Kettle Moraine (WI) State Park - Northern Unit - Mid-June Backpacking Trip (65/37F)
This was our first non-campground backpacking trip, where we reserved a shelter (but used our tents) along the Ice Age Trail. We invited the in-laws along, who graciously provided transit and gamely hiked more miles so we could get in some much needed practice. A lot of our plans fell through with Covid, and this was our first trip of the season. It was also the first time since mid-March that we’d been more than a few miles from our apartment. It felt great to get out of the city; freeeedom!
Chicago opened up a bit on June 3 and all our Covid numbers were looking good, so we started planning a last minute trip. We picked Kettle Moraine since we’re still anxious about Covid implications and we figured Kettle Moraine would be the best place for both a socially distant and a beginner level trip. We had to take off a Monday to do a Sunday/Monday overnight, because all the Shelters had Saturdays booked through early August. (You can’t disperse camp on this part of the Ice Age Trail and shelter reservations are required.) We reserved Shelter #4 (Parnell Tower), the only one available, and arranged the itinerary around it. The snag for us is that WI state parks are only accepting annual park passes right now, and you need to enter a license plate number when purchasing. They are non-transferable between cars and there’s no exceptions for rentals. So we were grateful the in-laws were up for coming with and buying passes for their cars. It made the logistics much easier.
We started the trip Friday by “hiking” two miles to the Amtrak station, to take the 1.25 hour train to Milwaukee. (We don’t have a car and this is always how we go visit family.) Amtrak now requires masks in the station and on the train, so we felt okay about taking it. The Friday evening train had more people than we wanted to be around, but much less than normal and there’s decent space between seats. FIL picked us up and drove us to their house. We had to stop at Wal-mart to restock on some travel toiletries, bug spray, and sun block, since our stores in Chicago were either closed or had reduced hours with the protests. We were one of the few people wearing masks inside and it was weird seeing the different culture; masks in stores are mandatory in Chicago. Saturday we hung out with family, enjoying the beautiful weather.
Day 1 - County SS to Parnell Tower TH to Shelter #4 (10 miles)
Sunday morning we woke up to two of our family members bailing on that day’s hike. Apparently, nobody read the detailed itinerary, complete with mileage and maps, that I had sent when I invited them. Haha. They were surprised to learn on Saturday of our early start and long route. I sometimes forget that most people don’t actually read long emails. (Or probably this post too, oh well.) We ran slightly behind, but left the house at 8:30 am ish for the very pretty, 35 minute drive to the park.
We started at the Parnell Tower TH parking lot, where we parked one car. The in-laws didn’t have backpacking gear, but my FIL and 11 year old BIL were able to join us because the shelters are all less than a mile from the TH. We left their camping stuff in the car at the TH to pick-up at the end of Day 1 and drop off at the beginning of Day 2. We brought our “old” tent and DH’s sleeping bag with us to exchange for their old, mini Weber grill. TBH they would have just given us the grill, but we made it an exchange because we didn’t want to haul FIL’s heavy, six person car camping tent + two large sleeping bags a mile to camp after a long hike while also carrying all our gear. And we’re hoping the simpler set up will lead to more future trips.
My Step-MIL acted as our shuttle in exchange of the gift of some time alone. :) She dropped us off where the Ice Age Trail crosses County SS. We offered to alter the plans to cut down the mileage, but FIL made the call to stick with the planned 10 miles. We started around 10:00 am and followed the Ice Age Trail back to the Parnell TH. It was pretty easy to navigate and had frequent yellow markers.
As the name of the park implies, this area is known for its kettles and moraines, so while the elevation gain was small there was a lot of steep ups and downs along the way. It was also cool that the scenery was varied with some marsh, woods, and glimpses of lakes. The park was so beautiful and lush green that I preferred it over the Dunes. Although, personally, I’m not a fan of the marshes. I can appreciate their beauty, but it’s not worth all the mosquitoes. We doused ourselves in DEET early on...and immediately bought some Picaridin and Permethrin for our next trip when we got home. Luckily, the marshes were only on the first part of the hike and then it was mostly forest where the bugs weren’t bad.
BIL had field day and was in his element. His favorite activity is catching toads and he loves being outside. We weren’t worried about him handling 10 miles, since we’d seen him plow up a mountain trail in rain boots, trudge through waist high snow drifts, and then run back down the mountain 2 years ago when we attempted a March hike in Olympic National Park. I wish I could bottle his energy. He was frustrated at times because we kept telling him he needed to stay on the trail and that he could only look, not touch, the animals and flowers. How was he supposed to see the snakes and chipmunks etc. if he couldn’t go chasing after them? For the most part he was good about it, although we did have one wild columbine flower casualty. He kept a running chatter that had most of the animals running away and that was fine by me - I only had to see one snake. (I’m more interested in scenery than animals.)
 |
| We lost a flower because this is how BIL smelled them. |
 |
| Wild Columbine |
BIL also wanted to be in the front, but was constantly stopping to study things and take photos. This actually put us at a quick pace. Unencumbered by any bags, BIL walked very fast. Then he would stop and we would keep moving past him. Eventually he would run to catch up and be in the front again. Rinse and repeat so many times it might make you dizzy! He claimed around mile seven that his feet were a bit sore, but this was belied by his further sprinting back and forth. We made it to the TH (~9.5 miles in) around 2:15 pm. I wished I had remembered to take more of my own photos, but I was also focused on trying not to trip on all the rocks and roots. (Not a complaint, it made the trail more interesting and fun.)
We only came across a few groups at road crossings, where we could keep our distance, until around the last 1/2 mile before the Parnell TH. I think those folks were hiking the shorter Parnell Tower loop, part of which merges with the Ice Age Trail. I wished I had my mask accessible for this portion and our return .8 mile hike to Shelter #4 (which is right off the Ice Age Trail/Parnell Tower loop). It wasn’t crazy crowded but there wasn’t always six feet of space when passing people. We bought some knock off buffs after this weekend to make it easier to cover our face if necessary on our next hike and to make our walks at home more pleasant. But, in general, the Ice Age Trail didn’t seem busy despite the full campgrounds.
We picked up the in-laws stuff at the car and refilled our water bottles. The TH was the closest water source to the shelter, so DH filled up our extra 2 liter platypus bottles for camp. I’m glad we added those to our kit. I’m also happy we didn’t need water refills on our hike, because the couple creeks we crossed were gross and filling up at the lakes would have required some detours. By gross, I mean a slow moving, red colored stream with only a dead minnow in it. I trust the Aquamira for bacteria, but in this area I was worried about farm chemical runoffs. Anyways, we managed to haul everything to the Shelter in one trip, which was a relief.
When we got to the shelter we were a bit disappointed in the space for tents. The area behind the shelter had too many down branches to clear out for tents and the front only had a small space between the shelter and fire pit. That space was also hard, rocky dirt with large roots and lots of wood chips. The shelter was at the top of the hill, with steep banks. So not the best for pitching tents but great in terms of being mosquito free. I was worried about our new, paper thin Nemo Dagger with all the rocks and wood chips, but it held up great even with me missing some jagged wood chips underneath it. At this point, the adults were all happy that we brought our extra tent, because the in-law’s six person tent wouldn’t have fit, except pitched on the concrete floor of the shelter. BIL thought the tent looked small, but he was excited to help set it up. One other negative for the Shelter’s location was it’s proximity to and visibility from the trail, at a section that included the shorter Parnell Tower loop everyone seemed to be doing. Until around 6:30/7:00 pm groups would stop in front of the short path to the Shelter or walk down it a bit to check out the shelter....We gave friendly hellos, but we felt a little on display. It was not very private until later in the evening.
 |
| New and old tents with our cheating chairs (and FIL's large one). |
Whoever had the site before us did not fully put out their fire. The embers were hot enough that BIL got a fire started very quickly with the plentiful kindling in the area. He built it up and started roasting marshmallows and hotdogs. Here’s where I admit we cheated a bit. DH and I also brought two (2 lb) camp chairs with us (gasp) and left them in the car with the in-law’s stuff, so we only had to haul them the last mile. We had recently bought some cheap ones for when we go camping at the Dunes and for our new apartments’s deck. For camping weekends, weight isn’t much of an issue but we still need to carry everything to the commuter rail. We also stashed some beers in the car for this trip. OMG sitting in those chairs and having a beer by the fire after that long hike was amazing. Like absolute, words-can’t-adequately-
Around five, Step-MIL came to visit and DH and FIL went to meet her by the TH. She stayed a couple hours to chat while BIL entertained himself cutting downed branches with an axe for the fire. DH made dinner for FIL, himself, and I. We tested out a pesto esk ramen dish instead of the dehydrated backpacking food. Essentially it was ramen without the flavoring, dried basil & garlic, grated parmesan, olive oil, sun dried tomatoes, and a packet of salmon. It was tasty and I liked we could get everything at the grocery store. DH got to play with our new pot that the in-laws bought for us for Christmas and he liked the larger size, grippy handles, and pour spout better than our old one. He managed to make 3 servings of ramen in it, but it wasn’t ideal. The pot will be perfect for two though.
The boys all escorted Step-MIL back to TH around 7:30 pm, taking some of our trash and that of whoever was before us with them so there would be less for us to carry out in the morning. I remained behind. Sitting alone surrounded by the woods (with no more on-lookers) felt good for the soul. Not too long after the boys returned we got ready for bed and doused the fire, as we had an early morning planned.
It took me a bit to get to sleep with all the snoring coming from the next tent. The LiteSmith blow up pillows were surprisingly comfortable, but made loud crinkle noises when we shifted. Still, I think our search for a pillow is finally over. Our Velcro jerry-rigged sleeping pads worked better than the straps, in that we had no gap. But the Klymit “rails” pushed together, even overlapping, couldn’t support side sleeping weight. So it was cold and uncomfortable when a hip or shoulder landed in the middle, even with no gap blasting cold air up. We decided to give up on joining pads and buy a double pad after this.
Last year I had problems with being hot and cold at the same time (sweating and shivering/shaking at once). While we weren’t able to practice cold sleeping this Spring with Covid, I have paid more attention to how I sleep at home. I definitely start cold and then overheat/sweat. I plan on trying to warm up before getting in bed, wearing lighter layers, and starting with the quilt loose. This night began mild, so I didn’t need to warm up before bed, but I started in my underwear and the quilt loose. I put clothes at the end of the tent to grab if I woke up cold. And I packed a light weight top instead of thermal weight one to go with my mid weight bottoms. Once the temps dropped, I did wake up and put on layers, then took them off, and then put them back on. Not the most restful and I still got a bit clammy while also feeling a slight draft. But no shakes and shivers or active sweating, so it was a huge improvement. I’m going to buy lightweight bottoms, probably a wool set, to see if that helps too. I’d like to add a light weight wool set to my layers for home next Winter anyways. DH slept solidly as always.
Day 2 - Shelter #4 to Greenbush Group Camp (7.5 miles)
We had our alarms set for 6:00 am and woke up then. But it still took 2.5 hours to eat and pack up. Some of this was chatting and fretting that BIL was building the fire back up too much. We gave him our extra fire starter brick we had bought at the Dunes (where they utterly failed). Apparently, having dry kindling rather than only some huge logs made the difference because it easily got a fire going. But he kept wanting to add bigger sticks and we had a limited water supply to put it out without having to make an extra trip to and from the TH for more. Turned out FIL hadn’t used much of their stash, so there was enough to fully put it out before we left. In general, we seem to average 2 hours from wake up to roll out, and this seems unnecessarily long. I pack up the sleeping stuff and clear out the tent while DH makes coffee. I think I need to pull down the tent right away too while DH makes breakfast rather than afterward. Then again, I’ve never been a good early morning person and I’m not really awake until my second cup of coffee, so that could be part of it.
We first hiked back to the TH and dropped off the in-laws stuff, some more trash, and our camp chairs at the car. Plus we refilled our waters. We then unanimously decided to do the 7.5 instead of 5.5 mile option, which involved taking the long part of the Parnell Tower loop to Ice Age Trail. It was a nice forest trail and we were early enough that we only passed two solo hikers at the TH. Again, there were lots of steep ups and downs. After one particularly steep hill up we came to the Ice Age Trail juncture, and we realized the shelter was like 10 feet ahead. THIS is why everyone stopped and stared at the shelter, instead of just looking while they walked by. They were catching their breath and waiting for everyone in their group to finish climbing the hill before moving on.
We continued on the Ice Age Trail which transitioned to short bursts of open meadows mixed with pine woods instead of the more typical forest. BIL said he liked the forest the day before better and he wished there was more marsh. I agreed with only one of those statements. We saw a deer run out of the brush and away from us. It was more exciting than I’d have thought, since we see deer all the time. But I guess it’s different when you’re not wondering if it’s going to hit the car you’re in.
Before the first meadow we ran into another backpacker who asked if we knew about wild parsnip. I figured a bland, woody-textured root vegetable was not the correct answer and said no. She said they are yellow flowers. Ohh. I then knew what she meant. The yellow flowers that burn you and look like Queen Anne’s lace. She confirmed yes, and warned us that there was a bunch up ahead. I had been telling FIL about them the day before but didn’t know the name. We walked along carefully looking out for them and trying not to brush up against plants in general, which was difficult as the trail is quite narrow. Of course, BIL then sees a snake in the long grasses and jumps in after it. I’m too busy yelling at him to stay on the trail to notice my shin was right next to some wild parsnip. Great. I feel some tingly sensations, but maybe it was in my head. I pulled down my capris to cover it and was glad we were back in the forest since I vaguely remembered something about sun making it worse. We stopped shortly afterward for some water and I wiped down my shin. Eventually the tingling went away and I didn’t get burned, so either I didn’t actually have enough contact or those methods helped. Either way I was grateful!
After awhile, BIL got his wish for more marsh, complete with a trail running through ankle deep mud. DH and I tried the whole “walk through the middle to avoid making the trail wider, it’s just dirt and your shoes are made for this thing," only to regret it as we sank deeper and deeper in. Gritty water quickly flooded my shoes and I panic hopped the rest of the way through the muddy spot. Soon after the ground was dry again and we all sat down to clean out our shoes. It wasn’t just that they were wet. It felt like I was walking with mud between my sock and shoe with each step. I was worried it would cause blisters, like walking with sand in my shoe. Except not much came out when I went to dump the water/mud out. And since it was wet, I couldn’t brush the sand off. But ringing out the insert seemed to have done the trick. After doing that, they just felt wet not like walking in mud. They dried pretty quickly and weren’t an issue going forward.
Everything was going smooth until the last roughly 1.5 miles or so when I noticed my legs weren’t just generally sore (I woke up to sore calves), but that the back of my left knee in particular was twinging. I should have stretched more before/after our hikes. But I definitely tweaked something and it slowed me down. We still managed to make it to the meet-up spot, Greenbush Group Campground parking lot, at the appointed time, 12:00 pm, for Step-MIL to pick us up. We then swung down to grab FIL’s car at the Parnell TH and drove back to their home where we had all of 25 minutes before we needed to drive to Milwaukee for the train home.
The train from Milwaukee to Chicago was much less crowded, with only a few people, since it was a Monday, afternoon train. From Union Station in Chicago, I limped the two miles home...I really didn’t want to Uber. (I felt better after resting it a few days and taking it easy on short walks the rest of the week. Hopefully I can avoid straining something on future hikes.) DH awkwardly carried the grill home like a champ. We ordered pizza to cap off the day, and as tasty as not-really pesto ramen was, the pizza was better!
Comments
Post a Comment