Alot of people think of camping in Minnesota as a Cold, Bug infested experience. But this couldn’t be further from the truth (depending on what time of year you go)… My Family and I had the opportunity to spend some time camping at Stalker Lake in West Central Minnesota this month and it was one of the greatest trips we’ve had.

We brought our 1974 VW Campmobile for the trip and it proved to be the ultimate hangout. We also had access to a nice 2 Bedroom + Loft cabin in case the weather was too much for our lovingly named “Sunny” the camper van. The weather was in the 40′s at night and upper 60′s and 70′s during the day. A few showers and high winds moved through but nothing that didn’t make a nice break from the activities. Sunny did just fine through all of it and I ended up sleeping comfortably in the poptop for four nights straight!

The area around Stalker Lake is known for hilly farm land, winding roads and Minnesota’s clearest water. The fishing is incredible too! Here I am (left) with my brother-in-law after catching our limit of Crappies.

My son and I also slammed a few Crappies.

As for the local roads you have the Ottertail Scenic Byway. These are some of Minnesota’s best kept secrets for Driving, Motorcycling or Bicycle’s. I brought my Trek Road Bike out as well and put on close to 60 miles around the lakes.

The Following picture has an interesting story behind it. Read Below.

After I snapped this shot a black Jeep drove by and curiously slowed down. He then did a U Turn and followed us for quite some time. We didn’t think much of it and headed back to the cabin. About 20 minutes later a Sheriff shows up and ask who owned the vehicle in the driveway. I said it was mine and he asked to see my gun! I said “What!, I don’t have a gun.” He say’s “Well, someone reported this vehicle was out with someone shooting road signs our the window” I said you wanna see what I was shooting? I pulled out my camera and showed him the picture… He (probably feeling kinda stupid) of course still asked to search the truck to which I said “You should really have a warrant for that” but I got the key’s and let him “Search”… All of which consisted of opening the back door, looking in, closing it and heading on his way… I guess the Neighborhood Watch programs are still working in certain parts of America! But to the guy who called me in on a Sunday morning at 9:30, get a fishing license and go slam some Crappies!!!!

Anyway, the cabin is situated for the best sunset’s you’ve ever seen. I also had the campmobile set up perfectly for catching the breeze off the lake and seeing the sun out of the Poptop bed area.

My favorite driving & cycling loop can be seen at this link. It consists of around 25 Miles including nice winding roads around lakes with moderate climbs and decents. Around 8 particular climbs definitely got my heart rate up.  Much of this ride is protected by tree’s along side the road. There are open fields where you’ll be fighting some crosswinds but all in all an excellent ride (or drive in your favorite car).

For the full photo album click here

I leave you with a sunrise on a cool morning. This is what happens when the lakes get substantially warmer than the air.