Crappy Keeweenaw conditions forced us to cancel our reservations and decide if we wanted to just stay home or find another place to go this weekend. Having 5 days off and not much to do we are on our way to the Grand Rapids, MN area as I type. They have plenty of snow and are expecting quite a bit more tonight and tomorrow. We will be staying at Ruttger's Sugar Lake Lodge and so far have been MORE than accomodating over the phone, we'll see. Hopefully we don't run into any problems and just get some good riding in and have fun. I'll let you know how it goes as we've never ridden in MN before. Kinda excited to try out a new place! Happy New Years all!!!!
OK lets try this again, sorry for the delay. Last week I did do an update and after spending oh, 20 minutes on it I hit the "submit" button and there was an error and all was lost. I was frustrated and gave up and have been very busy ever since. It comes down to this...
1) MN had tons of snow (2'+), mostly powder, snow conditions were great!
2) We saw about a dozen sleds during the 3 days of riding. 2, yes,
2 of them were ones we passed on the trail. The others were at food/gas locations. And this is NEW YEARS WEEKEND!!!!!
3) They groomed once when we were up there, but with that little of traffic why waste the money?
4) Trails were great except the one trail that dead ended at our resort. Of course this one isn't going to get as much attention because it doesn't hardly get any traffic. Yes there were low lying branches what whipped your helmet, there's no way you could even get a groomer down the trail but it was an access to get to the main trails. Not the end of the world.
5) As long as you mapped out where you are going, there were plenty of places for food and gas. If you go snowmobiling for bar hopping stay in WI.
6) The locals were awesome! Everyone we came across was more than helpful and egar to give advice and everwhere we stopped for food was delicious.
7) Anytime you go somewhere new, unfortunately it's going to take that "first trip" to get acquantied with the area. Just like our first time in the UP.
8) The one thing I would complain about the most is how the trails are marked. It can be very confusing when it's your first time up there.
9) As far as the speed limit... I'd say 75% of the trails (again, where we were) would be difficult (or dangerous) to do over 50 mph anyways.
10) We never saw the DNR once. We passed the sherriff and state troopers a few times but never had any problems.
11) One wierd thing, when we got our trail passes (only $16 btw) they are not a sticker and you are supposed to tape them to your windshield. REALLY?????
It was single digits most the time... I know scotch tape ain't gonna do it & I sure as heck ain't gonna whip out the duct or packing tape, lol. So we just kept them in our pockets but again had no problems. I'm not sure how strict the DNR would be if we did run into them.
We will always plan a trip to the UP but if they had a similar meltdown and MN had snow, would I go back to Minnesota??????????
YESSSS
I hate to let the cat outta the bag for those who already go to MN but with all the frustration on this site right now that basically comes down to overcrowded trails and many differences in riding style, why not try a place that hardly has any traffic, decent trails and friendly locals?
