A Quick Trip to Highbridge Hills Disc Golf Course in Wisconsin
- Posted: November 25, 2014
- By: andylibrande
- In: Activity Categories, Camping, Disc Golf, Location Categories, Travel, Wisconsin
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When: October 1st-2nd, 2014
Who: Andy and Caitlin
Highbridge Hills is home to one of the great disc golf destinations in the United States. Situated on over 500 acres this isolated complex houses 6 full courses and several additional alternate courses that use various teepads of the main courses (something like 120+ holes!). The area of Disc Golf is huge and the location is in one of the most beautiful spots in Wisconsin.
Caitlin and I were lucky to play two of the main courses there, Blueberry Hill and Granite Ridge, and get just a taste of this mecca of disc golf. We were in the area due to a wedding some of our best friends and since we were going to make the trek to Wisconsin anyways, we knew we had to visit. We spent one afternoon playing one course and one morning playing another course while camping out overnight at the complex.
Here are a few pictures from an awesome adventure. I have also included some more details to help any other people that may be planning a trek here as the details on this place are surprisingly lacking (considering it is a destination place).
We were greeted with an amazing full-rainbow on Hole #11 of Blueberry Hill on our first night (click image for full-size, basket is in bottom RH corner):
Blueberry Hills Disc Course:
We arrived to the complex after 4 hours of driving mostly country roads. We left Minneapolis after picking up Caitlin’s sister’s car in downpouring rain and we drove almost the whole time in that same rain. Miraculously it was only lightly raining when we pulled up to the seemingly abandoned course.
It was the middle of the week and it was raining so the lack of people around was not surprising. After reading every map on the wall in their unique clubhouse and realizing that the camping was in a different place, and still being unsure of what to do since we were told people would be there, we just decided that light was fading quickly and we were going to get at least a few holes completed.
We started on Blueberry Hill and after a few holes the rain lightened-up and eventually came to a halt. The views were limited but everything we did see was incredibly beautiful.
Hole # 8 played through some really cool forest into an open field and then back into the forest. Lots of variety!
After losing a disc in some really thick grass, soaking ourselves while looking for it and generally wasting a lot of precious time, we were greeted with an amazing full-rainbow on Hole #11:
The sunset continued:
We finished the round in the dark after getting confused on the course and playing a few holes of one of the other courses there. Afterwards we headed to the campground area for the night.
Granite Ridge Disc Golf Course:
We awoke Thursday morning to clouds but no rain. After a early breakfast we were on the course at 9am. Granite Ridge was my favorite of the two courses as it had quite the variety of terrain (everything from tight trees, to open fields, to doglegs, water hazards, and swamps).
Hole #7 Granite Ridge is a tricky bastard. It calls for water on the lefthand side and you can’t see this large pond hidden behind a small amount of brush. Aim right. Her disc is visible and looked like it landed right on the edge of the green; however it was <5 ft from hitting the lake.
Myself teeing off and smacking a tree on Hole #6. To provide a little context on the height of some of these amazing trees on the course:
We had pretty bad weather and luckily it cleared up enough for beautiful views of the surrounding Chequamegon National Forest. Hole #11 on Granite Ridge:
After about 3 hours of somewhat slow playing (at least 4 times looking for discs but found all of them!) we ended our round, ran into Mike and Jonathan at the clubhouse and headed on the rest of our adventure to the Lake Superior area.
We just had a taste of the courses on the property and while unlikley we will be in the area anytime soon I hope that I can come back and experience the rest of the course.
Read more on camping at Highbridge Hills, other logistics and a few more photos:
Read More»Bachelor Party at Lake Granby
- Posted: October 24, 2014
- By: andylibrande
- In: Activity Categories, Camping, Colorado, Location Categories, Northern Mountains, Water Sports
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What: Our good friend Andrew was getting hitched in 3 weeks…so we threw him a good-ole bachelor party
Where: Lake Granby, Colorado ; 8,300 ft elevation
When: September 13th-14th, 2014
Who: Andrew, Ben, Brian, Paul, Dan G.#1, Dan G.#2, Billy, Rob, Nick, Vinny, Tyler, Andy
An early morning we left Denver after it literally snowed 24 hours earlier. As we drove-up and over Berthoud Pass the weather was incredible and we were stoked to be on our way. A quick 2.5 hour drive from denver and we were at the lake! Due to the size of the crew we had to take two trips to everyone to the campsite. The 2nd trip was a bit rough as the wind was strong and we were crammed into the boat:
1st order of business at the campsite: Beer-Drinking group shot:
The wind calmed down and we spent the whole afternoon waterskiing some excellent water. The water temp was the same as the air temp so the transition was freezing cold (in or out) but once you were in there with a wet-suit it was worth it:
We cooked ribeyes on the campfire like men, watched a beautiful evening happen around us, and had some campfire fun:
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Read More»Vedauwoo Night Bouldering and Trad Climbing
- Posted: October 08, 2014
- By: andylibrande
- In: Activity Categories, Camping, Location Categories, Rock, Wyoming
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Who: Andy, Caitlin, Jake, Rambo, and Tweak
When: Saturday Night July 12th thru July 13th, 2014
What: Camped at the base of the “The Acres” /Citadel bouldering area on 700L (have climbed here before). Arrived late Sat night and night bouldered until 1AM. Woke up and did trad climbing at the Nautilus all day.
A late Saturday start as we had to work around Caitlin’s new nursing schedule, however it worked out perfectly. We arrived in Vedauwoo right as the sunset started to dip behind the horizon and luckily were able to locate a campsite without issue within walking distance of the Acres Boulders. After quickly establishing our campsite we headed up the trail to the boulders.
Jake about to send this problem under the light of the lantern (please note Caitlin is completely passed out in this photo!):
Rambo sending this large slab problem called “Organic” under the cover of darkness (and I am sure my flashes were only hurting and not helping): (Link for full size)
In the dark I had a mishap taking photos an accidentally broke my lens: LINK HERE
Stars over the Citadel formation where we were climbing. Taken from our campsite:
Next morning we cooked breakfast on the back of the truck and headed over to climb at the Nautilus. We were only relying on the Mountain Project app for directions and none of us had spent any time researching so figuring out where we were was not much fun for this vast area. But eventually we just started climbing some cracks where we had no idea of names/grades:
Tough climbing on beautiful rock:
Then we wandered over to a striking crack on one of the faces. It took Rambo a bit to climb it but it was amazing. We all tried it and it kicked all of our asses with Rambo leading it and Jake sending but the rest of us struggled through the crux. It wasn’t until some other guys wandered over that we realized we were on one of the area classics “Friday the 13th“:
Beautiful quick weekend of climbing!
Magic Meadows Disc Golf Course – One of the Last Groups to Play before Closing
- Posted: October 08, 2014
- By: andylibrande
- In: Activity Categories, Colorado, Disc Golf, Front Range, Location Categories
- 1
Who: Andy, Caitlin, Bret, Tweak, and Bubbha.
When: June 15th, 2014
Detailed Course Walk through with photos of nearly every hole! (Click for Link)
In July 2014 our group of four was one of the last groups to ever get to play the Magic Meadows Disc Golf course located near Pine, Colorado. It may have been one of the most beautiful days of disc golf you could have asked for with perfect weather, flowers blooming in the fairways, thick green aspens, and plenty of throwing.
Tweak throwing through the Aspens on Hole #3. You have two options with tough alleys on either side:
Magic Meadows was built to be a private course that had open tee times and was to feature several courses on one of the most beautiful chunks of property along HWY 285. Unfortunately after opening there was some problems with the family that owns the land and the course was put into flux. Not wanting to deal with the on going issues and uncertainty the course founders decided it was time to close up-shop.
The course had many unique elements that are solely unique to the land it was located upon. This tee box was one of the highlights of the day (and there was a lot of highlights that day!):
Tight Tunnel shots were common:
Quick Aspen Weekend
- Posted: September 24, 2014
- By: andylibrande
- In: Activity Categories, Camping, Colorado, Disc Golf, Location Categories, Rock, Southern Mountains
- 0
Camping under the stars
Bouldering on Independence Pass
Hiking to the Base of the Maroon Bells
Disc Golfing at Colorado Mountain College in Carbondale
Caitlin and I packed a lot of activities into just a weekend. Below are the highlights.
We left Denver late and hit Kenosha Pass right during a beautiful sunset:
On the way up we had a delicious late night dinner at Eddyline Brewery.
We were planning on camping in the truck so we drove up FS 390 which has a ton of car-camping options and plenty of others were already out there. It was late on a friday but eventually we found a perfect level spot for the truck.The stars were amazing that night and I spent quite some time photographing them and the Milky Way:
Beaver ponds by our campsite the next morning:
Next morning we got up and drove up and over independence pass stopping at a bouldering area which was perfect for a short session on some easier blocks. After climbing we headed into Snowmass where we met up with the rest of Caitlin’s family.
The next day we had a beautiful hike up in the Maroon Bells area. It was my first time in this specific spot as we normally tend to stay away from the tourist parts of Colorado. Glad we went up there as it was totally worth it.
We hiked all the way to Crater Lake (tons of snow for June 22nd!). Jon and Laura:
Some some moose on the drive in:
Afterwards we went back to the condo and watched the devastating ending to the USA vs. Germany match. Everyone started heading home, however Caitlin and I stopped in Carbondale to sample the Colorado Mountain College Disc Golf course. We are quite glad we did as the views were amazing (courtesy deer in the background):
Lots of fun stuff in a short period of time.
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