Tag: camping

  • flashback – first tent

    flashback – first tent

    I spent a few hours yesterday afternoon cleaning up the mess of odds and ends which had piled up on my basement workbench. Amongst the detritus, I found four aluminum tent pegs. They appeared to be the tent pegs that belonged to a tent I bought while I was still in high school in, I Read.

  • IAT Straight River Segment – 9/10/25 to 9/14/25

    IAT Straight River Segment – 9/10/25 to 9/14/25

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    Three weeks ago, I spent five days with dozens of other volunteers helping cut a new trail through the woods near Luck, Wisconsin, for the Ice Age Trail Alliance. This was my first IATA trail-building event. I’ve been walking the Ice Age Trail for a couple years. The trail stretches around what had been the 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.

  • Isle Royale National Park 05-30-2025

    Isle Royale National Park 05-30-2025

    Put the picnic table in the marshiest part of the camp site. We’ll just dump some gravel in the mud underneath the table. It’ll be fine. The only time I got rained on while I was visiting Isle Royale was on Friday morning. Once, well before sunrise while it was still pretty dark, I heard Read.

  • Isle Royale National Park 05-29-2025

    Isle Royale National Park 05-29-2025

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    The holy grail of visitors to Isle Royale would seem to be getting to see a moose. If you talk to anyone you meet on the island for more than five minutes, they’ll ask if you’ve seen one, or they’ll tell you where they saw one. Usually both. It’s a hot topic. More than half Read.

  • Isle Royale National Park 05-28-2025

    Isle Royale National Park 05-28-2025

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    My Darling B was surprised to learn there are outhouses in the wilderness areas of Isle Royale. If you have to answer the call of nature while you’re on the trail, you’re allowed to poop in a cathole. I didn’t have to on this trip, and I’m pretty happy about that, to be honest. I’ve Read.

  • Newport State Park 4-29-25 — 5-1-25

    Newport State Park 4-29-25 — 5-1-25

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    Hello from Newport State Park in Door County, Wisconsin! I visited recently for a two-night stay to try out my new backpacking gear, as well as some of the oldest gear I have (my spindly old legs), all to make sure I’m ready to hit the trail this season. Here’s an obligatory selfie at the Read.

  • The Porcupine Mountains

    The Porcupine Mountains

    I’m back home from a three-day hiking trip to the Porcupine Mountains in the upper peninsula of Michigan. I left Madison last Sunday morning, hiked the back country Monday and Tuesday, and returned home this afternoon. I didn’t camp in the back country. Looking back now, I kind of regret not doing that, but this 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.

photo of the author and the author's best friend