Day 30: Saturday May 2nd, 2015
Location: Skunk & Foster Lakes Segment (Part
2), Waupaca County
Last
night we went to a concert at the Stefanie
H. Weill Center to see Marc Cohn. For those unfamiliar with his music he’s a
singer/songwriter famous for songs like “True Companion”, and “Walking in
Memphis”. This has nothing to do with
our hiking for the day, but it explains both why we had to stop so early
yesterday, and why we got such a late start today.
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| This is the balcony view from INSIDE the Weill Center |
Actually
– the Weill Center could use a plug, too, because they have one of the most
unique theaters I’ve ever seen in my life.
When you walk in the door you get the immediate impression that you have
entered a large outdoor theater in some southwest or Mexican town. They are totally committed to the ‘outdoor’
theme, except for a single string of lights.
The only thing missing is the crickets and the mosquitoes. If you’re hiking through the Sheboygan area
and there happens to be something playing at this theater you would definitely
enjoy the environment.
Which
leads me to my other plug for the day.
We stayed overnight at Taushek’s Bed and
Breakfast Log Home which is located a scant half-mile from the LaBudde
Creek Segment of the trail in Sheboygan County.
We stayed in the Bear Room, which was fabulous, but the other rooms are
nice, too. Reasonable, off-season rates,
especially knowing that any kind of breakfast usually costs $20 for two people
at a minimum if you go to a restaurant.
So
– driving back from the Bed & Breakfast, we picked up our car in Waupaca
(did I mention we dropped a second car there on the way out?) and drove back to
the Skunk and Foster Lakes segment to finish that and then tackle the Waupaca
River Segment. We parked our target
vehicle at the northern Parking Area, where we parked the day before, and went
back to the southern trailhead and parked in front of the utility shed along
the railroad. It’s a designated parking
area, I think, but I personally parked as far from the train tracks as possible
because this is a very active rail line.
We
started hiking at 12:55 pm, and the temperature was a sunny 75°. Here it is, beginning of May, and it’s
already getting too hot.
The
first bit of trail is a forced march along the railroad tracks, followed by a
sharp left turn and a traipse through a field along a ditch. Then, when you get past the cow pasture and
into the woods, you get a steady uphill climb onto the top of a drumlin. It’s one of those hills that if you’re not
careful you can work up a good sweat by going too fast. From there we enjoyed a beautiful descent on
the other side, with mature trees and plenty of natural beauty to go
around. It felt just like hiking across
someone’s back 40, which, I guess, we were.
Thank you, thank you, thank you again and again to all the landowners
who cooperate with the IATA and allow us to hike through and along your
land. Just the short bit of trail we
walked at the beginning of this hike took at least a half-acre of production
out of this farmer’s fields. That’s a
lot to give. Thank you.
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| Map shows Skunk and Foster Lakes Segment from north to south - we hiked in the opposite direction. |
I
won’t bore you with too many details about the hike itself, but there are a few
features worth noting. First, when we
reached Grenlie Road, we were at the start of a fairly new section of trail
that was created since the 2011 Atlas was released. You’ll know you’re there if you find yourself
surrounded by boulders the size of cars.
They are lined up along the road like Stonehenge, and it makes me wonder
why they didn’t just move the road over a little farther so they didn’t have to
move them all out of the way.
I
also remember that at the top of the hill on this section of the trail it runs
very close to a radio or telephone tower of some kind, and there was this
really peculiar double fence running from one end to the other that we were
either supposed to walk along, or possibly in-between, but it looked so much
like electric wire I didn’t want to get anywhere near it. Even seeing that it wasn’t connected to a
power source didn’t make me want to reach out and prove myself right. If they’re serious about wanting people to
walk BETWEEN these wires, they need to make then a whole lot less creepy.
A
little farther down the trail, we trekked out onto Indian Valley Road, and
turned left to hike the short (0.5 mile) connecting route which is officially
part of the Segment and back to our waiting car. Thumbs up to the people who maintain this
trail. It was in beautiful condition,
and I had a thoroughly enjoyable walk.
I’d rate this trail a B.
We
reached the car at 2:53 pm, and it was still 75°. Still warmer than we like, but plenty of time
left to walk the Waupaca River Segment, or at least part of it.
Running total: 234.6 miles of trail covered;
23.0 miles ‘extra’ hiking/biking.
Location: Waupaca River Segment (Part 1), Waupaca
County
The
more I hike around the rivers and lakes in Wisconsin, the more I like
Wisconsin. I know some of the lakes are
polluted from urban run-off, like the De Jope area, but the vast majority of
our waterways can still take your breath away, especially in the
springtime. The Waupaca River is another
such river; pure, clean, clear water flowing merrily through the woods.
We
parked our car close to the creek where the trail meets Cobbtown Road. It’s a little tight as far as parking goes,
but the locals park there all the time to go fishing, so we were in good
company.
We
started hiking at 3:30 pm, the temperature a now positively warm 79°, sunny,
and a little too humid. I’m kinda
wondering how spring became summer so fast.
Anyway, the hike was a delightful lazy walk along the river for the
first half mile or so, then an easy climb onto the top of a surprisingly large
hill with steep drop-off’s to either side. There were a few places on this uphill climb that are starting to experience severe erosion - as you hike up or down, try not to dislodge too much dirt, and be sure not to kill off the vegetation in the middle of the trail.
Just
before we got to the connecting-route portion on Foley Drive, we ‘found’ the
shelter! Even better – an OUTHOUSE! Now – the last few days have been a
relatively urban experience for us, considering we were hiking remote sections
of trail, but I still have to say that having a real toilet – even an outhouse
– on the trail is a comfort that really makes me appreciate the hard work put
in by someone. There was even toilet paper in a tin
can. Oh, the joys of modern
conveniences!
We
stopped to see the cabin, which would comfortably sleep three people, two in
the loft and one on the bunk. They’d
have to be friends and all, but hey, if you’re hiking and camping, you’re
probably friends, right? Anyway, we read
some of the notes left behind by people who had stayed, packed a plastic bag of
garbage out of there and carried it the last 0.3 miles down the trail until we
got to Foley Road and hiked our way back to the car waiting for us at the
railroad tracks. The next person who
uses the cabin will find it a little cleaner, with firewood and toilet paper
waiting for them. I love Wisconsin.
It
was 5:15 pm, and still 75° out. We
decided we didn’t have enough time to cover the last 2.0 miles of the segment,
which is a road-walk along Cobbtown and Townline Roads, and so we called it a day. Running total:
236.7 miles of trail covered; 23.0 miles ‘extra’ hiking/biking. End of
Day 30.
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