fill with water and sink.

 

[Ballenxj]

The better it can handle waves basically. Too short and it can be swallowed up by small waves. Longer means you can use that length to stay on top of the waves. My 15 foot sea kayak is about as small as they come. It is considered a "beginners sea kayak". 18 feet is where the real sea "expedition" kayaks come into play.

Sea kayaks have smaller cockpit holes, better bulkheads to prevent water filling up the kayak, and inflatable bags to also prevent water fill and provides flotation if it does get a lot of water in it. A recreation or lake kayak would fill with water and sink.

All good information to know, thanks.

 

[Van-Tramp]

Penetrating Minnesota, aye!
http://www.van-tramp.com/wp/penetrating-minnesota-aye/

[size=large]We left Michigan, traveling West (yes!), on our way to the next big adventure of this year’s planned trip; a multi-day kayaking trip in Voyagers National Park. But first, Duluth Minnesota. Unbeknownst to us both at the time, we would pass through a portion of the state of Wisconsin as it lay right between MI and MN. I felt bad that I hadn’t notice it just sitting there. Like the homely girl at a high school dance, it just went completely overlooked though she is likely the best person in the room. In fact, I do not believe we even stopped the truck while in Wisconsin – so I do not consider it officially visited. Originally we were going to stop in at Apostle Islands National Park, but the fact that we could not kayak out to any island (Kerri’s kayak is too small, and we both lack some safety gear) there was no reason to make the extra stop. So, we just kept on driving until we got to Minnesota… Duluth, MN to be exact.[/size]
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Kerri has been here before so knew exactly where she wanted to spend the week. I was unsure of the place at first, but within 24 hours I was taking to it. It is a small town for how big it is, which means it is more my size. It has the stuff you need from a city – grocery, gym, laundry, etc – without it being a sprawling metro area with strip malls and wannabe gangstas all over the place.

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[size=large]embedded Instagram images at http://www.van-tramp.com/wp/penetrating-minnesota-aye/[/SIZE][/size]

[size=large]We stayed  out on the spit, at a marina, just over an old historic draw bridge from the touristy area in town, surrounded by both Superior Bay and Superior Lake. At the end of the spit is Park Point Rec Area with it’s sandy beaches and a 2.5 mile trail that leads you to the very – very – tip of the land. In fact, from here one can practically reach out and touch (across the channel) that homely looking Wisconsin.
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The lighthouses, the draw bridge, a distillery, maritime museum, and watching a conspiracy of ravens chase an owl through the trees on our 4.5 mile hike rounded out our week here. We had to leave Friday morning as the marina was booked up for the weekend thanks to the Air Show coming to Duluth for the weekend. The Blue Angels even gave us a few fly overs on Thursday to send us off.[/size]
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PS – we got to go on board a 36 foot sailboat thanks to a nice man at the Marina. This really got us excited about our upcoming plans… {add suspenseful music here}


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[Van-Tramp]

Weekend tent-camping in Minnesota
http://www.van-tramp.com/wp/weekend-tent-camping-in-minnesota/[/SIZE]

[size=large]Over the weekend the four of us took off in the truck for two nights away from the Airstream, which was left at a Moose Lodge in the small town of Two Harbors, MN. Kerri and I wanted to explore the boundary waters area that makes up the Canada / Minnesota border. It is “way up there” on a map, and an hour from any of the smallest of Minnesota towns. Just my kind of place!
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The weather report was clear that we would have a chance of rain over the weekend. We chose to embrace the non-ideal weather and just go for it, and deal with whatever rain came when it did. No big deal, we are experienced at camping, right?[/size]
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It was a 2 hour drive to get the national forest forest road we planned to scout for some dispersed camping. But the Minnesota forests are not like Colorado’s, or Wyoming’s. The trees are too thick to even step into, let alone go find a bare patch in the woods to pitch a tent. The small areas that did not have hundreds of trees growing, were swampland and had no less than a million mosquitoes per square inch. After checking a few possible places, we decided to just accept the campground that Kerri had chosen as a backup; Flour Lake Campground. Site #19 was our perfect site with lake-front camping and complete privacy. Although we had to haul all our gear down a 100 foot path from the truck it provided a better feel of camping in my opinion.[/size]
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[size=large]The dogs loved the space and lake, big time. Byron was in the lake for two full days, never once getting completely dry all weekend long. Moose was allowed off-leash to run off some of the energy that he always has. He never came anywhere near low on energy, still running around hours later.[/size]
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At dinner time on day-1 we started BBQing a few burger patties over a fire. Kerri was working on some potatoes. It was then that the rain decided to appear. Mild at first, just enough to allow us to think that it may blow over quickly. We continued to BBQ. Then the rain came down in sheets, completely drenching both of us, both dogs, and all our food. We huddled under in mosquito room (not really meant as a rain canopy) as best we could… grumpy and hungry.[/size]
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It rained hard for an hour, and then the skies cleared. We came out the other side wet, but alive. Our spirits were slowly lifting when Kerri walked over to the tent to get some dry clothing when she exclaims, “the rain fly is open!” Yes, everything in the tent was soaked. Grumpiness returned.[/size]
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[size=large]We made it through the first night, thanks to having two sets of sleeping bags and some sunlight still left in the evening to help dry out other things. The following morning was ideal, with a campfire, some coffee, and a few hours of relaxation before setting out for a day of exploring the area in the truck and foot. By evening we had returned to camp and were just starting to prepare dinner again when the rain returned. We were prepared, jumped straight into the tent, with the dogs, and closed the rain-fly this time. It rained harder then the previous day, so much so that our tent began to leak along the zipper seams of the rain-fly, dripping straight onto the dogs and our sleeping bags. There was no way to stop the leakage, and the grumpiness returned.[/size]
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We considered packing everything up and returning to town for a motel room, but that was quickly pushed aside. We can do this… camping in the rain. After 2 hours of heavy rain the blue skies returned. With what looked to be no more risk of rain, our moods quickly reverted to a happy state and we enjoyed our final evening at camp together, before calling it a night as the darkness arrived, well after 10pm this far North.
The next morning was, once again, a perfect morning. We slept in, enjoyed coffee around our campfire, the dogs playing in the lake while we began the slow process of setting everything in the sun to dry so we could fold and pack it all back away in the truck.[/size]
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In the end, the whole process – including the small portions of grumpiness – was just what we both needed. We were both happy to get out into the wild for a few days, and we both learned a lot about what we need to do when weather comes in while tent camping. We were happy to learn these lessons while relatively safe in a campground as opposed to 10 miles out some trail without the extra gear that we had with us thanks to the truck being our mule. The dogs wiped themselves out for days, only gaining enough energy back to play fetch days after our return. And I am very happy to report that my tent educed insomnia seems to have been resolved. Thanks to a little Scotch and sleeping pills each evening, I slept well![/size]
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[Optimistic Paranoid]

If you're going to keep that tent, sounds like you need to seal - or reseal - the seams.

 

[southern.nomad]

Saw your travel map for 2017 on your blog, but it didn't have any semi-planned dates on it  Planning on catching the big eclipse come August?

http://www.eclipse2017.org/2017/path_through_the_US.htm

That would be cool, we should have a GTG.... Anyone gonna be watching it in TN??

 

[Van-Tramp]

If you're going to keep that tent, sounds like you need to seal - or reseal - the seams.

Yep, already sealed for this upcoming weekend kayak-camping trip in Voyagers Natnl Park. Weather says there is some rain coming in for the weekend, so we get to give the seal a shake down.

 

[Van-Tramp]

Moochdocking at the Moose
http://www.van-tramp.com/wp/moochdocking-at-the-moose/

[size=large]We left Duluth, heading North, for our weekend tent-camping trip. We chose not to haul the trailer the two hour drive, instead making arrangements for it to stay back in the small town of Two Harbors at the local Moose Lodge. After our return, we stayed the work week in a grassy area just off the parking lot of the Lodge. I became a Loyal Order of the Moose member in 2013 and I am so happy I did. These little pockets of “family” no matter where I go in the country are great. I was welcomed by everyone in the Lodge as if I were family, shared a few drinks and stories and got to play some more poker this past week. We had no hookups at the Moose Lodge, but Kerri and I both agree that it felt good to be back on Solar power. With the day’s so long, there was no worry about power consumption, a good starter-week for solar power.[/size]

[size=large]embedded Instagram images at http://www.van-tramp.com/wp/moochdocking-at-the-moose/

We both have been discovering the effects that a few months on the South has had on our bodies, so the early morning of each day during our stay was spent outside on a proper few-mile dog-walk each morning. The pooches loved it and it felt good to get the day’s process started for us as well. As it turned out, Two Harbors had a nice walking trail that led out to a lighthouse, and nice wooded area, and a few beaches. Superior Lake only a few minute walk and always in view helped Kerri feel at home.[/size]
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[size=large]Two Harbors is a small town, for sure, with the downtown consisting mostly of shuttered old businesses, a train museum, a new brewery (we tried it, and it was no big thing), and the large container-ship loading docks where ore is loaded into the ships. They command much of the horizon when it town. They are so large, that when a container ship pulls in to be loaded that it – the huge ship – is dwarfed by the structure. Trains arrive constantly with more ore to load into the ships. It is a working town, even today. I truly enjoyed our stay here in Two Harbors, and would be happy to return some day.[/size]
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[AbuelaLoca]

Such beautiful pictures Van-Tramp!! Loving your travels!!

 

[Van-Tramp]

Grand Portage and some State Parks
http://www.van-tramp.com/wp/grand-portage-and-some-state-parks/

[size=large]The same weekend we went tent-camping, we popped into Grand Portage National Monument for a visit. It is a small National Park preserving the 10 miles portage that trappers from Western Canada had to deal with each year to get to the trading post stationed here. Here I learned that teams of 10 burly men would arrive in a 40-foot canoe made of birch bark and molasses (as a sealant) carrying up to 8000 pounds of furs and other goods to trade. That means, one of these canoes could carry the Airstream – fully loaded – across the great lakes!

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[size=large]Just off the shore, some miles, is Isle Royale National Park. While it was originally on the plan, we scrapped it. We did not have the time to do any backpacking on the Isle (which would have been awesome) and the day trip consists of hours on a ferry, for about 90 minutes of Island time, all with a $160 price tag.[/size]
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We think ahead now, you know. We are experienced nomads and try to plan around the general public’s weekends so ours is the least impacted by theirs. For example, we have been leaving many established campgrounds on Friday nights… because full-timers are the ones pulling out of your local campground on Friday night when the weekenders are arriving. The same applies at the end of the weekend. We do not want to arrive to an established campground until Sunday night or Monday morning.[/size]
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Luckily, and thanks to the Two Harbors Moose Lodge, we were able to stay through Saturday night to avoid arriving in a National Park on the first weekend of school-is-out-summer-vacation in Minnesota. That allowed us a Saturday to just go out and explore the shoreline some more. Kerri had it planned out, as she always does the more detailed plans. Off to visit a few of Minnesota’s State Parks to see some more lighthouses and waterfalls. As it turned out, we were not the only ones with that idea. It was National “Get out and crowd your local park day” with no fees being charged at the State Parks in MN. We were among those masses, but still managed some nice hikes, and few moments of solitude, and all in all a very wonderful afternoon.[/size]
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[rvpopeye]

That IS a big canoe , but the Airstream would have to be disassembled first

Nice pics as always..

 

[Ballenxj]

As rvpopeye said; that had to be one BIG canoe! Now wondering where the line is drawn between canoe, and Battle Ship?
Keep the photos coming. I'm enjoying the thread.

 

[Van-Tramp]

Voyageurs National Park – Rainy Lake
http://www.van-tramp.com/wp/voyageurs-national-park-rainy-lake/

[size=large]We arrived in the Voyageurs National Park area with a full day before the work week began so we made a run to the Rainy Lake Visitor’s Center to pickup my obligatory lapel pin and go for a little adventure too. Kerri, as usual,  scouted the area and decided to give the kayaks a shake down before our yak-packing trip this weekend. Not far out from our launch point was Little America Island which was once home to the only profitable gold mine in Minnesota. It really wasn’t much larger than a football field so we didn’t stick around for long.[/size]
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[size=large]We then set our heading to go see the Rainy Lake ghost town, about a mile across the channel. There was not much left, just the hollowed out shell of the old saloon and an old storage shed. We walked around to see what we could find exploring, but other than the saloon’s floor literally covered in rat droppings, some old metal and glass bits in the grass, a witch-like chicken (it screamed and followed us, super spooky), and some flowers blooming there wasn’t much more to it.[/size]
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[size=large]We paddled on further down the shore to another dock. There we went for a small stroll down a trail, but chose to keep it super short. By the time we returned to the kayaks at the dock, I had found four ticks on my clothing. Two more were found on me over the course of the paddle back to the truck. One more was found biting into my stomach later that evening… all from one tiny hike on an established trail.[/size]
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I may – one day – stop having nightmares about these tiny fuckers, but not for many years I’m sure.[/size]

 

[Cammalu]

Dang ticks! I'm in Kentucky and we are loaded. I was thinking of cutting the grass today and even with a riding mower I'll still find a few... eeeuuuu


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[waldenbound]

Van-Tramp, you have one of the best, picture intense Captain's Log. You sure do see some pretty country.
During the long, gloomy winters, these Captain's Logs sustain me. Sometimes, they're the only things keeping me going.

 

[rvpopeye]

Good day and pics (as always).

A little N.P. news for you.
The family that owns Burt's Bees company has been buying land in the north Maine woods (Near Baxter S.P. Home of Mt Katahdin , North terminus of the A.T.) and wanted to donate it as a N.P.
Our governor fought it but Obama designated is as a National Forest.
The Gov went to Washington and wanted it to be evaluated to be returned to industry.

Sec . Zinke just came here last week to inspect and spent 2 days hiking and canoeing in our woods.
The result?
He stated it was such a wonderful area he was going to recommend it be designated a new N.P. !!!!
Boy , did we luck out..
AND MAYBE
Another lapel pin to collect !!!!!!!!

I've been doing patches but my last trip to Acadia to pick up my Senior Pass saw a lapel pin in the bag with a couple of patches at the checkout. So you may have infected me?????

 

[Van-Tramp]

I've been doing patches but my last trip to Acadia to pick up my Senior Pass saw a lapel  pin in the bag with a couple of patches at the checkout. So you may have infected me?????

HA, watch out, those lapel pins start to weigh a bit. I'm up to 102 of them. Honestly wish I had come with the patches.

 

[highdesertranger]

patches............we don't need no stinkin patches. oops wrong thread.

love reading about your travels and as usual great pics. highdesertranger