Since the others got a late start Steve and I decided to take a longer route back to Lake Michigamme. We headed south on trail 33 just before Gwinn and topped off our gas tanks. The plan was to head down to the trail 32 intersection, west on 32 over to trail 5 and up to Republic for dinner. Trail 32 is 53 miles long through the higher country with nothing but thick forest all the way. The trails were really flat with a few inches of fresh snow filling in the minor cracks. This trail runs through some beautiful winter landscapes with tall pines lining the trail. It was a nice smooth cruise until about half way when we ran into some down pines blocking the trail. I had removed my ropes and trail gear for my overnight bag. The woods were so thick we had no way around it.    Steve wanted to head back to our last gas stop and back north. I hate back tracking so I started looking at the GPS. Sure enough there was a way. We back tracked a couple miles to Aimone Rd and followed it west where it met Forest Rd. This kept us going west and sooner or later we should hit trail 32 or 5. It was a cool ride down unplowed back roads and two tracks. As I hoped, just before dusk, we crossed trail 32. Another half a mile west we hit trail 5 and headed north. We made it into Republic just in time to gas up and eat before everything closed. Good timing! Steve and I pulled into Michigamme about 10 that night with 260 great miles behind us that day. It was a nice overall trip, great trails and some crazy weather to remember. Till next time, have fun, be safe, DMG

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