An Outdoorsman's Journal

   Backpacking on the Lumbercamp Segment of the Ice Age Trail

Hello friends,

   Just as important to me as hunting and fishing are the silent sports such as canoeing and backpacking. In 1987 I attempted to canoe up the Mississippi River and put on 980 miles before I sustained a trip ending injury.
     In 1991 I hiked 1244 miles of The Appalachian Trail and I can honestly say that those two adventures are what made me realize that making a lot of money was not a goal for me, I just wanted to be independent and outside.
    This week I did a very simple and yet perfect two night backpacking trip on the Lumbercamp Segment of the 1400 mile, all in Wisconsin, Ice Age Trail.
     I have to admit that when I woke up the day that I started this journey I did not even know where I was going hike. I worked my phone for info and chose a stretch of trail that is between Antigo and Crandon in Langlade County and every part of this simple journey was just about as perfect as I could hope for.

Monday, May 11th
High 63, low 27

     My house is on my back along with my food and clothes. My golden retriever Red is my companion, and I have zero goals for hiking big miles. My goal is simple, hike, find a really cool place to make a camp and then day hike the next day and return to my truck on day 3. I would also be checking out waterfowl hunting and bow hunting possibilities.
      First thought, my pack is too heavy, but I can handle that. This would be a high of 60ish low in the mid-30s with rain both days so I had to have plenty of clothes as well as a tarp for my backpacker tent. As I started my journey in the midafternoon I soon realized that both the Ice Age Trail volunteers that maintain this section of trail and the WDNR biologists and field staff that manage this forest and marsh are on top of their game.
     I had only hiked about 2 miles and I took a break at a small but beautiful lake that was loaded with waterfowl. While on break I came up with a brainstorm and that was I should build my camp. This would be the first trip of my backpacking career that I was not mile hungry and I was loving it.
     There was weather coming and I put up my "coffin," tent no larger than a coffin, tarped it and then watched nature until dark. There is a pair of I believe trumpeter swans nesting here, there are lots of wood duck nest boxes on the wetlands here and I had a really cool experience when I saw a pair of bluebill flew into the lake and the female landed perfectly on the box and disappeared for a night of sitting on eggs.
     Though I did not see much for deer sign I watched an extremely large deer walk the shoreline and the variety of waterfowl and amount of geese had me thinking, I should come back here and do a hunt this fall.
     Well after dark a cold rain began and lasted for about 5 hours, no worries my camp was dry.

Tuesday, May 12th
High 58, low 36

    I left my camp and had basics in my backpack such as rain gear, food and water. All I wanted to do was explore and see some country and then return to camp for another night. I do not believe the deer numbers are large here and this last winter was a tough one but since you cannot use a motorized vehicle, a hunter could have his or her own hunt. Then there is the potential for waterfowl hunting, what I did today besides trail hike was bushwhack and follow wetlands. Most of the water is too far to hike in and do a morning or evening waterfowl hunt, but if a redneck named MGW came in with his trusty pup and built a camp, there are ducks and geese to harvest.
    The most interesting part of my day and the saddest is when I came across either a crow or a raven on the ground about 10-feet away. Directly in front of it maybe 4-feet was another and they were really messing up a hen turkey who was sitting on a nest of 6 eggs.
    I knew there had to be a nest and that is what the predators were after.
    The crow/raven behind her had been at it a while as there were a lot of feathers where it was pulling them off the hen to try to get her to fly.
       When I returned to camp a solid rain and windstorm began that would last much of the night. Red and I had no choice but to enter our very dry coffin and hunker in.

Backpack, explore, respect the trail and those that make it happen!

Sunset