Chequamegon National Forest

We checked out of Lake Wissota SP, made a stop at the grocery store, and headed to our new camp site in the Chequamegon National Forest.

Gordy’s grocery is a local chain. Very nice — good selection of produce, meat, and beer. Pretty much all we needed. I was unable to buy unsweetened coconut and found myself chuckling over the situation. They had sweetened coconut in three brands and two package sizes, but none unsweetened. I wondered why a small store would carry such an array of similar items.

The drive to our next site was just about 90 minutes through farm fields and a few small towns. Corn is about 9-inches tall and looks as if a lot of the nitrogen has been washed out after resent rains.

The Chequamegon National Forest is mostly pine, birch, and maple. The campground is on the edge of the Chequamegon Water Flowage. Campsites range in price from $15 to $36 with the lakesite sites considered “premier sites” where our Interagency pass will not give us a discount. We had made a reservation for one of the premier sites, but realized it was unnecessary. There were lots of sites open on a Thursday, but our site (56) in the Hardwoods loop was fantastic – large, near the lake.

We took a walk along the lakeside trails to another loop (Rustic) and to the boat ramp. Saw some boaters on the lake, but no other campers or walkers.

We managed to cook a dinner of sausage, potatoes, eggplant and onions even though the wood is mostly very soggy. A long wet winter and lots of recent rain means little dry wood.

-- Janet (text) and David (photos)