Kayaking at Mirror Lake State Park

Kayaking at Mirror Lake State Park

While in The Dells area I checked out a couple waterfall spots but many of the water sources feeding smaller falls are dried up right now. Rather than waste my whole day, I headed to Mirror Lake State Park and got my kayak on the water. Main goal was to test out a new PFD … Read more

Kinnikinnic State Park

Kinnikinnic State Park - Scenic Overlook of Kinnikinnic River Delta into St Croix River

More intermittent rain today but not enough precipitation to stop my plans. Next up was some hiking at Kinnikinnic State Park in River Falls, Wisconsin. To be honest I didn’t know much about this park before visiting but afterwards it’s easy to see why it’s a special place. From the far west parking area I … Read more

Big Bay State Park – Bay View + Point Trail Loop

Big Bay State Park - Lake Superior Coastal Views

Bit of a late start this morning (had to move campsites, was the only way I could get a last minute reservation) but sometime around 10am I was on the trail.  Agenda for the morning was to hike Bay View and Point Trails looping back to the campground.  I started from camp towards the Bay … Read more

Big Bay State Park – Boardwalk Trail

Big Bay State Park - Boardwalk Trail

Shifting gears during the midpoint of this road trip and floating my car & camping gear to Big Bay State Park on Madeline Island.  I was getting cranky from all the driving so my first action item was to stretch out my legs and hike the Boardwalk Trail.  Originally I was going to make a … Read more

Lost Lake Astrophotography

Lost Lake – Astrophotography in Tipler, Wisconsin

Sleep was paused for my final night at Lost Lake Campground in Tipler, Wisconsin.  Night skies were cooperative and outer space was revealing her secrets.  Views from the camp beach with a beer in hand – pretty hard to beat. While the naked-eye views were spectacular, sadly my camera shots were blocked by the wispy … Read more

Rock Island State Park – Astrophotography

Rock Island State Park - Astrophotography

Took a short “nap” after sunset and woke again around 11:30pm.  Hiked back to the area north of the boathouse for astro photos.  Developing these has taught me some interesting lessons for 2019 but wish I had more chances to play last year.  Unfortunately this is the single best image from about 1-2 hours of … Read more

Rock Island State Park – Part 2

Rock Island State Park – Boathouse as the sun falls below the horizon

Part 2 of my visit to Rock Island State Park.  You can view Part 1 here and Part 3 will be coming soon.  Buckle up, this is a long post but worth it (in my opinion).  Here we go! (Don’t forget to click on photos for a larger view with more detail!) Thordarson Trail After … Read more

Rock Island State Park – Part 1

Rock Island State Park - Taking the Karfi ferry

Breakfast on Washington Island was over.  I packed my backpack with enough gear for one night and took a ferry to Rock Island State Park at the farthest end of the Door Peninsula before it changes over to the UP.  I’m splitting this into several posts because I took tons of pictures – stay tuned … Read more

Newport State Park – Astrophotography

Newport State Park - Astrophotography

This is the moment I drove across the state for.  New camera lens, dark skies, clear weather.  Time to glimpse into outer space. (Reminder: Click each image for a larger full-screen view, best seen on a large PC monitor) My first viewpoint was right on the beach at Europe Bay.  I saw more people here … Read more

Newport State Park

Newport State Park - Sunrise over Europe Bay

Two days of driving, camping and hiking have brought me from the farthest western point in Wisconsin to the farthest eastern point.  Home for tonight is Newport State Park in the Door Peninsula.  Now why in the world would I make such a stupid drive rather than staying in one spot?  Well, the new moon … Read more