Hammock Forums- Wisconsin Hang April 13-15, 2012
When the Wisconsin Hang was announced I planned my work week to end near Wausau, WI., to be able to attend. The hang was in the Kronenwetter Forest Unit just south of Wausau. The Forest Unit is an established snow mobile area with the path covered in gravel and some off-shooting wide grassy trails.
The hike in took just a few minutes from the parking lot across a very nice flowing creek.
The hang site was easy to spot!
I was in with two other hangers on Thursday night, Matt (SADLK) and Lonetracker. The night was completely clear and full of stars, so I slept without the tarp.
Wilderness Logic Snipe hammock, Hammock Gear: underquilt, topquilt and cuben tarp.
Morning was brilliant with the sun rising in the trees.
The day was spent sleeping in late and doing some last minute work that needed to get done on Friday, but eventually that was done and more hangers had arrived. As evening approached and dinners were being prepared, we got our first look at Rbinhood's menu for the weekend.
Remember you can click on a picture for a larger view! LOL
in case you are wondering- meat kabobs, tomatoes and peppers on the skewers and below potatoes, onions and BACON
Later I learned that Lorax was also quite the celebrity having contributed meals to Freezer Bag Cooking. this was one of the first books I bought about lightweight camping. Below his biscuits and gravy.....
Friday night threatened a little rain so I deployed the tarp. Lots of animal noises this weekend. Coyote, Crane, turkey, owl, and even a wolf
Saturday morning came with sunshine. the storm of the night before had been blown out by a high pressure and the day was beautiful. I planned to walk the entire Forest Unit today.
red line going down, blue line coming back up
red line going down, blue line coming back up
I had wanted to make a loop and you can see that you can go on some side trails to the parking lots along Bailey Rd and Co Hwy J, but all of the side "grassy" trails were complete swamps I tried to push through in a couple of spots but was sinking to my below my ankles
So I stayed on the snow mobile trail and went all the way down to the south border stopping at St.Hwy 153 and then turning around and coming all the way back. I managed a slight detour, for a little variety. The temperature was up in the 70's today.
The wildflowers were starting to come out along the side of the trail
Saturday night was fire making night. Rbinhood along with Lonetracker, Fatdaddy tried to make fire using some ancient fire starting techniques. (bow and spindle to make a cool) It was really interesting to watch and learn how to make fire without any modern advantages
The outrageous food continued Saturday night- Green with envy as I ate my noodles
The rain came Saturday night, but I had my tarp in porch mode so I could watch the rain come down. there is a resident Black Bear that lives in the Forest Unit, but I didn't see him, although with the food smells, I am surprised.
packing up Sunday morning making sure you could never tell I was there.
Very happy to have been invited and looking forward to doing it again- great bunch of guys
Animals spotted:
Crane, Turkey, Deer
Animals heard:
Crane, Turkey, Owl, Coyotes, Wolf...
Thanks RBdoger and Fatdaddy for organizing and everyone I met that attended. Video coming soon
HammockForums.net
Lakeshore Trail GSMNP Day 1 February 2012
I have not hiked with Christine for almost a year and a half, so when she suggested that we hike the Lakeshore Trail ( 40 miles ) in the Great Smoky Mountain National Park, I jumped at the chance.
She had done some of the beginning and we had done a bit of the end previously but neither of us had seen the entire trail or knew what is was going to be like. The Adventure was on!
DAY 1 Twenty Mile Ranger Station to Camp Site 90
A perfect night to sleep outside
Day 1:
8 miles in approximately 5 hours
4,150 feet of elevation gain and lose
9 creek crossings
She had done some of the beginning and we had done a bit of the end previously but neither of us had seen the entire trail or knew what is was going to be like. The Adventure was on!
DAY 1 Twenty Mile Ranger Station to Camp Site 90
The first challenge is to start at the lake level and climb all the way to the Appalachian Trail!
5 miles of steep uphill trail
Twenty Mile Cascades
Reaching the AT
now straight down on Lost Cove Trail- steep and narrow. All the elevation we gained from starting at the lake level we will lose again as our campsite is along the lake
Lost Cove Trail had more in store than just a steep down hill. we needed to cross the creeks at least 8 times to reach the end of our day. None of the creeks were bridged! Not wanting to get to wet, even though the temperature was nice, we needed to look for creative ways across each creek.
We finally reach campsite 90
It turns out to be just a beautiful campsite right on the lake
The TVA draws down the level of the lake every year during the winter, so we are actually walking on what will be underwater by 30 feet later in the summer
I fixed up the broken fire ring and a great fire to keep us warm
8 miles in approximately 5 hours
4,150 feet of elevation gain and lose
9 creek crossings
Lakeshore Trail GSMNP Day 2 February 2012
Day 2 dawned clear and cold- the amount of stars out the previous night was amazing. Today we have to get 12 miles over terrain that Christine had never seen before, so this was going to be the most remote section of the trail with some 6 to 7 miles without any other trail crossing.
The temperatures got down to about 34 degrees, making getting out of the warm sleeping bags difficult.
The sun came out early and the walk was flat and pleasant for the first half of the day.
We came across the old Calhoun House that the park service uses as a storage and base facility. There used to be an entire town here including a railroad for the mining.
After the Calhoun house the trail began to disappear. the last half of the day was spent on a barely there horse trail and lots of painful side hilling as the trail was not well defined at all. The last 5 miles of the day was not fun!
The Hemlocks are dying in the Park thanks to the Woolly Adelgid and they lay on the ground like pick up sticks
We finally arrive at camp 77. the section from 81 to 77 was rough and remote.
Camp site 77 was nice and open with a nice stream running right next to it for water
Rain was threatening but a great fire again makes everything warm and great.
Day 2:
12 miles in 7 hours
many blow downs along the trail and hard going from campsite 81 to 77
Animals Heard:
Coyote
Hoot Owl
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