Day 26: Devil’s Staircase Segment, Rock County; Janesville Segment (Parts 3 & 4), Rock County

Day 26: Tuesday August 5th, 2014

Location: Devil’s Staircase Segment, Rock County

We are people who typically try to fit a little more into a vacation than should properly fit.  This last week we were completing another journey, following the trail of Makataimeshekiakiak - a.k.a. Black Hawk - through Illinois and Wisconsin.  Trying to peacefully reclaim the land which had been stolen from him in an effort to feed his starving people, he was attacked, chased, and eventually captured.  Along the way, over 1000 of his followers died of exhaustion, starvation, exposure, and murder.  The tale is a long one – you can read more about this adventure in my other blog http://blackhawkjourney.blogspot.com/. 

So as I said – we were at the end of a week-long vacation and found ourselves in the Janesville area, and decided we’d tackle a bit of the trail.  We actually had our bikes with us, but we were in a single car, so anything we did we had to do twice. 

The Devil’s Staircase segment has a bad reputation – perpetuated by the foreboding name.  In truth – it’s really not all that bad.  It is a 1-mile flat roadwalk followed by 0.7 miles of up-and-down terrain made hazardous by the precipitous fall one would take, should one slip ever so slightly to the downhill side.  There are, as the name would suggest, a number of stone staircases built by long hard labor in what was clearly a hostile environment.  Ledges of stone and dirt were hacked away creating a Billy goat trail that clings to the side of the cliff face.  It’s not a big cliff, but it’s a big first step down, and a fall I would not bounce back from unscathed.  At one time, the foot traveler was protected by a sturdy steel cable, affixed to sturdy steel posts, set into the downhill side of the trail using concrete footings.  I know this because the mangled remains of this system hangs, bent and broken, in a mostly useless parody of its former self.  I don’t know if it was destroyed when the people who did it would have been called ruffians, juvenile delinquents, hoodlums, punks or gangbangers, but the effect is the same. 

Enough about the bad stuff.  The history of this segment of trail is delightful.  It was built in the 1930s by the CCC, and had deteriorated severely.  The Ice Age Trail Alliance, in cooperation with local government, business, and the golf course, organized an effort to reclaim and reopen this trail, and it is now an area so ruggedly isolated from its urban surroundings that hiking is dominated by the scenic view of the Rock River, even though train tracks and a golf course are a mere 100 above you.  You literally lose yourself in the wild feel of this piece of trail. 

We hiked the section from east to west, starting in Riverside Park and ending at Washington Street.  Of course that meant we had to leave bikes at Washington Street and bike back when we were done.  It was dry and hot when we went there, and I had a great time looking at the river and the cliffs, but I can see how this could be far more dangerous in wet weather.  The most noteworthy thing I remember was reaching the end of the trail and climbing the last stone-step staircase and finding ourselves – surprise! – on a golf course.  It was like coming back through the wardrobe from the land of Narnia.  We even had to wait for a train before we could cross the track.  I simply love the fact that Janesville has a little hidden gem like this. 

See the golf course?  Neither did we

Rock River View - even the opposite shore is unspoiled

One of several cliff views

Last view of the Rock River

Down the short remaining path to the bikes, we climbed into the saddle and rode up Washington Street (this was actually more dangerous than the hike) and back down to the beginning of the segment, on Parkside Drive.  At this point we had walked the trail part of Devil’s Staircase and had the road portion left, exactly 1 mile along the Rock River. 

As we do with most of the road sections of trail, we biked this last mile back to the car.  It was 80 degrees and humid when we started at 4:00 pm, and still 76 degrees and humid when we ended at 6:26 pm.  Two and half hours may seem like a very long time for less than two miles, part of it on bicycle, but I blame the heat and the fact that we were at the end of a long, arduous vacation already.  We were in no hurry, and there was more to do that day.  I'd rate this as a grade 'C+' trail.  could definitely stand another round of improvements.  

Running total: 217.3 miles of trail covered; 18.0 miles ‘extra’ hiking/biking.

Want to hike this segment?  Here's where to go to start! 42.714616, -89.052468 Google Maps Link

Day 26 continued

Location: Janesville Segment (Part 3), Rock County, WI

Opportunity and enthusiasm overruled common sense and we decided to keep going.  The days were long, and we knew that what laid before us was essentially a bike trail through the city of Janesville.  We had previously left 1.6 miles of the westernmost part of the Janesville segment unfinished, and another 4.7 miles of the easternmost part undone.  We drove back to the South Pavilion on Riverside Drive and headed south along the river at 7 pm, the thermometer still showing 77 degrees.  We rode in companionable silence along the riverfront for 1.6 miles, enjoying the shade of the many trees and the smiles and waves from walkers, riders, joggers, and anyone else we met on the way.  Then we reached the point we had walked to the previous February in a blizzard (that story here) and then biked back up to the car.  It was utterly peaceful and uneventful, and soon we found ourselves loading up the bikes and heading for the other end of the Janesville segment.

Running total: 218.9 miles of trail covered; 19.6 miles ‘extra’ hiking/biking.  

Want to hike this segment?  Here's where to go to start! 42.705846, -89.036326 Google Maps Link

Day 26 continued

Location: Janesville Segment (Part 4), Rock County, WI

We drove over to the eastern end of the Janesville Segment to cover as much of the remaining bike trail as we could, which for us meant getting to the exact place where the trail cuts underneath I-39 and heading north.  So we parked at Ruger Avenue and rode south the tiny bit until we found our starting point, then headed north.  I’ll say one thing for Janesville.  They really maintain this pathway well, and it is well-loved and well-used by its residents.  Walkers, bikers, skateboarders and more all share the trail with equal delight and respect, and there was hardly a scrap of litter visible anywhere.  This paved two-lane bike path rolled charmingly up and down small hills and through the forested green-spaces set aside by the city.  Alas, we were facing darkness, and with a return trip necessitated by our single-vehicle status, we turned around at N Wright Road and headed back for the car.  It was 8 pm and it was still 77 degrees. We had achieved 3 more miles of trail covered on this end (twice), leaving us 1.7 miles more for our next trip here, whenever that may be.

Running total: 221.9 miles of trail covered; 22.6 miles ‘extra’ hiking/biking.  End of Day 26.

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Want to hike this segment?  Here's where to go to start! 42.684509, -88.980674 Google Maps Link

Day 25: Timberland Wilderness Segment, Lincoln County

Day 25: Sunday, June 15th, 2014

Location: Timberland Wilderness Segment, Lincoln County, WI

Father’s Day, 2014.  Sunny and warm, with just a tiny threat of rain.  Nice and windy, to keep the bugs away.  The Timberland Wilderness Segment is the first, or last, Segment in Lincoln County depending on whether you’re hiking it west to east or east to west.   It has actually been several months since we last hiked on the trail, in a blizzard in February. 

The first thing we had to do was get to the segment, which means driving for miles and miles on gravel roads, or course.  We dropped one car at the southern/eastern end, where there was relatively excellent parking just north of the trail head, then traveled north and started at the north end.  I was looking forward to a relatively nice, easy hike on mostly level ground.

When we first got started, we ‘touched the sign’.  I looked it up, and we had last been there and touched that very sign going the other direction into Taylor County on August 9^th, 2013.   This was not our first venture into Taylor County, but after today the segments just keep getting longer. 

Anyway, one of the Christmas gifts we gave one another this last year was a decent pair of leg gaiters.  These are the things you strap on over your boots and lower legs to keep water off, reduce exposure to ticks, etc.  We were fully prepared.  We had our high-top hiking boots on, our pants tucked into our socks, the shirt tucked into the pants, the lag gaiters strapped and tightened – all set for a great hike.

The trail itself was great.  It was actually recently mowed over most of the 3.7 miles, and there was a minimum of rocks and roots to get in the way.  The markings were abundant (actually, as much as I complain about not enough blazes to mark the trail, there were places here where there were too many blazes) and almost no downed logs in the way.  Only one log that I couldn't move out of the way.  This tail was being beautifully groomed. 

About halfway through the hike, we came to the place where the trail takes a severe duck’s beak turn and found that someone had recently dragged a lovely new Leopold bench there and placed it where there was a nice overlook into a lowland area.  

Of course, we sat down, and Theresa looked down at her khaki pants and noticed a tick.  In fact, she saw several ticks.  Holy cow, she had a LOT of ticks on her!  We started picking them off and throwing them out into the woods, but this was an unpleasant surprise.  It was then I realized we had never sprayed our leg gaiters with the Permethrin, and hadn't sprayed deet on there either.  We had on the layers, but no repellent, and the ticks just kept climbing.  Of course I checked my own (dark green) pants and found a few ticks, but not as many as Theresa had on here. 

Our bench stay was short, and we got up and started hiking again.  Theresa was moving with an odd determination that hadn't been present before.  It wasn't really that hot (75 degrees?) and the humidity wasn't all that intense, but the wind we had been counting on was blowing above and not through the trees, so we were also swarmed with mosquitoes, black flies, gnats, and deer flies.  The deet kept them off our faces and ears, but they were annoying all the same. 

I can hardly remember all the beautiful ferns and flowers, the wonderful bridge work, the interesting spiders, beetles and wasps we saw, and all the trail grooming.  

You should have seen this guy up close!

Look close - see froggy?

These beetles are eating the tree bark

I love these ferns!!

As we walked, Theresa kept looking down and finding more ticks climbing up her legs.  There seemed no end to them.  I also was finding and removing ticks in quantities I had never experienced before.  Hiking is fun and all, but this was ridiculous.

 

Finally, as we crossed the third and final roadway, we knew we were only a couple hundred yards from the end, and faced our most hazardous water crossing of the whole hike at the edge of the road.  We quickly touched the sign at the end of the trail, made our way across the boggy ditch, and stepped out onto the roadway.

“We are doing whatever it takes to get rid of these ticks before we are setting foot in my car!” she said.  I was in complete agreement. 

I will save you the suspense.  I didn’t count, but I’m absolutely certain that each of us, even after constantly picking ticks off of ourselves as we walked, stood on that roadway with over 100 ticks on our apparel.  First to go was the fanny packs, carrying our food and water.  Not many there, maybe only 15 or so.  Then the backpack, carrying our raingear.  Again, only a few in there.  Then came the leg gaiters.  I couldn’t have counted.  I found ticks burrowed into the Velcro closure.  I found them in the folds where the cinch ropes puckered the fabric.  I found them over and under the gaiters, but especially where the fabric was held tight to my leg.  No less than fifty ticks were on my gaiters alone, probably more. 

Next came the socks.  I only found 20 or so in the socks, but many of those were the nymphs so small you need a magnifying glass just to see if they have legs.  I know they were ticks, though, ‘cause the little buggers dove in deeper when I tried to dislodge them from the loops in the sock fabric.  I rolled the tops of the socks back and I had a ring of ticks under the upper end of the socks, trying to dig into the pant legs there.  As soon as I loosened the fabric, they started climbing.  It was a race to see if I could get them all before they made it to my shirt.  Then I pulled open the tops of the boots.  Yup – more ticks, buried in the socks.

Don’t get me wrong.  Ticks don’t really bother me, but even writing about this is making me feel itchy and buggy.  And I wasn’t alone.  Theresa was standing next to me doing the same thing, and she was just as infested.  We were pulling so many ticks off that we had to move to another part of the road because they were starting to climb right back on again.  The road was visibly crawling with ticks.

So then the pants were pulled back and rolled down at the waist.  More ticks.  In the zipper flap – more ticks.  In the pockets – more ticks.  Under the belt – more ticks.  Pull up the shirt – more ticks.  After all was said and done, we ended up with three ticks that had made their way past all the layers and were crawling on our skin.  Only one had taken a bite.  Phew!

We got into the car and sat there for a while waiting.  Sure enough, we each had a couple more ticks crawling on our legs.  I started to investigate.  We were both wearing the kind of pants that have zip-off legs, and there was a flap that covered that zipper we had each forgotten to check. 

TICKS!  TICKS!!  TICKS!!!!  I must have had another fifty ticks just under the flaps.  Open goes the car door – out go the humans, off go the ticks.  Find another place to stand on the road, because they’re coming back up on the boots again.  They were stacked up in the corners of the fabric like sesame seeds on a Big Mac.  I know I said over 100 each, but I would not at all be surprised if each of us was carrying over 200 ticks when we left those woods.  This is NOT an exaggeration. 

So – a warning to all you nature lovers in Lincoln County.  I was able to collect a broad variety of wood ticks and deer ticks (possibly lone star ticks, too – I didn’t look that close) by walking swiftly along a mostly mowed trail for less than four miles.  Please use tick repellent, and don’t forget to spray your pants and socks!  There is a tick population out there of biblical proportion, and they want nothing better than to feast on your blood.

Final analysis – this was a beautifully maintained trail with easy access on both ends, with very little elevation change and few hiking hazards.  I would have to rate this trail a B+, though there are many stretches that rate an ‘A’.  My congratulations to the Northwoods Chapter.  Officially 3.7 miles hiked.  Running total: 215.6 miles of trail covered; 16.9 miles ‘extra’ hiking/biking.  End of Day 25.

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Want to hike this segment?  Here's where to go to start! 45.340559, -90.040017 Google Maps Link

Day 24: Janesville Segment (Part 2), Rock County

Day 24: Monday, February 17th, 2014

Location: Central portion of Janesville Segment, Rock County, WI

The Northernmost part of the Ice Age Trail is located in Polk County, in an isolated and heavily forested tract of land owned by the Ice Age Trail Alliance.  It lies very near an unnamed stub of a creek just west of 50^th Street, and somewhere north of 325^th Avenue, on Map 5f for those following along in their Atlas.  We have not been there yet, but I’m fairly sure the place is unmarked.  There is no particular significance to the spot, except that it is where the Latitude number on one’s global positioning system will peak out at N 45° 40' 38.8603".  I look forward to the day we return north and cross this particular spot, if only because it is one of the few points of any significance that can be found while trekking through mile after mile of dauntingly similar terrain.  At its terrestrial opposite on the trail is the southernmost point, located in fairly urban Janesville, WI, where the Latitude needle dips all the way down to N 42° 40' 3.2682".  This means that the trail, if traveled from its northernmost point to its southernmost point in a straight line along the outer curve of the globe, would cover just over three degrees of latitude, or roughly 207 miles, ignoring the west-to-east portion of that trip.  Just unimportant facts.  You can’t go in a straight line, so the number is unimportant, but truly, your mind starts to think about very unusual things as you walk for hours with only your own thoughts to listen to. 

Take a look at the City of Janesville, WI on a map, and it is easy to see the Rock River slicing through from the northwest and taking a severe westward turn at Jeffris Park, where Black Hawk Creek empties gently from the east.  The Ice Age Trail skirts around the southern end of Jeffris Park, and where it crosses S. Main Street, or a little to the East, is the magical place where the trail hiker ceases all southward progress and heads north again.  I can say with absolute certainty that while my heart took an extra beat as we passed this spot, the trail-makers had no evident urge to commemorate the singularity. 

Today we returned to the trail, in our single vehicle, with no particular goal except to pick up where we left off and cover the next section of trail to the west and north.  Eventually, we decided to park in the middle of where we thought we might want to walk, covering a down-and-back loop, followed by and up-and-back loop if we felt like it.  Our resolve was called into question because mother nature had called up a truly vicious snowstorm for us which started bad and got worse.  We parked behind a building at the end of Riverside Street where the trail was in sight, at a point just north of where it crosses the Rock River on an old rail bridge.  The river remained stubbornly unfrozen, despite all the extreme cold temperatures we have been receiving (even Lake Superior is nearly 100% frozen over this year), and flighty flocks of Bufflehead ducks dotted the water for hundreds of feet in both directions along the river.  Despite the snow, and the wind, and the cold, we soon discovered that we were not the only ones leaving tracks along the trail.  Truly this was a well-used pathway.  As we leveled out along the south edge of Jeffris park we were in a fairly wooded area, and we crossed a single creek where there was a bench overlooking the waterway.  Even this tiny, little creek was unfrozen, owing mostly to the fact that it was fed entirely by springs which remain active even in the deepest cold of winter.  A short while farther we crossed Beloit Ave., and then Main Street, and there we were – the southernmost point of the trail.  No one was there to see it happen.  We kissed, and kept walking.

We were actually only about 2000 feet from where we had stopped the night before, at Sharon Dr.  We reached that point, touched the roadsign, and turned around.

Back at the car, Theresa shed one layer of clothes, and we decided we would continue hiking despite the worsening snowstorm.  Fifty feet to the north, the trail went truly urban, walking along city streets and sidewalks, generally headed northwest along the Rock River.  At times it was difficult to tell if we were really on the trail, but there was enough signage and yellow blazes to keep us on line, and we trudged along downwind (the storm was coming primarily and oddly from the southeast) until we got all the way to the railroad bridge just past W Centerway Street.  There, we turned around, faced into the wind, and immediately called into question our decision to keep hiking.  It wasn’t so bad walking with the wind, but the return trip proved more of a challenge.  We stopped, for the second time, at a convenient bowling alley on the route for a trip to the restrooms, where they no doubt wondered what these two people were doing walking through a snowstorm.  We also crossed paths with someone in a small cart which was supposed to be plowing the path and keeping it clear for walkers, but in all honesty the area they had ‘cleared’ was harder to walk on than the area that wasn’t clear, because there was so much snow it fell in uncontrolled lumps right back onto the path behind the cart, and the lumpy, uneven surface was really challenging.

In the end, we got back to the car, cold but safe, and none the worse for wear.  I estimate we walked about 2.4 miles, twice.  Running total: 211.9 miles of trail covered; 16.9 miles ‘extra’ hiking/biking.  End of Day 24.

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Day 23: Janesville Segment (Part 1), Rock County

Day 23: Sunday, February 16th, 2014

Location: Central portion of Janesville Segment, Rock County, WI

We have spent the winter not walking the Ice Age Trail.  Oh, we’ve wanted to.  We have the equipment, the desire - we certainly know the way.  We just haven’t done it.  For one thing, the weather has been bitingly cold.  Unreasonably cold.  Six times this year we have seen the thermometer dip to more than 25 degrees below zero and stay that way most of the day.  Once I actually saw 30 degrees below zero.  Weeks have gone by where nightly temperatures were double-digit negative.  On top of that, we have seen prodigious snowfall this winter, more like the remembered and romanticized winters of my youth.  Regardless, these are just excuses.  The trail waits – and we have not gone seeking.  Not until today, anyway. 

Without troubling the reader with details unbecoming a trail blog, let us simply state that on the afternoon of Sunday, February 16^th, at approximately 4:00, after long absence and great deliberation (if little actual preparation) we found ourselves parked in the City of Janesville at a small stub of S. Lexington Drive, along with several other hikers and at least one set of sledders.  The fact that there was anyone at all in this area on this particular Sunday was somewhat amazing.  While the temperatures had been acceptably in the teens, there had been snowfall and wind off and on for several days straight, and it was a little windy.  We were, however, staring at a sign identifying the well-worn path in front of us as undeniably some part of our long-departed Ice Age Trail.  It had been sixteen weeks to the day since we last set foot on the trail, and we were anxious and excited to get started again, even if only a short trip.  We were geared up in our multiple layers, both of us in snow pants and wearing our new leg gaiters for the first time.  If anyone reading this needs encouragement to buy an item to add comfort to winter hiking, you can’t go wrong with good, waterproof leg gaiters. 

The trail in this area is literally flat.  Paved in fact, if rumor is true, beneath the hard-packed snow.  We did actually see bits of pavement and even a painted white dashed line peeking through at times.  Bikes, joggers, dog walkers and ice-age-trail-hikers apparently are encouraged to travel on the right, and only pass when there is clear visibility.  Or something like that. 

There is one undeniable fact which most hikers have discovered, or have had to plan their way around.  You simply cannot hike a trail once with a car.  If you have only one car, or only one manner of conveyance, you must hike twice.  Once out – once back.  Thus, we were forced not only by diminishing daylight but also by logistical certainties to cover a shorter distance on the trail than we might otherwise have accomplished.  We walked a short distance north along the trail/bikepath until we reached the bridge where I-90/39 passes noisily overhead, and turned around.  There was no particular logic in choosing this spot to turn around, but it was easy to find on the map, so that’s how far we went.  Then we walked east again, past the car, along Mohawk road, through Blackhawk Meadows Park, across the busy intersection at (unmarked) E Racine Street, past the Blackhawk Golf Course next to Blackhawk Park in Black Hawk’s Grove, and along Palmer Drive until we reached Sharon Rd.  We probably could have gone further, but one of us, who shall remain unnamed, had to pee and found the prospect difficult in an urban setting in the midst of a snowstorm.  We turned around and returned to the car.  I calculated that we achieved approximately 1.3 miles of hiking, twice.  Running total: 209.5 miles of trail covered; 14.5 miles ‘extra’ hiking/biking.  End of Day 23.

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