Midwest WI trip weekend of the 23rd of August

[t_j]

The general idea is to run a route similar to the trans wisconsin adventure trail, leaving from northern IL at around 7am on Saturday the 23rd.

Proposed plan (more details to come).

Saturday

6:30am - Meet in N IL (probably in the vicinity of Rockford - current proposal is the belvidere oasis on I-90)
7:00am - Leave meeting spot heading north on I-90
10:30am - Arrive at Wausau WI meeting spot to join up with WI/MN members - Gas station at 10201 Park Plaza, Rothschild, WI 54474 or 44°51'54.4"N 89°38'18.4"W
11:00am - Depart Wausau for start of route
12:00pm - Start route north through state forest (Fun starts here)
6:00pm - Stop for the day head to camp ground to eat, drink and sleep

Sunday

Hit the trails and run until people have to split to head home.

Signup list:

Please signup here.

People who have signed up:
1. t_j,
2. shooterAMG
3. kmandoske
4. Seth Heller
5. Big Blue
6. Sleezy87
7. Fingermalone
8. caverndiver
9. 12raptorcrew
10. Crikk
11. mnblly

People who have expressed intrest but not signed up yet:
3. Huck
8. pwjstruebig
14. Bussy
15. Kevin Kuntz (FB) - Jeep
16. carlschmarl2


Tools/Equipment (basically the usual):

* Good spare (or 2 no time for a pre-run so it could be bad for tires unsure) preferably not under the truck but that is optional.
* Recovery strap and shackles
* We should probably have at least one axe and a chainsaw in the group incase there are fallen trees.
* Fuel - At least 5 gallons of extra fuel - possibly 10 gallons for SCREWs more info as dig into stopping points in the route.
* Shovel if you have one
* Off road jack - race jack with skid plate or hi-lift with 1'x1' block or foot
* Basic tool kit
* Water/snacks/human fuel for the trip
* Radio - Handled should suffice (Baofeng UV-5R is a nice cheap option ($35) and readily available from amazon) we will probably use a GLRE channel.
* GPS solution - MotionX(ipad) or Backcountry Navigator(android) on a tablet or a lowrance (or similar)
* Camping gear if you are going to camp
* A good sense of humor and some patients if we find the route blocked for some reason and have to reroute.


Notes:

Pets welcome, I will have my mutt and I'm sure Keith will as well.

On the way up there will probably have to be a fuel stop for those of us with SCAB's especially if we are running hard. We could make this stop Wausau then people could meet us there from MN at around 10:30am. This would have a group leaving from Minneapolis departing at approx the same time we will from Rockford.

If people are interested we can step the game up like the Mid Atlantic guys and I can get some shirts and stickers printed up.

One final note, lets hope we don't end up with another game of spin the rum chata on Saturday night.

The **** route GPX files can be found here.


Shirt Tracking:

t_j - 1 * XL 1 * M
Big Blue - 1 * L
caverndiver - 1 * XXL
13raptorcrew - 1 * L

 

[Big Blue]

Hey Tom,

Sounds awesome. I'd be interested. Keith and Steve have already scouted a section of the **** with the intent of doing a fall colors run, but please provide some additonal thoughts/details, timetable/overnight or day run, etc..

I can definately do a full 12 hour day run and I could even do a 1 night camp. I'm sure we could get a few more MDM members to go.

 

[Huck]

Second mikes post I can do a weekend run and I can camp and bring my navigator / radio operator moose


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[t_j]

I was thinking meeting at the start of the route around 7 am on saterday aiming to leave around 8am. The seeing how far we get and finding a camp spot for the night. We could continue Sunday until we need to head back south.

 

[caverndiver]

This sounds good to me.

 

[Big Blue]

Looks like it starts near Dubuque. I like your game plan Tom.

 

[Kmandoske]

Tom,
I ran a bunch of this a few weekend ago, I would strongly recomend that we start at the belvidere oasis on I-90 at about 7am Saturday and drive on the highway as far north as we can (everything north of Tomah is awesome) Drive until 3 pm and get as close to lake superior as we can. then hit the trail and work our way south. It is not as much a trail as it is a route. There are two and four lane blacktop, single lane asphalt, tar and chip county roads, and some two track trails. The planner of this route did everything they could to keep you off of the pavement and they did a great job. It is exhausing with the stops signs, turn left, turn right , turn left etc. Hot brakes and your worn out from the stop and go. Steve and I found that driving north on the route for 6 hours then driving 6 hours home on the highway is exhausting . I would prefer to run north on the highway fast and fresh and then drive the trail south. This way when your done your closer to home. Let me know your thoughts. Keith

 

[shooterAMG]

I'm interested. Have to check if I have any Hall Paases left.

 

[Kmandoske]

If we leave Rockford / Belvidere at 7 AM, we can be in Hurley at 1 PM for lunch, We can ever hit one of the branches on Tom's map on our way north, we can then drive south on the route and spend the night in Chippewa falls area. We can book the campsites ahead of time. I think the best part of this route will be everything north of Tomah. As we drive south on Sunday, people can break off and leave as they need to. Steve and I found some nice area as the trail crossed the Mississippi into Iowa We got stopped a downed tree and were tired so we called it a day.

 

[Big Blue]

Tom,
I ran a bunch of this a few weekend ago, I would strongly recomend that we start at the belvidere oasis on I-90 at about 7am Saturday and drive on the highway as far north as we can (everything north of Tomah is awesome) Drive until 3 pm and get as close to lake superior as we can. then hit the trail and work our way south. It is not as much a trail as it is a route. There are two and four lane blacktop, single lane asphalt, tar and chip county roads, and some two track trails. The planner of this route did everything they could to keep you off of the pavement and they did a great job. It is exhausing with the stops signs, turn left, turn right , turn left etc. Hot brakes and your worn out from the stop and go. Steve and I found that driving north on the route for 6 hours then driving 6 hours home on the highway is exhausting . I would prefer to run north on the highway fast and fresh and then drive the trail south. This way when your done your closer to home. Let me know your thoughts. Keith

I think Keith's input is invaluable since he has driven sections of it. Good call on the timetable too.