Midnight Hike to the James Lake cabin

Tim Zietz, Kirk Johnson, Steve Fogarty, Heather Fogarty, and Mike Fogarty left Minot late Thursday night on November 9th, 2006 to hike to the James Lake cabin. A week ago, the trails had 6" of snow and people were skiing, tonight however the trails were bare, but frozen. There were some patches of ice so we had to hike with caution in several places. With the temps in the teens, it was a bit nippy until we warmed up from Heather's fast pace. If we had hiked any faster, we would have been jogging. We had to ask Heather to hold the pace back a bit several times. This girl is FAST.

We arrived at the cabin after 75 minutes and two falls. The stove began easily enough, and soon the cabin was warm .... really warm. Steve cooked spaghetti for our 1am supper. For dessert we had freeze dried ice cream! It was EXCELLENT!!

The next morning we had pancakes and scrambled eggs for breakfast, and enjoyed slightly warmer temps for the hike back to the trail head. Everyone enjoyed each other's company , the lively discussions, the beautiful forest and the peacefulness that the park provides.

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Riding Mountain National Park, Canada - Labor Day weekend 2006

My brother Steve and I took new mtn biker Kirk Johnson (left) up to Riding Mountain National Park, Wasagaming Manitoba, Canada for an overnight camping / mtn biking adventure. We arrived Sunday afternoon, set up camp, then rode mtn bike around the area until around 7:00pm. We took a trail that left the campground. This trial led us to town. From there we explorded Wasagaming, then rode the Clear Lake, South Shore trail. This trail was not highly technical, but it was fast, rolling, and skirted the edge of the beautiful lake for about 7k. We rode it nearly to it's end for a total out and back distance for the south lake shore trail of about 15k. It's a really fun trail with easy (but not obvious) access. The fantastic weather made it just that much more enjoyable.

On the second day we toured the park by car. The East Escarpment is impressive as are a number of lakes in the area. We talked about hiking the 62K of trails on the eastern 1/2 of the park perhaps next summer.

Pictured above is Kirk, with beautiful Clear Lake in the background. Click picture for enlarged view.

Adam Lake 2-25-06

It was a bit chilly up at Adam this past weekend, but the pace, the incredibly beautiful scenery and the company of good friends kept things warm. These pictures aren't in any order. In this one, Dave and Mike pose for a shot. The red faces are there from skiing into the cool breeze for the past 5 k.


We stop for a quick trail break, and a shot of Dave. I think this photo was taken at the Blue/ Yellow/ Orange junction, close to the trail head.








Dave "Schuss" Zodrow does the tuck down the longest decent on the trail before the James cabin.







Another stand-up break after a long climb. Gotta cool the 'horses' down after all the work. See the warm breath frosting over the cold air?





Dave and Mike striding out across the lowlands.








A long gentle uphill grade requires a relaxed, steady pace.









In the end, Dave, Steve and Mike were all really glad to be out skiing on such a great Manitoba winter day!