Hiking the Greenbush Segment of the Ice Age Trail

Nothing feels better than stepping onto the trail after time away. For the first time since the snow melted in April, I stepped back onto the Ice Age National Scenic Trail (IAT). I parked at the trailhead parking along State Highway 67 and started hiking north along a somewhat flat, mucky, narrow trail cutting through the wet morning grass. Now autumn, the chill in the air and the colors starting filled me with true joy. Near mile one, the trail became hilly and I passed the Greenbush Kettle and the Kettle Moraine State Forest (KMSF) Northern Unit Backpack Shelter #5. 

2019 10-Day Family Trip in the Boundary Waters Canoe Wilderness

Seeking solitude and a large dose of vitamin N, our family decided to enter the Boundary Waters Canoe Area (BWCA) from a relatively unpopular entry point, #4 Crab Lake. There are no pictographs or big waterfalls to see from this entry point. The trip starts with a long paddle across Burntside Lake or the hiring of a tow. Once at the portage, the entry into the Boundary Waters kicks off with a once 370 rod portage, now 408 rod portage to Crab Lake.

How to Plan Food Menus for Back-country Adventures

Preferences being what they are,  it can be a challenge to plan lightweight, nonperishable menus for a group. In our family, I do not eat sweetened foods while my daughter and my husband love candy, granola bars and candy-infused trail mixes. My daughter is very fond of high-carb foods, while my husband likes meats. We've found the prepared freeze-dried backpacking meals that can be purchased to be very salty while containing minimal meat. Now, I purchase mainstream what I can, and dehydrate the rest at home. Presented here is my menu planning strategy and our 2019 3-person 10-day back-country canoe trip.

Our First Canoe Trip of 2019 - 4 Days in the Sylvania Wilderness

There is nothing like a long, cold winter to make us ache for the warmer, carefree days of summer. Finally, the weather had become right for a canoe trip. With a song in our hearts we loaded up the car and headed north for a four day family trip to the Sylvania Wilderness in the Ottawa National Forest of Upper Michigan. As we drove it began to rain. We talked about the weather, the way people headed into the wilderness tend to do. Our goal for the day, to make it to camp without thunderstorms, and without our everything becoming entirely drenched.

Light is beaming off my husband's head. Kevin Callan says so anyhow. A little background for you. My husband is at Canoecopia 2019 on opening night without me and he buys a canoe. He's been talking about doing this and saving up for this for a few years now. He has just made this purchase and he is super pumped with excitement and who should he run into? Happy Camper Kevin Callan with a camera. So Kevin Callan makes this video and cannot help but notice my husband is so excited there is light beaming from his head. This was in March.

An Eggscellent, Eggstraordinary, Egg Hunt in Camp

If you really want to know how gross and boring you are, ask your tween. You'll get an earful. Anyhow, being stuck with Mom and Dad in a place without WiFi - ugh! Right? Tweens one minute want to be babied, and the next minute want to be treated as adults. So I decided to do something just for fun to enjoy to the younger side of my tween Ams while there is still a little bit of it left - a surprise Easter egg hunt!

Hiking the Greenwood Segment of the Ice Age Trail and the Connecting Route to the Mecan River Segment

Turkeys strutted in the middle of Buttercup Drive near Coloma, not minding my car a bit. I stopped and waited for them to clear the road. Excited, I thought about seeing turkeys this close up along my hike. When they finally moved off, I parked my car at the trail head parking at the northern end of the Mecan River Segment of the Ice age trail. As I hopped out of the car, my feet flew out from under me. Yes, it had done more than a little mid-April snow dusting in this area. Freezing rain had encrusted the 4 to 5 inches of snow covering the area. I would definitely be hiking in micro-spikes.