23 WINTER 2020 ISSUE 02 / VOL . 01 SNOWGOER . COM 24
rooms or cabins , packed up the sleds for the long drive back to Minneapolis . Before leaving , though , we needed to make one more stop : Four times we had passed the famous Mosquito Inn just north of our hotel in Toivola , and eight different people nominated it for our Great Pitstops list – we had to check it out . Packed with snowmobilers , food was being slung around by a friendly staff , a small band was playing , folks were gathered around a monstrous wood stove – it was incredibly festive .
A RETURN ENGAGEMENT
After that first U . P . trip , we returned to the Minneapolis-area to find temperatures in the 40s and 50s . Lakes were opening up and the locals were all thinking about spring , but we still had sled testing to do . Calls to the Keweenaw were less positive than the last time , though we were told the white cement was still in place . I called Steve and gave him the usual , “ Well , are you a man or a mouse ?” ultimatum . He fell for it , so we made another after-work run , chasing one last ride .
When we arrived , there wasn ’ t a single vehicle in the Parkview Lodge lot – the guy working behind the front desk must have walked to work ! After about four hours of sleep , we met for breakfast a relatively new local who knows the area well . Ray Tencza , a former Chicago-area cop who moved to Twin Lakes area in 2008 a few years after retiring , is a hardcore snowmobiler with whom we ’ d previously ridden and who always seems like he ’ s up for an adventure . Despite his short time in the Keweenaw area , he knows the local backcountry and a lot of the local people very well .
At breakfast , Ray said he seriously doubted whether we ’ d be able to ride south of the Houghton / Hancock bridge – a half hour later , he proved to be right ! We tried riding local trails , but they were toast and one sled in particular kept overheating due to the lack of any loose snow . We loaded the sleds and trailered north across the bridge to Phoenix . We unloaded up the road from the snowmobile-friendly Vanville Bar , then Ray led us on the first of two different side-adventures .
Staying west of Highway 41 and Cliff Drive , he guided us through some old , wide mining roads that led up over a ridge to a high overlook on the Phoenix Bluff . There was evidence of bonfire pits and other things in the area , which is known well to locals but not to us tourists – it was a treat exploring that area , and the overlook offered a spectacular view of the rugged terrain .