I’ve been stuck in the room all week, and my poor dog hasn’t been able to go on walks or to the park.  He’s showing signs of bad behavior, so I needed to get us both out exploring.

We decided to try Kettle Moraine North State Park this time.  We had tried the South the past few weekends, and beside being a magnet for thunderstorms and tornadic activity, is a pretty nice area.  I have been searching for a hiking trail with amazing scenery.  Kettle Moraine South is beautiful, but not striking.  I love the woods, streams, hills and flowers, but it’s not a Grand Teton.  It’s not even a Black Hills National Forest.

I know there is something like that around here.  It gives me an opportunity to continue exploring.

We left for Kettle Moraine North around 10:30 and arrived just before noon.  I noticed on the map that they have a “Dog Training Facility – Water” on the map.  It turns out there is a good sized pond where you can take hunting dogs and train them to retrieve “ducks” from the water.  There were a few people there, all with labradors.  I can say with fair certainty that I was the first guy with a schnauzer to go there, but I may not be the last.  They all chuckled at Gus at first.  Their dogs were moping around after the toys in the water.  When it came my turn, Gus just launched like a bullet right to the toy, grabbed it, turned around, brought it back, and dropped it at my feet.  The guys that had been chuckling were a bit astonished, and commented on how good he was at retrieving.  I’m not suggesting that you’ll start seeing Schnauzers sitting in duck blinds with hunters anytime soon!

We found a nice 3 mile trail after that.  Took that around, and despite a liberal application of Deep Woods Off, were still hounded by deer flies.  Nasty little buggers.

Send me a note if you know Wisconsin and want to suggest an area to go or take photos.  I’ve posted a few more at Flickr.

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