Tent part III

 Well, sorta.

I have to say that I that with great regret, I took our campsite apart on Tuesday.

However, I 'tented' from Friday through Tuesday morning in our tent. It was Amazing. The quiet, the solitude, and the peace was extraordinary.

😞😞😞

I needed to rotate the mules to that pasture for a few days. Plus, it was supposed to rain and be quite windy on Tuesday night.

I surprised myself by being able to take it down and put it in its tiny carrier bag without any cussing and refolding this time!

This is a shot of it partly taken down. The folding and rolling is the tricky part. [Almost as tricky as putting it up but I am getting better at it.]

Tah Dah! Everything fits into a tidy carrying bag.

I can drive the 4 wheeler back there, I could drive the car, but most of the time we walk. That is, unless I am carrying everything in one trip.

One day I may have this all figured out and take a 'real' camping trip somewhere. But I am enjoying this for a few reasons. 

Minimal gas cost.

No camping fee.

I can walk home to cook.

I can walk home to make coffee.

If things aren't going to plan, I can

go home.

I could put a fence around the tent and little site to keep the mules from exploring the tent and taking it apart or...trying out the hammock. 

My next camp out is going to be with me taking the Subaru and setting up a bed in the back end. 

IF the gas prices ever come down or I can afford to take an Adventure Vacation I wouldn't mind camping from the car for simplicity. There is even a pop up tent addition 'thingy' for the back of vehicles like this 👇

These are all wish list items to do things on my 'wish' list.

Those wishes include.

Hiking the Ice Age Trails in Wisconsin.
Exploring the State Parks along Lake Superior.
Exploring State Parks in both WI and Iowa.

Just these goals/wishes could keep me busy for a few years.

Things I need to learn before embarking on a trip like that.
Camp cooking.

Uffdah.

How about freeze dried camp meals? Do they even taste good?

I have been so lucky to find so many scenic things to see not more than a 10 minute walk from my own back door.

I want to thank my son and daughter in law for giving me one of their tents. It has opened up such a new and incredible world for me.
The joy of being immersed outdoors all night is fantastic.

One small step at a time.

For the moment, I am content to hike locally and camp here at my place. 

Very soon though, I am going to book a campsite at the Kickapoo Valley Reserve. That was the one thing I wanted to accomplish this year.

That's it for now!

Forgive me while I try to catch up to anyone else's post. 

Have a day.

I'm going to get ready for Thursday night's partial lunar eclipse.

What do you want to do?

The KVR Trail Challenge.

I first decided to try it in 2018. That failed. I really did quite well hiking the trails and starting out. It fizzled with so many PT appointments for the other half and all of the intensive care I had to provide at home. 

I do love setting challenges for myself. If I can finish a challenge, I feel like I've made an accomplishment.

When I was in my 20's my goal was to do a half marathon along with 5k's and 10k races. I did accomplish a half marathon and after several years of training and running I grew tired of distance running and began to work on distance bicycling. My sister and I trained hard and we ended up doing 140 mile overnight trip by bicycle.

When I moved to this area and fell in love with riding mules, I set my sights on  Endurance riding. I did six 25 mile judged rides with Badger and I loved it. When he became ill, I quit distance riding. When Badger died, I had a hard time with going out to ride. I often rode Badger down the back roads, he was always super steady. We were fearless together.

Hiking became my next 'thing'. Well, sometimes it is more of a walk along and look around for cool things sort of a walk. But I did discover that I can really cover the ground if I put my mind to it. 

The 2018 Ice Cave Trail was one a fast and furious hike where I even had to backtrack. I had a good start that year and 20 miles under my belt before it fell apart.

This summer I did a 9 mile hike for my birthday. Okay 8.69 miles according to an app called Map My Walk. I carried Charlie for a good part of the walk as I was trucking up and down the hills bent on doing a good workout. It took me 3 hrs and 43 minutes to do it. This with breaks in the shade and a lunch. I often stopped to offer water to Charlie.

My hikes with Bill are far shorter and average about 2 hours. He isn't a fast hiker, but he is fun to hike with. 

After reading the book about the Appalachian Trail, I knew I'd never get to do it. It is too far away. I read also that it is far too popular too. So, I thought about the Ice Age Trail around our state. That is out too. The day hikes look incredible, but the travel looks like it would be a problem for my situation. These hiking adventures are not close enough to home.

So. Why not go back and do day hikes at KVR and complete their challenge? There are 50 sections to hike. The challenge is to do it within a year. Another huge plus is I wouldn't have to deal with crowds.
All sections totaled up without backtracking [impossible with a solo hiker] would be about 68.5 miles.

This is not a great shot of the map but you can get an idea of what it might look like. 

At least I can get a map and start plotting out the hiking sections. I'm going to get a better compass too. My dinky dollar one that has a whistle on it really isn't very useful. 

So you know what I am going to do on New Years Day 2022? Yep. 

Strap on my hiking boots...

At least that is what I want to do...

I can at least plan on it right? Until then, I will explore a few of the trails I haven't done yet... as soon as it cools off ...