Written By Paula Waite
A little over 20 years ago, my family spent many long days hand-planting over 10,000 trees on what had previously been my grandparents’ farmland. Back then, I could only dream about those old alfalfa fields turning into a forest. For the first 10-15 years, I have to admit, it didn’t look like much, but “suddenly”, we have a woods! It’s beautiful now and the project really deepened my appreciation for outdoors.
Over the last few years, I have spent more time on public land in northern Wisconsin than ever before, which means I’ve run into a lot of logging activity. Given all the work we put into creating our own forest, I’ve really struggled with how I feel about trees being cut down. I know it’s a necessary industry, but when I head out to scout an area that looks great on the map for a challenging land nav section, only to discover a wide section of it recently logged off and is now covered with sticks, stumps and scrub brush, I get kind of mad!
Last weekend, though, once again in the northwoods, I ran across a bumper sticker that helped me put things in perspective.
Stubborn Mule Course Info
30-hr:
Bike: 65-85 miles (Gravel: 65-70% , Pavement: 20-25% , Grass/Dirt/Other:10-15% )
Trek/Orienteering/Land Navigation: 18-25 miles
Paddle: 16-25 miles
12-hr:
Bike: 24-36 miles (Gravel: 60%, Pavement: 30%, Grass/Dirt/Other:10% )
Trek/Orienteering/Land Navigation: 8-13 miles
Paddle: 4-7 miles
12-hr and 30-hr:
- Race start/finish will be within a 20-minute drive of Merrill, WI.
- There are a number of hotels and camping options in and near Merrill.
- Hotel: I’d recommend the AmericInn in Merrill (group rate info pending).
- Camping: Council Grounds State Park or primitive camping at the Lincoln County parks
- A racer update with additional details will be sent to registered racers the week of 6/4/2012.
- Be prepared to plot points using a 1:24000 scale.
Reminder:
Regular registration closes 5/31/2012. Late registration starts 6/1/2012.