Fireflies and a distant electrical storm lit our way across the western Minnesota border as darkness set in firmly. We had left Lander, Wyoming in tandem at 4:30am, our friends in their trusty Suburban and us in our Dodge Nitro pulling the new canoe trailer Tony had labored over all winter. Built from an old sailboat trailer and assorted “finds on ebay” it pulled like a dream loaded with our 9 dry bags, assorted accessories, and topped with our nested Wenonah canoes. We hit fog in Gillette, WY (Go figure?) but it cleared by the South Dakota line where we were surrounded by thousands of bikers. Yup, the Sturgis bike rally was in prime form “entertaining” us for a couple of hours on the highway. Stopping for a short sleep just across the Minnesota border we rendezvoused (That’s Wyoming for met up.) the next morning for a Denny’s breakfast in Woodbury, MN with more friends from Lander (just returning from their Quetico adventure) and our good friend Butch from Wisconsin to exchange gear. Butch graciously lent us two more boats and Tod gave us his trip report (and SPOT) and then we were off to Ely for pizza and the final packing.

Drafting