The Royce Files

 It has been a while since I dispersed camped in the Chippewa National Forest. I am thinking maybe nine years and that was a pretty bad trip when the go to spot at Shingobee was occupied. I found a rather slanted spot somewhere further into the forest. I was not pleased- but I was on foot and there was little light left to hike further.  So what is dispersed camping?  It is camping outside of established campground or campsites. In Minnesota, the 2 National Forests and numerous state forests allow it with some stipulations. I believe one of those stipulations is it needs to be a certain distance away from designated campgrounds- state forests it is 1 mile. National forests have similar rules. Generally, dispersed camping is primitive, however I have found a few dispersed sites that are quite comfortable and have a table, a fire grate, and a pit toilet, and are by a lake. More common are sites that are just a pull out from a forest road and nothing more than a clearing to ...

I took an abbreviated bike camping trip this Labor Day weekend. I could regret it but instead I will look on the bright side. Rainy, rainy, rainy. I should have gone elsewhere. It rained the morning I left. It rained when I arrived. It appeared it would rain again as I left the Chippewa . Usually when I do this kind of camping it is dry. An occasional shower may pass but mostly the time in the wilderness is dry. Challenging as it became, I did enjoy the adventure. For one I did not like the established campsite- too close to people. I continued down the trail on my bike. I rode up some incredible steep inclines and had a scare going down since my brake pads were wet. Then a marsh consumed the trail and I had to seek for shelter as rain increased in volume. Well, I found a spot off a game trail and immediately improvised a shelter then tried to keep most of my supplies dry. I succeeded at only the former. It rained steady into the evening. Only once did the rain let up enough...