Katie in the Wilderness

Falling for fall, and the first few days on the move

September 24th, 2023

Goose Island Campground on the banks of the Mississippi River

Covering 850-ish miles across three states, in three days, is more than enough time to lose all sense of space or time. To get started on my journey of 5-or-so weeks, I wanted to have a solid estimate for where I’d end up each evening, so I wasn’t left stranded on the road or with no other option than an overpriced bad motel (that has happened before, and I really, really don’t like it). I decided to break the days down into 4-hour drives through Wisconsin and Minnesota, partly because the routes are more meandering through bluff country before being able to make better time on the flatter, straighter western roads.

The first night was a reminder of a) how things can look different online, b) it’s really impossible to get a feel for a place without actually going there, and c) reviews on things like Campendium are to be taken with a very large pinch of salt. If someone wants to pitch a tiny tent directly onto the flood plain and fish from dawn to dusk, then the Army Corps of Engineers campground at Blackhawk Park might seem like a fantastic stop. As I drove through there, though, it felt swampy and a little too close to the sort of park where people actually live a lot of the time. There were no numbers on the tent sites, so they were hard to distinguish. It just wasn’t for me.

The Mississippi River at sunset

As a solo gal on the road, if I get even the slightest “this is weird” feeling, it’s out. I’d rather sleep in my car. Luckily, about a 30-minute drive up the road, I landed at Goose Island Campground, part of the La Crosse County Parks system. Huge, obviously also attractive for seasonal sites, but with plenty of room to spread out and a beautiful stretch of the Mississippi River along it, staffed by some of the friendliest folks in the office/shop you’re ever likely to meet.

The next morning, I crossed into Minnesota and spent the whole day crossing its breadth. If ever in the southeast corner of Minnesota, I highly recommend trunk highway 16, which meanders along the Root River. Autumn colors look primed to explode, and this would be one of the places I’d pick if I needed a Midwestern fall-time joy ride.

Hopp plot at Welcome Cemetery, distant relatives

I also received a bit of family intel from my mom, care of my great grandmother Virginia’s memoir, in which she described her own mother (my great-great grandmother) having been born in the tiny town of Welcome, Minnesota, in the 1850s. Since it was right off the Interstate, I had to go check it out.

While my great-great grandmother moved to Wisconsin later in life, I found some other distant relatives at the local cemetery. One for sure was a great-great-great uncle named Reuben, and a surprise—and much older—stone marked the resting place of my great-great-great-great (4 greats!!) grandfather James Drake, who was born in 1817 and died in 1886.

To feel connected to an ancestral lineage in a place so far removed from what I know now is a really amazing feeling. In the 1850s, I’m sure that Welcome had far fewer—and way less enormous—corn fields and instead much more rolling prairie with native grasses and shrubs. And there was certainly no I-90 noise. I don’t think it was even organized as a formal town for some three decades later.

Welcome Cemetery in Welcome, Minnesota

I feel proud of my heritage, but I also am incredibly troubled by the legacy of Manifest Destiny, of white Europeans violently taking the land with zero regard or respect for the people who already lived there. And then the native habitats that we have all but decimated in less than 200 years.

What was it like there nearly 200 years ago? The 1850s were the decade that Minnesota formalized as a state and the U.S. government began forcing Native Americans onto reservations. Before cars, before mass agriculture, before electricity? I think it’s good to try to imagine sometimes, if only because it’s actually so hard to. We live in a world that would be completely alien to our ancestors a mere two centuries ago. It’s no time at all.

For now, I’m continuing west, with numerous national parks on my list, and thinking a lot about the land we share.

‘Dignity’ sculpture near Chamberlain, South Dakota

Buffalo Gap National Grassland
Road it! A Door County cycling weekend

September 18th, 2023

One learns to manage her expectations when the weather forecast suggests there will be thunderstorms and the plan is to be outdoors. Of course, as it seems to go arbitrarily-but-seems-like-87% of the time, when the forecast says “scattered T-storms,” it often also means sunny with no hint of rain whatsoever, let alone lightning. And I’ll take it!

Getting ready to head out on the road, in Sister Bay

This past weekend, my mom and I went to Door County, Wisconsin, for the Peninsula Century Fall Challenge (we kept to the 25-mile route). We’ve done it once before, ages ago, and because this summer I was reunited with my bike and a renewed sense of get-out-thereness, it seemed like a fun thing to think about (if not big enough to necessarily need to train for) during the summer. And an excuse to take the camper trailer on a little jaunt before it gets too cold and it’s put away for the winter.

One Barrel Brewing Co.’s Ninja Dust Hazy IPA

We’re big fans of One Barrel Brewing Co., and the taproom in Egg Harbor has become an immediate tradition. They also sponsored the ride, so it was nice to cool off with a brew after tooling through the countryside for a few hours. Also, cherry cobbler!? While we’re past fresh cherry season now, sour cherries from Door County are always worthwhile, and I could have eaten a bucket of that stuff, provided post-taco lunch by Thyme in Sister Bay.

HELLO, COBBLER! Made with local tart cherries

If I’m being completely honest, I’ve never really been the target audience for Door County. I don’t own a yacht or even a dinghy; I’m not interested in golf; I like art but I don’t really have the style condo that they cater for, let alone a condo; and while I occasionally like to shop, I only need so many pieces of fudge, gifts, and t-shirts.

That said, it has its charms. I like quaint barns, goats on rooftops, fall colors, grand views of Lake Michigan, big state parks, ice cream, beaches, and—obviously—bike rides! I also really adore ferry rides, local bars—we really enjoyed the dozens of local draft beers to choose from at Mink River Basin in Ellison Bay—and antique shops, and if we’d had more time, we probably would have headed out to Washington Island.

Camping in Bay Shore County Park was also a much cheaper alternative to the spendier resorts and B&B’s up in the Door. We enjoyed it so much, we’ve got our eye on the Spring Classic, which coincides with the Door County Beer Festival, and it’s just really hard to argue with that combo.

A much-appreciated break for snacks and water halfway through the ride

It’s the Peninsula Century F All Challenge, apparently.

If ever I had to rate ice cream cones, this mint-chip-butter-pecan-in-a-homemade-waffle-cone-utter-bonanza is, without question, the best one I’ve ever had.

Still just so excited about it

Sunset from Bay Shore County Park, Brown County
The not-weary-yet traveler

September 10th, 2023

A quick bookshop stop in Madison led me to this title.

Weary Traveler Freehouse, known by locals simply as “Weary,” has been a mainstay of Madison, Wisconsin’s Williamson (“Willy”) Street neighborhood for decades. The other day, it seemed a fitting spot to meet a fellow contemporary arts organizer Andy Adams, who runs a great photography platform called FlakPhoto. We first met five or six years ago, intrigued by each other’s different takes on running digital arts and culture blogs/projects. Those projects have changed a lot over time, but it’s always exciting to catch up with someone who has been through very similar types of rollercoaster up-downs-and-all-arounds in a similar sphere.

Aside from the little day trip to Madison, I’ve been in pre-departure planning mode, spending most of my spare time making sure I have the essentials for a successful trip. I’m trying solar for the first time, so I purchased my first panel; I wanted a tent that I could stand up in, but I ordered one that is way too big, so I’m waiting on the next size down; and yesterday, I did an initial food shop for pantry/on-the-go staples like grassfed beef sticks (my favorites are from a company local to Wisconsin called Simply Snackin’), dried fruit, nuts, canned soups, and so on. It’s starting to feel real!

I’ve splurged on a couple of things, like Portra 400 35mm film for an old Pentax I’m bringing along, which my dad has had since the 1970s. I also found a Titan 20 qt. cooler that keeps ice fresh longer than any cooler I’ve had so far (I had some good luck getting a deal at Sierra Trading Post, although those stores are typically a full season ahead, so the best time for buying camping-related items is probably in the early spring).

I also love having some books related to the areas I’ll be passing through, so I’m stoked about a couple I picked up the other day. One is a practical guide I’ve had my eye on for a while, Lonely Planet USA’s Best Road Trips, and the other is Neither Wolf Nor Dog: On Forgotten Roads with an Indian Elder by Ken Nerburn, described as “the story of two men, one white and one Indian, locked in their own understandings yet struggling to find a common voice.”

Things have been a bit slow as I knock out a bunch of work prior to taking off, but it all begins in T-minus 10 days! In the meantime, I’m already plotting the best places to road trip in March next year.
In the walking mindset

September 3rd, 2023
The Fox River, Northeast Wisconsin

After moving back to the States earlier this year, one major lifestyle difference in Scotland vs. Wisconsin is the walking. In Edinburgh, I lived in a neighborhood that was about a 30-minute walk from the city center, and public transportation was generally reliable with lots of options. In Wisconsin, I’ve had a car since I was 16, and it’s pretty much a must. Public transportation exists, but it’s not practical in a land of strip malls and residential sprawl. After a few months back in that world, I realized how little I walked—no more hoofing it with my bags to go food shopping and no more volcanic hills to climb—and I missed it!

This morning, I went for a short stroll with my mom on the trails at the local nature center, which is practically in my backyard. There are stretches where it’s almost possible to imagine what the river looked like a few hundred years ago before Europeans settled here—and definitely before the paper mills cropped up.

It’s really nice to get some hiking shoes on and go for even a short walk, scuffing along the dirt, passing other folks on the trail, and locking eyes with wildlife. And it’s been years since I’ve seen the river as clean as it is now, and the birds so populous!

Today we spotted:
- 3-4 Double-crested Cormorants
- About half a dozen Great Egrets
- 1 Great Blue Heron
- 1 Green Heron
- Numerous American Black Ducks and Mallards
- (Infinity) Ring-billed Gulls
- 1 Downy Woodpecker
- Various stripey sparrows
I really enjoy using Merlin Bird ID, an app by Cornell University’s Ornithology Lab. We’re also playing a lot of Wingspan these days!
Favorite road trip planning apps!

August 24th, 2023

Winding through the Colorado Rockies.

One of my favorite things to do when planning a road trip is research all the things I might pass or do along the way. It’s a fine balance, though: on one hand, it’s important to have some key destinations locked in to avoid disappointment, like national parks or any events, tours, etc., that require advance registration or have a tendency to fill up fast. On the other hand, when you’re out and about for weeks at a time, the whole point is really to let things just… come up. An extra day here, a shorter stay there, a stop at the largest ball of twine made by one person…

As it’s been a few years since I last planned a road trip of this magnitude, I began researching different tools for my trip in a few weeks. I fall in the middle of the analog-digital spectrum: I like to have things written down on a physical calendar, but I also really like a handy app that allows me to hone in on certain activities. While it’s definitely not essential to have an app for literally everything (I don’t use one for packing, for example—but I do like these checklists from REI), there are certainly a few that I use a lot.

Below, I’ve included a list of some of my go-to’s for trips that range from a few days to a several weeks. (None of these are affiliates, I just like them and actually use them!)

Itineraries

Wanderlog

This itinerary-building app is great for different types of travel, as it has a feature that allows you to import your lodging, flights, or train reservations, so I’ve often used Wanderlog for overseas trips and when there are lots of reservations to manage or other people to share it with. It has an easily searchable map with area highlights and tourist attractions. The free version has plenty of bells and whistles (that’s what I use), but the Pro version features ways to optimize travel routes and access offline.

Roadtrippers

The game is in the name here. While it’s not cheap for the full suite of features, Roadtrippers is also, in my opinion, totally worthwhile for dreaming and planning. Its interactive map is really nicely designed and offers up super fun suggestions for historic sites, tourist attractions, and campgrounds along your route.

This app is also great for RVers because it includes info about propane onboard restrictions (in the U.S. only) and parks, dump stations, etc. I like the ability to open up each waypoint and add detailed information, but the one thing I miss (in comparison to Wanderlog) is the ability to automatically import reservations via email. It’s easy enough to share with friends, and the only real con other than that is that the free version of the app is super limited, so I do subscribe ($35.99/year, but there’s a 7-day free trial if you want to try it out).

Campendium

I rely on Campendium almost exclusively for user-sourced reports of cell service at campgrounds around the U.S. This is important for me since I work remotely and need access to the internet (my phone has a hotspot). Reviewers are often very critical on here, and their experiences are of course anecdotal, so I often ignore the reviews and look at the photos instead! The app is much easier to use than the desktop version, which has a lot of ads if you’re not a paid subscriber.

Reserve America

Mostly a booking app, Reserve America is great for finding campgrounds nearby when I’m looking for something last-minute.

Hiking and Biking

AllTrails

I love AllTrails! This is especially great for hiking, and with the Plus version (AllTrails+), it’s really easy to search routes by distance away, which is super handy when you’re in a new location every few days! New routes can be tracked and logged, and I like that it includes current weather conditions. With AllTrails+, maps can be accessed offline and printed. They also donate 1% of their annual profits to the planet. This is another one that I pay for because I like the access to offline maps and wrong-turn alerts (Plus) for more complicated routes where the trail is less clear. Another Plus perk is the ability to search by distance based on location. It’s $35.99/year, too, with a 7-day free trial, but I subscribed during a promo where a year was 50% off.

MapMyRide

Of all of the “MapMy” apps from Under Armor, I use MapMyRide most often in particular. It logs my workouts and routes, and allows me to search others’ routes to find new places to ride. I use this mostly as a workout app, as opposed to route-finding, as AllTrails does a pretty good job of that for me.

Wifi and Mobile Coverage

Opensignal

Opensignal is a really simple app for checking your wifi speed and mobile signal in real time. It’s pretty much a tool designed to do just that, and it comes in handy when I’m working, especially if I need to join a Zoom meeting.

Interactive Mobile Coverage Map

Not exactly an app, but a useful tool for staying connected! When I’m looking into the best options for good connection (fingers crossed!) it’s useful to check my mobile provider’s interactive coverage map. I use U.S. Cellular, and their map shows what level of data is available with partner carriers around the country.

Weather

Wunderground

Weather Underground has been my go-to weather app for a few years now. It includes air quality reports and trends about humidity and precipitation with extended forecasts.

Food

OpenTable

I debated whether to include this here, but I do still use it fairly often when I’m on the road! Today, there are so many reservation apps out there for food, but this has been a longtime companion for especially city dining when it’s last-minute and I want to see what’s nearby. While I like to pop in to places spontaneously—and one bonus of dining solo is that even in a busy place, there’s often room at the bar—it’s sometimes nice to know that there’s a table waiting for you when you get there.

Lodging

Hotwire, Hotel Tonight, or Booking.com

One time, I ended up at a campground that was giving me the heebie-jeebies, and it was late, so I did a quick search to find comfortable hotel nearby instead, at the last minute. Another time, the weather was awful, and I just wanted a real bed for one night after a couple of weeks in a tent. Last-minute deals on Hotwire, for some reason, have always coughed up the best deals for me, for good places. Hotel Tonight‘s strategy is right in their name, and Booking.com also occasionally dishes out some solid last-minute discounts!

Instagram

I’m on Instagram all the time for both work and fun, and I’ve become a huge fan of the feature that allows users to save posts and create collections. I keep a collection titled “destinations” and another one for “camping” more specifically. I like that these categories can be tailored to suit what you’re interested in so that the content can be revisited anytime. (Great for meal inspiration and projects, too!)

The Printer 😉

And yes, I’m a Millennial, and I still like to print things. So while I rely on my email inbox for backup, I count the humble printer among my favorite apps so that my booking confirmations are handy when I can’t access the internet.

I’d love to hear of any must-have apps that you use for planning or navigating when you’re on the road!
The odd joy of canceling travel plans

August 21st, 2023

Or, making up for a canceled trip on the tiniest little stretch of the Ice Age Trail.

A brief but picturesque dune-hugging boardwalk takes you from the woods to the shore.

I was supposed to be camping a few hours west this week, and I was pretty stoked for some bluff-top hikes through Wyalusing State Park and visits to other scenic stops along the Ol’ Blue as it slices between Wisconsin and Iowa. Howeverrrr, when the forecast said it was going to be 101°F and humid, I just hit that ‘cancel’ button.

I think there’s something to be said for knowing when a situation—no matter how much you’re excited about the prospect of a trip—is just not going to be remotely as fun as you imagine. “Fantasy!” my annoyed brain is yelling at my woodland-longing heart. At least when it comes to state and national parks, canceling reservations at least 48 hours in advance typically means getting back the bulk of what you paid minus a small fee, so there isn’t that horrible black-hole-of-a-wallet feeling.

I work remotely most mornings as a contributing editor for a cool arts and culture site (Colossal—check it out!), so any gallivanting along trails or traipsing around local historical sites usually has to be in the afternoon. This setup is usually pretty great because I can write an article or two before lunch and then head out and do whatever I want with the rest of my day. The only drawback is if that particular time of day is also the hottest and most uncomfortable.

Building tipi-like things on beaches and in woods seems to be a Midwest equivalent to rock cairns, which look kind of cool but are actually sort of annoying and probably shouldn’t be there.

I decided to kick it in the hometown for the week, and I’ve been finding plenty more to do. One of those things was taking a walk over the weekend along a portion of the Ice Age Trail along Lake Michigan, part of Point Beach State Park. It is a glorious stretch of Great Lakes coastline, and that particular morning it was sunny as all get-out, astonishingly calm, and practically deserted. The flies, annoying wee bitey guys, were the only downside, but they were only really a downside if you stood still, so the trick was to keep moving.

I also booked a trip to Peru with my mom! We’re going to visit my aunt and her family in Lima, and although I say Lima, and what I really mean is that we’ll be mostly in Cusco, which is the first port of call for Machu Picchu. I’ve never been to Peru, but if there’s one thing I’m going to angle for on my very first trip, it’s got to be one of the “New Seven Wonders of the World.”

Hello!

And I spent some time fine-tuning my itinerary for the first week on the road in September. One month from today, I’m hitting the road. TO THE WEST, my friends! Eeeeee, I can’t wait. My first major stop, after a couple of ad hoc camping stops along the way, will be Badlands National Park, one of several national parks I plan to hit that I’ve had on the list for a long, long time. Have you been to Badlands? What’s your favorite thing to do or see there? I’d love your recommendations in the comments.

This is the tidiest and cleanest I’ve seen this shoreline in years!

Scrubby beach plants are my favorites.

Hardly anyone was out on the water.

The view back over the dunes and into the trees.
On the Merits of ‘Blah’ Camping

August 18th, 2023

Don’t get me wrong, everything is novel and interesting when it’s the first time you’re experiencing it. I think this goes for most campgrounds, too, because the first time setting up camp in a new place is always exciting! Whether it’s a lake-view site at Glacier National Park or a moochdock in an acquaintance’s backyard, figuring out the ins and outs is always interesting in some level. But despite how hard we might try, we can become blind to even the most amazing places when we see them all the time!

In preparation for an upcoming trip (and, let’s be frank, just an excuse to be outside some more), I booked a site at Calumet County Park, one that I’ve stayed at a few times before. I hemmed and hawed about it because I felt a little bit been-there-done-that, but after refreshing the reservations page more times than I can count, I finally booked the place for a little three-night stint. I wanted to get the camper out of storage at least once during the month of August, partly to just remind myself how it all works, and perhaps more importantly, that things were indeed still working.

As I waffled back and forth about camping in a place I knew very well but didn’t necessarily offer a ton of exhilarating hikes or anything, a few things popped to mind about why boring or “blah” camping every once in a while can be very good for the soul.

Evening view from the fire pit

Firstly, “blah” camping punches you out of any need to go-go-go.

It may seem counterintuitive, but for those who are out on the road a lot and always seeking the next stop, sight, or experience, sometimes it’s just… a lot. Sure, it’s fun, but it’s also a lot of work and takes a lot of brain juice. Everyone needs a breather now and then. So maybe you’re en route to somewhere more exciting, in a sort of lackluster campsite, and it doesn’t seem like there’s much to do. I actually find these moments extremely valuable, because it allows me to consciously slow down and relax. There’s no way to have FOMO if there’s not much happening anyway.

With fewer things pulling at your attention, you can do maintenance, take inventory, and take care of tasks you may have been putting off.

My most recent “blah” camping task involved changing a couple of headlights in my truck, super-gluing some counter edging down that had started to come loose, giving the floor a good scrub, and organizing the wardrobe cupboard. I also spent some time examining some rough corners in the front of the camper, often exposed to some pretty brutal gravel-bashing and water splashing from the road. While this wasn’t a project I was ready to take on at the site, I was able to get a good idea of what materials I’ll need and how to proceed once I can get everything together. (I’m a big fan of making lists for future fix-its!)

One of my items on my to-do list involves seeing how much rust and wear I can remove from the stove and vent.

Take the time to get some groceries and prep food for the next few days.

I’m not sure what exactly the draw is, but I love going grocery shopping in different towns. Perhaps it’s something about how universal the experience is, and many of the products are familiar no matter where I am in the country, yet I derive a weird amount of pleasure trying to figure out where things are in a new store, knowing that many of the people around me shop there every week. What would it be like if this was my regular stop?

Anyway, this goes hand-in-hand with taking care of general tasks: make life easier in the next few days and prep some food items ahead of time, especially if you’re planning longer stretches of driving and need something healthy to grab from the cooler, or you plan to be out for some long hikes and, you guessed it, want something easy and readymade.

“Blah” camping forces you to find interesting things in the local area.

Whether it’s a park or campground I’ve never been in and it happens to lack some oomph, or I find myself at a place I’m just really familiar with already, I challenge myself to find nearby attractions that I may not have visited before. For example, on a recent trip, I visited the award-winning LaClare Creamery, which specializes in goat cheese, and where most importantly, you can pet the goats.

One addition I’ve begun to notice in many municipal and county parks are rentable kayaks, like those from Rent.Fun. Personally, I find the rates extremely reasonable, and it’s great to not have to worry about loading up a kayak all the time, especially if the weather is looking iffy.

It’s a great time to relax, read, and plan where to go next!

For me, “blah” camping is all about prepping for the actual adventure. It’s about getting into a mindset. I’m heading out West on an extended trip in a few weeks, and since I’m impatient and want to keep tabs on all of my equipment, it’s a perfect opportunity to plan ahead.

I’m currently reading A Sand County Almanac by wildlife conservationist Aldo Leopold, who, in 1933, was appointed as the first professor of wildlife management at UW-Madison. He was passionate about native landscapes, and he spearheaded a research agenda to restore “original” or indigenous plants and ecosystems that predated European settlement. Somehow I went this long without picking up a copy, and I highly recommend!

A Sand County Almanac is a must-read for any nature lover, especially if you have Wisconsin connections!
Rediscovering home

August 14th, 2023

It’s a rainy day at camp, so I’m taking advantage of the down time to reflect on how summer is flying by—just how is it the middle of August already?!—and taking stock of what’s next.

Chicory and a Northeast Wisconsin farm

Three months ago today, I moved home from Scotland, where I had been living most recently for two years. Moving to Edinburgh was something I wanted to check off the bucket list since I had spent a year there as a student. It was also something of a pandemic if-not-now-when decision. Like so many, I just needed something to get my mind off of a crazy time, and I wanted to get the heck out of Dodge!

Fast-forward a couple of years, and a familiar, niggling feeling started to take root. For some reason, I’ve always found it very difficult to sit still in life. I don’t think this is a failing, although it does challenge notions of “commitment” a lot of time. I have a tendency to want to go places, do things, and learn stuff, but any whiff of going through the motions and I catapult out of there faster than you can say, “What’s going to happen next?”

Sometimes, it turns out, I don’t even know what’s next. At some point earlier this spring, I realized that I was in going-through-the-motions mode, and as much as I adore Scotland and all of the folks I know there, the possibilities for beautiful hikes, the sea, the mountains (*ahem* munros), I was spending a fortune on rent, feeling a little wayward, and for some reason, continuing to work for organizations based in the U.S.

It’s not for lack of trying to find a job locally, but thanks to a cost-of-living crisis and various economic factors—plus working in the arts!—it was just the way the cookie crumbled. Also, I had been self-employed when I moved there, but my career had veered in a totally new direction—not something I’d planned! I was happy about it, but it meant the original equation no longer added up. I thought about moving to London, but then I thought, “Do I want even higher rent?” Whenever I start to ask myself, “What is the point of being here?,” it’s usually already too late. The gears have already begun creaking into motion.

Prickly lettuce on the side of the road in a particularly lovely wildflower spot

I had planned to take a 1-2 month holiday in the States to visit family, but I decided that, rather than spending a couple months’ rent on a space I wasn’t even using, I’d just pack up all my shit and go altogether. In less than six weeks, I had sent a suitcase back with a friend, secured a new tenant for the flat, donated bags and bags of things to the local charity shops, forced various plants and possessions on friends, and crammed everything into three suitcases and a JanSport backpack. I didn’t even really know what I would do when I got back to Wisconsin. I’d continue to work, I’d catch up with family, I’d do some gardening (oh, how I had missed a yard!). One thing I knew for sure: I would road trip.

I blame the show Yellowstone. I started watching the first season on an airplane, headed back to Scotland, a little over a year ago. The mountain scenery pulled at me—hard. I kept thinking about a road trip I took in late 2019, which flitted from Wisconsin to New York to Virginia to Texas to New Mexico to Utah to Idaho to Colorado and back in five weeks. I wanted mountains. I wanted desert! I wanted to pack the carefully-planned bare minimum into a vehicle and set off West. The feeling was visceral, and I knew it as one of those intuitive moments where, no matter how I tried to fight it, I was going to have to accept that this was the way to go.

So, at the end of the day, I moved back because I wanted to drive a whole lot and very far. I’ve been in Wisconsin all summer, now with a road trip plan on the docket for September, and another one aimed at March. In the meantime, I’ve been scouting out the bits of Wisconsin that I missed while I was across the pond: bike rides on country roads, camping by lakes, the sandy Great Lakes and the mossy Northwoods, spending time with my family, and dreaming about vans to buy and build out.

Whether it’s Wisconsin, Scotland, or anywhere else, it’s a slice from Jon Kabat-Zinn‘s maxim that, “Wherever you go, there you are.” Essentially, your life is your life, wherever you are. For me, it seems like it’s more about finding balance between “here” and “there” via trips to other places (both short and extended) that refocus how I feel about and define home. One has to leave a place in order to come back.

More chicory, chicory for days!
A Local Start: Calumet County Park and High Cliff State Park

August 8th, 2023

I moved back to Wisconsin from Scotland in mid-May, and one of my top priorities was to get my 1987 Mallard Sprinter hooked up and into the woods. First, I needed something to tow it with. It turned out my sister (who was kindly storing the camper in a far corner of her property) and her husband happened to have a honker of a black 2005 Chevy Silverado in their driveway that they had been angling to get rid of but just hadn’t gotten around to listing yet. So, the day after I moved back, the beast was mine.

Part I: Calumet County Park

A few days after I picked up the truck, I took the trailer—which my mom (its co-owner) has affectionately dubbed “Ducky”—to Calumet County Park. Calumet has to be one of Wisconsin’s best-equipped county parks with a campground. Not only does it boast lots of sites with options to camp right next to Lake Winnebago or up in the trees on the limestone ledge of the Niagara Escarpment, the park itself is pretty large with a few hiking trails and (fairly hidden) Native American effigy mounds.

My two-night stint put me in the upper part of the park and, as it happened, right next to the sort of neighbor who will stand at his BBQ and shout commentary at you about how incorrectly you’re backing in your rig while not bothering to offer to help or anything sensible like that. My spot required two turns, as it happened: first down a driveway off of the main road and then into the site itself. It took me a few tries and a bit of mental stamina to avoid thinking about my unhelpful know-it-all neighbor, but for the first time backing up the trailer in 2+ years with a truck I was only just getting familiar with… well, I thought I did a dang fine job!

A little tight between two trees, but I made do!

The upper part of Calumet County Park is my favorite. It’s wooded with a few trails, and some of the sites overlook the bluffs into a ravine. There are electrical sites in both upper and lower areas, and I was able to whip out my exterior string lights for the first time! In the past, I’ve also parked down by the lake, where most of the sites are much more open. In the upper part, trees provide plenty more privacy.

Calumet County Park
N6150 County EE
Hilbert, WI 54129

Highlights: Lakeshore camping with great sunsets or scenic wooded sites

Entrance fee: None

Site cost per night: $25/electric or $22/non-electric

A typical work setup while out in the woods!

Part II: High Cliff

The camping bug bit real hard in the early summer, so I took advantage of a couple of opportunities to check out another local gem, High Cliff State Park. I went three times in one month alone, firstly to check it out and make the most of it on my own, and then two other times so that I could invite my niece and nephew on their own personal camping trips with me!

The park sits on the northeast shoreline of Lake Winnebago, Wisconsin’s largest lake, and there are well-kept hiking trails and horse trails with great views over the water. And if you’re a Geocaching fan, there are plenty here. (My nephew is big on treasure-hunting missions but not so much on the long walks, so we managed to fit in a few finds before heading back to the site for the most important aspect of camping: s’mores. Obviously.)

That’s the ticket.

This park has some of the nicest sites in the area. The family campground is wooded and consists of about 2/3 non-electric sites. The electric sites are all clustered toward the southeast part of the rectangular campground, and since I preferred being along the edge with more woods around me and in a quieter area, I chose to boondock at the far southwest corner.

It’s worth noting that there’s a huge price difference between electric and non-electric sites; the latter is $15 more expensive per night! So if you’re just staying for a few days, boondocking might be the way to go, on top of the vehicle admission price. That said, the sites are all large, well-kept, and flat, and some are quite roomy!

My site at High Cliff was in the corner of the campground, so there was plenty of space and privacy.

High Cliff is fairly large, and the campground is set back into the park, so it’s away from the busy marina and park pavilions in the lower area. This is really nice because it stays much quieter near the campground. There’s a shop at the marina with cute merch. Firewood here is incredibly expensive, so purchase it at the main office/gate or buy from one of the many surrounding private sellers along local roads who make large cubes of stack-it-yourself available for usually around $8, including at least twice as much wood as the marina store sells at nearly the same price per bundle!

Without electricity, I rely on propane to power the fridge and stove, plus a 12V battery for LED lights throughout the camper (of which there are so many!?). So, no twinkle lights on this visit, but I did experiment with jerry-rigging a sun sail onto two telescoping tent poles that came with guy lines, using a set of small carabiners that clipped into some pre-existing eye hooks along the exterior trim.

High Cliff State Park
N7630 State Park Rd.
Sherwood, WI 54169

Highlights: Well-preserved Native American effigy mounds and great trails

Entrance fee: Yes. Vehicle admission sticker is $28

Site cost per night: $35/electric and $20/non-electric

Art times with my niece.

The lookout from High Cliff’s tower, looking toward the Fox Valley.
The wilderness—or the weeds?

August 6th, 2023

When one of my work colleagues is feeling overwhelmed or lost, she says, “I’m in the weeds!” or “So-and-so is in the weeds on this.” What I love about it is the impression that the surroundings (natural ones, of course) have gotten the better of a person. One has wandered in some direction, not really able to see exactly what kind of footing they’ll have—but they did it anyway. That’s pretty much the premise for starting this blog. I want to chronicle all the stuff I’m just trying to figure out as I go along. (C’est la vie!)

So, without further ado, hello! My name is Katie (I also often go by Kate). In a nutshell, I was born on the Oregon coast and grew up in Northeast Wisconsin. I’ve always been obsessed with road trips. As a teenager, I used to travel around with my dad, an artist, to art festivals in different parts of the country, and I loved seeing new places, trying new cafes, visiting shops and local neighborhoods, and finding ways to redefine my own home through the conversations I’d have and the things I would learn.

A lot has happened between then and now: I studied art history in undergrad at universities in California and Wisconsin. Then, I worked at a bookstore for a few years before pursuing a one-year Masters program at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland. I loved it there, but I moved back to the Midwest to pursue a somewhat DIY-feel-it-out-as-I-went art curator gig, which I could do remotely thanks to Instagram. The road trip bug struck again, and I traveled a lot for collaborative projects with galleries and artists.

The pandemic cut a lot of that short, but it was during that time that I rediscovered a love for camping and the outdoors, and it spurred a new drive to reconnect with ideas around place and to be more present in nature. My mom and I co-purchased a 16-foot 1987 Mallard Sprinter trailer to give ourselves a project during the summer when everything was still shut down and I was staying in my childhood home, feeling restless. We spent several weeks fixing up the trailer in 2020, adding new cushions and textiles, a fresh laminate floor, a little bit of painting, and even some customized exterior stripes. I was in love! And I’m still tinkering with it every time I take it out.

In 2021, I moved to Scotland, which has been described to me as my “spirit home”—one of many, I think! I felt I had to get it out of my system, in a way, so I spent a couple of years there, and in Spring 2023, I moved back to my hometown. The day after I arrived, I bought a clunker of a 2005 Chevy Silverado and took the camper trailer out at the first opportunity. Immediately, I was reminded of the magic of being outdoors, going for hikes, cooking over a fire. And I’m still learning so much about it!

When coming up with the name for this blog, I thought of the way “wilderness” implies places where human impact is minimal or absent (how many places in the world are truly like this now?), but it also alludes to a metaphorical experience or place where anything is possible, where there is much to learn, and where the land and its denizens warrant protection.

I’m excited to share my travels, whether by car, on foot, in campgrounds, in the woods, on trails, or wherever the winding road leads me. Hopefully more into the wilderness and less in the weeds!