This being my first RR, I hope that someone may enjoy it during this wonderful winter we are having. I had never really spent much time on ADV except for recently. I have noticed that their is a certain theme to when, why and where to take pictures. That theme is pretty simple, take ALOT of pictures. I didn't really do that this past August when I was in Wisconsin. However, that will give me something to strive for. I was at Ft. McCoy Wis. for some wonderful Army training for four weeks this past August. I decided to ride the T.W.A.T. (I personally don't care for the acronym, but it is what it is). I ran into someone I knew fairly well when I was up their and you should have seen their face when I told them I had brought my KLR instead of my HD.:huh Some people just don't get the Adventure riding thing. I have caught the bug. Anyhow, I had two weekends off while I was there. I took one weekend(Aug. 14&15) and did the Southern half of the T.W.A.T. and then two weekends later(Aug. 27,28 & 29) to do the Northern half. I'm not a real big fan of GPS. I used it in Iraq because it was a valuable tool to go along with paper maps, landmarks, etc. However, I feel people rely too much on technology so I try to stay old school as much as possible. Wisconsin actually has wonderful detailed maps, they are in pdf, of each of their counties, FOR FREE. I did the whole T.W.A.T. using these maps and every road down the the Fire roads were on the them. However, the ATV trails were not, but I picked up a wonderful (you can also down load it) Wisconsin ATV Guide at a rest area on my way through the state. Now Wisconsin had some pretty good storms for several days before I left to roll south. So the first few pictures show some of the damage. This wash out was right in front of this Amish house. These next few pictures were taken just North of Viola, WI. I took this next picture because it reminds me of a good friends farm and valley back in Ohio that I grew up coon hunting in. I rode through scenic country side all the way down into Illinois. This is a picture that I tried to take of a tug boat for my kids while crossing the Mississippi into Dubuque, but my mirror got in the way. Some Iowa country side. It reminds me of most of Ohio, too many houses. These are pictures of Lock and Dam #10 at Guttenberg, IA. This is looking down stream. Upstream This kid was looking at me long and hard. At first I thought I had a booger hanging out my nose. Well, maybe he isn't use to seeing people taking pictures and talking on the cell phone at the same time. Plus I was talking to my five year old, so you might be able to imagine how that conversation might have sounded. I did go back over into Wisconsin before the end of the day. Ended up camping at the Wyalusing Forest Park. It is just South of the Wisconsin River as it runs into the Mississippi. Here is my camping spot the next morning. Here is looking upriver of the Wisoconsin. Here is where the Wisconsin runs into the Mississippi. RightTop is upstream Miss.; RightBottom is the Wisconsin; Left is downstream Miss. This is a tugboat that was going North. It had just pushed through Lock & Dam #9. Looking West from Wisconsin to Lansing, IA, this is Black Hawk Bridge. I ate lunch in Lansing. While eating at a restraunt on Main St. the town had a parade. You can tell I'm a noob, I don't have any pictures of my food or the parade. I headed North into Minnesota. I crossed back over into Wisconsin at La Crosse. I hit the back roads and made my way to Sparta for a photo. Since I had time to kill before evening chow, I hit some ATV trails north of McCoy. I had a hoot. This is the kind of trail riding I like. I couldn't wait until the next weekend. When I rolled south on Saturday I stayed on the TWAT. Sunday I took my own way home. The TWAT was a mixture of asphalt, tar and chipped, gravel and very little dirt. The rustic road/routes in Wisconsin are great. I wish Wis. had more and all states had some. It was fun and I would do it again if the oppurtunity arose Well, I hope you enjoyed it. I know I have to take more and better story telling photos. That will be a work in progress. However, I do have some more photos from the trip North and I'll post those soon.
I don't know if stuff like this is helping or hurting when it comes to getting through the winter... Thanks for sharing, I'll keep drinking.
So it was friday afternoon and I got out of class early. What to do, what to do? I know, I'll go ridin. Hadn't planned to leave until first thing Saturday morning, but like any good adventure rider I just told my self the sooner the better. I didn't ride for too long, only for a few hours. Wanted to get a good camping spot (in the daylight) and find something to eat. I stopped at the Snyder County Park. It was quite nice actually. I put up my tent and headed into Neillsville for some food. On the rode I passed the Highground Veterans Memorial Park. I'll have to check that one out when I'm done eating. I ended up being the only one at the park when I got there. It was one of the nicer State Veteran Memorial Parks I had been to. Good job Wisconsin. Native American Memorial Korean Memorial Vietnam Memorial Other Memorials Another interesting item at the Park. Well, the sun was setting and I could tell why they call this the Highground. I went back to the campground and started a fire. Other than a couple ATVs out on the trails for a little bit, all I could here was the crackle of the fire. The KLR can't wait for the trails tomorrow. First thing out on the trail in the morning was sand. It was great. I really mean that. Then it turned into some Forest Roads. I did have to ride on some paved roads. They didn't peak out the fun-o-meter by any means. However, they were better than being inside a concrete and steel cave all day. So I got to more gravel after just a short time. Then I saw this turtle. I named him Fred. My kids eat this stuff up. It seemed like I waited forever for him to stick his head back out, but he never did. Although, when I picked him up to move him to safety he stuck his head out. But wouldn't you know it, as soon as I put him back down his head was gone again. The next few pictures were taken in Perkinstown Trail and it was within the boundaries of Chequamegon National Forest. It is not in the Wisconsin ATV Guide that I mentioned earlier in this thread. I did drop $5 in the donation box. I don't want to see trails like this disappearing. It was a fun trail. A little tight in spots. You had to watch for ATVs coming around corners. Some corners were blind. The fire roads just went on and on. Nice long swooping corners and rolling hills. You did have to watch out for a 90degree corner every once in awhile. They would cause the pucker factor to go up a little. I took this trying to get a picture of the second bear that had crossed my path today. As you can see I did not succeed. This was in Northwestern Price County, west of Park Falls. I rode back into the Chequamegon National Forest in Sawyer County and stayed in it through Ashland County and all the way up through Bayfield County to almost the Lake Superior shore. It was some great riding. It was sand, gravel and a mixture of both. You had to watch the sand, it would get soft and deep in a split second. I have to say that the Wisconsin sand never did get me. I think you are all smart enough not to believe that. Also had sections that had some pretty good wash outs. It was getting a little late and I had told my wife I would get her a picture of the sun setting on Lake Superior. How does that song go? "We've Got A Long Way To Go, And A Short Time To Get There" Jerry Reed I just made it. I ended up staying at the Little Sand Bay Recreational Area. It is owned and operated by a the Town of Russel. It was nice and well kept. I got the last primitive campsite left. This campground is just West of Pt. Detour that most ADVers on here have stayed at and recommended. I was in a hurry and took the most direct route to the shore so I could get my wifes picture. As I was setting up my tent a guy from the next site walked over and started talking to me. Ironically enough he was from Ohio and knew where my hometown was (that would be Loudonville). He was from Toledo. He was camping with three of his college buddies (I don't remember anybody's name). They get together every 2-3 years and camp somewhere. They all live in different states so this is the only time they actually get to see each other. I personally think it is their excuse to get away from their wives. Atleast that was my observation after listening to them for hours. Anyhow, they invited me in like a long lost friend and gave me food and drink. We played some card games and corn hole well into the night. We did a pretty good job of keeping it down, for the most part. We were all sacked out by midnight anyhow. Like the noob that I am I didn't take any pictures of them or of our good time together. The next morning I got up at 7am and my neighbors were already gone. I never even heard them leave. They had been there for a week. They had alot of stuff to pack up. I must have been tired. I took a picture of my site as I was packing up. I walked to the water and took some pictures in the morning. Looking North and slightly East. Looking Westerly I rolled East and the South. I was looking for some fuel and some good and filling food. I ended up in the town of Bayfield. Down by the shore. I ended up eating here. Greunke's Inn The food was great. I had a skillet with eggs, bacon, sausage, potatoes, etc. Since I am a noob, I don't have any pictures of my food once again. I sat, drank my coffee and ate my food. Also, I highlighted my route for the day on my maps. It was going to be a good day.
I spent the longest, coldest year of my life in "Dupuke" IA one time. Whew, made me shudder and shiver to see that pic!! The rest of the pics look like great riding!!
Someone mind telling me what T.W.A.T stands for? My Google searches are going to require some explanation!
Wow, nice ride and report! Its a whole part of the country I have not been able to dual sport ride in. Between the T.W.A.T. and the B.U.T.T. I guess there is a little something for everyone right?
Having bicycled from Carpenters Ville Ill. to Toronto in 1990, for me there is no more beautiful place I have ever been than the state of Wisconsin. Thanks for sharing.
So how hard is it to follow this trail? I have done a lot of ATV riding on the ATV trails that you have ridden on during this trip. I am planning to ride the T.W.A.T. this summer with my father on our dual sports. We will have a topographical GPS and standard paper maps.
What I did was read this thread by inmate rokklym. This is the first one I read and got me interested in doing the T.W.A.T. If you visit the loan wolf expeditions website, I sent him an email and he graciously and generously sent me the Garmin file. That is what I used as a reference to do the below highlight on the paper maps. Now as for the maps. I don't like to use my Garmin unless I don't feel that available paper maps are adequate. However, I did the the whole route using detailed county paper maps that I downloaded off from here(for free). They are in PDF format and I just took them to an Office Max and they printed them off on 11"x17" paper so all the fire road numbers were big enough to read. They were also in color. I just highlighted the route on the paper maps and took off. To answer your original question, no I don't think you will have any problem following the route.
Thanks OONER. I will start highlighting my route soon. I can't wait for a chunk of time this summer to try it out.
