Kettle Moraine State Forest - Scuppernong Trails

For my birthday I decided to go camping by myself at the Lake Ottawa Campground in Kettle Moraine State Forest. I've been to some of the hiking and mountain biking trails in the forest but thought it would be a good time to see the rest of the Southern Unit. Most of the other parks within a 2 hour drive were booked up on Sunday night, so I figured it would be a good time to cross this off my to-do list.

After stopping at the ranger station to pay for my campsite I headed over to the Scuppernong trail system. There are three trails that start out together and then branch off for varying lengths and degrees of difficulty. I chose the green trail which was the  longest, but cut across via the Ice Age National Trail at one point and trimmed it down to about 4 miles.  Where the trails all began together it was getting pretty steady use for a late Sunday morning, and seemed to be especially popular with runners. The trail itself was a nice packed sand, with some embedded rocks and the occasional tree root on some of the hilly sections.  Since Wayne and I seem to always be going fast, I decided to take it slow and try to find insects to photograph.

 I also pulled some garlic mustard, just couldn't stop myself! When we were at Kohler-Andrae a ranger told me about "galls" on plants being filled with insects, so when I spotted one on my hike I couldn't resist cutting it open to see for myself.

I took a left on the Ice Age trail when the opportunity arose, and the trail was narrower and led deep into the forest. My only companions were the chipmunks and squirrels crunching on the leaves.

 Eventually I linked back up with the green trail which was much more open and getting pretty warm with the midday temperature hitting about 90. Flowers were in bloom in the full sun, and the moths, butterflies and skippers were loving it!

It took me about 3 hours to complete my 4 miles...glacier speed for me, which was appropriate in this land shaped by glacial activity! I only rested once, and while I cooled down I thought about Peggy over at Camping Tales and how she camps and explores alone often. I was having a great time by myself, but maybe someday I'll be lucky enough to share an adventure with her in her neck of the woods! But instead of looking out for spiders I'll have to keep an eye out for 'gators!