Day 14: Sunday, September 1, 2013
Location: Straight River Segment, plus 0.9 mile connecting route between Straight Lake Segment and Straight River Segment, Polk County, WI
When I woke up this morning, there was no hint of all the vehicles from the night before. It was a truly peaceful morning. We rested fairly well in the van and stayed nice and warm even though it got down to about 60° overnight. The windows were predictably drenched on the inside. I got up and walked to the end of the mowed area where I had walked the night before with a flashlight, looking for where the trail went. As it turns out, I stopped the previous night about three feet from where lawn turned to river muck. Had I taken one or two more steps, I would have been up to my knees in irreversible filth.
As we extricated ourselves from our van cocoon, we saw three hikers headed north on 95th street. We waved, and could only assume they were actual trail hikers. They were certainly geared up for it, but we had no idea where they may have come from, and we never saw them again. We had our breakfast; I took care of morning necessities deep in the bushes, and started gearing up for our first hike of the morning, only to realize that I had forgotten our trail map copies at home on the table. We were going to have to survive on our Atlas and Companion Guide, which were more than sufficient except that we only had one copy and it made it more difficult to hopscotch our vehicles. Plus – I had nowhere to take notes on the hikes, so all of this was written by memory, and the details may be more scant than most. We wanted to work our way west, so our first car drop was at the west end of the Straight River Segment, where the trail crosses Round Lake Road. There was a nice little field-drive leading into the corn about 50 feet from the trailhead, and we parked there. Then we drove right back to where we had camped, because at some point I realized that the trail actually goes down STH 48, just a little ways north of the parking area. We walked the extra - what, 300 feet? – and headed east along the highway. Once we crossed the bridge over the Straight River, the trail went roadside, across someone’s front lawn, basically, and then into the woods. Actually, it was a really nice piece of trail – well groomed and blazed, and the scenery was pleasant enough. On one side was a pine plantation, and on the other side was a more natural hardwood forest. Very soon the trail met and followed the north edge of the Straight River, which was really pretty.
I have picked up several habits along the trail. The first (more of an idiosyncrasy, really) was ‘touching the sign’. You have doubtless read many references to that if you’re reading my blog, and it goes beyond just touching the sign at the edge of the road before we head in. I have to go to the other side of the road and touch that sign, then come back and head down the trail. I can’t explain it except that it has something to do with making sure we cover the part of the trail that crosses the road. There’s no rational to it, of course, but it has come in handy, as I’ve learned. I discovered that a lot of the smaller brown trail signs (plastic posts, basically) have stickers on the back telling you how far it is to the next road, which is exactly how we were hiking – one road intersection at a time. If you don’t cross the road, you don’t get that information. That’s how I got to the point of being able to say we walked 1.4 miles, and have any sense of accuracy. The second habit I picked up was looking right away for suitable walking sticks. Of course, the first thing I do is find one for Theresa. It’s a chivalry thing. Then I find one for myself. My standards are higher for Theresa’s walking stick. Mine have ranged from too short, to rotten, to curved to downright comical. I like to use trees that are down already, of course, because there are so many, and cutting live trees goes against my grain unless they interfere with the corridor. About a half-mile in or so I found this really awesome spindly down tree that had grown straight and thin, and then toppled over for some unknown reason. I proceeded to hack off the perfect walking stick for Theresa, and then started the hunt for my own. I decided this time I would be a little more selective, and when I found it I was completely satisfied. A thin tree was growing trailside in complete defiance of the no-encroachment rule for trail blazes. A few lashes with Mr. Toothy, and the offending tree became my handy trail companion, destined to aid me on my walk through the weekend. I had left many a lesser walking stick alongside the road, leaning against a trailhead sign, ready to assist the next stickless hiker who took a fancy to my taste in Charlie Brown walking aids. I figured someone would genuinely appreciate this one when they found it.
We didn’t see a lot of wildlife, as I recall, but there was beautiful scenery, and even a bench to sit on. Further down the trail, we cut away from the river and headed up into farmland, and along the edge of a large cornfield. The Atlas and online maps indicate a nice, straight-line cut across the field, but my memory is that we took a large, southern route around the entire edge of the field, making the section significantly longer than it appears on the maps. I’d have to go back to be sure, but I think we added a quarter mile at least, maybe even twice that. No matter. It was nice, cool weather and we were on the trail, so we didn’t care.
Then we jumped back along the trail and parked the Prius at the parking area on 100th Street (CTH I) just south of where 100th Street meets 270th Ave. We walked our bikes up the fairly steep hill until we got to 270th, then rode the rest of the connecting route to the trailhead at the other end of the Straight River Segment. Just as we were approaching, a van pulled past us and parked at the trailhead, and a group of perhaps five young girls got out with their obviously older chaperone. It turns out that this was a Saturday adventure of some kind for a local school group. They took off down the trail in front of us, each wearing enough gear in their packs to sustain an overnight trip for all appearances. We locked up our bikes, and started east somewhat behind them. This trail was a little hillier, but went through some really great open-growth oak woods. We skirted a few fields, and then ducked back into the woods where we passed the white-blazed trail heading off to the ‘big white pine’ on the Atlas map. It was only about 80 feet off-trail. We saw it – it’s a big white pine. Not sure I would have put it on the map, but it’s a big tree. We kept hiking. A little further, we suddenly met the youth group coming back the other way. They had just planned an out-and-back. I asked if they made it to the end of the segment, and the teacher told us they had only gone as far as the lake and back. After we finished the piece we had time to reflect that we had no idea where he turned around, because the trail doesn’t come within 100 feet of the lake. I don’t know what those girls were carrying in those packs, but I don’t think they were ever opened.
As soon as we passed the group, we hiked down the face of a fairly steep kame and the trail changed suddenly. We had been hiking purely Class ‘A’ trail, but just past a nice bridge crossing the very small Straight River, we walked a very short piece of Class ‘C’ trail as it crossed a marshy area where the grass really can’t be contained. It was dry enough, but not ideal. We saw places where the trail apparently used to cross fairly muddy areas related to springs but had since been rerouted, probably by hikers, onto dryer ground. We looked up to the right, and I said, “at least they aren’t making us hike up that thing”, meaning the large and intimidating esker to our right. I should have known better. Within another 50 feet we took a sharp right turn and headed up that self-same esker using an excellent, though still steep, switchback. It was nicely cut, though, and there was no erosion involved. Once atop the esker, we were afforded a glorious view of Long Lake below us, which is the only lake on the piece, and as I mentioned before, we never even got close to it on the trail. We followed the top of the esker along what was once again Class ‘A’ trail until we met with the private drive that marches past three cabins and back down to STH 48, which we followed back to the car. End of segment, 3.2 miles of trail, 0.9 miles of connecting route, plus a little extra hiking to the parking area. Running total: 111.9 miles of trail covered; 8.5 miles ‘extra’ hiking/biking.
Location: Straight Lake Segment, Polk County, WI
We ended up taking the whole 3.7 miles of the Straight Lake Segment in one chunk, starting at the northwest end at the Parking area on 280th Avenue. We found out later that we could have cut it in half by using an access trail and parking area on 270th St., but we didn’t know, and in the end it didn’t matter. It was still a gorgeous day for hiking, with good weather and good trails. In fact, this trail was in such good shape that apparently everyone in the area knew about it. When we arrived at the parking area, we were surprised to find no less than five cars there, and we barely found anywhere to shove the van. There was a family group there of I believe six people, and they headed down the trail just ahead of us. They said they were going just to the lake and back. We took our time and let them have a good head start. This trail was amazing. 3.7 miles of Class ‘A’ and ‘B’ trails, with not a single branch down (though there was one tree to step over – the first down tree we had encountered in the whole county). The forest was exactly as described in the companion guide – a mature northern hardwood and prairie forest mix. We saw all of the trees, but none of the wildlife except for one snake that was actually stuck in the netting that had been laid across the trail between Straight Lake and the smaller, unnamed kettle lake to the southeast. I have no doubt this netting is ‘eco-friendly’ in many ways, but it’s a death trap for large snakes. They can get started, but they can’t get their whole body through the netting, which gets caught under their scales and they can’t back out. They either dehydrate until they can wriggle through, or they just die in the heat. I helped a group of three men cut this one free, only to see it get trapped again almost instantly. Then we cut it loose again and moved it a little further away from the netting. I hope it made it. This brought to 22 the total number of people we had seen hiking the trail that day – an astonishing number considering our previous total was less than five in all the miles we had walked. Not mentioned earlier were two pairs of hikers we saw going the other way as we hiked on along this particularly lovely piece of trail.
As we rounded Straight Lake, we also saw some goose hunters setting up a blind. Or maybe that was down at Long Lake – I really can’t be sure anymore. But the thing I remember most about this trail is the pronounced topography, which is a euphemistic expression meaning a lot of freakin’ hills. Also, there is a lot of exposed bedrock here, so there are some nice boulder-type outcroppings and small cliffs to enjoy. It was clear from the bridges, the beautiful trail, the blazes and the incredible rock-work that the Mobile Skills Crew put in a lot of long, fruitful hours on this piece of trail. Near the end, it became obvious that the Straight River, which flows to the east, was very low on water, making our passage easier, but certainly less scenic than it could have been. We ended the Segment, touched the sign, drove the car down to pick up the bikes, then ate lunch and headed to our next drop. 3.7 miles added to the trail total. Running total: 116.5 miles of trail covered; 8.5 miles ‘extra’ hiking/biking.
Location: Trade River Segment, Polk County, WI
The Trade River Segment is west and north of the Straight Lake Segment, but directly attached. It’s interesting, because the Trade River flows northwest, while the Straight River flows southeast. It’s one of those little things that make you say, ‘huh!’ We parked halfway through the Segment on 140th Street, at the south end of the short connecting route, directly nosed up to the trail. It certainly seemed like adequate space, and had obviously been used for the purpose before. The folks who own the private land across which this piece of trail crosses had just come home and were passing us dirty glances, but never came to say anything. We think it’s possible they saw the bikes on the car, and were looking to see if we were planning on using them. We weren’t, and nothing came of it. The whole Segment is 4.3 miles, and this piece was the lion’s share of it, maybe 2.9 miles long.
As we headed east, the first thing the trail does is head 0.2 miles straight across a beautifully restored prairie, with big blue stem grasses, lots of prairie flowers, and the happy singing and chirping of countless insects, frogs, and birds. There were bluebird boxes along the way, but they didn’t appear occupied yet, and some of them were destroyed. Just past the prairie, we headed across a gorgeous little creek crossing on a nice bridge, with babbling water flowing across black bedrock. At about the one-mile mark, the trail crossed a number of low bridges meant to get you through what is usually a very boggy area, and then quickly headed uphill until it reached the part of the map labeled ‘big basalt rock’. This time, the rock was worth writing home about. Actually, I think it was a couple, or even a few rocks, but had they been hollow it would have been possible to build a cozy home inside of them. OK, really cozy. But still, they are an impressive sight there on top of that hill. There are three things to make you happy at that location. First, the basalt boulders. Second, a bench to enjoy them. Third, another Mobile Skills Crew plaque telling you that the rest of your hike will be on beautifully groomed and blazed trails, which is doubtless why I am happy to give this piece of trail a Class ‘A/B’ rating. As the trail meandered southeast, we passed a number of exposed basalt bedrock outcroppings, and it was even more amazing that something originally made of snowflakes could have ground down the earth and shaped it the way it had. After what seemed like a very long piece of walking we came into view of the road, except that nothing looked familiar. I could see a red barn or something similar that I didn’t recognize, and I began to get a weird feeling in my gut, like – did we walk the wrong direction? Is there a car waiting here for us, or are we miles from nowhere? Turns out the trail just does a little jog along 280th, and the car was a few hundred feet to the east. All the cars had left the parking lot and ours was the only one left. We ate and drank a little, and headed off to our next stop.
We drove to the western end of the Trade River Segment, planning on hiking the remainder of the trail and the short connecting route down 140th Street to the car. The parking was excellent up on 150th Street, and we hiked into what was clearly a multi-use area. The blazing was plenty good enough to keep us moving in the right direction, and within a quarter mile of largely uphill hiking we stepped out of the woods and onto a long, straight trail that could have been used for a target range. It was a cross-country ski trail, and I could see no less than a half-mile in a straight line. We took the opportunity to walk a little slower and hold hands for a while. It didn’t last forever, and the trail eventually darted off into the woods again to the north (this turn might have been easy to miss), but even there the tread was excellent. We came out along a large, open field area where the tread was light because of heavy grass growth, and the blazing was a little sparse, but we were able to determine the right way to go, and it was not difficult at all to walk along first one, then a second long field before finally walking through a densely forested spruce pine plantation (why would anyone plant spruce pine that thick?) that led to the road. At 140th Street we walked slowly back to our car, just 0.7 miles south. This was one place where maybe we could have biked it, but that would have taken almost as long just to deal with the bikes. I think we did it right. This ended the segment, adding 4.3 miles more to our total. Running total: 120.8 miles of trail covered; 8.5 miles ‘extra’ hiking/biking.
Location: Gandy Dancer Segment between STH 48 Parking area in Luck, WI and 150th Street (end of Segment), Polk County, WI
Our last goal for the day was to get to Luck. This was now achievable, because all that lie between us and Luck was the northernmost 4.8 miles of the Gandy Dancer Segment. We were getting really tired, and the temperature had been climbing steadily through the day, and there was not an unlimited amount of daylight left, but we knew we could do it. We drove the Prius down to the large parking area on STH 48 in Luck, where it crosses the Gandy Dancer State Trail, which is also the Ice Age Trail. It’s an old railroad bed converted to recreational use, and it’s built at railroad grade, which is never very severe, to be sure, and is generally almost flat. We got on our bikes and rode north. The first mile-marker showed 17, I think, and we rode until just before the tunnel that leads under STH 35, where the Ice Age Trail cuts east and then down a steep hill on 150th Street to where we left the van waiting. It was an easy ride, and as expected it was level and covered in fine hard-packed gravel, making for easy biking. My only lament is that there are few blazes along this trail. Seems like the better the trail, the less likely it is to have decent blazes. It was nearly dark by now, and we headed back to Luck to make camp for the night.
Our original plan was to camp at Big Butternut Lake campground, which is also the golf course, which is also the beach, which is also a bunch of other things all rolled into one. But when we got there, the clubhouse was shut down, and we didn’t like the looks of the campsite anyway, so we went back to the trail-side parking area in Luck and camped there in the van again, but not before bathing in Big Butternut Lake. We had genuinely planned to use the showers which are also supposed to be at that campsite, but couldn’t find those either. Didn’t matter – the van was plenty comfortable, and a lot cheaper. Most of the campsites in the county were $30-$60 a night for the privilege of putting up a tent. Big Butternut was cheap at $20 per night. We ended up going out for a burger and a beer at the local pub and grub, and settling in for a sleep at about 10:30 at night. Running total: 125.6 miles of trail covered; 8.5 miles ‘extra’ hiking/biking. End of Day 14.
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