From Newsgroup: rec.outdoors.rv-travel

I'd like to give a report on my trip last weekend to the Kettle Moraine
area in Wisconsin. I stayed in the Northern District at a place called
Mauthe Lake State Park. I did this trip solo, so I was unsupervised.
But wow, I shall remember this trip for quite some time. It was
absolutely wonderful.

First off, it probably was the time of the year that helped since there
was not a campground full of kids, and very few adults for that matter.
The sites at this place were laid out so that you had a lot of solitude.
Most all of the sites in the park were like this. They clear out an
area and put in a gravel drive, picnic table, and a fire ring.
Everything outside that is either brush or trees, so nobody can just
walk into your area. Electric, but no water, though there were many
water stations around. Even though it was woods, above the site was
clear so the Starlink worked nicely. Though, it took me about an hour
to figure out that a stink bug had been hiding in the Ethernet port on
the dish and when I had pushed in the cable I squished him and the
connections weren't making contact. Fortunately, one last check found
the little dead critter and once I dug him out and cleaned it up it
fired right up.

<https://postimg.cc/gallery/33tX1tD>

The first night I had no neighbors at all. It was warm with night temps
still in the 70's. It was also the weekend of the Hunters moon, and man
was it bright. The other cool thing is that when you have a bright full
moon like that, the geese and cranes out on the lake just go crazy well
into the night. After midnight I was still sitting around the fire
listening to either the birds out on the lake, or the owls banging their
beaks together. Every once in a while the wind would pick up just a
little and whistle through the aspen leaves. I did all this while
enjoying a good cigar that took about two hours to smoke. I also had a
nice steak all three nights since it was only me and that is so easy to
do. It was just perfect! The pics are at about 11:30 PM.

<https://postimg.cc/gallery/N5LyqRy>

I got up early and got ready to go hiking. You can get to a famous
Wisconsin trail called the Ice Age Trail right from the park. I decided
to go south along that and did 7 miles with 308 feet of ascent. It was
an out and back route, but that's OK as you always do get a different perspective, especially if it's the first time you've ever been there.
There was a little rain forecast, and I did just get back before a
gentle drizzle began. I had the grill under the awning, so I had a cup
of coffee and then proceeded to eat dinner and get ready for the rain to
pass, which it did after about 2 hours. I did enjoy sitting out under
the awning nice and dry listening to the rain. It cleared up and I lit
the campfire, another good cigar, and enjoyed another magical night at
the fire.

<https://postimg.cc/gallery/xcqkDLZ>

Next day I got up and went hiking again. This time I went north and
east of the park, sometimes on the Ice Age, sometimes on some horse
trails, and even a short distance on a very small gravel road in the
middle of nowhere and did basically a big loop. I ended up going about
9 miles with about 432 feet of ascent in what was mostly a loop. I had
taken meloxicam before I left, and it must have helped because though my
knee was sore, it was not overly inflamed and I was still moving OK.
This was an absolutely great trail and I would highly recommend it. You
go around curves, up and over hills, and surprises show up at every
corner. Several small lakes popped up out of nowhere, and they were all
in just a beautiful setting. The bugs were not bad at all, and it was
nice and cool so I didn't get all sweated up.

<https://postimg.cc/gallery/47tDhLD>

Got back to the RV, had a coffee, and then another steak. One last
cigar, the best one that actually made my tongue tingle, and a few hours
at the last campfire and I just sat there amazed at what a great time I
had been having, even though I was alone. Everything worked finally on
the View and I had no issues at all. All in all, even though it was relatively short, this was just a perfect trip for me!

<https://postimg.cc/gallery/tZSBJhp>

This place is only about 2.5 hours north of me, and when I got home I
just wanted to turn around and go back. Some day I will!
--
Science doesn't support Darwin. Scientists do.

--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: rec.outdoors.rv-travel

sticks wrote:

I'd like to give a report on my trip last weekend to the Kettle
Moraine area in Wisconsin.-a I stayed in the Northern District at a
place called Mauthe Lake State Park.-a I did this trip solo, so I was unsupervised. But wow, I shall remember this trip for quite some
time.-a It was absolutely wonderful.

First off, it probably was the time of the year that helped since
there was not a campground full of kids, and very few adults for that matter. The sites at this place were laid out so that you had a lot of solitude. -aMost all of the sites in the park were like this.-a They
clear out an area and put in a gravel drive, picnic table, and a fire
ring. Everything outside that is either brush or trees, so nobody can
just walk into your area.-a Electric, but no water, though there were
many water stations around.-a Even though it was woods, above the site
was clear so the Starlink worked nicely.-a Though, it took me about an
hour to figure out that a stink bug had been hiding in the Ethernet
port on the dish and when I had pushed in the cable I squished him and
the connections weren't making contact.-a Fortunately, one last check
found the little dead critter and once I dug him out and cleaned it up
it fired right up.

<https://postimg.cc/gallery/33tX1tD>

The first night I had no neighbors at all.-a It was warm with night
temps still in the 70's.-a It was also the weekend of the Hunters moon,
and man was it bright.-a The other cool thing is that when you have a
bright full moon like that, the geese and cranes out on the lake just
go crazy well into the night.-a After midnight I was still sitting
around the fire listening to either the birds out on the lake, or the
owls banging their beaks together.-a Every once in a while the wind
would pick up just a little and whistle through the aspen leaves.-a I
did all this while enjoying a good cigar that took about two hours to smoke.-a I also had a nice steak all three nights since it was only me
and that is so easy to do.-a It was just perfect!-a The pics are at
about 11:30 PM.

<https://postimg.cc/gallery/N5LyqRy>

I got up early and got ready to go hiking.-a You can get to a famous Wisconsin trail called the Ice Age Trail right from the park.-a I
decided to go south along that and did 7 miles with 308 feet of
ascent.-a It was an out and back route, but that's OK as you always do
get a different perspective, especially if it's the first time you've
ever been there. There was a little rain forecast, and I did just get
back before a gentle drizzle began.-a I had the grill under the awning,
so I had a cup of coffee and then proceeded to eat dinner and get
ready for the rain to pass, which it did after about 2 hours.-a I did
enjoy sitting out under the awning nice and dry listening to the
rain.-a It cleared up and I lit the campfire, another good cigar, and enjoyed another magical night at the fire.

<https://postimg.cc/gallery/xcqkDLZ>

Next day I got up and went hiking again.-a This time I went north and
east of the park, sometimes on the Ice Age, sometimes on some horse
trails, and even a short distance on a very small gravel road in the
middle of nowhere and did basically a big loop.-a I ended up going
about 9 miles with about 432 feet of ascent in what was mostly a
loop.-a I had taken meloxicam before I left, and it must have helped
because though my knee was sore, it was not overly inflamed and I was
still moving OK. This was an absolutely great trail and I would highly recommend it.-a You go around curves, up and over hills, and surprises
show up at every corner.-a Several small lakes popped up out of
nowhere, and they were all in just a beautiful setting.-a The bugs were
not bad at all, and it was nice and cool so I didn't get all sweated up.

<https://postimg.cc/gallery/47tDhLD>

Got back to the RV, had a coffee, and then another steak.-a One last
cigar, the best one that actually made my tongue tingle, and a few
hours at the last campfire and I just sat there amazed at what a great
time I had been having, even though I was alone.-a Everything worked
finally on the View and I had no issues at all.-a All in all, even
though it was relatively short, this was just a perfect trip for me!

<https://postimg.cc/gallery/tZSBJhp>

This place is only about 2.5 hours north of me, and when I got home I
just wanted to turn around and go back.-a Some day I will!

Yep. That looks like a good place. And a good steak. But where's the
wine and potato and garlic toast?
--
bill
Theory don't mean squat if it don't work.
--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: rec.outdoors.rv-travel

On Sat, 11 Oct 2025 16:59:30 -0500,
sticks <wolverine01@charter.net> wrote:

I'd like to give a report on my trip last weekend to the Kettle
Moraine area in Wisconsin. I stayed in the Northern District
at a place called Mauthe Lake State Park. I did this trip
solo, so I was unsupervised. But wow, I shall remember this
trip for quite some time. It was absolutely wonderful.

Sounds like a great time indeed, thanks for the excellent report.
I'll keep the Kettles in mind for future options. And the privacy
makes no water hookup worth it. And as winter approaches a lot of
campgrounds will be turning off water anyway. Also, one of my
strong preferences is not having other campers on top of us. We
try for off season camping as much as possible.

Don't remember if I posted this but seeing that porterhouse made
me think back to it again. That steak is cut through the short
loin at the fattest part of the tenderloin, so it stands to reason
they might charge filet mignon type prices.

And what program were you using for tracking your hikes? It looks
a bit like Strave, maybe? I use Ride with GPS for cycling and
just default to it for hiking as well. Here's an example of the
hike we did on Sunday...

https://ridewithgps.com/trips/340289296
--
Ted Heise <theise@panix.com> Gretna, NE, USA
--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: rec.outdoors.rv-travel

On 10/11/2025 10:50 PM, Ted Heise wrote:

On Sat, 11 Oct 2025 16:59:30 -0500,
sticks <wolverine01@charter.net> wrote:

I'd like to give a report on my trip last weekend to the Kettle
Moraine area in Wisconsin. I stayed in the Northern District
at a place called Mauthe Lake State Park. I did this trip
solo, so I was unsupervised. But wow, I shall remember this
trip for quite some time. It was absolutely wonderful.

Sounds like a great time indeed, thanks for the excellent report.
I'll keep the Kettles in mind for future options. And the privacy
makes no water hookup worth it. And as winter approaches a lot of campgrounds will be turning off water anyway. Also, one of my
strong preferences is not having other campers on top of us. We
try for off season camping as much as possible.

Most of these State parks do have pretty nice showering facilities and bathrooms, so you can save a bunch of water that way. If I'm by myself
I can probably easily go 5 days on the 30 gallons I carry. If I bring
the extra 20 it really extends it. I have been just bringing two 5
gallon bottles empty, and if I need to can just add some without having
to move the vehicle. With 40 gallon tanks for dirty water that makes
for over a week, which is about all I want to stay in one place. If I
were planning on longer, I would have a place with water and sewer hookups.

Don't remember if I posted this but seeing that porterhouse made
me think back to it again. That steak is cut through the short
loin at the fattest part of the tenderloin, so it stands to reason
they might charge filet mignon type prices.

At home, my wife buys me (she doesn't really like them herself that
much) steaks from Costco that are much cheaper, and actually better IMO.
The T-bone I got was not good at all, the rib eye was a pretty good
steak, and that $52 Porterhouse was just OK. I did have a good steak
knife, but was using a plastic fork. I gotta get some metal silverware
for that RV because cutting a steak with a plastic fork is a pain in the
ass and makes working through it less enjoyable. You just can't hold
onto it, and I even broke one of the tips on the fork one night.

And what program were you using for tracking your hikes? It looks
a bit like Strave, maybe? I use Ride with GPS for cycling and
just default to it for hiking as well. Here's an example of the
hike we did on Sunday...

https://ridewithgps.com/trips/340289296

That looks like a pretty cool hike. Must have been some great river
views up at the top. You also had a pretty good clip going at averaging
3.33 mph, even with all the climbing.

I use a program called Gaia. I started using the free version, and
liked it so much I pay for it now. You can use it for many different
type of activities, as I also use it when I bike, and even track
motorcycle rides. My main goal was first to create a route, and second
to actually track them. My wife pays for All Trails, but for some
reason I just didn't like it. I would hate to go back to the days of
hiking without it. The kind of trails you don't need one on, are
generally not the ones I like to hike.
--
Science doesn't support Darwin. Scientists do.
--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: rec.outdoors.rv-travel

On 10/11/2025 7:21 PM, bfh wrote:

sticks wrote:

I'd like to give a report on my trip last weekend to the Kettle
Moraine area in Wisconsin.-a I stayed in the Northern District at a
place called Mauthe Lake State Park.-a I did this trip solo, so I was
unsupervised. But wow, I shall remember this trip for quite some
time.-a It was absolutely wonderful.

First off, it probably was the time of the year that helped since
there was not a campground full of kids, and very few adults for that
matter. The sites at this place were laid out so that you had a lot of
solitude. -aMost all of the sites in the park were like this.-a They
clear out an area and put in a gravel drive, picnic table, and a fire
ring. Everything outside that is either brush or trees, so nobody can
just walk into your area.-a Electric, but no water, though there were
many water stations around.-a Even though it was woods, above the site
was clear so the Starlink worked nicely.-a Though, it took me about an
hour to figure out that a stink bug had been hiding in the Ethernet
port on the dish and when I had pushed in the cable I squished him and
the connections weren't making contact.-a Fortunately, one last check
found the little dead critter and once I dug him out and cleaned it up
it fired right up.

<https://postimg.cc/gallery/33tX1tD>

The first night I had no neighbors at all.-a It was warm with night
temps still in the 70's.-a It was also the weekend of the Hunters moon,
and man was it bright.-a The other cool thing is that when you have a
bright full moon like that, the geese and cranes out on the lake just
go crazy well into the night.-a After midnight I was still sitting
around the fire listening to either the birds out on the lake, or the
owls banging their beaks together.-a Every once in a while the wind
would pick up just a little and whistle through the aspen leaves.-a I
did all this while enjoying a good cigar that took about two hours to
smoke.-a I also had a nice steak all three nights since it was only me
and that is so easy to do.-a It was just perfect!-a The pics are at
about 11:30 PM.

<https://postimg.cc/gallery/N5LyqRy>

I got up early and got ready to go hiking.-a You can get to a famous
Wisconsin trail called the Ice Age Trail right from the park.-a I
decided to go south along that and did 7 miles with 308 feet of
ascent.-a It was an out and back route, but that's OK as you always do
get a different perspective, especially if it's the first time you've
ever been there. There was a little rain forecast, and I did just get
back before a gentle drizzle began.-a I had the grill under the awning,
so I had a cup of coffee and then proceeded to eat dinner and get
ready for the rain to pass, which it did after about 2 hours.-a I did
enjoy sitting out under the awning nice and dry listening to the
rain.-a It cleared up and I lit the campfire, another good cigar, and
enjoyed another magical night at the fire.

<https://postimg.cc/gallery/xcqkDLZ>

Next day I got up and went hiking again.-a This time I went north and
east of the park, sometimes on the Ice Age, sometimes on some horse
trails, and even a short distance on a very small gravel road in the
middle of nowhere and did basically a big loop.-a I ended up going
about 9 miles with about 432 feet of ascent in what was mostly a
loop.-a I had taken meloxicam before I left, and it must have helped
because though my knee was sore, it was not overly inflamed and I was
still moving OK. This was an absolutely great trail and I would highly
recommend it.-a You go around curves, up and over hills, and surprises
show up at every corner.-a Several small lakes popped up out of
nowhere, and they were all in just a beautiful setting.-a The bugs were
not bad at all, and it was nice and cool so I didn't get all sweated up.

<https://postimg.cc/gallery/47tDhLD>

Got back to the RV, had a coffee, and then another steak.-a One last
cigar, the best one that actually made my tongue tingle, and a few
hours at the last campfire and I just sat there amazed at what a great
time I had been having, even though I was alone.-a Everything worked
finally on the View and I had no issues at all.-a All in all, even
though it was relatively short, this was just a perfect trip for me!

<https://postimg.cc/gallery/tZSBJhp>

This place is only about 2.5 hours north of me, and when I got home I
just wanted to turn around and go back.-a Some day I will!

Yep. That looks like a good place. And a good steak. But where's the
wine and potato and garlic toast?

Does a can of beans and a cold beer work?
--
Science doesn't support Darwin. Scientists do.
--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: rec.outdoors.rv-travel

sticks wrote:

On 10/11/2025 7:21 PM, bfh wrote:

sticks wrote:

I'd like to give a report on my trip last weekend to the Kettle
Moraine area in Wisconsin.|e-a I stayed in the Northern District at a
place called Mauthe Lake State Park.|e-a I did this trip solo, so I
was unsupervised. But wow, I shall remember this trip for quite
some time.|e-a It was absolutely wonderful.

First off, it probably was the time of the year that helped since
there was not a campground full of kids, and very few adults for
that matter. The sites at this place were laid out so that you had
a lot of solitude. |e-aMost all of the sites in the park were like
this.|e-a They clear out an area and put in a gravel drive, picnic
table, and a fire ring. Everything outside that is either brush or
trees, so nobody can just walk into your area.|e-a Electric, but no
water, though there were many water stations around.|e-a Even though
it was woods, above the site was clear so the Starlink worked
nicely.|e-a Though, it took me about an hour to figure out that a
stink bug had been hiding in the Ethernet port on the dish and when
I had pushed in the cable I squished him and the connections
weren't making contact.|e-a Fortunately, one last check found the
little dead critter and once I dug him out and cleaned it up it
fired right up.

<https://postimg.cc/gallery/33tX1tD>

The first night I had no neighbors at all.|e-a It was warm with night
temps still in the 70's.|e-a It was also the weekend of the Hunters
moon, and man was it bright.|e-a The other cool thing is that when
you have a bright full moon like that, the geese and cranes out on
the lake just go crazy well into the night.|e-a After midnight I was
still sitting around the fire listening to either the birds out on
the lake, or the owls banging their beaks together.|e-a Every once in
a while the wind would pick up just a little and whistle through
the aspen leaves.|e-a I did all this while enjoying a good cigar that
took about two hours to smoke.|e-a I also had a nice steak all three
nights since it was only me and that is so easy to do.|e-a It was
just perfect!|e-a The pics are at about 11:30 PM.

<https://postimg.cc/gallery/N5LyqRy>

I got up early and got ready to go hiking.|e-a You can get to a
famous Wisconsin trail called the Ice Age Trail right from the
park.|e-a I decided to go south along that and did 7 miles with 308
feet of ascent.|e-a It was an out and back route, but that's OK as
you always do get a different perspective, especially if it's the
first time you've ever been there. There was a little rain
forecast, and I did just get back before a gentle drizzle began.|e
I had the grill under the awning, so I had a cup of coffee and then
proceeded to eat dinner and get ready for the rain to pass, which
it did after about 2 hours.|e-a I did enjoy sitting out under the
awning nice and dry listening to the rain.|e-a It cleared up and I
lit the campfire, another good cigar, and enjoyed another magical
night at the fire.

<https://postimg.cc/gallery/xcqkDLZ>

Next day I got up and went hiking again.|e-a This time I went north
and east of the park, sometimes on the Ice Age, sometimes on some
horse trails, and even a short distance on a very small gravel road
in the middle of nowhere and did basically a big loop.|e-a I ended up
going about 9 miles with about 432 feet of ascent in what was
mostly a loop.|e-a I had taken meloxicam before I left, and it must
have helped because though my knee was sore, it was not overly
inflamed and I was still moving OK. This was an absolutely great
trail and I would highly recommend it.|e-a You go around curves, up
and over hills, and surprises show up at every corner.|e-a Several
small lakes popped up out of nowhere, and they were all in just a
beautiful setting.|e-a The bugs were not bad at all, and it was nice
and cool so I didn't get all sweated up.

<https://postimg.cc/gallery/47tDhLD>

Got back to the RV, had a coffee, and then another steak.|e-a One
last cigar, the best one that actually made my tongue tingle, and a
few hours at the last campfire and I just sat there amazed at what
a great time I had been having, even though I was alone.|e
Everything worked finally on the View and I had no issues at all.|e
All in all, even though it was relatively short, this was just a
perfect trip for me!

<https://postimg.cc/gallery/tZSBJhp>

This place is only about 2.5 hours north of me, and when I got home
I just wanted to turn around and go back.|e-a Some day I will!

Yep. That looks like a good place. And a good steak. But where's the
wine and potato and garlic toast?

Does a can of beans and a cold beer work?

In a pinch.
--
bill
Theory don't mean squat if it don't work.
--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2