Taking Proto on a date.

 So I have had a bad itch for a fun ride since Arrowhead.  Saturday morning rolls around and all I hear about is the rain coming the next day.  Considering we just finally got snow again, I assumed there would be no snow for awhile again.  Soooooo, I had the time off from the family and was quickly searching the MN DNR site for nearby cool trails.  Off I went to the Mississippi valley in search of fun trails instead of repeating my same old same old trail that is riding distance from the house.

The trail had just enough snow to make it "real".  No grooming, high 20's, soft snow, but oh so fun.  The 2 bluff climbs and rolling hills added to the fun.  The trail went slower than expected plus it went far longer than the online map said.  Finished with 3 1/2 hours of snow fun and then an hour of gravel/pavement shortcut for 4 1/2 total.  Proto and I had a good date.

Picture dump ahead.

The beginning was through a river valley surrounded by bluffs.

Up and over.

The occasional fort.

About 30 minutes in it gets nice and hilly as well as plenty wooded.  With the soft snow, it was especially tough on the hills.

I rode without my jacket, just my base and vapor barrier.

If you look close you can see the flags placed on the corner to prevent drunk sled heads from going into river.

My view to the right for much of the ride.

Proto really loved this bridge.  He might just get his chance to see it this spring on April 13th.

Rolling downhill to ride next to a different river.

Another bridge crossing.

Looks like we need flags on the barbed wire fences as well.

Winter or summer, I see a tree covering the trail and I try to remove it.  There were a ton of branches in between me and Proto.

Starting the first of 2 bluff climbs.

More flags.

Did plenty of this towards the end.

The loop I had planned was taking too long with soft snow and pushing up the majority of 2 bluffs.  I had to high tail it back on gravel to get back in time.

The farthest bluff was conquered earlier in the ride.

It was either a mile of this, ditch, or busy highway to get back to the car.