USFS Saw Safety Training & Certification
Location: Bunker Hills Regional Park, Coon Rapids, MN
Dates: Saturday AND/OR Sunday, April 14 – 15
Type: Day Trip

This trip is for all hikers interested in trail maintenance on USFS lands such as the Border Route, the Kekekabic, and the Superior Hiking Trails. In order to operate a crosscut saw or chain saw on Forest Service property you must hold a valid USFS Certification card from. If you don't currently have one or if yours is about to expire, we encourage you to attend the Twin Cities 2012 Spring US Forest Service chainsaw certification course on Saturday, April 14th and/or the crosscut saw certification course Sunday, April 15th. The sessions we'll be held at the Bunker Hills Campground Visitor Center located in Bunker Hills Regional Park, CSAH 14/Main Street (Formerly Highway 242) and Foley Boulevard, Coon Rapids, MN . We'll be inside from 8:00 a.m. to noon and outside "hands-on" in the afternoon. Note: If you want certification for both crosscut and chain saws, you’ll need to attend & sign up for both days. Space is limited, you must RSVP via e-mail to John E. with your name, address, phone #, crosscut saw, chain saw, or both plus specify Saturday 4/14, Sunday 4/15 or both.

USFS Chain Saw and Crosscut Saw Student Guidebook
Contact John E to sign up or for more information

Chain Saw & Brush-Cutter Safety, Familiarization, and Practice Course
Location: 3701 Pillsbury Ave So., Mpls / Ed Solstad's farm: 130th St Plum City, WI 54761
Date: Saturday, April 8, 2012 10:00 AM
Type: Day Trip
How to find us: Look for the grey Dodge Maxi-Van parked next to the Sun Ray sign at the Sun Ray Shopping Center, 2165 Hudson Road East, St. Paul. Depart at 10:00AM sharp.

This Meetup will give those people signed up for the USFS safety & certification classes on the 14th and 15th and/or one of the May trail maintenance trips a chance to become familiar with the use of the BRTA chain saws, brush-cutters, and other equipment beforehand. You’ll experience excellent scenery, good food, camaraderie that can’t be beat, and the chance to learn a valuable life skill. After all, you never know when you might be driving down a back road and find a dead-fall blocking your path. We’ll meet at the Sun Ray Shopping Center, 2165 Hudson Road East, St. Paul and depart at 10:00AM sharp for the 60 mile van-pool ride to Plum City, WI. where we have access to a plot of wooded land a bit north of town which provides an ideal practice site. You can expect to get back to St. Paul by dark but we may take a day hike to Nugget Lake County Park afterwards and/or stop for a bite to eat so keep your evening schedule flexible. The van-pool, lunch, safety gear, and all equipment will be arranged by the BRTA. There will be no charge for those signed up for one of the May Border Route Trail Maintenance Trips. Others will be charged $5.00 to help defray fuel and lunch expenses. Keep in mind that there are no drinking water or toilet facilities at the site that we’ll be going to. Please bring the following: a water bottle, TP, leather work gloves, hiking boots, personal meds, long pants, and rain gear. You may want to bring a day pack to carry your miscellaneous items. In order to get a heads up on safe chain saw operation we suggest that you download a copy of the USFS Chain Saw and Crosscut Saw Training Course Student’s Guidebook. Time permitting along with a sufficient number of reasonably strong warm bodies available, we'll also move a '67 Fiat 850 Spider body shell out of the barn.

Sign up online at the BRT Meetup Group or contact Ed S.

Gunflint section
Date: Thursday, May 3 - Sunday May 6
Type: Bunkhouse

Join us for the annual spring maintenance trip to the Gunflint Section of the nationally acclaimed Border Route Trail. You'll experience great scenics, camaraderie that can't be beat, excellent food, a chance to see and/or hear wildlife such as eagles, loons, moose, wolves, pine martins, black bears, and fox. Perhaps best of all you'll go home feeling really good about yourself for having helped to keep the Border Route and connecting trails in good condition. It wouldn't happen without our time and dedication. Prior trail maintenance experience is not a prerequisite, but you should be in good physical condition in order to enjoy the trip. We'll be sleeping in bunkhouse rooms at Gunflint Lodge on Gunflint Lake with next door access to heated restrooms and hot showers. The Trip fee of $60 includes transportation, lodging, and food from Friday breakfast through Sunday lunch. We’ll stop for food in Duluth or Two Harbors on Thursday and Sunday night. The entire Gunflint section was cleared of dead-falls and brush last fall, so we’ll only be dealing with trees that fell down over the winter. It should go fast. Look upon it as a day-hike where we happen to be carrying a chain saw and fuel in case you need to clear something out of the way. During weekend we'll be doing a dead-fall sweep from the western trailhead through to the old power line cut to the east of Heston’s, a distance of 8.8 miles. We’ll also do a dead-fall sweep on the 2.1 mile Brice-Breon Tr. These sweeps will consist of one sawyer using a chain saw plus two swampers to assist in throwing debris off of the trail. They will also put in flagging where needed and keep notes as to areas needing more attention. While the dead-fall removal crews are busy on Friday, we’ll take another crew in on the Crab Lake Trail to do dead-fall removal and light brushing from the trailhead to the east end of Crab Lake and then up the Crab Lake Cutoff to the junction with the Border Route. This will be a total of approximately 2.3 miles. Dependent upon how many people we have, we may stash the equipment and return on either Saturday or Sunday to continue with a dead-fall sweep back to where the east bound crews left off. Doing that would take care of everything outside of the BWCAW. On Saturday, I’ll be leading a crew into the boundary waters to do about a mile of brushing using our newly acquired Fiskars loppers and pruners. Fun, fun, and no noise! This Meetup is cosponsored by the Border Route Trail Association, and the Minnesota Rovers Outdoors Club. It'll be originating in the Twin Cities. Transportation options would include being picked up in route or forming a car pool from Duluth. Exact details will be determined by who signs up from where.

Sign up online at the BRT Meetup Group or contact Ed S.

Clearwater Lake A
Date: Thursday, May 3 - Sunday, May 6
Type: Canoe in

The location of this trip has been changed from McFarland Lake to Clearwater Lake.

The wilderness sections of the Border Route Trail run above and along several border lakes and provide spectacular overlooks to those lakes. Trail clearing consists of removing brush and downed trees and in the wilderness is done with hand tools: crosscut saws, loppers, and scythes. All paddling equipment and tools will be provided. A suggested personal gear list will be provided and carpool arrangements developed once registrations start coming in. Registration consists of selecting your trip, answering some basic experience questions, and reading and signing the liability waiver. Fee payment can be made by using Paypal or by sending a check.

Thursday evening (3rd) the crew will drive up to a bunkhouse at Clearwater Lodge and stay overnight. Friday the crew will paddle two miles to a campsite on Clearwater Lake, setup a base camp and spend the rest of the day trail clearing on the BRT. Trail clearing will continue on Saturday and the crew will paddled out and return home on Sunday. The tax deductible trip fee of $60 includes carpool transportation and food, with the exception of meals on the drive up and back.

Sign up
For more information, contact Tom S.

Clearwater Lake 1
Date: Thursday, May 10 - Sunday, May 13
Type: Canoe in

The wilderness sections of the Border Route Trail run above and along several border lakes and provide spectacular overlooks to those lakes. Trail clearing consists of removing brush and downed trees and in the wilderness is done with hand tools: crosscut saws, loppers, and scythes. All paddling equipment and tools will be provided. A suggested personal gear list will be provided and carpool arrangements developed once registrations start coming in. Registration consists of selecting your trip, answering some basic experience questions, and reading and signing the liability waiver. Fee payment can be made by using Paypal or by sending a check.

Thursday evening (10th) the crew will drive up to a bunkhouse and stay overnight. Friday the crew will paddle 2 miles to a campsite on Clearwater Lake, setup a base camp and spend the rest of the day trail clearing on the BRT along Rove Lake. Trail clearing will continue on Saturday and the crew will paddled out and return home on Sunday. Tax deductible trip fee of $60 includes carpool transportation and food, with the exception of meals on the drive up and back.

Sign up
For more information, contact Tom S.

Clearwater Lake 2
Date: Thursday, May 17 - Sunday, May 20
Type: Canoe in

The wilderness sections of the Border Route Trail run above and along several border lakes and provide spectacular overlooks to those lakes. Trail clearing consists of removing brush and downed trees and in the wilderness is done with hand tools: crosscut saws, loppers, and scythes. All paddling equipment and tools will be provided. A suggested personal gear list will be provided and carpool arrangements developed once registrations start coming in. Registration consists of selecting your trip, answering some basic experience questions, and reading and signing the liability waiver. Fee payment can be made by using Paypal or by sending a check.

Thursday evening (17th) the crew will drive up to a bunkhouse and stay overnight. Friday the crew will paddle 2 miles to a campsite on Clearwater Lake, setup a base camp and spend the rest of the day trail clearing on the BRT to the east from the portage trail between Clearwater and Rove Lakes. Trail clearing will continue on Saturday and the crew will paddled out and return home on Sunday. Tax deductible trip fee of $60 includes carpool transportation and food, with the exception of meals on the drive up and back.

Sign up
For more information, contact Tom S.

Clearwater Lake 3
Date: Friday, May 25 - Monday, May 28
Type: Canoe in

This trip is full

The wilderness sections of the Border Route Trail run above and along several border lakes and provide spectacular overlooks to those lakes. Trail clearing consists of removing brush and downed trees and in the wilderness is done with hand tools: crosscut saws, loppers, and scythes. All paddling equipment and tools will be provided. A suggested personal gear list will be provided and carpool arrangements developed once registrations start coming in. Registration consists of selecting your trip, answering some basic experience questions, and reading and signing the liability waiver. Fee payment can be made by using Paypal or by sending a check.

Friday evening (25th) the crew will drive up to a bunkhouse and stay overnight. Saturday the crew will paddle canoes 4 miles to a campsite on Clearwater Lake, setup a base camp and spend the rest of the day trail clearing on the BRT to the west from the portage trail between Clearwater and Mountain Lakes. Trail clearing will continue on Sunday and the crew will canoe out and return home on Monday. Tax deductible trip fee of $60 includes carpool transportation and food, with the exception of meals on the drive up and back.

This trip is full

For more information, contact John T.