Category: kayaking

  • wading

    wading

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    I spotted this guy wading in the tall reeds growing along the bank of Pope Lake in Hartman’s Creek State Park. Snapped his photo on the fly with my phone. Turned out okay, if I may say so myself. Read.

  • to paddle or not to paddle

    to paddle or not to paddle

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    Events did not play out according to plan this week. I had hoped to meet up with several friends from high school for a campout in the north woods but the weather changed from iffy to rainy, so we made other plans that didn’t include being outside in the rain. However, my kayak was already Read.

  • Hartman Creek State Park

    Hartman Creek State Park

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    I hung my hammock between two tall pines at Hartman Creek State Park, looking forward to a good night’s sleep and a view of the stars. Didn’t get either. Someone down the road had their radio going all night, so I drifted in and out of sleep to the tunes they shared with everyone else Read.

  • Lake of the Pines State Campground

    Lake of the Pines State Campground

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    I spent the night at Lake of the Pines State Campground, in spite of the best efforts of a biblical swarm of mosquitoes to drive me away. Lake of the Pines is about a four-hour drive from Madison if you don’t stop. I stopped more than once, so it was more like four-and-a-half. I arrived Read.

  • Morning Paddle 05-10-2025

    Morning Paddle 05-10-2025

    I usually visit the UW-Madison arboretum every weekend, even if it’s for a short walk, and when I go, I like to stop by Big Spring and watch the water flow for a little while. It’s calming in a way that I don’t completely understand but I enjoy nonetheless. Today I visited Big Spring in Read.

  • East Star Lake 9-15-2024 — 9-18-2024

    East Star Lake 9-15-2024 — 9-18-2024

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    I drove up to Star Lake on Sunday, September 15th. I left home a little after nine o’clock in the morning and arrived at the East Star Lake State Park at quarter past one in the afternoon. I had booked a site at West Star Lake State Park, on the other side of the lake, Read.

  • A Weekend at North Trout Lake, Sep 30 – Oct 2

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    I spent the weekend at the state park campground on North Trout Lake and it was glorious! Last time I was here it was, ah, not so glorious. It started raining shortly after I arrived, kept raining all night and all the next morning. It was still raining when I packed up and left. But Read.

  • Big Bay State Park, Sep 9 – 12

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    I took vacation on Friday, Sep 9, and Monday, Sep 12, so I could make a long weekend out of a visit to Big Bay State Park on Madeline Island, one of the Apostle Islands I’d been rained out of about half of all the camping trips I planned this summer and it looked at Read.

  • North Trout Lake, Jun 17-19

    I spent last Friday and Saturday night at a state campground on North Trout Lake to do a little hiking, a little paddling, but mostly just to sit and enjoy the peace and quiet. The campground seems to be really popular and I can see why. It’s right on the shore of the lake, which Read.

  • Moose Lake, June 5-6

    I booked a reservation for a two-night stay at Moose Lake Campground in the Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest, not far from Hayward, Wisconsin. I even stayed overnight, but I got the hell out of there first thing in the morning because I have never encountered mosquitoes as voracious and unrelenting as the mosquitoes that were out Read.

photo of the author and the author's best friend