Forest Service-Federal

We ventured to Chequamegon National Forest to get in a Memorial Day backpacking trip along the Ice Age Trail. Four hours north of Madison, we were able to leave our car on the side of the road near Jerry Lake. We hiked south to Lake Eleven, spending one night there and then returning to Jerry Lake to spend the next. Lake Eleven was a bit nicer and the campsite seemed to be more well-​maintained than Jerry Lake. There were hardly any other hikers on the trail, which made it ideal! Fortunately the trail was marked with yellow diamonds nailed to the trees or we would have strayed off it a few times onto logging/​atv/​horseback trails!
Prior to our trip I contacted the local Ice Age Trail chapter (which was more helpful than the Forest Rangers) and was able to chat with a volunteer, getting some good advice about the trail conditions and even a few maps.
Our hike between Jerry Lake and Lake Eleven was rather easy, only slight grades and about 5 miles each way which we easily covered in a few hours. Each lake had campsites complete with fire rings and benches. What luck! The lakes were isolated, we had the whole place to ourselves except for a few horseback riders wandering through.
The biggest problem we had over Memorial Day were the ticks. They were incredible — I have never experienced such bad ticks on a hike, ever. Not exactly romantic moments, picking those suckers off! Better pants and DEET would be advisable for next time. Maybe that’s why nobody was on the trails. ;)