Mapping and Scheduling Plans

I have had enough people give me firm commitments that I can confidently say we will have at least a group of five or six of us riding. There are, of course, more than 20 who have given me a tentative or interested, so if the weather is good, we might have quite a crowd rolling down the road.

I am tinkering with some GPS tracks, but starting with the core of what Chad had mapped out so many years ago. I have three alternates mapped out if we want to skip Iowa and stay entirely in Wisconsin. Depending on the route chosen, it will cut about an hour or more of travel time to Soldiers Grove. These alternates will mean less gravel, but may make the first day of riding a little shorter so everyone is fresher for the harder days to come. It also gets us a little further north for the first night on the trail where there are more options for camping.

I have picked out a couple of spots where I could add some more ATV routes, but it has been quite a long time since I’ve ridden in some of those areas and I don’t know how difficult they will be. Some of them I know are very deep sand or always muddy with deep water holes. Rather than running the core route through those sections, I will have them as alternates for people who want to have things a little more spicy. I’m going to put in some rally points so that we can quickly identify locations for us to regroup after a bypass.

Since it is the holiday weekend, I am tracking down multiple campsite locations and may even book a few sites. It’s still too early in the season for many places to take reservations for a single night. Pacing is always a variable so it’s hard to commit to a campground. It’s better for me to research and find places that are less likely to fill and figure it out over dinner.

I plan to leave Madison around 5:30 p.m. on 5/22 and arrive in Galena by 8 or so. If you don’t want to join me at the Palace Campground that night, the plan is to meet at the start point south of Hazel Green at 8 a.m.

Here’s a rough idea of how I plan a travel day to go:

Awake at 5:30, kickstands up by 6:15

Breakfast no later than 7

Lunch at noon

Dinner by 17:30

Start looking for camp @ 18:30

Camp site by 19:30

Sunset @ 20:30-20:45

Wind down @ 21:30

Breakfast within 1/2 hour of camp

Dinner within 1.5 hours of camp

Fuel / camp snack, beer/ morning coffee stop between 17:30 - 19:30

Of course, pace, weather, and availability may shift these times. It’s always good to have a few snacks on hand and a hydration pack.

I’ll host a Zoom call Tuesday 3/25 7-9 p.m. where we can all chat about it. Link sent out once I figure out how to set it up.

Remember to pick up trail passes for the areas we will be passing thru. If I’ve missed one, please let me know.

WI State trail pass

https://gowild.wi.gov

Jackson County

https://www.jacksoncountyparks.us/parks/permits_and_products/

Clark County - Knobby Ridge - no fee, covered by WIDNR grant, still a fee for camping at trailhead

Cheers,

Tim Clarke