solo travel summer: the good and bad
severe weather, wisconsin's driftless, thoughts on solo travel
It’s been rainy and cold up on Lake Superior, so I took a solo trip down to Southern Wisconsin to camp… where it hit 90 degrees.
With the severe, 100-year flooding up there, the severe heat wave back home, and just the general unstable weather pattern (storm system after storm system) we’ve been dealing with up on Lake Superior, I can’t stop thinking about frogs and frying pans.
Wisconsin’s Driftless Region:
Two Christmas’s ago, I flew from Minneapolis to Detroit and had a window seat. I like to watch topography from above, match what I’m seeing with my eyes to what I would see on a map. Flying east from Minneapolis it only takes a few minutes before you’re over Wisconsin’s Driftless area.
Beautiful, fanned out drainage patterns and stream networks, older than the last Glacial period snake over the land there. From above, it looks like fanned out seaweed. I wanted to know what it looked like from the ground too. That night, Christmas Eve, I sat on the internet reading about the Driftless Region, the river bluffs and valleys eroded and forested and untouched by the most recent Glacial Period (without glacial “drift”, ergo, driftless).
My first trip to the Driftless Region was earlier this summer on my solo road trip throughout the Midwest, to Perrot and Wyalusing State Parks, both on the Wisconsin Side.
This time, I basecamped near Blue Mound State Park and day tripped up to some of the Bluffs on the Wisconsin River and Devil’s Lake.
Blue Mound is beautiful and that whole area exceeded expectation. It almost reminded me of the Appalachians (obviously much smaller but you get it), with the rolling hills and how green it was as you come around some of the corners and the mound is towering in front of you.
Devil’s Lake I could definitely skip next time— on the group climbing trip last week a bunch of us were debating whether Interstate State Park or Devil’s Lake was prettier. The group consensus (minus me, as I hadn’t been to Devil’s lake yet) was that Interstate is cooler.
Upon visiting Devil’s Lake now I have to agree— I think that probably pre-crowds and pre-road winding around the lake and before the volleyball courts and picnic shelters Devil’s Lake was prettier, but the modern Devil’s Lake State Park doesn’t at all feel wild. It’s still beautiful, but there are so many other places nearby that are beautiful and don’t feel quite so much like a playground, that still have that special something of being just off the beaten path.
Solo Travel Summer:
Come to think of it, I’ve been spending a lot of time camped out in Wisconsin State Parks, or just camped out in general lately, and solo most of the time. I usually paddle with my boyfriend/partner of a few years Andy, and honestly since we started dating until this summer I haven’t really had to do… anything alone.
There’s always been someone to go with— him, or my friends, or my sister. It wasn’t until this spring, as I started taking on more projects that involved travel and switching more into freelance and less into odd jobs (coffee shop, sauna guide, kayak guide, okay, I still do that last one but you get it) and I needed to take on projects even if it meant doing them solo that I started travelling solo again.
I love it and I don’t:
I love the feeling of a magical moment solo. The feeling of catching a sunset when it’s windy and you’re up high at a tower or on a ridge and it’s just you and the light is perfect and your hair is all over and it’s just this sort of euphoric, here I am in the big big world, just me feeling. I love that.
I also love the way that travelling solo is reminding me to practice enjoying my own company. That’s something I got really good at after college and throughout my time living in Armenia, and something I sort of stopped being good at when Andy and I moved in with each other. Travelling alone again it’s kind of like… I have all this space to think, and just be with myself and it feels great but it’s also kind of scary. Perhaps obviously, I am the type of person who prefers to be distracting myself with other people, or things to do rather than thinking about the world and my place in it, or all of the ways I am actually the problem.
Still, I’m enjoying it. It’s fun to have the freedom to travel for work and the space to be creative. It’s even more fun to come back home after.
Ultimately though, I think all the solo travel this spring has reminded me how much I value the company of other people outside— whether it’s someone like Andy who I’ve paddled thousands of miles with, or someone who’s signed up for a trip with me as a guide, or just walking with my Grandma in her garden, I love the feeling of a shared moment.
Look at that? Isn’t that beautiful?
A moment experienced solo has the magic of being a little ephemeral— it almost exists just for you, so special it doesn’t feel real. But a shared moment feels more real, the memory special in an entirely different way because of the relationship now attached to it.
Escape in A-Frame Camper Rental:
I swapped out my tent for a pop-up camper for this trip, and I’m not going to lie, this thing felt like a mini cabin on wheels. Excellent vibes.
Escape in A-Frame [hosted stay!] is based just outside of Milwaukee, and is an A-frame pop-up camper rental that sleeps up to four, has a mini-kitchen with 11-gallon water tank, propane stove, lights, air, and more.
There’s something about a beautiful space like this and morning coffee and the sound of rain that really just hits. I enjoyed all of my trip to the Driftless Region, but I honestly think sitting in the camper and working on my laptop while it rained outside in the woods watching birds was my favorite part. The big screen windows really create that perfect inside/outside environment— you’re in the woods, but you’re also dry and bug-free and comfortable.
Which is important because as you may know, the bugs are bad this year. At one of the bluffs I hiked there were so many mosquitos around me when I finally made it back to the car (at almost a sprint because I was literally inhaling them and they were getting stuck in my hair and behind my sunglasses) there was a cloud of mosquitos around my car too, like they knew I was inside (likely from my heavy breathing). I put my car in reverse and my backup camera came on and I nearly jumped out of my seat because there were three big old mosquitos clawing at the camera.
Good Links from Lately:
mosquitoes you say? check out Culicidology on Ologies with Allie Ward for an enlightening interview with a mosquito expert
both of my Apostle Islands sea kayaking trips for this summer are now sold out, but no worries! There are still five spots left on the Boundary Waters Canoe Camping women’s trip (code Maddy24 for $50 off, I make a small kickback at no additional cost to you!)
It’s official! I’m running another women’s beginner climbing weekend with Mason at Forged Guides (guide owned and operated!), this time on the North Shore with a goal of climbing at Tettegouche State Park! We had so much fun last time and I’m so stoked to be hosting this again— I am not a good or strong climber AT ALL and this is a 100% beginner friendly trip.
Find the full archive of all my trail guides and outdoor resources!
Notes from Guide Life on Superior Lately:
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