We're planning a trip to the Pigeon River Section of the Border Route Trail over the 4th of July weekend. This will give you a great chance to visit the Border Route Trail, one of the highest rated trails in the Midwest. You'll enjoy excellent scenery, gourmet food by our renowned foody, Trish Hannah, unbeatable camaraderie, plus great swimming at our campsite.

This section of the BRT lends itself well to day hiking as it has a total of 5 access points, lots of great overlooks, and very little damage from the "Big Blow" of 7/4/1999.

As many of you already know, the BRT was built by Rovers during the 1970's. It's a significant part of Rover's heritage to which we'd like to introduce newer members, hence this will be a combination day hiking / trail reconnaissance / deadfall clearing sweep. We did a sweep of this section last fall so we don't expect many deadfalls. That means that there would be little clearing to do and the group should move along almost as fast as a normal day hike group would travel on their own. This will be a great chance to see a major piece of the BRT and feel good about contributing to its upkeep at the same time. Since the trip involves a deadfall sweep and is organized as a joint effort of Rovers and the Border Route Trail Association, the trip costs are tax deductible.

We'll leave Thursday evening after work and return Sunday evening aiming for 9:30PM. In order to maximize transportation efficiency, we'll use my 12-passenger Dodge Maxi-Van plus the newly acquired Border Route Trail Association trailer for carrying extra gear. We'll car-camp at the Otter Lake trailhead with its "executive beach" and newly installed BWCAW style latrine.

Estimated trip cost of $75 includes transportation to and from the Twin Cities and all food except for stops on the way up and back. Details available at upcoming Rover meetings or give me a call at 612-822-0569. A deposit of $75 secures your spot on this great trip. Max trip size: 12. Note: If you live outside of the Twin Cities area and would like to meet us at Otter Lake, please get in touch to make arrangements for a substantial discount.