Touring the Frozen Lakes on a Ural

The sky was clear with the temps around 35F and my Ural returned running good as new, I had to go for a ride.

We started the ride planning on just doing the grand rounds tour we like so much, but ended up trying to see how many lakes we could get the Ural onto or in pictures with.

The above is a shot of the Mississippi from NE Minneapolis on the east side.

Wirth Lake was the first lake we found, but no boat launch in sight.

Cedar Lake was the second lake we found, no boat launch.

We continued on the Grand Rounds roads and got stuck waiting for this train.

Lake Calhoun… closed area.

Lake Harriet. I missed the boat launch turn and with the one way, didn’t want to ride all the way around to get on the lake.

We followed Minnehaha Creek east across Minneapolis.

There were lots of people out today ice skating, cross country skiing, and just enjoying the warm weather. Today was 35F, the first day above 20F in the last month. It has been around –10F to 20F.

Minneapolis Skyline from the 50th Street bridge.

Lake Nakomis. There seemed to be some sort of course set up on the lake. Large tents setup on shore. I wonder if there is/was some ice race?

Ford Parkway Bridge over the Mississippi from the Minneapolis West bank. The setting sun made the St. Paul side glow.

More glowing on the St. Paul side.

University of Minnesota - East Bank Campus

Downtown Minneapolis from under the I35W Mississippi Bridge

This is under the I35W bridge above, and the only place we saw the Mississippi free of ice. The rest of it is covered with snow and ice.

Another Minneapolis skyline shot with the new Gutherie Theater. I was happy to get the scrolling sign on top to say “Gutherie Theater” on the first try.

Minneapolis skyline at sunset from Boom Island Park.

Langton Lake, no boat launch here.

Finally! Lake Johanna. While we were riding around the lake, we observed many trucks and a four wheeler riding around on the lake. I’ve been past the boat launch on this lake many times, and made a bee-line right for it. I stopped just before the lake and enabled 2WD.

We caught many strange looks as we went sailing across the lake. The view from the middle of the lake was also great, and not something I would normally get to see. There were “roads” packed into the snow on top of the lake from the trucks that were ice fishing. As long as I stayed on the roads, we didn’t run into any trouble.

I ventured off the “road” a couple times into the four to six inch snow and nearly got stuck the second time. The Ural is only about five inches off the ground, so it was a bit exciting. I think a knobby pusher tire would make it much easier. Riding on the lake was like riding in the mud and dirt with a dirt bike or a giant parking lot covered in ice and snow. Lots of fun!!  The Ural Patrol really is a street legal ATV or a snow mobile with three wheels as my co-workers like to call it.

We only visited seven lakes on this trip, but there are dozens nearby. We passed almost ten more that we couldn’t figure out how to get a photo with short of stopping in the middle of the road. They don’t call Minnesota the “land of 10,000 lakes” for nothing.

PS: For you observant types, that isn’t me in the sidecar. I had my sidecar monkey with me; she had a great time and wants to ride on more lakes soon.