Wisconsin in July

Our two week trip to Wisconsin started out with two nights at Cousin Kathleen;s on her farm in Barneveld. We always enjoy our time there as there are lots of little projects to help with. This trip it was slicing bacon from last year’s pig, trimming overhanging limbs on the drive, mowing grass to feed to the meat chickens, and eating livers from the 40-some chickens that had been butchered on Sunday. This will be our last trip to the farm as she is moving to her little apartment above her son;s garage in September.

Wednesday we headed into Madison. Drove around the Oakwood West retirement village to see if it were a place we would like to live.. (Probably not.). Then parked behind Emily’s and enjoyed her air conditioning until she got back from work. She took us to a great sushi place for dinner which had the best Asian salad I have eaten.

Thursday we drove to Steven and Sarah’s place near Mercer and spent four nights. We made one stop on the way north to pick a few pounds of blueberries. The u-pick season is just beginning.

At the cabin it was still very hot, but there is a lake to jump into. A few small projects here — cleaning out the old camper before disposal, cutting and splitting wood from the trees that were taken down for the new cabin, and trimming overhanging trees. For fun we cruised the lake looking for the “south” loon family, attended the lake association meeting and pot luck lunch, drove to and walked along Potawatomi Falls, walked along Lake Superior, and finally drove up to Jackson Creek Summit and enjoyed a beer and cheese curds (of course) on the patio next to the ski lift. Steven and Sarah ski here regularly in the winter. During our days at the cabin, Steven and Sarah prepared amazing meals for us — pretzel rolls with curried chickpeas, lentil salad, potato and cauliflower Indian style, gnocchi with marinara sauce, and quiche. Such good cooks.

From Mercer we headed north and west to Brule State forest. We have reserved a site in the Bois Brule campground with plans to hike numerous trails in the area. We stopped in the charming town of Ashland for some supplies and fuel.

After parking at our campsite, we crossed the road to the trailhead for the Stoney Hill Nature Trail. This 1.7 mile trail (2 miles with the spur to our campsite) is a well-maintained walk in the woods. Doing the trail loop in a counterclockwise direction means taking the steepest climbs and most shallow declines.

The campsites in this campground are very roomy, quite private, and primitive. The only amenities other than a picnic table, fire pit, and bench are pit toilets and a single hand pump. After dinner we walked to the DNR office area where we deposited our trash and recycling, then walked down to the river where there is a picnic area and canoe pullout.

It rained overnight a bit and more is forecast, but when there was a break we drove to a trailhead with a walk along the river. At some point we turned back as there was a large birch across the path. The timing was fortunate as the rain started as we returned to the van. The rest of the day was spent in the van.

-- Janet (text) and David (photos)