Day 21: Sunday, September 29, 2013
Location: Eastern Half of Newwood Segment, Lincoln County, WI
It feels like forever since we’ve been on the trail, and yet it’s only been two weeks. Real life interjected itself into our relentless pursuit of the 1000-mile mark, and we needed to take a weekend and a half off. But, when we awoke on this beautiful fall day, we simply couldn’t ignore the calling, and decided to go out for a short walk. We decided on the Newwood Segment in Lincoln County for many reasons, and chose the eastern half to start with because it had better parking. Truly, if you look at the maps, the western half of the Newwood Segment ends in a really odd place because you can’t get anywhere near it with a vehicle.
Anyway – with no camping, and only a three-mile hike in the plan, we had very little preparation needed. We just sort of loaded up and took off, although we still took both cars. I dropped the van at the eastern trailhead on CTH E and then we drove to the very nice parking area on Conservation Road. We started out by hiking north, decked out in our blaze orange gear, breathing in the cool beauty of autumn in Wisconsin. Really – it was a stunning day. The sky was as blue as I have ever seen it anywhere, including the desert, the ocean, or in planes. With a foreground of brilliantly decorated maples, aspen, oaks, hickory, ironwood, ash, and a dozen other hardwood species, dotted with evergreen lushness, the scene was positively idyllic. A day made for hiking.
The trail started out headed basically northeast, and it was in beautiful condition. We walked for a long while on logging roads that had been carefully manicured and cleared of branches. There were perfectly placed blazes along the way, and it was clear that whoever was tending the trail was working hard at it. The terrain was fairly level, but hummocky. Small bumps, like moguls on the ski hill, dotted the forest, and the trail did its best to weave its way through, over, and around them when not on the logging roads. I would call it a Class ‘B’ trail, because everything was done as nicely as possible given the terrain – until we rounded the bend and headed back southeast. We were walking along thinking how lovely a day it was, and how great the trail was. Theresa even figured out the ‘troad’ thing from the Companion Guide. I was trying to get something like ‘t-road’, as in ‘timber-road’, but I’m sure she nailed it when she said “Troad, as in a trail on a road”. I don’t care what other people think, I like walking on troads through the woods. I can spend more time looking around me instead of at my feet, and sometimes we can even walk side-by-side, which is nice. Anyway, when we turned the corner (or thereabouts) the trail left the logging road and ventured off on what is described as ‘extensive reroutes’ that headed toward the New Wood River. To be perfectly honest, the river was gorgeous, but once again I have to question the decision to place the trail exactly where it was. There were places that were too steep (perhaps a 50% grade for 60 feet or so) and places that were severely angled to the side as it walked along the creek. There was even one or two places where erosion had started because of the human and animal traffic. I enjoyed seeing the river, but could only look when I stopped, because the footing along this area was hazardous. If they had cut the trail five or ten feet further away from the river it could have been much more enjoyable, and might have gotten a better rating. The mosquitoes were abundant and aggressive, as advertised, and I can’t imagine what it would be like going though this area when it’s been wet.
There were several benches along the trail, but no bridges. There were one or two places where a small bridge would have come in handy, but we were able to stay reasonably dry. I cannot fairly call this piece of trail Degraded, because it had been very well maintained, considering. Nonetheless, it barely rates a ‘C’, except for the view and the amount of care that has been put in to make it passable. This area needs more work on the tread, a switchback or two, and one bridge (though it may be on private land). Leaving the river, we finally jumped onto decent trail again, and walked the last half-mile or so in comfort along the old rail bed. We left at 1:23 pm, and arrived at about 4:00 pm. It was really too late to start another piece, so we just called it a day and headed home, but I’m glad we went, even for this short effort. We ended right at the place where we finished our very first connecting route way back on July 21st. What a long way we’ve come, and not just in miles. Running total: 204.8 miles of trail covered; 9.7 miles ‘extra’ hiking/biking. End of Day 21.
No comments:
Post a Comment