30 Nights, Rain and Best Day of Summer

So if the title of this blog doesn't say a lot. 

30 Nights

• I have camped 30 nights in a tent (and it's only August 5th)
• 6 of those nights were in a tent hiking up Mt Kilimanjaro
• 1 of those nights was snowshoeing up in the Kettle Range in February and camping on a ridge overlooking the mountains and summiting Mt Wapaloosie the next morning. 
• As of today (Aug 5th) - the only month in 2012 I have not camped and slept in a tent was in January (need to work on that for next year).
• It has only rained during 3 of my camping excursions (sprinkles on Kili, Memorial Day weekend and this weekend - very unusual for me)
• I have visited 19 State Parks / Forests (that I can think of) and camped in the 10 of them (some 2 times).

Rain

Rain - with the droughts we're having, I've only seen rain really two times this entire summer so far while camping.  Memorial Day weekend and the storms that came through which caused me to spend over 8 hours in a 2 person tent with 2 dogs.  We all got good naps.  And then just this weekend we have a brief 2 hour storm that went through (again, good nap time).

For me - that's just really unusual.  I'm so prone to camping and hiking in rain that this has just been a weird summer.

Best Day of Summer

Since it's been dry with no rain - I think this horrible heat we've been having all summer goes along with the drought.  Hiking in heat with dogs makes for short hikes before we all start to get over heated.  Today (Sunday Aug 5th) was probably the best day for camping and hiking all summer.  Woke up this morning to 64 degrees and it didn't move much.  Went for hike in the woods with the dogs with the brisk wind and cool temps and just didn't want to leave. 

If this is what rain brings - bring on the rain and cool temps.

Camping and Dogs

Another weekend of camping done.  This weekend my dogs, Jasmine and Wailea, and did a little backpacking at Newport State Park in Door County, WI.  This is a great state park because not only is it located on Lake Michigan and in Door County, but all campsites are wilderness sites and you have to hike it in.  This alone makes it a very quiet and private park. 

A four hour drive from Milwaukee always makes hiking in on a Friday night fun since I always end up hiking in at sunset.  This weekend was no different.  The dogs and I hiked it to the site (2 miles from the parking lot) with our full pack and set up for a weekend of enjoyment on the Lake Michigan shoreline. 

Lake Michigan at Sunset from Newport State Park

One of the other nice things about this park is there are only 16 campsites spread throughout the park so no one is camping one top of each other.  My campsite this weekend was #7 and we were alone in our stretch of the park and therefore had our own shoreline on Lake Michigan. 

Shoreline of Lake Michigan in front of my campsite.

It was a great way to let my dogs be dogs and just let them play in the lake.  They have in the 11+ years that they've been around so far, taught me a lot about life and how to slow down and relax.  Now that they are over 11 years old, I'm learning how to just enjoy my time with them.  I know they won't be around forever so these weekends away camping with them are a great way to just enjoy them. 

Jasmine and Wailea playing on the beach at Newport State Park

Jasmine and Wailea have grown so accustomed to the weekend camping getaways that I think they can count the days and know when Friday is here.  By Friday morning they are anxious and always ready for the next car ride.  They never know where they're going, but they know they're going to get to run in the woods, play in water and sleep in the tent.  And by Sunday they're done and ready to hit the car and sleep on the way home.  Dreaming dreams of their next weekend getaway.

Jasmine and Wailea - done after a day of playing on the beach and in Lake Michigan

I Want to Climb Mt Whitney

Backpacker Magazine is climbing Mt. Whitney for Kids.  They are offering up a contest for people to join them on their journey.

As an avid outdoors person and personally having the Sierra Nevada's as one of my top spots to want to go, I am entering this contest. 

Friends / Readers - one of the things that will help me to prove why Backpacker Magazine should select me is YOUR voice.  Leave a comment to this blog as to why you think Backpacker Magazine should pick me to help them raise money for Big City Mountaineers and join them as they push to the summit of Mt Whitney.

For more info you can also visit my website - My Mount Whitney Plea.

Continuing to Explore the Driftless Area

This year I continue to explore the Driftless Area's of Wisconsin and Iowa.  The more I explore this area of southwest Wisconsin and northeast Iowa, the more I like it.  Being someone who loves being outdoors and in the mountains, but is stuck living in the midwest, this is the closest I can get to feeling like I'm in the mountains.

So far every weekend since May 12th and one weekend in April has been spent in this area exploring different state parks and state forests.  This includes backpacking as well as car camping.  The Yellow River State Forest in Iowa was definitely a surprise.  I had no idea this was here and was quite surprised at how hilly this region of Iowa was.  Backpacking into and up the hills to find a perfect campsite was a great opportunity to explore the area.  In a full day of backpacking I saw 2 guys who were back camping in the designated backpack camping area I selected and a group of boy scouts.

Trail up to Schulz Camp - Yellow River State Forest, IA

Another surprise so far this year was the Black River State Forest in Wisconsin.  Day 1 of hiking here revealed a couple of things:  this state forest is also allows 4 wheelers (thankfully they have their own trails far away from the hiking trails) and has trails for them and the bad management of how to clear a forest (the eastern edge of the Wildcat Trail left plenty to be desired).  But Day 2 also showed an absolutely beautiful ridge line that runs on the east side of the forest hiking trail area.  And I learned that you can backpack in to this state forest as well.  This area is on my radar to visit again this fall for a backpacking trip with the dogs.

View from the Ridge Trail west - Black River State Forest,  WI

As I've been exploring I've been visiting new state parks in the southwest region of Wisconsin.  So far I have learned

• Mirror Lake State Park is a little too close to I-90/I-94.  When the park quiets down at night, all you can hear is cars / trucks traveling on the freeway.  And one of the trails there basically has you following the edge of the freeway.  Will not visit this park again.
• Wildcat Mountain - if reserving a campsite here, be leary when ReserveAmerica.com states it as a "fully" shaded site.  I learned this is not the case as I woke up with the sun turning my tent into a sauna and had to get out of it by 5 am.  

          But I did learn that you can backpack into the Kickapoo Valley Reserve just down a few miles from Wildcat Mountain State Park.  I also have this on my list of things to do this fall once the trees turn colors.  This area is beautiful and full of big hills and valleys that are all green.  

View out over the Kickapoo River Valley 

Beyond that I've also explored Roche-A-Cri State Park which is a nice, smaller park in the Driftless Area.  The center of this park has the Roche-A-Cri mound which has a stairway to get to the top (300 stairs).  The view from the top is pretty amazing as you can see for miles in every direction.  The morning I climbed the stairs I got to watch a storm in the distance with the sun trying to break through the clouds.  What a beautiful way to start the day.

View from atop Roche-A-Cri Mound - Roche-A-Cri State Park, WI

And lastly I've been to Governor Dodge State Park two times already this year camping and Devil's Lake for camping and hiking.

Governor Dodge twice because in April it's one of the few parks in that area that has the campground open year round.  And then again a couple of weeks ago to try out one of their backpacking sites.  The backpacking sites are actually quite nice, but are only a short 1/2 mile hike from the parking lot.  

So that's just the start of the year of exploring the Driftless Area's of Wisconsin and Iowa.  More to come and a lot more to explore yet.

Summiting Mt Kilimanjaro

I did it!!  I made it to the top of Mt Kilimanjaro, the highest point on the continent of Africa. 

Top of Africa - March 13, 2012

The trip and experience was well worth it.  The group of guys I went with were a blast and the Aussie that joined our group fit in well.  Climb Kili's guides and the team did an amazing job for us.  It's amazing the work the porters did for us and they still welcomed us to camp with a song and dance.

The surprising part to me was that with all the training I did, the actual trekking was easier than I expected.  The pace was slow and steady with the perfect amount of time to acclimate to the climate.  The toughest part for me was the summit day.  And I don't think it was the toughest because of the 4,000 foot climb to the top, but rather the diamox I was taking to help with breathing in higher elevations wore off about 2 1/2 hours before we summited.  Instead of taking a break to dig another pill out of my bag, I continued on hiking.  I ended up slowing down and working harder to breathe, but still made it to the top.  Lesson learned - next time take the break and take the pill. 

Would I do it again?
Yes, I would do it all over again.  If I ever do go up Kilimanjaro again, the next trip would include a night in the crater.  The crater was amazing looking.  We only got to see it from the top, I think it would be cool to trek down there and spend some time there.

Glaciers of Kilimanjaro

Overall the trip was amazing and I can't recommend enough taking the time to visit Tanzania and taking a trek up Kilimanjaro.  And then don't forget to reward yourself afterwards with a safari trip.  I would recommend the Ngoro Crater - it had all types of wildlife to see.  And considering I really wanted to see some lions, I got my wish.  This group passed in front of my truck and eventually met up with another group of lions.  Total, I saw 12 lions.  Too bad the zebras smelled them and took off, these lions were definitely looking like they wanted to hunt.

Lions in the Ngoro Crater

Next up?  Taking another summer of "mini vacations" and taking my dogs camping.  Maybe a fall trip to Northern Michigan / Canada to do some backpacking with the dogs.  And then out to Washington State to close out 2012. 

Next Adventure
Realistically it will have to wait until 2013.  And will probably include something more technical than climbing Kili.  I would like to try

• Climbing Mt Rainier (Disappointment Clever approach)
• Take on Summit #2 - Aconcagua (South America's highest point - ~3,400 feet higher than Kili)
• Hiking / Camping / Climbing on Antartica

Yes, I may be crazy - but you only live life once.  And why not experience what other's only dream about. 

Biking Amsterdam

Amsterdam is a very interesting city. Coming from Milwaukee and wishing we had a better system for biking around than the half hearted attempts that have been made to make it a bike friendly city, Milwaukee could take a lesson from Amsterdam. This city is a walking and biking city. People are fit and seem to be more energetic than those in the states. Bikes outnumber cars here and that's pretty cool. Milwaukee gov't come on over and see Amsterdam'a ability to add bike lanes, bike traffic lights and inspire people to ride their bikes.

Getting Ready for Kili

Wow, can't believe it's almost here.  2 weeks from today I'll be landing in Amsterdam to spend a few days sightseeing and then down to Arusha, Tanzania to climb Kilimanjaro. 

Almost 3 months ago when I decided to go I wondered how am I going to get ready for this trip.  Well, I hope the hiking, climbing, yoga and treadmill have worked. 

A couple weeks ago I did a test when visiting my brother in eastern Washington state.  We did a one night backpack trip up into the Kettle Range on the Jungle Hill Trail.  Good snowshoe hike up just over 3,000 feet - no problems hiking up that.  Then we did a one day short hike up the Thirteen Mile trail of just over 1200 feet, again no problem.  And based upon the timing it took us to go up those I should be able to at least start out the first day in good shape based upon the altitude I was at.



Jungle Hill Trail to Kettle Crest Trail to Wapaloosie Summit - Kettle Range, WA



Thirteen Mile Trail hike

Now to just kick it into high gear and finish it off to be ready.  Sure hope to make it to the top.  Watch for more posts.  I'll see what I can do to post while there.