Trail Gourmet on the Kettle Moraine Trail
Kettle Moraine State Forest Northen Unit, WI
October 23-26, 2025
Co-Trip Leaders: Leslie Green and Sharon Williams
Type of Trip: Food/Backpacking
Trip Cost/Deposit: $360/$180 plus $52 for cook set
Cancellation Date and full payment: July 23, 2025
Wilderness Level: 3 - typical meetup day event in good weather setting with cell coverage
Trip Difficulty: Moderate - 7 miles per day with low to moderate elevation daily
Policy on Fitness Self-Assessment
Level 3: Applies to backpacking trips in which we hike with 25-35 pound backpacks. In one day, we can hike up to 7 miles and 3000 feet of elevation gain on maintained trails, or up to 5 miles and 2000 feet of elevation gain on more rugged trails. For a Level 3 trip you should be comfortable hiking 6-8 miles in a day in hilly or mountainous terrain with a 25-pound backpack.
Group Size: 8/7 Maximum/Minimum
The Kettle Moraine State Forest is in southeastern Wisconsin. The chief feature of the reserve is the Kettle Moraine, a highly glaciated area. The area contains very hilly terrain and glacial landforms, such as kettles, kames and eskers. The Northern division is part of the Ice Age Trail – which winds through scenic areas of Wisconsin for 1000 miles. Our trip includes a three-day backpacking hike through 17 of those miles. In October, we should see some beautiful fall foliage and enjoy cool evenings perfect for sleeping. For our three nights out, we will stay in open-sided shelters with benches for sleeping, so we will not need to carry a tent. The terrain is easy to moderate to traverse, but hikers should be capable of carrying all their needed gear, plus shared group gear, for distances of 7+ miles per day.
Besides hiking, the main activity of this trip is cooking gourmet meals at the campsite. Because we have low mileage days, we will have plenty of time to bake breakfasts such as biscuits and gravy and Dutch-oven French toast or dinners such as campsite nachos and chili with cornbread. Of course there will be yummy desserts as well. Each hiker will have a backpacker kitchen to prepare their individual meals. Those who participated in the Laurel Highlands trip in 2024 will already have most of what is needed, others will pay an additional $52 for their kitchen equipment. Meals will feature a meat and a veggie option. Other food requirements, such as gluten-free, cannot be accommodated for this trip.
The fee for the trip includes transportation in rented vehicles, shelter fees, three breakfasts, three dinners and miscellaneous supplies. Lunches, snacks, and meals in transit are the participant's responsibility.
Questions may be submitted to ciwcinfo@gmail.com.
All trip participants must fill out and submit a CIWC Medical Form and Long Waiver Form.
Effective on all trips, there will be a $50 non refundable registration fee. This fee will be assessed to those who sign up for a trip, get on the roster and then later cancel. Even cancelling before the cancel date. Those who never make the active roster (i.e. those who stay on the waitlist) will NOT be charged the $50 cancellation fee.
