Storm'in

Janice and I left Point Beach heading for the Southern Kettles of WI.  We had stopped in Oconowoc for longer than planned...which turned out to be a good thing.  We were going a little further, but it was already beginning to storm, so we pulled into Ottawa Lake camping area.  When we arrived it was storming so bad, we just pulled in and parked.  It wasn't long and the lightening was right outside, windy and mixed in what sounded like to be hail.  It began to let up and not long later the sirens were going down the road running along the edge of the campground.  The sirens lasted for two hours with some police driving through the campground with just lights on.  We knew something was up.

When we continued our journey to the John Muir trails the next morning, we found the reason for the sirens...An F-2 tornado had touched down just south of where we were camped.  It destroyed 25 homes and severely damaged another 100.  We were headed right for it...I am glad we pulled in to camp when we did.

This was another guy that was happy he stopped when he did.  His name is Josh Hobson.  He is bicycling from San Fransisco CA to Brooklyn New York.  He had taken shelter from the storm in the bathroom.  I talked to him for a long time the morning after the storm...very interesting gentleman.  Click his name for more.

We made it to the John Muir trail system Tuesday morning after a few detours.

I was surprised to see that the trails were open as they do close them after heavy rains.  The debris on the bridge is a telling tale of what was to come.

There were a few spots in the trail that looked like this.  It made for some interesting riding as you didn't want to gather too much speed for fear of what was around the next bend. I removed what I could.

There was also some muddy spots to deal with...another reason for caution.  I did get in close to 14 miles of single track though.

If anyone makes it to this great single track trail system, Do Not go by this store with out stopping.  We had lunch there and it was fantastic.  It is the LaGrange General Store.