Day 32: Sunday May 13th, 2018
Location: Eau Claire Dells Segment (Part 1), Marathon County
2.3 miles of trail covered, 1.8 miles extra hiking
2.3 miles of trail covered, 1.8 miles extra hiking
Another 595 days have passed since we last biked along the Ice Age Trail, and three years and eleven days since we actually walked on the trail. It's amazing how fast and completely you can get out of the habit of doing something.
Today broke warm and sunny, and we were spending time with a friend who enjoyed hiking and wanted to go to the Dells of the Eau Claire. A perfect combination to give us an excuse to walk this beautiful section of trail.
I'm writing this blog significantly after the fact, so I don't have some of the details of time and temperature that are found in our other posts. Instead, I'll give a characterization of our walk, with as much detail as I can remember.
We started in the Dells of the Eau Claire County Park, which sits near the northern end of this segment, and provides easy access to an astonishingly beautiful section of river carved into the mylonite bedrock by the rushing waters of the melting glaciers. Following the many available footpaths will bring you over, around, and down to the water's edge, where you can see numerous potholes up to five feet in diameter. We didn't spend much time admiring those, but we did spend time on the stepped rocks where dozens of people were swimming or just enjoying the beauty. Walking this section of trail without stopping to to see this amazing place is like touring the Sistine Chapel without looking up. It simply isn't done. These aren't our photos, but they are representative of what you'll see.
After enjoying the view, we 'touched the sign' and headed west along the clearly marked trail that took us high along the river's banks, with a precipitous drop to our left. I remember a few mildly steep places and places that you certainly wouldn't want to lose your balance. Nevertheless, there were children running through in flip-flops, so that gives you some idea of what we were dealing with.
The farther we got from the dells, the more alone we became. Though the views were lovely, I seem to remember fences and other distractions that made it not the prettiest place in the park. The main reason people go this way is that about a half-mile from where we started, the path takes a sharp turn to the south and descends to a footbridge that crosses to the other, lower, side of the river. Once across that bridge, the entire experience changes for the hiker.
We were immediately immersed in my favorite kind of woods - a low river area with richly organic soil that supports dense growth of hemlocks, yellow birch, and maples, along with the alder and other water-loving species. Here the trail splits. To the left you can walk along the south bank of the river back to the park, but the IAT goes to the right, so that's the way we went.
There were few mosquitoes, and fewer people. Apparently most folks stayed close to their cars. The three of us got into an easy stroll on this well-groomed and absolutely gorgeous path along the river. We walked along with the flow of the water as it moved between the shores and sometimes danced over the rocks. I seem to remember walking past one or two benches placed to sit and enjoy the tranquil, bucolic scenery.
There were places where the going got rough. Traveling close to the water in places like this sometimes means jumping from root to rock across muddy sections more suited to frogs that foot travel. I remember being surprised at times at where things got muddy, because it wasn't always near the river's edge. In fact, after about 1.8 miles, as the path led sharply east and up a hill away from the river for the last time, the going got even more muddy, and here is where the mosquitoes came out in force. The woods changed to mostly oak and maple, but the ground was constantly a challenge, and it became necessary in a couple places to find alternate routes that bore only a passing resemblance to a 'trail'. Thankfully, this section isn't long, and comes out on County Road Z at a very nice Parking area that we were destined to use again one day, but on this day we were there without a different vehicle to use.
Our car was nearly two miles away in the park, and this much I do remember. It was hot. Unseasonably hot. Like, 90 degrees and direct, burning sunshine hot. Like, cook a potato on the highway hot. And there is no shade along County Road Z in the late afternoon. Two choices. Walk back the way we came - beautiful but long and muddy, or walk the road. We chose the latter. Our friend chose the former.
Given the conditions, we decided to split up. All of us according to our capabilities. Both Theresa and I walked the road, but I walked on ahead, getting to get to the car first so I could come back and pick Theresa up and she wouldn't have to walk that whole distance. Even when we reached the treeline on County Road Y there wasn't much relief from the heat. I was glad to finally have that over with. I went and picked Theresa up and we waited for our friend to rejoin us back at the park. We managed to walk all but a tiny portion of the segment, and that was enough for the day. The last three-tenths of a mile would have to wait for another day.
Running total: 242.8 miles of trail covered; 28.6 miles ‘extra’ hiking/biking. End of Day 32
Today broke warm and sunny, and we were spending time with a friend who enjoyed hiking and wanted to go to the Dells of the Eau Claire. A perfect combination to give us an excuse to walk this beautiful section of trail.
I'm writing this blog significantly after the fact, so I don't have some of the details of time and temperature that are found in our other posts. Instead, I'll give a characterization of our walk, with as much detail as I can remember.
We started in the Dells of the Eau Claire County Park, which sits near the northern end of this segment, and provides easy access to an astonishingly beautiful section of river carved into the mylonite bedrock by the rushing waters of the melting glaciers. Following the many available footpaths will bring you over, around, and down to the water's edge, where you can see numerous potholes up to five feet in diameter. We didn't spend much time admiring those, but we did spend time on the stepped rocks where dozens of people were swimming or just enjoying the beauty. Walking this section of trail without stopping to to see this amazing place is like touring the Sistine Chapel without looking up. It simply isn't done. These aren't our photos, but they are representative of what you'll see.
After enjoying the view, we 'touched the sign' and headed west along the clearly marked trail that took us high along the river's banks, with a precipitous drop to our left. I remember a few mildly steep places and places that you certainly wouldn't want to lose your balance. Nevertheless, there were children running through in flip-flops, so that gives you some idea of what we were dealing with.
The farther we got from the dells, the more alone we became. Though the views were lovely, I seem to remember fences and other distractions that made it not the prettiest place in the park. The main reason people go this way is that about a half-mile from where we started, the path takes a sharp turn to the south and descends to a footbridge that crosses to the other, lower, side of the river. Once across that bridge, the entire experience changes for the hiker.
We were immediately immersed in my favorite kind of woods - a low river area with richly organic soil that supports dense growth of hemlocks, yellow birch, and maples, along with the alder and other water-loving species. Here the trail splits. To the left you can walk along the south bank of the river back to the park, but the IAT goes to the right, so that's the way we went.
There were few mosquitoes, and fewer people. Apparently most folks stayed close to their cars. The three of us got into an easy stroll on this well-groomed and absolutely gorgeous path along the river. We walked along with the flow of the water as it moved between the shores and sometimes danced over the rocks. I seem to remember walking past one or two benches placed to sit and enjoy the tranquil, bucolic scenery.
There were places where the going got rough. Traveling close to the water in places like this sometimes means jumping from root to rock across muddy sections more suited to frogs that foot travel. I remember being surprised at times at where things got muddy, because it wasn't always near the river's edge. In fact, after about 1.8 miles, as the path led sharply east and up a hill away from the river for the last time, the going got even more muddy, and here is where the mosquitoes came out in force. The woods changed to mostly oak and maple, but the ground was constantly a challenge, and it became necessary in a couple places to find alternate routes that bore only a passing resemblance to a 'trail'. Thankfully, this section isn't long, and comes out on County Road Z at a very nice Parking area that we were destined to use again one day, but on this day we were there without a different vehicle to use.
Our car was nearly two miles away in the park, and this much I do remember. It was hot. Unseasonably hot. Like, 90 degrees and direct, burning sunshine hot. Like, cook a potato on the highway hot. And there is no shade along County Road Z in the late afternoon. Two choices. Walk back the way we came - beautiful but long and muddy, or walk the road. We chose the latter. Our friend chose the former.
Given the conditions, we decided to split up. All of us according to our capabilities. Both Theresa and I walked the road, but I walked on ahead, getting to get to the car first so I could come back and pick Theresa up and she wouldn't have to walk that whole distance. Even when we reached the treeline on County Road Y there wasn't much relief from the heat. I was glad to finally have that over with. I went and picked Theresa up and we waited for our friend to rejoin us back at the park. We managed to walk all but a tiny portion of the segment, and that was enough for the day. The last three-tenths of a mile would have to wait for another day.
Running total: 242.8 miles of trail covered; 28.6 miles ‘extra’ hiking/biking. End of Day 32
