Upper Peninsula: Downtime on Lake Michigan

From August 2021

Callie and I stayed three days at Little Bay du Noc campground.  I didn't do a whole lot:  walking the several campground loops and trails, reading by the fire, and enjoying the quiet mid-week solitude.  There were some sites with a lakeview but they came with neighbors and sometimes contractor generators. We were happy where we were.

By the end of our stay, I was ready to move on. It was time to move on to the shores of Otchipwe-kitchi-gami, (Ojibwe for the Big Sea) or Lake Superior.

Upper Peninsula: Bay du Noc

 From August 2021

After  wild weekend at Kleinke Park, I was done with camping directly on the beach.  Hitching up the Scamp on Monday, August 16th, I continued heading north past Escanaba, Wells, Gladstone, and Rapid River.  

I headed east and then south until I was across from Gladstone on the other side of the water at  Little Bay du Noc, a national forest campground.   The campsites were well-spaced and nestled into the trees.  No electric, but there were pit toilets and garbage service. $22/night without the senior pass (next year).

There was a small beach but not for camping.  And there wasn't anybody on it.  

 

Instead of sunrise views, I had sunset views from the east side of the bay.

This was camping.

Upper Peninsula: Menominee

 From August 2021

I drove into Menominee, Michigan several times to escape the crowded campground at Kleinke Park.   It's a pretty little town with a history dating back to its indigenous peoples. 

Callie and I walked along the marina and on the pier out to the breakwater.

 

On Sunday, there was a car show.  This one combined the auto and nautical theme in form and function.

Inboard engine

Upper Peninsula: Party Hearty

 From August 2021

According to Merriam Webster dictionary, "party hardy" is the original idiom used to describe someone capable of partying for a long time and having fun."  Despite the name of this blog, I do not fit into that category. I've been known to drink one or two really good beers over a long period of time and then take a nap.

Then there's the folks who bring their own Tiki Bar along to set up in the campsite.  Or the guy who thinks that drinking a six pack of cheap beer is just getting warmed up.

On Friday afternoon and continuing into Sunday afternoon, I observed a number of people who fit into the party hearty category, including my closest campground neighbors.

Not a Stock Photo--Actual Neighbor

Kleinke Park campground changed overnight.  Here's a fun game:  try to find my Nissan pickup in the photo.  You'll need a different photo to find the Scamp, which can no longer be seen.

If you guessed center right, you are correct. Here's the Scamp.

My truck is still there.  You just can't see it because of all of the other vehicles blocking the view.

What to do?  Too late to find another campground.  Finding an open campsite without a reservation for even a small trailer in the UP on an August weekend is pretty close to impossible.  I decided to gut it out and spend my days elsewhere.  It turns out Menominee, Michigan is a pretty place.

Upper Peninsula: Kleinke Park Campground

 From August 2021

Julia did well in her first longer Scamp trip in May. However, on this trip, I drove north by myself beyond Wisconsin and into the wilds of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.  

The goal was not to do a lot of tourist stuff or even hiking.  Most introverts recognize the need to be alone sometimes in order to re-energize and gain perspective.  This was one of those trips.

I've been to the U.P. many times, but have never taken the Scamp.  One of the campgrounds that I've driven by in the car is Kleinke Campground, which is about 30 minutes beyond the Wisconsin border on the Lake Michigan side.  

Last year, Kleinke Park had several first-come, first serve sites.  Going forward in 2022, it will be reservation only.  I'm not a fan of this trend.  I like being able to check out a site in person, get a feel for the neighbors, and vamoose if conditions change unfavorably.  It's pretty much impossible to do with reservation only camping.  

For $21, you get electric, dump station, dollar hot showers, fire ring, picnic table, and garbage service.  There is a lot of beach to walk.  If you get bored of this beach, Baily Beach (without camping) is a short distance away.

I went early in the week, thinking that would be my best chance for snagging a spot.  I did get the nicest campsite of the three available.

A careful observer will note that the electric hookup boxes on either side of me are fairly close.  The good thing is that these were both rented seasonally, and I guessed correctly that I would have no neighbors until at least Thursday.  In fact, the entire campground was quiet until Friday.  

The draw here is Lake Michigan.  While it was hot in south central Wisconsin, temperatures were cooler and more comfortable up north and by the lake.

I got up early, took Callie for walks up and down the beach, cooked nice meals for myself, and spent the evenings reading. It was a very relaxing routine--until the weekend.

 

Iowa Lakes Region, Part 2

From June 2021

Our grass at home was growing long, and our time was running short on the Colorado trip.  Instead of stopping at Toppling Goliath Brewery in Decorah, Iowa, we elected to stay one more night in Iowa's Lakes Region. 

While we enjoyed our stay at Robertson Park, we decided to move to Emerson Bay State Recreation Area on Emerson Bay, a part of West Okoboji Lake.  We've had very good luck with Iowa State parks--no entry fee and relative low campground fees commensurate with services.  Our new site was $20/night with electric and shower access.

Emerson Bay is a large body of water with beaches, piers, and lots of people boating.  I was pretty happy with a spot in the shade.

Julia put in some beach time.

That evening, we went to Arnold's Park.

And ate a terrific dinner on the outdoor patio at Maxwell's Beach Cafe.

It was the perfect ending to our trip to Colorado and back home.

Skipping forward to the present,  we are continuing to get hammered by cold weather, rain and snow at the end of April.  During my "writing break," we took several more trips which I will continue to document when there isn't anything else to write about in Wisconsin.

Iowa Lakes Region

From June 2021

I spent significant parts of my youth in southwest Iowa, working on my uncle's farm and getting in and out of trouble with my same-age cousin, Tim.  I remember others talking about the Spirit Lake area of northwestern Iowa, but never visited there until last year on the way home from our Colorado trip.

Technically, we found our campground in Minnesota, the land of 10,000 lakes.  Robertson Park, a small county park, was just across the Iowa border.   Our campsite was on the water and equipped with electric, dump station, and shower for $20/night.

 

There are small and big lakes dotting the landscape all over this part of Iowa.  Spirit Lake, Iowa is the town in the middle of it all.  There were brewpubs, Tiki bars, and restaurants.  Most had large outdoor spaces--always a nice thing during the pandemic.  

 

Iowa may be flyover country for some, but it isn't all cornfields.

 

New Trails Nearby

 We had our first 70 degree day today.  To celebrate, Julia and I hit the road early, driving up to Mirror Lake at dawn.

We have hiked and cross-country skied at Mirror Lake many times but recently read about two new trails in the State Natural Area.  

 

The Bluff/Canyon trail and the Lake View Ridge trails were so new that we kept tripping over recently cut small stumps still in the trail.  Julia did a belly flop but bounced right back up.

 

There was fog, due to yesterday's soaking rains, but the sun was starting to break through. We welcomed the warm weather with a hike of about five miles, including some off-trail meandering.

This afternoon, I'll split some firewood, listen to the Brewers' baseball game,  and then get the grill going for supper.  Next week turns cold again, so we will enjoy the preview of summer while we can.

Nebraska: Ponca State Park

 From June 2021

 

Continuing east, we drove across Nebraska on Hwy 20.  Julia was busy on google and decided that she needed to try a runza, a meat pastry pocket regionally popular in Nebraska.   In Michigan's Upper Peninsula, pasties are a somewhat similar and were eaten by the miners in that area. I've had pasties, but I'm not a fan.

We weren't quite sure where to find a runza.  Fortunately, there's a chain of restaurants called Runza in Nebraska, so we stopped when we found one in Valentine (I just looked it up and it's apparently now permanently closed).

Julia said that she was glad that she tried it but wouldn't go out of her way for another one.  It was only 10:30 a.m, and I declined to try one.

We continued on to Ponca State Park, which is located on the Missouri River. 

Nice campground with electric and showers

 

The Missouri River seemed very shallow compared to its brother, the Mississippi.

 

There were some trails here that we enjoyed.  One featured a gnarly oak tree that dated to 1644.

We would stay here again if in the area.

 
 

Nebraska: Chadron State Park

 From June, 2021

We thoroughly enjoyed our two weeks in Colorado, but it was time to start heading east towards home.  

Our first destination was Chadron State Park in Nebraska.  But for some reason, Julia thought it was important to see Courthouse and Jail Rocks.  We made a little detour.

 

I think that these rocks are much more impressive if you are in a wagon trail coming across the plains from east to west.  After spending two weeks in Colorado's high country, *yawn*.  

Nebraska is another state with separate fees for entrance and camping.  Chadron State Park.  Admission was $6/day.  Camping for an electric site was $30/night.    Our campsite was perched on top of a grassy hill with nice views of the surrounding hills.

We hiked several of the trails through the outcroppings.

Some of the trails went through high grass.  We didn't do ourselves any favors bushwhacking for better views.

I lost that smile when I made it back to the Scamp and discovered a Lone Star tick crawling on my neck.  Stripping down, three more Lone Star ticks were found.  Don't worry  No pictures of that.

Colorado: Mount McConnel Trail

 

We hiked about 0.5 miles from our campsite through the rest of the campground and down the campground road leading to the picnic area, where the trailhead is located.  The limited parking area fills up during the day, but there were no cars or hikers in the early morning when we started our hike.

This was a 4.2 mile double loop hike with about 1400' of elevation gain, topping out at just over 8000 feet.  Parts of the trail were marked by fire and beetle kill.  Unlike Dadd's Gulch, where the soil was literally still scorched, there were optimistic signs of new growth on this mountain.

isis

 

The first part of the double loop is the "Kreutzer Nature Trail, which climbed sharply up switchbacks.  Most nature trails in Wisconsin are wheelchair accessible or at least very mild and flat for the mobility impaired or seniors.  This was not that kind of nature trail.

We hiked clockwise, as recommended.  The second loop climbed even more steeply than the first, but then suddenly flattened.  We walked through a stark landscape that evidenced both the fire damage and the renewal of life.  

 

 

Some peaks don't pay off with a big view at the end.  This one did.  So we hiked it again the next day.

Colorado: Mountain Park Campground

Each day at Dutch George campground became progressively hotter. On our last day, after picking up a few supplies at unincorporated Rustic, we drove through Mountain Park Campground, another forest service campground at slightly higher elevation and more shade. To our surprise, there was a non-reservation loop in the back. It was still mid-week and early enough in the day that there were a couple of vacant campsites.

When we returned with the Scamp, we snagged the nicest one.

We were able to spread out and had no immediate neighbors.  The structure on the left of the photo was the campground well house.    Yes, we had flush toilets and access to hot showers in the reservation-only electric loop.

We were happy with our non-electric site.  You can see some sunlight in the photo.  I was able to keep our battery relatively healthy by moving my portable 100 watt suitcase panel around to catch the sun.

We did not have a riverfront campsite, but there were trails along the river which were a minute away.  Again, in the heat of the day, we found ourselves soaking our feet in the cold water.

Mountain Park campground also had a great mountain peak trail that we could walk to from our campsite.  We liked it so much that we hiked it twice.  But that will have to wait until the next post.