came home to carnage . |
were ready for some warm |
||||||||
“ We found 10 of our men |
air and a hot meal . |
||||||||
red with blood and dead … |
We pulled into picture- |
||||||||
save us from evil !” |
perfect Browerville later |
||||||||
The stone was allegedly |
than expected , after the |
||||||||
found in 1898 in the near- |
lunch rush . A police car |
||||||||
by Solem Township , how- |
and a horse-drawn buggy |
||||||||
ever it is largely considered |
outside the hardware store |
||||||||
a hoax . Nevertheless , this |
was the only traffic . Our |
||||||||
roadside monument left an |
spirits fell when we saw the |
||||||||
ominous feeling as a freak- |
only restaurant in town , |
||||||||
|
ish wind blew increasingly
dark , summer-like clouds
our way . We bundled up
the best we could , covering
every bit of exposed skin ,
|
The Café , was closed . Like stray cats , we smelled food and scoped out the situation . Sure enough , the waitress said , they were closed , |
the pace quickened , and we agreed that it ’ s not truly an adventure unless the unexpected rears its head . |
Destinations Viking Bay Resort
218 / 943-2104 ; www . vikingbay . com
Zorbaz Alexandria
320 / 219-7813 ; www . zorbaz . com
|
||||||
|
rejoined the rail trail and
rode eastward for Brainerd .
Re-crossing The Tundra Getting from Brainerd to
Alexandria was easy , but
making our way back to
Brainerd was a different
story . For variety ’ s sake ,
we took a new route at the
onset of our journey .
Running the elevated
rail trail out of town was a
rush , as high winds continually
buffeted us toward
the steep edge of the
|
trail . After gassing up and returning to the winding local trails , we enjoyed the challenge of following drifted-over trails as they meandered through farm fields and sparse patches of trees . Dense , hardened drifts were mixed with lighter , fresher drifts , meaning we never knew how the skis would react to the terrain . The angry |
sky ’ s flat light exacerbated the challenge , although we only got lost once .
The rapidly dropping wind chill was a major factor , especially when we realized the Cat ’ s track was ratcheting . After this unplanned pit stop to tighten it in a slightly shielded grove of trees — it was too cold to take our helmets off , even briefly — we all
|
but our frozen beards and red faces must have tugged her heartstrings .
She agreed to stay open for us , and chili and cheeseburgers never tasted so good . After fueling up one last time , we rejoined familiar trails for the final hour and a half back to our truck and trailer . The wind calmed as the sun began to set , and we were once again on winding , freshly groomed trails . Our bodies warmed up as
|
Runestone Museum
320 / 763-3160 ;
www . runestonemuseum . org
The Café , Browerville
320 / 594-2414
Central Minnesota is a remarkable place for riders . You could easily get your fill riding the trails and interconnected lakes around Brainerd or Alexandria . Rolling down the freeway on our way back to the Twin Cities , we were confident that loading up backpacks , connecting the two places and staying overnight made our twoday trip much more of an adventure .
The pastoral farm towns , rolling fields , fastpaced
|
ditches and oldstyle
Americana make the
space between them easily
worth the cartography required
to connect the dots .
And , if you really want to
feel like adventurous , do it
during a blizzard . There ’ s
nothing like a visceral ,
nature-based adventure to
return us modern men to
our roots .
|