Wisconsin Traverse: Pt 2

I've been thinking lately that maybe I should change the name of this blog to Northwoods Procrastinator. I put the pictures for this post on my flickr page a week ago and am finally getting around to adding a few words for the blog. I'm going to try to keep my blathering on to a minimum, so that I can move on to the final post from the trip.

I packed up camp early to beat the rain. I have no problem riding in it, I just don't like packing in it. The weather forecast for day 3 was calling for clouds and rain throughout the day. I took advantage of this by skipping the sunscreen, and I was actually kind of looking forward to getting a free shower from above. It rained for a little while after lunch, but not enough for a good cleaning.

 
This was the only stretch of highway on my entire trip that didn't have at least a 2 or 3 foot paved shoulder. Shoulder? I don't need no stinking shoulder. Especially when the drivers are all as courteous as they were on this trip.


I spotted this Cooper's Hawk about a mile down the road from the last picture. I've seen more hawks this year than I've seen in the past few years. This is the first one to actually stayed put long enough to let me get my camera out to take a picture.


I had a choice of 4 different campgrounds to stay at that night. The gravel on the roads that took me to them was laid down a little too deep for my taste, which was one reason I decided to stay at the nearest one.


The other reason was that I really wanted to see this bridge, which was mere feet from the entrance to the campground.


The Smith Rapids Covered Bridge crosses the south fork of the Flambeau River and is the only glue-laminated town lattice bridge in Wisconsin. Wisconsin actually has over 40 covered bridges. Information with links to photographs can be found here.


The Smith Rapids Campground has 11 sites. Seven are for horse camping, while the remaining four are walk-in sites. Despite having my trusty steed with me, I opted to take one of the walk-in sites. They offered more tree cover and were on the river.


I had camp set up by three o'clock. I spent the remainder of the afternoon exploring the area and searching for a geocache. Other than a few raindrops here and there, and the sound of distant thunder, I had a pretty peaceful evening. Once again, I was the only person in the campground, which is fine by me. (ok, maybe I was lonely, but just a little)

Totals for the day:
54 miles (5 gravel)
1 geocache find
30 minutes of riding in the rain.