To Sparta, WI

This morning  I left Perrot state park and followed the Great River State Trail into Onalaska, just north of La Crosse. The ranger told me a Target there was my best bet for 1-hour photo developing.  I wasn't ready for the experience of re-entering "civilization" (essentially suburbia).  It was a nightmare!  After getting only half my errands done in over 2 hours I gave up and headed east on the La Crosse River State Trail.



Just east of La Crosse I found a little town where I thought I could stop and find a phone line suitable for my modem, and I found one in a little computer store that just opened last week.  I talked shop with the proprietor and she let me send the e-mail I'd been storing up on my Visor.



The La Crosse River State Trail is about as flat as it could be, except that it follows the river, so I was going slightly uphill all afternoon.  Very tiring on an essentially dirt road.  I got a personal recommendation from another cyclist for a campground where I'd been planning on heading tonight anyway, but instead I decided to check out the "walk-in" campground east of Sparta.  It's for cyclists and pedestrians only (being on the trail), it's totally unstaffed, and tonight it's totally empty except for me and the critters.  I had to scare off a pair of eyes from my tent while I type this -- probably a raccoon, I'm guessing.  This is much more special than any private campground.



There was a bunch of firewood collected at my site, so I tried my best to start a fire, first using just matches and kindling, then using my bike lube as lighter fluid, but no luck.

Total distance: 41.86 mi