Hartman Creek

Camping had been on the "to get to" list and the weekends were just getting away from us.  We lucked out and caught a forecast for an abnormally warm fall weekend (likely to be the last one of the year) and made a late decision to head for the hills (relatively speaking) despite the chance for rain on Sunday.

We headed out on Friday afternoon and motored west this time, about 1.5 hours southwest of Green Bay to the Waupaca/Portage county line at Hartman Creek State Park.  We visited Hartman during our first fall in Wisconsin (three years ago already), in the area known as the Chain O'Lakes (i.e., a bunch of connected lakes that are popular for canoeing and kayaking).  We were able to snag a walk-up campsite at the park despite the nice weekend.  Friday evening was spent with a short hike around Allen Lake and cooking out on the campfire for dinner- campers pizza and apple pies!  It was pleasant sleeping weather, and almost too hot for sleeping bags by morning.

Westward to Waupaca...oooh looky here!

Late October was past-peak color, but still very pretty in spots.

Among the pines in the campground

Saturday was a beautiful day, so we started off with a morning hike on another section of the Ice Age National Scenic Trail to the south of the campground that we had not hiked yet.  It was about a 4+ mile round trip out and back though some open fields, maple groves, and even some decent hills (for WI).  We ended at the park's property line with the adjacent wildlife management area.  It was an enjoyable morning without many people out on the trails at all.  This section of the park has quite a few mountain bike trails running through it so we did see and hear a few people on other trails, but our trail was quiet.  The leaves were past-peak but still very pretty in some areas.  After our hike, we went into King on the Chain O'Lakes to have lunch, but surprisingly most of the restaurants were closed for the season, and one appeared open but was actually closed for a wedding upon further inspection.  We ended up deciding on Chef Chu's Chinese Cuisine that we had passed on the fly, which was excellent (we were glad they were open!).  After lunch, we drove a few miles west to Central Waters Brewing Company, a pretty popular microbrewery in Wisconsin that we had yet to visit.  Their beers are sold in the stores and occasionally come up at a guest tap in Green Bay, so it was neat to visit their facility.  Their tasting room was huge and very modern, but we opted to sit out on the patio to people watch.  It was very busy so we had a lot to watch.  A group staying at our campground was on a bike and beer trip, so they rode their road bikes out to the microbrewery (about 15 miles from the campground they said, based on the back road route).  After beers, we headed back to the campsite and picked up some firewood for the evening campfire.  We squeezed in an evening walk to Hartman Lake (around 1.5 miles) before dark.  Leftovers for light dinner and relaxation by the fire before bed.

Lots of great hiking, including another segment completed on the Ice Age National Scenic Trail! 

Hartman Lake

It was mild all night, but the rain started early in the morning on Sunday.  It really never poured, just a steady light rain throughout the morning.  Once we got motivated to get moving, we ended up packing up our remaining gear fairly quickly since no dry seats were available, and we tailgated to make oatmeal breakfast.  We did another 1 miler around Allen Lake right next to the campground, which was really nice even though it was raining lightly.  Lots of ducks out!  Then we packed up the tent and headed out, with Pigeon River Brewing Company in Marion on our radar for a return stop for lunch.  Pigeon River is not all that far from us, but we stumbled across it on a beer list and had no idea it was there.  Scott says he passes that area for work trips all the time and has driven right by it without realizing. We had delicious chicken wraps, delicious beers (including a citrus shandy that was amazing!), and watched the first half of the Packers game with the locals (always fun).  We will definitely be back!  Our ride home took us completely on back roads with a lot of barn quilts (so we have to take Mom next time she visits!).  A relaxing and much needed weekend in the great outdoors.

Rainy Sunday morning on Allen Lake

Typical Wisconsin Sunday afternoon- at Pigeon River Brewing Company