As I recounted in my first post on this blog/website, the
Backcountry Trail Patrol came into existence as a program of the old North-Central Mountain Bike Patrol on the Chippewa National Forest in north-central
Minnesota, incorporating is a separate organization in 2003. This summer, with the Twin Cities Mountain Bike Patrol now set up to cover the majority of the events that Backcountry has worked for the last few
years, and after the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions are hopefully relaxed, we
will be returning to the Chippewa. There are a number of resource management,
and cultural and historical activities taking place in the eastern part of the
Deer River Ranger District (Marcell area) which I would like to take part in.
This is not saying that we will abandon the activities on Chequamegon such as
the Borah Epic (if it takes place) and CAMBA events, but for routine patrol,
trail maintenance, helping with interpretive programs and the preservation of
the historic Joyce Estate in the backcountry of the Trout Lake Primitive Area, I, and anyone else who would like to take part, will be
volunteering on the Chippewa National Forest and the Edge of the Wilderness
Discovery Center. More details will be posted here as they develop.
It has been twenty years since we first started volunteering
for the U.S. Forest Service on the Chippewa. To commemorate that service, we
will be hosting a group ride on the Simpson Creek Trail System north of “Big
Winnie” near Inger, Minnesota on a Saturday to be determined when the pandemic
restrictions are lifted. Currently, I am considering the latter part of July
for this event, starting with the “Best Gosh Dam Fish Fry in Minnesota” on
Friday, at the Gosh Dam Place Restaurant and Motel, just down Highway 46 from
the Simpson Creek trailhead. Watch for details here in the near future.
