Campground Review

Campsite video

I absolutely love the Minnesota North Shore of Lake Superior. For the last six years we have driven up there approximately twice a year, and we have yet to run out of new places to explore or grow bored of the places that we have already been. My absolutely favorite place to camp so far has been Split Rock Lighthouse State Park. I’ve reviewed cart-in site 19 on The Dyrt previously, this time I’m reviewing cart-in site 9. The best part of camping here is that every campsite is unique, and most of them offer more privacy than you would get at a drive-in campground. You definitely get less road noise the closer you are to the lake.

There is a parking lot designated for cart-in campers. The carts themselves are kind of hidden behind a row of trees, just walk towards the bathroom structure in order to find them. Grab the cart with your campsite number on it and keep it at your site until you are ready to pack out. Keep in mind that MOST of the campsites require pushing the cart up or down a hill, so maybe take multiple trips or have extra people help carry some of the mid-weight items.

The obvious draw to this park is the lighthouse- it is run by the Minnesota Historical Society and you have to pay to even get up close to it. We have yet to cough up the fee to enter this area, but there are numerous places on the edge of the cliffs that offer great views of the lighthouse (the most Instagrammable spots are definitely outside of this special fee zone). The trail system is relatively extensive thanks to some regional trails cutting through the park. The Superior Hiking trail and paved Gitchi-Gami trails are some options, and one of the hiking trails is open to mountain bikers as well.

We actually tend to just hang out at our campsite when we camp here, but we did go on the Day Hill trail and went up to the observation point. It was unexpectedly beautiful and also featured a random fireplace that is apparently a great spot for a fire.

Camgpround: 5/5 stars

Product Review

Product video

As a Dyrt Ranger I was offered the opportunity to review the RōM Pack from RōM Outdoors. It is a 3-in-1 engineered feat that offers you the ability to use it as a hiking pack, a poncho, or a blanket. I have to admit that I was skeptical when I first received it. This thing is made out of heavy duty materials and weighs in at 4.6 pounds, is wider than me, and when it was empty it really didn’t form to my body at all. I was really pleased that I wound up loving it!

What I really loved about it is that the wide straps really distribute the weight well on your body. I was nervous about how heavy it was already when it was empty, and for our major day hike I had probably between 15-20 pounds extra in it. This probably doesn’t seem like that big of a deal, but in addition to having a generally achy back I’ve had a LOT of stress-induced tightness in my neck and upper back. Despite this, I wound up carrying the pack for most of our moderately-difficult ~5 hour hike on the Superior Hiking Trail to Bean and Bear lake.

I never felt any soreness from this pack at all, and in fact the only reason I asked my husband to carry it for the last stretch was because my glutes were giving out (fitness tracker said we climbed 121 flights of stairs!!). I was thrilled that when I took off the pack that all of my recent stiffness was reduced by about 90%!!! The weight of the pack combined with all of my movement must have stretched my muscles out in a therapeutic way. Some of the stiffness has creeped back, and I’m tempted to cancel all of my appointments that I scheduled last week for it and just go for another hike with this pack instead!

I got to try out the poncho feature at Tettegouche state park on my last North Shore day- it was ~45 degrees and was constantly raining. I was able to figure out how to convert the pack into a poncho quite easily, but I will definitely need a tutorial to convert it back into a pack. The thickness of the material was perfect for keeping me warm in this temperature- it might be too heavy for a hot weather rain. I felt a little self-conscious because of the backpack straps hanging off the front. You can either keep your hands inside of the poncho or use the snap buttons to close up the edges into sleeves.

Opportunities for improvements

Snap button strength- I only wore the rompack as a poncho for a 1.5 mile hike. I used the snaps to create “sleeves” and most of the snaps came undone with basic movements.

Waist straps- I only used the chest load balance strap since I found that the waist strap wasn’t terribly comfortable. I definitely would have preferred a waist strap that features padding like the Journey pack.

Chest strap tightness- I had this load balance strap as tight as it would go- and there is definitely an opportunity to make the non-adjustable side of the straps adjustable.

Poncho hood coverage- My head is big- women’s hats generally don’t fit me. I thought that the hood could be slightly larger or feature a bill that pops out to prevent rain from getting on my face/glasses.

Shoulder strap placement- When you are wearing this product as a poncho the straps kind of just hang down the front. I’m not a backpack/poncho engineer, but it seemed like you could easily rotate the hood opening 180 degrees and have the straps go down your back instead. It also seems like there is an opportunity to put snaps on the shoulder pads to keep them flat against the poncho.

Bottle holders- the pack features two mesh pockets for water bottles or other things that you want to keep handy. They aren’t stretchy, which means that wider water bottles might not be able to be stored here.

Colors- Hopefully as RōM Outdoors grows they could expand their color selection.