Day 6: Friday, August 9, 2013
Location: East Lake Segment, between CTH D and Beards Lane, Taylor County, WI
I haven’t been keeping a running total of the expenses related to our new hobby, but perhaps I should. Let’s see – park sticker - $25. IAT Companion Guide - $25. Hotel - $65. IAT Atlas - $35. Two new Bicycle Seats - $42.12. Bike Rack for vehicle - $369.25. Trailer Hitch for smaller vehicle - $208.00. Stihl hand saw - $40. Gasoline for driving to and from trail segments - $$$. And they say walking is a cheap hobby.
Today we decided to go back to Taylor County and finish hiking the rest of the East Lake segment, which was a 4.7 mile sub-segment east of Beards Lane and west of CTH D. This was our longest uninterrupted hike to date, and it felt like it. The weather was absolutely ideal – sunny and 65 degrees, light wind to keep the bugs away. We dropped one car off at Beards Lane, and made an attempt to drive to the parking area at CTH D. Road construction forced us into a long, ill-conceived detour which eventually got us where we wanted to be, but not without dirty looks from several construction people that we passed while driving on a closed road being actively graded and repaired.
We started our hike, and ended about 4 pm getting gratefully back to the car. It took about an hour longer than we expected it to, but then we were doing trail maintenance along the way. We brought a lopper and a saw, and had the opportunity to remove many a hindrance to perfect trail conditions. About halfway through, the lopper locked up because the nut which holds the two pieces together got too tight, and there was no way to loosen it. The trail was actually very good, and though the mosquitoes were plentiful we remained deet-covered and mostly bite-free so all went well. Then something truly noteworthy occurred. We were walking along, just west of an excellent bridge that had been built along the trail when Theresa looked down and spotted a socket from a socket set. This by itself is not remarkable, except for the size. It was an 11/32 long-tube socket. Just exactly the size I needed to un-stick my lopper, and long enough that I could get a good hold on it with my gloved hand and untwist the nut, making the lopper functional again. I’d like to thank whatever guiding spirit provided that one for me out in the deep forested north woods.
Location: Wood Lake Segment, between Tower Road and North Loop Road, Taylor County, WI
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The original plan was to move west, and begin taking on the Wood Lake segment from the western edge, but it was later in the day than we expected, and the first bit of Wood Lake segment was about 3.5 miles of uninterrupted wilderness, so we opted instead to go to the far eastern end and hike the last (first?) 1.0 mile piece between Tower Road and North Loop Road. We had a decent break driving the cars to both ends, so when we began hiking we took off at a vigorous pace, all things considered. We found ourselves hiking briskly through a beautiful piece of trail, with excellent markings and little in the way of obstruction. In fact, we got to the car so fast we considered hiking some more, but chose instead to drive our vehicles home and get a good night sleep and an early start in the morning. Running total: 36.1 miles of trail covered; 6.4 miles ‘extra’ hiking/biking. End of Day 6.
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