Posts filed under Adventure Tuesday

Camping at Perrot State Park

 

Adventure Tuesday

Camping

    We decided to go camping and to do some exploration in an area close to the Minnesota state line. We ended up going to Perrot State Park because the camping at the other state park in Minnesota (which we originally wanted to go to) was already completely full (Great River Bluffs State Park). We really wanted to get a campsite next to the water, but those were first come first serve so we decided to reserve a different one instead. Here in Wisconsin, and probably other states you have to reserve your campsite through Reserve America, which add on an extra cost of a delightful 9.65$ on top of the already ridiculous cost of 18$. Either way, we did have a nice time, but I do wish these places were more accessible and cheaper..

 
 

    And I think we were pretty lucky, because the mosquitos were kind of bad and probably would have been worse if we stayed closer to the standing water. 

 
 

    We hadn't been camping since the big roadtrip and had to figure out where we had put everything. The more you car camp the more things you figure out how to organize, and we have even more ideas now on how to further organize our stuff before next camping trip.

 
 

    I really like camping, in any way. It's a nice way of getting out from the city and just relax. In the US it's really common to go camping during the weekends. A lot of people have RV's of course, but a large amount still uses tents. In the evenings people start fires at their respectively campsite, a bundle of firewood is between 4-5 dollars. After dinner we were relaxing in front of the fire and ate smore's. I came up with the amazing idea of adding banana slices to the mix. If you haven't already you have to try it! it's AMAZING!

 
 

    What do you like best, car camping or backpacking and camping?

 

Great River Trail along the Mississippi River

 

Adventure Tuesday

Great River Bike Trail

    W went off biking with his brother starting in La Crosse, WI, and then entered into Minnesota land. I decided to start biking from a small town called Onalaska, along the Mississippi river. This trail takes you through wetlands and beautiful forest, over boardwalk and across small tributary streams flowing into the Mississippi river. 

 
 

    These bridges are so beautiful. And the whole landscape too.

 

    You could definitely start seeing some signs of fall while biking through this landscape. Even though the peak colors don't start until almost 2nd week of October.

 
 

    I am really happy I got to bike this stretch of the trail, and that I didn't venture off into Minnesota land. Maybe next time. 

 
 

    Do you have a favorite fall bike trail?

Elroy Sparta trails and tunnels in Wisconsin

 

Adventure Tuesday

Elroy Sparta Bike Trail

    W and I went biking the Elroy Sparta trail that goes between Elroy and Sparta, hence the name. We ended up starting in a small town called Norwalk, and the plan was to bike all three tunnels. However, my knee decided to not corporate with me and we only did one tunnel. The old conservation department started to convert the old railroad to a trail in 1965. 

 
 

    I think it's pretty cool to bike through a landscape like this, and that it's made so accessible. The trails are in perfect shape. They go through agricultural lands and deep forests.

 
 

The Tunnel/s

    It's pretty cool to see all the design features of the tunnel. These tunnels were built at the end of 1800, in an effort to keep the gradient down for the trains. Apparently they had to install these large doors because of the temperature differences inside and outside the tunnels (warmer inside and colder outside in the wintertime). Which led to the fact that someone had to be stationed there to open and close the tunnel doors as soon as a train came.

 
 

    I guess I never quite thought about the fact that the tunnels would be dark. Next time i will for sure remember to bring my headlamp. The light on my phone did help a little bit to make sure you didn't trip on anything. These tunnels supposedly has some bats in them, but we never saw any. I was thinking that the tunnels would be prime habitat for rats, but no rats. The only animal we saw was unfortunately a dead raccoon :(

 
 

The Creamery

    In Norwalk, at the start of the trail, there is this beautiful old creamery. It looks like it's abandon now but I hope that they wont let it go to waste, because it is really pretty!

 
 

    Have you encountered any cool trails lately?