Wildcat Mountain State Park

Wildcat Mountain State Park - Night sky shot from Wildcat Mountain State Park site 106 over site 104

The second stop on my fall tour was Wildcat Mountain State Park.  I lost time trying to select a camping site and didn’t get much hiking in here, and instead of cranking out the mileage I did the short Observation Point Trail and watched the sun slowly fall beneath the horizon. Due to lack of … Read more

Mirror Lake State Park

Mirror Lake State Park - Northwest Trail

After leaving Iowa, I headed back towards central Wisconsin. My initial thought was to hit up Devils Lake, but after finding swarms of people & lack of camping I decided this was a bad idea for my spontaneous agenda. Drove around for a while searching for smaller lesser-known areas but my cell service cut out … Read more

2016 Road Trip Astrophotography

As you may have guessed by my other posts and this blog as a whole, I have always been interested in photography.  My goal was always to try and capture images from my trips while not consuming the whole experience – that is to say, I wanted to live in the moment rather than focus … Read more

Devils Tower National Monument

Crossed into Wyoming to see the Devils Tower (aka Bear Lodge, the true / non-whitey appropriated name).  Did the 1.3 mile Tower Trail which was very peaceful.  If you ever do this yourself, find a bench and wait for all people to leave your sight.  Listen to the wind through the trees and enjoy the … Read more

Badlands National Park – Part 2

Woke up freezing in my tent.  Either the wind chills got very low or my 20 degree bag isn’t quite up to par, but will make due for now.  Wind died early morning and gave way to a lone coyote howling in the distance. Camp stove and pot work well and the freezer bag cooking … Read more

Badlands National Park – Part 1

Made it to the Badlands in South Dakota.  Once I crossed the Missouri River it was a white-knuckle drive due to 40mph sustained winds today with stronger gusts.  Watched the terrain go from flat, boring corn fields to rolling grass hills with sunflower fields and hundreds of free-grazing cattle.  Then the rock formations appeared and … Read more