Great weather this weekend, I probably went hiking.  Nope.

But I did try my new fire pit out a few nights. This will replace the chiminea.

Venus rising in the West

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Pike Lake by Candlelight

Four years in a row now we have done the winter Pike Lake candlelight hike.

This yea there was no snowshoeing, no skiing, no cold. It was a bit muddy and slushy though. I think the also shortened the loops for the hikes as well due to the conditions.

No matter its always nice to get out of the house on these kind of days.

And after we left the park, the three of us stopped for drinks at Dublins in West Bend.

After Thanksgiving Trip

Last week I tried to get permits to a bucket list outdoor destination. After 2 plus days of circuits are busy and busy signals I was about resigned to quit for 2017. Then I got a notice on my phone, the place sneakily opened up online reservations the night after they started taking phone reservations.

No matter, pretty much everything was booked up. As a last ditch attempt, I looked for dates in November. Late November. Bingo, there they were 3 night the week after Thanksgiving. The 26th through the 29th.

typical picture of one of the falls

This is more of a summer destination with swimming and many falls and side canyons. That late in November the highs will be 60-70. Lows in the 30's Just like September/October around here. I will still swim. The only concern is the lack of daylight. This time of the year it will be sunset around 5:30 with darkness around 6.  Should make for some nice stargazing though.

The other bonus for that time of year is the lack of crowds. The campground holds about 300 people. it has no vacancy most of the year. The reservation site says there were currently 70 people taking the week I have. That will be nice. Another plus with those temperatures, hiking won't be overly strenuous. As you do have to hike from a parking lot to the Indian village which is 8 miles and 2 more miles to the campsite. 

I did grab 2 permits. Who wants to go?