Anyone up for a weekend of dirt trails, scenic waterfalls, camping, char-broiled meats, and malted beverages? I'm going to get something going for the middle of July. Either the weekend of the 19th, or 26th, depending on feedback. The venue is the public lands between High Falls Flowage (northwest of Crivitz, WI) and Iron Mt. MI. I've been going up there for about 15 years now and know of lot of places we can get into trouble. I'm planning to camp at a stream crossing big enough to accommodate at least 20 vehicles filled with rustic campers. Rustic meaning backwoods/roughing it/milky way nights/might find Jimmy Hoffa.

I will post some pics here of the last time we went out there this spring. Naturally, when you're having the most fun, the last thing on your mind is taking a picture...so allowances need to be made.

Oh, and the stock X can just make it through the tough problems...mine does.

Count me in. The weekend of the 26th works best for me.

Brandon,
Sounds good. I'll see if the wife is off that weekend, and If I'm allowed to go and/or to bring her!! Are stopping along the trail to camp the night?
Dan

My other half will be coming with us too, so she'll have someone to talk to who won't be reverting to the 10 year old boy mentality like the rest of us should plan on. There's a great place to camp along one of the trails with a water source, fire pit, and not much else. It's roughing it, but we make a home out of the place with what we bring.

The real deal is all of the trails that criss-cross this little part of God's country. I know if you show, you'll not go home with a frown. My brother has a friend who has started joining us. He and his wife began coming along about a year ago. After our first mud hole, he broke squelch with, "This is the most fun I've ever had in my whole life"! I chuckled, "welcome to the club", as my permagrin set in.

I've got a 8,000 pound hand winch, a high lift, shovel, and hip waders should any of us get into any trouble. Also, if you've got a FRS handheld transceiver, or compatible CB, we use those to communicate to each other on the trail. I'll bring a couple of them along, in case some of you don't have one.

Is it a forest road or an ATV Trail?. Just wondering what the conditions are like, and total miles. I really up for anything, but I am just getting the wife warmed up to the idea. You know, if they don't like it. You'll never hear the end of it!! Then after that it is time to have another !!
Dan

I know exactly what you mean. I was tentative when bringing mine along for the first time, I thought that she might poo-poo the whole idea, thus making it more difficult for me to enjoy. Now she's the one suggesting that we go more often. The beauty of this remote wilderness with its many waterfalls, rushing streams, and sylvan glades makes for a good mix of both types of off roading. The access roads that we'll be on are all dirt forest roads. From there we can opt to get off the beaten track along countless trails, over which tires have not tread for at least two years. The expansiveness of this area can only be outdone by the flexibility it possesses for different thresholds of off road enjoyment.... there, that's my brochure bit. Really, it's as tough as you want it, or as smooth as you want it. Lots of options available. Making it enjoyable for everyone is at the top of the priorities list. The routes that we take will reflect that.

The approach to the camping area can be all paved, with the exception of the last 2 miles. The last leg will be dirt forest road, comfortably passable. Bear in mind, my X is stock, and I've been through every one of these places several times.

I really hope that the two of you can make it. It's always more fun with more people. Plus I'd like to get to know all of you in the MadCity group.

Ok Brandon you sold me, I'm in. The wife may be able to make it. If not my two little ones and will be there, "tow strap getters" J/K. The trails sound great, more remote the better. I hate crowded campgrounds. I was wondering if it is possible to pull a small tent camper to the campsite? The wife and kids have gotten spoiled camping in it, Ok so have I . If not we can bring our tent. All we need is a date and time, place to meet, I'm open on the date. Is there anything we need to bring, besides normal camping stuff, recovery gear, and your 10 year old mentality .
Gator

BEER!!!!

I only wish I could make those letters bigger.

Pulling a pop-up camper to the camping place should be no problem. The road that goes past the camping area is a dirt forest road that's graded about three to four times a year. During deer hunting season every wide spot on the road has a pop-up on it, so it's been done before.

Concerning the wilderness, I've only run into one other group camping there (other than deer season). It was during the 4th of July last year. The sites not occupied by us remained vacant all weekend. I wouldn't expect anyone to be there on a middle of July weekend.

Things that I'll bring:

• 48" high-lift
• 8,000 lb come along
• 30' recovery strap
• Hip Waders
• FRS radios
• 400W inverter
• Gazeteer map
• Shovel (in case we find Jimmy Hoffa)
• Axe
• Saw

Things everyone should bring:

• Camping arrangements (Tent, Pop-up, etc.)
• Food and beverages BEER!
• mosquito dope
• Compass or GPS
• Camera for cool/embarassing pics
• Appetite for fun

I'm sure I'll edit this list as things go. As far as a rendezvous, it looks like it will be on Saturday the 26th. When I hear back from some of the other folks, we'll plan a good rendezvous point that's easy to find and minimizes the group's travel time.
I'm gettin' psyched now!

Here's a link to a small write up concerning the scenic waterfalls we'll be visiting along the way. Lots of good photo ops.

Waterfalls that we\'ll visit

Oh Matt! I would never forget the beer. I may forget to bring the X , But not the beer!

It sounds like it is going to be a good time. Just as long as our better halfs let us run around like little kids BTW Brandon, we have to watch Matt. He gets into all kinds of trouble if left alone!!
Gator

That's OK, once we start to run the trails he'll never be out of radio contact...in case he needs a tow.

Gator, how would you know? I had my "better half" along last time so I was kept in line. The only trouble I got in there was with her!

Brandon's right, I won't stray too far as I'll probably be needing a pull sometime that weekend. I really tried to get Holly to drive last weekend when we got stuck. I figured it would happen and I wanted someone to blame it on - but now I have to live with it...

Hopefully with all the other "behavior moderators" along on this trip they will occupy themselves for a while and we can act like real children! I can't wait.

Hey Matt, I saw that you're a climber too. Great stuff. Dave's Falls has some interesting little bouldering problems, but nothing spectacular. There's one or two top rope throws that are very dirty too. Not enough people climb it to keep it clean.

Norah and I are really looking forward to the July trip. We're headed up this weekend and next to scout out some of the better mud holes. I just got a Garmin Rino 110, so I want to get a few paths and waypoints into it.

Any chance that TCdesign wants to get in on our trip? I'm going to contact Close1 and see if he wants to come too.

Looks like my behavior moderator and kids will be coming. Get to try out some new toys I am working on! Would be great if Max, Tcdesign, and Close1 show up also.
Gator

Yeah, I would like to go, but I can't plan that far in advance. If you guys finalize a date, I can let you know 1 or 2 weeks ahead of time, but I didn't want to say I'm coming and then not show up. I will try to keep things open around then, but I never know if something unplanned will come up, or if I'll even be able to afford to go that weekend. I keep watching this thread though, so I'll let you know for sure.

-Tim

Brandon, yeah I climb a bit, but it's actually kind of pathetic in the realm of "real" climbers. I like to visit new places and spend hours working problems though, so some easy bolder problems or top ropes would be excellent. All the better to have something fun to do for when I get too stuck to keep wheeling!

But if we get too stuck to keep wheeling, there's always beer to drink! Ahhh, ice cold beer.

I'm glad that your "moderating" councelors will be coming with. It's always a lot more fun with more people, of all ages. Plus Norah will have more people to talk with.

TCdesign - It will be the 26th of July that we go on this little trip. I sure hope that things work out where you can come.

I'll contact Jesse tonight to see if he wants to come. I get my X back from the shop with new head gaskets tonight. We'll see what else they did to it while they worked on it. I called Friday and they said they "stripped two bolts" and needed to order two new ones. This got me pretty concerned since the bolts thread into aluminum. I hope they didn't strip out the hole and have to overdrill, retap, and install a larger bolt. The aluminum between the cooling jackets and the bolt holes is already super thin. Oh well, I'll know more after 5 tonight.

i have to say this is where i normally do my camping! it is awesome up there, but unfortunately/fortunately i will be heading to beautiful boulder colorado on the 27th of this month.

it was just decided monday of this week. man this sucks, i could definately go for many many beers up in god's country. speaking of beer, make sure some one attempts the camo 40's they aren't the best tasting beer(hmm is that possible...beer taste bad?) but at 8+% this high gravity lager really does the trick

oops! being that i was sooo pissed about missing this trip, i had to reread the post and then it was clear...this is being planned for july! I am soo in for this one guys!

Good to hear Close, but I think I'll let you take the Camo 40s... blech! Sorry. I didn't think they tasted that great in college when I'd drink *anything* that had alcohol in it.

I'll probably bring a "premium" lager and perhaps a homebrew if I get my bottling set up working by then...

Close1, glad you're going to make it. We've got four X's so far. If things work out for Tim, we'll be ready to take the woods in force.

Mmmmmm, homebrew. My friends stay away from mine since I gave them some 12% barley wine I'd made. When you smell the bottle, you swear you smell scotch. I think I still have a bottle or two stowed away somewhere, just in case I needed to strip wax off of floors, or oil stains off of driveways.

Got my X back last night, found it pissing coolant, brought it in this morning, found hose clamp still pushed up the hose. Oh well, those things can happen. Don, the mechanic (fellow X owner) mentioned McCaslin Mountain in Lakewood, WI. I guess it's an off-road park with an adjacent campground. He's going to get the brochure for me and leave it in the vehicle when I bring my X in for the ABS sensor recall. We ought to schedule a trip up there for August.

Good to hear that close is coming. Missed him on the Hayward Run. As long as I can evade my behavior moderator, I will bring small chainsaw for down trees. Also some "swampwater tea"
Gator

Great...more camo's for me to consume . i have to agree, they are a lil harsh.. but they take affect nice and quick

I've got to head up north this weekend and will have a little time to devote to scouting the areas. I'll bring my new GPS so that we can be sure to find our way to anything worthy of some four wheeled attention. Pics to come!

I went up for a lot of recon this weekend. I scouted out the falls and a lot of the roads. It's a good thing that I did too. One of the route loops I'd planned has a washed out road, thanks to some beavers. I tried to find an alternate route, but the roads that the USGS maps say exist are all overgrown and look like they have been for about fifteen years.

Don't despair, I discovered some nice offroad loops that center around where we'll be camping. I also found a great gravel pit that has some nice obstacles for some play time. For those interested, I've made a map of the loops. Instant Message me on this forum with your e-mail and I'll send you a copy.

TalathDirnen- were is the planned spot to camp?

is it near 12 foot falls?

Close1,

We were at 12 foot falls this weekend. There are the camping spots at the park itself, however the prospective camping spot is a few miles west of 12 foot falls. If you go back south down old highway A to Benson Lake road, head West to the Parkway, then North along the parkway to the Harvey. There's a road leading West of the parkway that crosses the Harvey. There is some great camping right there. It's remote, has several options depending on how many people come, and it doesn't cost us a penny. Plus all of the off roading is within 5 miles of there. I'll send you the map if you'd like.

Brandon,
It this the "rough" cords. for the campsite?
Thanks, Gator

North 45 degrees 34 min. 03 sec.
West 88 degrees 19 min 45 sec.

That's extremely close! You could probably spit from those coordinates to these: 45°33.966" × -88°19.734". I'm heading up there again on Saturday with some local friends. They're itching to try out wilderness backpacking and see this as a sort of middle ground. They've always site camped at parks until now. I'm pumped up with the roads I've been plotting. Plus there's McCaslin Mt. nearby. They've got an off road park there. The mechanic at Nissan, Oshkosh gave me info on it. He says it's definately worth the look.

I figured that I'd send a couple of pics your way. These are the pics the last time we went up north. If you ever wanted to know what 31's look like when they're made out of adobe, here you go!

While trying to turn around on one of the forest roads we quickly realized why all of the traffic we encountered (2 trucks all day) were taking their half of the road out of the middle. The innocuous looking shoulders are actually troughs of mud that terminate somewhere near the mantle of the earth. As I veered right to make a U turn my right side tires fell with a "thump" as definitive as if I'd slipped them off the side of a loading dock. Forty minutes of digging and jacking later, Dean came by and gave us a pull.



A shot of the front right hubs completely covered in mud. It's an odd feeling when you realize that all four tires are turning, and you're going nowhere but down.



Hope to see all of you on our Xcursion the 26th of July!

Just came back from another trip up north. Gator, how big is your pop up? I found a great clearing while exploring on Sunday. Everyone with started jabbering, "This is where we should stay on the 26th!" It's easily accessible with the stock X, but might be a bit tight with a wide pop up. I'll probably head up there again before the 26th and make sure no windfalls will require trimming to accommodate a wider vehicle. I'll post some picks of the weekend on my website.

My pop-up is 6' wide by 10-11 feet over all length. It has about 5-6" ground clearance. Think It might get back there? BTW nice website.
Gator

Gator,

I'm pretty sure that it'll fit through there. There are so many sites to choose from in this region, however it's getting more popular. Last weekend I found only two of the four sites available in the main area. The group site is always available however.

The clearing that we found looks ideal. It's not part of the main camping area. Moreover, it doesn't have a gravel road accessing it, simply a trail in good condition. No neighbors and large enough acreage to accommodate a big group. Someone cleared the road of windfalls for any vehicle X size or smaller. It's smack in the middle of the trails we'll be going down. I ought to have snapped a picture or two of it, but we were all just sort of sitting there with our mouths open, realizing how nice of an area we had found.

I plan to return prior to the trip to be sure that it's passable with the pop-up. Once we're in the clearing, it's all grassland. So it'll be easy to turn it around.

Thanks for the encouragment with the site. I just put it up on Friday and began to realize I need to snap and scan more pics when I go off roading. I usually just forget. No doubt, a function of my perma-grin.

Revised camper width 81 inches. The camper is a 67' Apache tent pop-up made for the land barges of the 60s. I think it sounds doable to get it back there if I crawl along. How long do you think it might take to crawl back there? I have 8" x 4.80 tires on it. That could be a problem encountering mud. Boy, that would be a photo-op getting the X stuck with a camper. BTW, should we bring lots of water, and is there a safe place along the river where the kids and "big kids" can go swimming?
Gator

Stupid stock tires! I got stuck last weekend, took two hours to hand winch it out. All you need is a little mud to get stuck in the generals. my goal is to get BFG A/T KO's before GOX.

Hope you guys have fun. I will be on call that weekend but am camping July 19th-21st. The again the weekend of Aug. 1st-3rd. Have fun. Take pics.

Tal: nice pages, like the theme.

It's getting to be time to get a rendezvous (RV)point. Goodman, WI is only about 5 miles from where we'll be camping and wheeling. There's a diner/gas station on US 8 just West of town right next to the small medical clinic (don't worry, you won't have any trouble finding it in Goodman, it's the only one). Looks like as good a RV as any. We can all meet there Saturday morning some time, or else I'm up for meeting some of you Friday night, and the rest Saturday. Jesse, you're pretty familiar with these stomping grounds too. If we can, let's caravan up there on Friday night. Whatever the case, each of you please tell me when you can be in Goodman and we'll be there waiting and monitoring channel 10.



Looking like some good wheeling and camping already.

By the way, There's lots of places to do some swimming by the waterfalls. The bottom is rock and sand and the water is cooool!

O.K. this is weird just went through there 2 weeks ago to pick up our car. (see homepage story ) or Thanks to Pepp Motors Inc. Marquette, MI .

How muddy is this area? When we went through it was pretty dry. Will we need permits for fires or camping?

I may be coming up, my weekends are getting switched around.

My kids and I are leaving noon on Friday. The wife has to work. The swimming sounds great! The cold water doesn't bother us since we swim regularly in Lake Superior. Cool, 4 xs going now! Brandon, how many miles is the trek from the main road to camping area?
Thanks, Gator

I'm still considering two seperate camping areas. Depending on the number of folks there, we may go to the other one. Other campers being there hasn't ever been a problem for me until recently. They've improved the road that goes to the campsites. It used to be a water crossing but now they put a few corrugated water pipes in with an earth bridge. Now it seems everyone with a ford escort can get to the camping area. Last weekend when we went we had to cram into a small campsite next to the creek. It's a really nice site, but we had about twice the capacity jammed in it than what it ought to have.

For this reason we went scouting other campsites and found a really cool clearing in the woods along an easily traversed trail. The trail begins off of Porcupine lake road, and goes about a half-mile to the campsite. I didn't see any creek running along the north side of the site, and the trail is along the south and east sides, so we'll have to pack water (I'll bring 10 gallons).

For the most part we'll be at the mercy of the rain for mud, though this area has been criss-crossed by skidding paths for 80 years going through many swamps that scare the hell out of me. These lands will offer us off roading from powerline running, to bottomless mud pits.

Gator, when do you think you'll be up in Goodman on Friday?

Sounds very doable with the camper. I will be leaving Milwaukee around noon to 1. I beleive it is a 4-1/2 hour drive to Goodman. I think I could get there around 5 to 7, 7 being the latest. To make things easier on all of us. If you can give me directions or (Lat and Long) from Goodman. I should be able to find the trailhead leading to the campsite. Then I can radio you on FRS channel 10.
Gator

With your wife otherwise occupied, are you still bringing the pop-up? Also, when I get home I'll create a detailed map on exactly how to get to the campsite. Unless anyone comes up Friday, we'll be the only ones there. We could get in some night-time offroading if you'd like.

hey guys. I have the weekend off. My son has baseball all weekend. I was thinking about asking if I could tag along. It looks like its a six to seven hour drive from the twin cities to Goodman,Wisc. Have not had the X off road for a looong time. What do I do- go suport my son and his baseball team or meet a bunch of great people who enjoy off roading?
If someone gets the chance please post coord for where you guys are going to meet on Friday evening or Saturday morning if you don't mind if I tag along. Thanks

If it was just me I would camp in the tent, But my Son and Daughter are coming along. Spoiled by the camper. You said the magic word, Night-Time Offroading !! I'm hooked on doning this since we did some in Hayward on a ATV trail at night. Just finishing up on my lightbar. Just have to wire it up and possibly decrease from 550 watts (just driving lights) to 460 watts. I do not think the alternator will take 45 plus amps just to power drivings lights . Sounds like a must do Friday night! Would it be a good idea to bring a small chainsaw? Just for windfall? Chef, I think it would be great to meet us for some wheelin', campin', and some beers around the campfire. Btw what happened to GPXO Club? It is terrible the Club is gone.
Gator (AKA Dan)

YES! Night off roading is a fun time! I know the trails we will be taking, so it's not going to be a problem orienteering new terrain.

A small chainsaw will be a great idea. The path back to the campsite shouldn't be any trouble for the camper to get to because the surface is pretty level. The only problem I'd seen is that whoever cut the windfalls out of the way must have been driving a jeep, because they cut them back to accommodate a narrow vehicle. I always bring an axe, shovel, and small bow saw for windfalls, but a chainsaw is just a lot more fun to fire up! Plus getting firewood is a lot easier that way too.

I may bring an Armstrong weed-whacker to clear a small area in the tall grasses cool hand Luke style, for our fire-ring . We'll have to construct one and then clear back the grasses to be responsible stewards of the area. There are LOTS of "baby heads" (mountain biking term for rocks the size of a baby's head, thus the name) for making the fire ring. I've got camp chairs for Norah and I, you should bring some too.

I hope Chef can come on out too. The more the merrier!

I saw a pic of an X with a bottle opener mounted on the steel facia of the rear bumper next to the license plate. Might have to mount one for easy opening of bottles.

I'll get you the coords of the porcupine lake road/trail to campsite intersection.

If I can I will be leaving on friday. Hopefuly my wife will let me go!!

GPXO is still around. We just decided that because we are soooo far apart, and with differant work schedules and family commitments that it is nearly impossable to get together to do runs. We all still talk to each other and stuff. Maybe once a year we will get together and have a beer. We really only had 4 core X's that did anything.

I will post later tonight if and when I will be leaving. Thanks guys