Kettle Moraine N--long TR and pictures!! ..

“While I didn't backpack the trail I did participate...I left western Wisconsin early Thursday afternoon and wandered eastward. I got to Fond du Lac just before 7pm and, somehow, drove directly to the Northway motel; $30/night rooms at the junction of 23 and 41...I told the owner I just followed the smell of curry. The rooms were clean with working refrigerators and a large drip coffee machine which I used to boil water for my dinner...I spent the morning finding/choosing stuff in my car and packing my backpack...

This was a great place to stay as I was really close to the Kettle Moraine North unit...I stopped first at the Ice Age Center to get trail maps and Shelter info..this was good as I learned our first night's shelter, #3, had no water nearby.

I found the small parking lot for Shelter 3 with no problem. When I arrived I saw a guy in a shirt and tie..he wasn't half naked..yet..but he became that way as we talked (very entertaining...) I remembered someone mentioning dressing this way on our trip post and asked the very good-looking (and happily married for all you curious folks)guy if he was the poster...yep, it was mountain runner...he had changed out of his suit pants, white shirt and tie into trail clothes when his phone rang...he shouldn't have answered it..it was a typical (in his job) emergency and he had to leave to save the world..he left me with a pint on Hennessy VSOP which I later gave to the Lorax..it was trully a shame he was not with us as he was a great guy..I really liked him..next time mountain runner, I'm pulling the batteries out of your phone!

About 5 minutes after he left, The Lorax, Tagalong and Hannah, the dog, arrived...we were chatting when mkeTrailr arrived, whom I had never met...nice, quiet guy...I'm not sure of the arrival order after that...I think firebug was next and sometime later Dr.Atomic and the grizz arrived. It was a 5 minute (max) walk to the shelter. I found a great place to hang my hammock...there was a new vault toilet near the shelter..clean with a cement floor and 6 rolls of toilet paper! WOW! Prosecutor hiked in from where he'd parked his car...from then on there was the usual, first night sharing of flasks and beer...we heard the story of Prosecutor's JMT adventure and his 18 day canoe trip along the northern Minnesota/Canadien border. The night was lovely..the moon was nearly full, calm with nightime temps in the 50's. My new titanium Sierra stove ( http://www.zzstove.com/sierratt.html}
had many interested..the thing is great! I've not had it long but I'm really liking it...

Next morning after breakfast and some car shuffling everyone but yours truly left to hike the trail to Shelter 5..I drove to Long Lake campground to climb Dundee Mountain....had some physical issues but made to the top after many stops..it was lovely but extremely windy..I enjoy seeing ice age geological remains I'm not familiar with.....I live on the Western terminus of the Ice Age trail but we don't have kames and kettles here...it was then a short drive to the large parking lot for the #5 shelter...the road was crammed with cars admiring the fall colors and there were many hikers...

Dr Atomic and the griz were at the parking lot when Dr.Atomics' girlfriend, Wendy arrived..she had yummy cookies with her and 2 mad dogs...a self described "Mercedes girl" I found her company enjoyable and her 2 dogs impressive as they did not bark at everything that moved. Not bad for dogs on their first camping trip. The interaction between them and Hannah was a constant source of interest for their owners..

The griz had already dropped his stuff at the shelter and set their tent up w-a-a-y above the shelter on a hill...we still heard Dr. Atomic and Wendy clearly when they went to bed hours later...LOL...

I arrived at the shelter to see 6-8 college kids planted firmly in place...I found they were just stopping for lunch and set about choosing where I wanted to hang my Hennessy..it was not easy as this was the perfect hammock forest...there was no undergrowth and the ground was covered with golden leaves. All the trees were located at perfect, hammock hanging distances from each other. They were also the perfect diameters for hammock straps...choosing one site with so many was not easy but, after only changing my mind once, I landed...

Anyway, everyone arrived, goods were shuttled, water collected, firewood retrieved (have I told you lately that I love you, Lorax ), meals were prepared and night set in...flasks were prepared and the fireside chatter was fun. Prosecutor made a yummy cherry cobbler...thank you, Ed! We listened to the coyotes howling in the distance and were happy to have a warm fire. It was much colder than the previous night and I was glad when the wind finally died down....a few of us stayed up waiting for iSolo who was hiking 13 miles to join us..as he hadn't started before 5pm he was not expected much before 11pm..thegriz hiked back an hour or so but returned ISololess...I went to bed and was happy I had my FF bag to cuddle in..I was toasty warm..I learned in the morning, that iSolo had shown up just after 11pm...he crashed out in the shelter..

Sunday morning proved as glorious as the previous day..breakfast eaten, pictures taken we split up after long goodbyes..it's hard to say goodbye to such wonderful people..some continued the hike north to their cars while some of us just returned to the cars in the parking lot 5 minutes away. Thegriz offered to carry my pack out (he and The Lorax carried my packs so often I cannot even say I backpacked at all! ) so I filled my arms with some of Wendy and Dr.Atomics stuff and we returned to our cars...good-byes were hard to say...it's always hard saying goodbye to old, and new, friends.

I made it home in great time. It was a really, nice trip and good to get my quarterly hug fixes from such wonderful friends

and now, the best part even if many turned out blurry

http://community.webshots.com/album/479171145fjKYDt”

“Very neat place! You had quite a few people out for that trip. Looked like a lot of fun---good fall color too!”

“A few more pictures:
http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/prosecutor104/album?.dir=bdbf&.src=ph&store=&prodid=&.done=http%3a//pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/prosecutor104/my_photos

The great weather, great fall colors, and great comradery helped make it a great trip. I gotta get me one of those woodburning stoves.

Six of us went for lunch in a nearby town at noon on Sunday. While the food was good, the service was so bad, the menu has a written disclaimer about not getting fast service. Unfortunately, none of us read this disclaimer until we had placed the order for food, which took 20 minutes after we sat down. The food came 45 minutes later. The service was so bad, one of the employees apologized, and bought the table a round of drinks on the house.”

“a great time was had by all I believe and the night hiking was pretty cool”