Since there was epic flooding in the Kickapoo Valley region, Wildcat Mountain State Park closed and cancelled our group reservation. Within one hour of learning of the cancellation, I had a Plan B and some crazy campers joined in! We originally had 12 signed up to paddle the Kickapoo River, hike the trails at Wildcat Mountain State Park and bike the Elroy-Sparta trail. Most bailed because they had other home chores to do and this freed up their weekend. (The same group site is booked at Wildcat Mountain for Memorial Day weekend and we will do the original trip then.)
Plan B involved an individual site at Brunet Island State Park. Karla "with a k" had just camped there in June and knew if the weather cooperated, then we could still paddle, hike and bike.
She had scoped out site #30 as a good site for multiple hammock campers. Six hangers could EASILY hang at site 30. And when site 30 was available, she booked it. For future reference..... if you ask nicely.... the rangers might let you park more than 2 vehicles at the site. We had 5 on the site and didn't need to use the overflow parking. The rangers are VERY concerned about noise levels.
Also, the site next door - site #28 - is also a great site for hammocking. Booking site #28 and #30 together would make a great group hang location. Six cars could easily work on site 28 and another on site 30. Site 30 has the better of the two campfire pits with a moveable grate and better water access for boats.
Brunet Island (pronounced BREW-NAY) The park is named after Jean Brunet (1791–1877), an upper-class French immigrant who was instrumental in the development of the upper Chippewa River.
We were extremely lucky with the weather and only really dealt with rain during one morning while cooking our brunch. When the remaining five said yes to Plan B, rain was in the forecast for every day of the weekend. The rain didn't impact plans for the weekend at all really.
We were well prepared for the rain and Swung's new yellow tarp came in really handy all weekend.
Temp report:
Fri - 78°/ 64°
Sat - 84° / 68°
Sun - 76° / 65°
Meal planning - We combined breakfast and lunch each day. Everyone cooked one meal. Worked out well. Cashfan is cooking us brunch. His big grill was AWESOME for cooking!
If you've never camped with Cashfan, you need to. His buddy's homemade sausage patties are remarkable!
Here is Canoeski out on the Chippewa River in his kayak.
Swung making a tight turn in the solo canoe
It was an easy couple hours to paddle around the island.
Epic picture of Canoeski's white solo canoe on the Chippewa River
It's not a large park, but does have nice trails for paved trail biking and road biking.
Karla "with a K' demo'd her new DIY Monster tensahedron stand.
Canoeski set up his Turtledog stand and we were able to compare the two.
Karla "with a k" painted on the recycling and trash logos onto pop-up hampers (from Wal-mart) and used 30 gallon trash bags in them. They worked well. They even have loops on the bottom where you could use stakes to keep them from blowing.
Canoeski's turn at brunch
More time on the water. Canoeski took Karla "with a k" further up on the river and also did some night paddling.
Hammock tour - This was Cashfan's first time hammocking outside. He was able to show off his new Dutchwear Chameleon. (Karla "with a K" was drooling over it)
Canoeski trying to teach a middle aged dog a new trick.
Swung made a great meatless dinner which could be used on backpacking trips.
Canoeski delighted our ears and souls with harmonica melodies.
Here's our group photo.
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Originally Posted by Watertooner
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