Non-Hiking Day 3: Saturday, August 31, 2013
Location: Parking area near ‘Moh’s Mountain’, STH 48 and 95th Street, Polk County, WI
This was Labor Day weekend, which ordinarily would have meant a lot more time available for the trail, but it was broken up badly because I had contracted to call a square dance on Saturday afternoon from 1 to 3 in Rosholt. We planned and re-planned, checking weather forecasts, thinking about logistics – but in the end I just decided to take Tuesday off and have our three-day weekend starting on Sunday instead of Saturday. Having three days in a row meant that we could travel to the parts of the trail that were a long ways off, so we packed up the bikes, the tent, the food and our hiking gear and headed back to Polk County, intent on covering as much trail as possible so long as it included finishing the rest of the St. Croix Falls Segment. There was only 5.3 miles left of that segment, so we planned on hiking that on Monday, and instead starting slightly closer to home by parking at ‘Moh’s Mountain’ halfway through the Straight River Segment. It’s a small parking area that has an off-shoot trail heading uphill to a remote campsite which we never bothered to see because it wasn’t on the trail. The parking area is accessed by driving down next to a trail sign on a steep grassy bank that you can’t even see from the road without pointing your wheels off the edge intent on leaving pavement. It’s a real leap of faith, and I didn’t do it in the dark until I had walked it first. I went walking around with the flashlight looking at where the trail headed off in two directions, but I didn’t see any yellow blazes, and one section looked a little muddy so I stopped before I went too far. We parked the best we could and slept the night in the van. It was just about perfect as far as temperature goes. One thing we had to laugh about was a pair of young ladies’ underwear hanging from a tree branch. Apparently the locals thought it was a fine place to park as well. Actually, from the number of cars that went roaring past this little country road we figured we must be on the beer run somewhere. Crazy, how you think you’re in the middle of nowhere and find yourself overrun with humanity. Running total: 108.7 miles of trail covered; 8.4 miles ‘extra’ hiking/biking. End of non-hiking day 3.
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