Two More Days Truck Camping and Mountain Biking on the Iron Range

My last trip to the Iron Range I had hoped to ride Giants Ridge downhill bike park but they were closed due to rain. The weather looked cool but promising this past weekend so I took off work early Friday and headed East.
The load out was a little different this time because I had a new topper and a custom sleeping platform.

The 5.5' bed is not ideal for sleeping but I made it work. I built a simple I frame to clear the wheel wells and to support the two platforms. At 5'11 I fit nicely on the diagonal.
Half the platform is cut short to the edge of the support and the other cut long to reach the tailgate.

Add some carpet and it was at least ready for the weekend. Eventually I will add some pull out storage bins and a few other modifications I thought of while camping.
How about those LED topper lights?

First stop was Cayuna State Park. It is a popular mountain bike destination and all of the camp sites were reserved so I had to stay 15 miles away at Aitkin County Parks Campground. Not horrible but I would have liked to be able to get up and just pedal from the truck.

Lucky number 7 along the Mississippi.

Here's the packing job I forgot to add above.

The bike fits perfectly in the back seat, side to side, with the wheel off. I hang the handle bars from the grab handles so the brake levers and shifter isn't digging into the truck seat and to keep it from flopping around. Last trip all the gear had to be inside with no topper. Nice to have a little extra room.

Black out curtains and a grab handle to pull the tailgate closed while sitting inside the back. The cooler could go in the truck or in the back depending where you are.
The curtains cover the LED topper lights so I tacked up an LED string light. I'm going to trim and change the way the curtains attach so the LED topper lights are useable while in the topper.

Chilly night but not a problem for the 0 degree bag.

Found a nice coffee shop and bakery in Aitkin and hit the road for Cayuna but you need to watch out for deer this time of year.

Arrived at the park and finished my coffee and almond poppy seed scone.


Cayuna is a chain of lakes created from iron ore pit mining. Once heavily scared from the mining process, mother nature has healed all the wounds over many decades and it is one of the most beautiful places in the state. The bike trail building began around 2013 and now has 40 something miles connecting the former mining towns of Crosby and Ironton.

I rode mostly dirt but couldn't pass up a quick trip through town to visit the serpent.

You guessed it, Serpent Lake in the background.


I was sorry to see the Croft Mine is closed indefinitely. Not sure if it is COVID related, funding, safety, or something else. We need these little museums and interactive sites to keep a reminder of how this country was built.

Schrooms anyone?

There are four or five of these little Yurts that are about 100 to 500 yds from the parking lot. They have little wagons you can use to shuttle your gear from car to camp. Inside there is a small dining table, wood stove, and three bunk beds. I stayed in one about four years ago.

Fun little technical loop where exceptional balance and bike control is a must. Trials riders would love it.

Fun day on the bike with perfect temps in the high 40's - low 50's and overcast. It had been a couple years since I had ridden here and it continues to make me happy.
Up next is some lift served trails at Giants Ridge in Biwabik, MN.

 

Love those reports. keep them coming. so green and wet where you live

camper shell is a game changer for overnight trips.

 

Nice post...love the pics

 

Nice write up. Interesting how you got your bike in the back. I made a fork mount platform for the back of my truck, it’ll hold three bikes.

 

I have seen people who use the fork mounts in the bed. If I'm doing an overnight trip I like to keep the bike locked in the truck with the alarm set. Too spendy of a bike to trust with a cable and krypto lock.

 

After a good day at Cuyuna I broke down the bike, took a wet wipe shower, and settled in for the 2hr 45min drive further East to Giants Ridge in Biwabik. I didn't reserve a camp site and decided to just play it by ear. There is a campsite within a couple miles of the ski area and if nothing was open I would just overnight in the parking lot. After making a stop for something to eat and L&M Fleet Supply to check out propane heaters, I got to the ski hill around 9pm.
I knew the overnight low was going to be in the mid 20's and I wanted a heater to take the bite off just before going to sleep and again in the morning after waking up.

I found this Little Buddy 3,800 BTU unit for $70. One of the big selling features is that it shuts off if tipped over. I used it at night for about 20 minutes and it worked well. My concern was there wouldn't be enough clearance between the heater and topper ceiling and it would get too hot or even start to melt the head liner. It never got the topper roof overly warm and the thermometer read about 55 degrees. I also had a carbon monoxide detector to be safe.

The temp did drop significantly overnight and when I fired up the Little Buddy in the morning it worked for only about 10 minutes before the propane tank froze up and the heater shut down. That's a little concerning if the heater doesn't work in 20 degree temps because that's the only reason I would need it. I certainly don't need it if the temps are in the mid 30's and 40's.

It was a beautiful sunny morning and it felt much warmer than the temp showed. A quick boil of some water for coffee and oatmeal and it was a cheap and easy breakfast.
There was a couple and their dogs across the parking lot making breakfast who had spent the night in their sprinter van. Must have arrived after I was asleep because they weren't there when I climbed in the back.
The lift didn't open until 10 and there were cars already arriving. Time to get excited for some gravity trails!


Giants Ridge had a complete rebuild of their chalet about three years ago and it is a really nice set up with tickets, gift shop, and lessons on the lower level and food service and restaurant on the upper. Of course with COVID things were tightened up and limited access.

Pads on, lift ticket comped, and trail map in hand and I was ready to roll.
Trails have been built over the last couple years by a few different trail builders, Rock Solid, Trail Source, and Pathfinder. Funding came from the MN Parks and Trails Legacy Grant as well as the Iron Range Resources and Rehabilitation Board. The Legacy Grant is a program that provides DNR funding for parks of significant interest outside of the Minneapolis Metro area and the IRRRB is an economic development program funded by mining taxes.

Giants also got a new detachable quad chairlift a couple years ago which is slick for summer use. The next phot isn't mine but I wanted to show how the bikes are loaded on the chair.

The chair is moving slow enough around the bull wheel that you can walk up behind it and just roll your bike and front tire into the tray.

Once you are at the top all trails originate from this point. I rode all trails at least once and also got a sneak peek at a trail in progress.

This pick is of the top of the Witch's Tit on the Granite Gorge trail. To the left is a steep slab and to the right (next pic) is a steep rock garden. I took the right.

Shot from below.


Always important to look up and enjoy the view.
It's harder to stop and take photos on the gravity trails because speed and flow is part of the ride. If you want to get a good look at some of the trails I found this video on Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ITrxyIRDvsA

Trail work in progress. The tines on the bucket in the background were nearly worn off from all of this rock work.

Closer

Example of finished product.


Nicely equipped with all the bells, whistles, lights, bike rack, and litter, luckily I didn't need to take a ride in this rig.

It was a really great day and I would have liked to stay longer but I needed lunch and had a 3 1/2 hour drive home. The Strava average speed is a little misleading because of the chair lift rides. Maximum speed was 39.4mph!


Bowl of chili and beer and I was on the road home by 4pm.
I did have one stop to make at Mount Itasca Winter Sports Center in Coleraine.

Although the chalet is new, it has been around since 1906 as a ski jumping club. They have 10, 20, 40, and 70 meter jumps.


Some day I want to try ski jumping but I think I'll start on the 20 meter.

I was going to stop and try to take a better photo but wanted to keep moving. The hill in this photo is all rock pilings from the mining process and mother nature is doing her best to revegetate with some poplars. I don't know why but I find the whole cycle so interesting.

That's all I got for this trip. Remember to look for the beauty in nature, even if you are just taking a leak on the side of the road!