Kettle Moraine State Forest


Welcome sign as we entered the Ottawa Lake Campground	The camping rig - all setup	Lake Ottawa through the campground and woods around the shore

The campground had at least 2 playground areas	Ruby loves to travel but during down-time, she likes to rest in style	Of the numerous restrooms, this building had a laundry facility as well

Welcome sign to a really nice nature trail across the street from the campground	One of the many plant-life pictures I took - most of them within Scuppernong	A bit of Friday night's rain on the leaves

A nice covering of moss on this fallen tree	Caught this chipmunk in action, eating a seed or nut	New tree life sprouting from a dead tree. Tree seedlings had fallen inside

A water's-eye view across Lake Ottawa	My son Tony hanging onto the wine so I could take the picture	Nancy and I by the fire. We used the ash grate in the Smoky Joe as a table

Looking long down the nature trail in Scuppernong	Tony and I biked the green loop on the Emma F. Carlin Trail - beautiful trails	Nancy with Ruby in her hiking backpack, worn on the front. She loves the outdoors

Me with Ruby during one of our morning walks	My son Tony, also out for a morning walk with Ruby and I

An overview map of the trip from our home to the Southern Unit of Kettle Moraine State Forest, near Eagle, Wisconsin

A close-up view of the map near the southern entrance to the Kettle Moraine State Forest Southern Unit, near Eagle, Wisconsin

This was our second trip with the TrailManor. It towed well and I am getting better at backing into campsites (a little better). The Ottawa Lake Campground has 98 campsites with about 47 of those having electrical (30/50 amp) hookups. We stayed in site 356. We had electricity and of the 3 restroom facilities, we were close to one of the 2 facilities that had showers.

Tony helped me setup (his first time) the trailer and the rest of camp while Nancy unloaded totes inside the trailer and got everything inside, squared away. Even though rain was called for, no wind was present or forecast, so we put out the awning, the party lights and the patio tarp. We moved the picnic table half way under the awning and the place was looking pretty good.

Tony and I moved the bike rack from the trailer to the Jeep, loaded up the bikes and headed to the Emma F. Carlin Trail. We had never biked this trail before but had biked the John Muir Trail to the south, several times in the last few years. The Emma F. Carlin Trail was nice. Looking at the trail map, we decided to take the longer, outer, green loop. We weren't sure if this green loop was just the longest or if it was the most technical. From our experience, we're pretty sure the green loop was the longest "and" the most technical. Lots of hills and switch backs around trees at the bottom of hills and such. For the biker it pretty good shape, this is a very doable loop. For me and for the average conditioned biker, the green loop can be challenging. We decided that the next day (Saturday), we'd get dropped at the this trail and bike the connector trail to the John Muir Trail.

Upon returning to camp, Tony made a nice campfire while I worked on getting the Smoky Joe grill going. On our drive up Friday afternoon, we'd purchased firewood from a self-service roadside seller for $3.00 per stack (about 9/10 pieces). We bought 2 stacks initially, then another 4 the next night. Before leaving home, I marinated steaks and chicken breasts with some olive oil and spices. Tonight, we grilled chicken breasts and asparagus and we heated up some focaccia bread in foil over the coals.

It rained all Friday night, but unlike last time out with the trailer, I was used to it and the tinkling sound of the rain on the trailer was actually soothing and easy to sleep to.

....story to be continued as I find time here and there to complete and upload it....

Trip to Kettle Moraine State Forest near Eagle, WI April 30-May 2, 2004

Trip to Kettle Moraine State Forest
near Eagle, WI
April 30-May 2, 2004