Day 57: Highland Lakes Segment (Part 1), Langlade County

Day 57: Friday April 30th, 2021

Total Miles covered for the day: 2.2

Location: The Eastern Highland Lakes Segment, with Forest Road to the west and the Eastern Trailhead to the east on CTH B. 
2.2 miles of trail covered

When I got off work today at 2:00 we decided to be completely impractical and drive up to Langlade County to take a little bite out of our map. We packed up our gear, what little was needed for such a short journey, and picked up our daughter and her wonder-dog Joplin. 

We drove to what is now the Eastern Trailhead for the Highland Hills segment, located on County Road B, on the driveway for Camp Susan and left our target vehicle in the spot that seemed dedicated to the purpose. Then we drove our launch vehicle to the designated parking area on Forest Road to start our day at 3:40 pm with the temperature a warm, sunny 53 degrees.

Hiking from west to east, we found the first half-mile or so of trail to be quite pretty, passing close to Alga Lake. We stopped briefly atop the very scenic overlook to Alga Lake and enjoyed a brief snack and the view of the lake, even though we had hardly gotten started. "This is the pretty part of the hike", I said, knowing that most of this 2.2 mile piece would be walking along a gravel road. 

I can't really think of a way I could have made this walk any nicer. The sun was shining, the trail was beautifully cut along the edge of the lake, but not so close that we had to cling to the edge of the hill like mountain goats. 

Along the route there were signs on different types of trees, making it an interpretive trail as well as a beautiful hike. The one draw-back was that there was an overall scarcity of yellow blazes, but in truth it would have been very hard to get lost on this first half-mile, as the track was single-threaded and there was nowhere else to go.

Sooner than we expected we arrived at Camp Susan, a 4-H camp that wasn’t in operation yet for the year. This was our sign that somewhere, back a couple tenths of a mile or so, we had passed our 400-mile mark on the trail. We decided that we crossed 400 miles at precisely the location where we were overlooking Alga Lake. We performed a retroactive happy-dance, and hiked on.

Camp Susan lies between Susan Lake to the south and a perpetual bog to the north, that is shaped a bit like a ghost or a bat if you look at the topography lines. This wetland area is significantly flooded, and apparently has been at least since last fall where 6-8 inches of water covered the driveway. When we got there it was down to 3-4 inches, but it was still quite flooded. The Ice Age National Scenic Trail Hiker Resource Map suggests a short bypass uphill from the driveway on the south side to get around it, but as far as I can tell that meant walking all the way around Alta Lake on the south side. This was quite doable, but we chose instead to trust to our waterproof shoes and plow through. Sticking to the shallowest water we could find and moving quickly, we all made it through unscathed. 

I'm not sure we're the right kind of people for Camp Susan. The cabins go for $425 a night on weekends. We, on the other hand, sleep in tents when we're really glamming it, or in the van when camping isn't available. I like old school better. 

Once past Susan Lake, the trail started following a road that ran to the north of Alta Lake and stayed a very drivable road all the way to the waiting vehicle on CTH B. It was certainly an easy hike, because this was the driveway for Camp Susan. There were essentially no hills and pretty good footing all around. Basically a long, gravel driveway. 

One thing that was interesting as we walked was that we passed through mature stands of trees that had a very unnatural feel to them. There was very little understory, and there was grass growing beneath the trees. We identified one stand of mature balsam trees, entirely limbed up from below, and I had never seen anything else like it, ever. Someone had, at some point in the past, gone through extensive work to give the 1.5 mile driveway to Camp Susan a park-like quality to it by grooming all these tees and allowing grass to grow underneath. It was at least partially successful, though not as successful as they were probably hoping for. I could see there was still some effort being put in to stack the branches and keep things sort-of tidy, but it was tidy in the way a 14-year-old boy's room might look if he was told he had to clean up his room or he couldn't go to the sleepover at his friends house that started in a half-hour. 

There were a few birds. There was a nice breeze. It was a very nice walk with the family. We ended our hike at 5:00 pm, with the temperature unmoved at 53 degrees. A little picnic, and it was time to go home.

Running Total: 401.9 miles of trail covered; 36.8 miles ‘extra’ hiking/biking. End of Day 57.

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Day 56: Timberland Hills Segment (Part 4), Burnett and Washburn Counties

Day 56: Saturday April 17th, 2021

Total Miles covered for the day: 5.2

Location: The eastern half of the Timberland Hills Segment between Boyd Rd to the west, and Leach Lake Rd to the east. 
5.2 miles of trail covered

We originally planned a nine-day hiking adventure thinking that day eight might be the last day of actual hiking, since anyone who has taken a trip like this knows it takes DAYS to recover. And as it turned out, this would indeed be our last day of hiking, though we only managed seven actual days of walking. We had given up one day to the rain and snow. We're hardy, but there's a limit. 

How does one measure the health of a forest? I look at many things, but the first thing I always ask myself is, 'What is living there?' The most obvious thing to evaluate is the trees. What is the age of the trees? What species are present? How much deadfall is there? Are the trees crowded or widely spaced? Is there a good mixture of trees? Then I start evaluating the animals, usually starting with the birds. If it's springtime, how much birdsong is there in the morning? How many different kinds of birds? Is it only canopy birds, or are there woodpeckers and ground birds as well? Are there predator birds? Do I see hawks? Do I hear owls? 

And I look for signs of other large predators and smaller mammals, as well as the insects, spiders, amphibians and snakes. A healthy forest should be absolutely teeming with life, and there should be signs of it everywhere. Along any piece of muddy ground there should be tracks, of deer, bears, bobcats, coyotes. Scat piles will tell you what those animals have been eating. And the frogs should be singing in the springtime. 

The next thing I usually think about is the soil. Learning about different soil types (clay, sand, silt, peat, chalk, loam) and their blended varieties can help you to get a very quick read on the age of the woodlands around you and know what you should be looking for. Are you surrounded by Tag Alder? You're probably standing on very wet, peaty soil. Are you under a canopy of hemlock? You're probably walking across needle-covered ground with almost no understory. The relationship is true in reverse. Just picking up a piece of soil, smelling it, and squeezing it in your hand can tell you a great deal about the forest.

And the understory and small plants tell you amazing things. What kind of flowers are there? Some flowers are very fragile and particular about their habitat, and quickly die out when the conditions are bad. Along the way we always look for Trillium, Jack-in-the-Pulpit, Dutchman's Britches, Horesetail/Equisetum, Trout Lily and Hepatica (Sharp-lobed or Round-lobed) which I have mistakenly thought of as Liver Wort my whole life. Seeing these flowers come to life always brings us enormous joy, knowing that the forest in which they grow has all the carefully balanced elements it needs to survive. 

Finally, I look at the water, and the types of creatures that inhabit the water. Is it stagnant or flowing? What color is it? If it's a deep rusty color you know it's full of tannins. If it's clear, it's being fed by nearby springs. What kinds of plants are growing in the water? Are there ducks? Geese? Swans? Loons? Beavers and Muskrats? 

As I think back and reflect on all the hiking we did this week in Polk, Barron, Burnett, Washburn and Rusk Counties, I think most of the forests rated a B-minus for health. There isn't enough life there to rate an 'A', even when there is ample beauty. The deer tracks are small, indicating few large, mature deer. The beaver ponds are aging, and the tree cuts are old, indicating too much trapping. There are vast stretches of forest with literally no understory, indicating that they have been aged artificially, suppressing the natural fires that create gaps in the canopy, allowing for new growth and diversity. This ultimately leads to large areas where there is excessive deadfall because the forest ages and dies all at once, creating the fuel for a much larger and uncontrolled fire. 

It's not all unhealthy. Sound forestry practices were evident in many places, creating new habitat and food sources for the animals. A few places have fallow fields, allowing for the grasses that bring bird diversity and insects. The Timberland Hills Segment? This is an over-mature forest that lacks vital understory. There are large animals, but not enough small animals due to lack of habitat, and therefore few owls, hawks and other predators. The water is very healthy, hosting numerous ducks, geese, swans and the like, and several frog species were evident as we walked along. Is it beautiful? Yes. But it's fragile. 

So today we decided to hike the last piece of the Timberland Hills Segment before driving home. This would achieve, like the Sand Creek Segment the day before, the trifecta of hiking prizes, completing a map, a Segment, and a County all at once, and at the same time the added bonus of extending our Touch-the-St-Croix mark a little further to the East. 

We started at 10:03 am, the temperature a lovely 45 degrees. It was a little breezy, so we layered up and into the woods we went. We were hiking from the East Trailhead on Leach Lake Road to the shelter-house on Boyd Rd, a distance of 5.2 miles. 

Let me warn anyone wanting to hike only the easternmost 0.7 miles of this trail that the 'road' that shows up on the map is someone's driveway, and the trail actually walks along that driveway briefly before crossing into the woods. If you want to be able to continue hiking here, please respect the private property sign and don't take a vehicle down there to shorten the walk.

The trail was almost exactly what we expected. For the first 1.3 miles, while we were walking in Washburn County and had not yet reached the ski trails, the hiking was unspectacular. There was a long downhill stretch at the beginning, then we passed by a nice, pretty pond, up and over a few hills, then shortly after crossing into Burnett County (for the last time) we connected with the ski trails, never to leave them again until the end of the hike. 

Along the way we were passed by a very nice woman with whom we had a brief conversation about trails and shoes and the poor availability of women's hiking apparel, and then wished her well as she pushed on ahead. 

Up until we reached the ski trails, the markings had been adequate, and the hiking wasn't too bad. Then, like the ski trails further west, we found that the trail blazes became few and far between again, and we had to trust that the trail would not leave those broad avenues. 

The trail headed north from here, and traced out a cloverleaf loop that actually resembles the hepatica leaves that are so abundant here. The first thing it did, though, was climb very steeply up a hill, only to plunge right back down the other side again. It was the only point on the whole trail that felt completely pointless to me as a hiker, but I imagine it presents a different kind of challenge and enjoyment to those who are on skis, so one must adapt. 

On the southward plunge of the cloverleaf, we walked down a steep hill at a very gradual angle and came to what I thought of as the prettiest part of this hike. The trail follows the edge of a large lake, easing around the southern end, and then walking generally back up the other side, with a spectacular view of the water almost the whole time. A little further down the trail and there is a shelter house next to some large white pines, just before a bridge that crosses the South Fork Clam River, flowing north into two large lakes. If you look to the south here through the trees, you will see what happens when a large failed beaver pond gives way to open grassland. Beavers in this area do what fire does not, keeping open the vital edges of the forest and thinning out the trees, allowing for new growth. 

We took our lunch here at the shelter, even though it was in deep shade and filled with some sort of animal scat in the corners. I took a brief walk downriver to catch a view of the lake and picked up six deer ticks for my trouble. It was here that we noticed the signage was poor, even for the skiers. We had seen no 'You are Here' signs that we could remember, and there were several intersections along the way. 

The rest of the hike was more of the same, with a number of areas that were a little muddy, or where there was a bit of a pond on the trail, but in all cases it was relatively easy to avoid. The only notable piece of trail that remained was 'Diggins' Dragons', a section of the trail with repeated up-and-down bumps that were named after Olympic Gold Medalist Jessie Diggins who had skied there during some of her training. Either she described the hills as being like riding over a dragon's back, or perhaps she likened it to a book written in 1966 by Felice Holman, where the Dragons represented something to overcome. Either way, I can see how the hilly terrain would be fun to ski if you were an Olympic athlete. 

And then we finally reached the part of the trail where we could see the warming house, and there was just one, more, tiny little hill to climb, and this hiking vacation - was OVER!

(Note to readers - we've been binge-watching 'Forged in Fire' on Hulu. If you've watched the show, you might understand the reference.)

We reached the end of the trail and touched the sign at 3:45 pm, with the temperature all the way up to 55 degrees. Our western line of continuous trail now extended beyond Polk and Burnett counties and into Washburn County. where the Grassy Lake segment awaits our return visit. 

Running Total: 399.7 miles of trail covered; 36.8 miles ‘extra’ hiking/biking. End of Day 56.

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Day 55: 

Sand Creek Segment (Part 2), Burnett and Polk Counties

Connecting Route, Polk County

Day 55: Friday April 16th, 2021

Total Miles covered for the day: 5.8

Location 1: All of Sand Creek Segment except for the 0.2 miles on the east end along 30th Ave. 
5.5 miles of trail covered

What a surprise!!

It really goes to show you that you can't tell what a segment will be like until you start hiking it, which we did on our sixth hiking day of our nine-day hiking vacation. 

Once again we woke up to a chilly morning, but at least there wasn't snow on the ground like there was two days ago. After a quick breakfast of same-old, same-old (hard boiled eggs, cold bagels and cold coffee) we dropped a vehicle back up at the large parking area on the east end of the Indian Creek Segment on 15th Street and brought our launch vehicle back to the corner of 30th Ave and 1 1/2 Street. 

We started hiking east to west at 9:30 am, temperature 41 degrees. The first thing you have to do is cross a plank bridge someone was kind enough to put across the ditch. The trail sign says 5.3 miles, but the official IAT map says 5.5. At our age, we're claiming the 5.5.

What we didn't know before we started - though could have seen if we had looked at satellite imagery first - is that the first three miles of the hike is spent along lovely logging road after lovely logging road, each as nice as the one before and the one after, winding casually through the forest, as though the people who plotted this segment were apologizing for making it 6 miles long and wanted to make it as easy as possible. 

I feel a little bad in that I don't have a better description of what we encountered during this three-mile stretch. The birds were fairly quiet this morning, although I do remember encountering a flock of small birds that I was unable to identify. They were something like the size of a sparrow, with the profile of a vireo, and they had white rumps and yellow tufts under they wings. These birds were curious about us, and traveled with us for a while as we hiked. 

I can also say that we felt like there weren't enough places to sit and take a break, or a have a snack, or just relax. There were plenty of blazes so you wouldn't get lost, but the roads just kept going with not even a downed log to sit on. Mr. Leopold would not be pleased.

Right before the trail crosses Sand Creek, at N 45 39.664, W 92 09.178, there is a short piece of trail that looks almost unpassable due to water, but if you walk on the west side of the trail between the trail and the very close creek, the ground is high and dry.

Then, at almost exactly the 3-mile mark, we crossed a very nice bridge over the top of Sand Creek, and came upon the sign that said, 'Welcome to Polk County'. We stopped for lunch in the sun and picked up our first batch of ticks. They were definitely out and about.

Here was where the trail took a sharp turn to the right, and left the logging/hunting roads for good. It started out as an ATV trail but that quickly devolved into a typical IAT single-track trail, which really wasn't bad at all. It was a little muddy in places, but by this time we were in Polk County, and that meant we had only three more miles between us and finishing the Segment, finishing map 5, finishing Polk County, and extending our 'touch the river' point all the way to Boyd Road. These may seem like small things, but it's those little rewards that keep us going. 

How did the rest of the hike go? It was ok. Not spectacular. There were no more bridges, and there were one or two hairy creek crossings that took more of a leap of faith than we like to use on muddy creek edges, but we made it through ok. The last 1.3 miles is a little more business-like, pointing almost due west and making its way with little heed for soil conservation. 

Really, we were disappointed by the choice of where the trail lay, at one point diving down a hill so steep they had to put in stairs. And then after crossing the creek, the trail went uphill. And more uphill. And then uphill some more. The trail went relentlessly uphill for nearly a mile, past some rather princely deer hunting stands and through some of the worst muddy spots on the whole segment, until finally peaking out almost within sight of the road. 

And then - literally 100 yards from the end of the trail - with the road in sight - for no discernable reason - there was a bench. No view. No creek. No purpose. Just a bench on the trail. The one we had been hoping to see for the last four miles. Right here at the end. We didn't even sit down.

We strolled out into the sunshine on the road at 3:15 pm, temperature 55 degrees, and touched the sign. The segment was over, but we still had 0.3 miles of connecting route to walk before we could close the gap, finish the county and metaphorically touch the St Croix River. 

Location 2: Connecting Route between the eastern trailhead of the Indian Creek Segment to the north and the western trailhead of the Sand Creek Segment to the South

0.3 miles of trail covered

Paved. Downhill. Easy walk. No traffic. We hiked south to north. Touched the sign. Polk County was done. So was map 5. 

Finished at 3:30 pm, 55 degrees

Running Total: 394.5 miles of trail covered; 36.8 miles ‘extra’ hiking/biking. End of Day 55.

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Day 54: 

Timberland Hills Segment (Part 3), Barron County

Indian Creek Segment (Part 2), Polk County

Sand Creek Segment (Part 1), Burnett County

Day 54: Thursday April 15th, 2021

Total Miles covered for the day: 5.0

Location 1: Westernmost piece of the Timberland Hills Segment, between the corner of 30th Ave and Lake 32 Road to the west, and the parking area on CTH H to the east.
2.5 miles of trail covered

Another wonderful day for hiking. 

We still had the other half of the dreadful Indian Creek Segment waiting for us to the west, but we wanted to give the woods one more half-day to dry out before we tackled it, so instead we targeted the western end of the Timberland Hills Segment. Once more we left a vehicle at the parking area on County Highway H where the night before we had been serenaded by the familiar 'who-cooks-for-you, who-cooks-for-you-all?' chanting of a barred owl. Come to think of it, this easily identifiable bird-call was a frequent companion as we walked late in the day out here in Polk, Baron, Burnett and Washburn Counties. 

Driving our launch vehicle to the designated parking area on the gravel intersection of 30th Ave and Lake 32 Road, we started our hike at at 9:05 am, with the temperature a chilly 37 degrees. We were hiking west to east, and it really wouldn't have mattered which way we hiked it because it was gloriously pretty. 

The Timberland Hills Segment may be the only segment in the entire trail that has the distinction of traveling in three different counties (Baron, Burnett and Washburn). If it isn't, I haven't found any others. The trail starts out on this end with a long, slow climb for about a quarter mile, then an easy meander through mature forest south for another quarter-mile or so before taking a sharp bend to the east. Then, after another four tenths of a mile it heads south again. I don't remember if this was precisely where it switched from being a walk along a broad, well marked multi-use trail that was mowed and groomed to being a more typical wind-your-way-between-the-rocks IAT trail, but it did switch over somewhere in there. 

At first we were thinking, "Here we go again", but it really wasn't all that bad, and the payoff was fabulous. Right in the middle of this U-shaped hike we found ourselves walking along the edge of a beaver pond, then on a tiny isthmus of land within a literal cluster of ponds. The number of waterfowl and swans was incredible, and it was just really neat to turn a full circle and see beaver lodges everywhere you look. 

The trail then eased up to the south edge of the largest lake in the bunch, and this was the one place where the amount of rain in recent days caused a problem. The trail takes you directly across the top of a very old and well-established beaver dam, except that the lake was literally full to overflowing. There was standing water on the trail, and literally no way around it. Starting at N 45 38.008, W 92 06.268 and going to N 45 37.993, W 92 06.233 - a distance of less than 200 feet - we relied on the many logs, branches and other debris people had placed in the water to get across. Thank goodness for waterproof shoes. 

On the other hand, once we had crossed we were rewarded with a nice Leopold Bench, and as we sat there taking in the lovely view of the lake, we noticed two loons. With some encouragement, I made what must have been the silliest imitation of a loon call ever made, and wouldn't you know it, these two loons were just curious enough to swim over and check us out. 

We spent the next 3 or 4 minutes frozen still as they paddled steadily over, swimming within 50 feet or so. When it was obvious they were coming no closer I tried one more call, which must have translated to "Get the heck out of here!" in Loonish, because both of them literally beat feet across the surface of the lake as they took off flying to the other end. Fun times. 

Shortly afterwards we rejoined the larger trail and walked a nice, easy path until we reached the famous Timberland Hills Lighted Snowshoe Trail. This was interesting, because we didn't know it was coming, and all of the sudden I looked up and in the middle of the forest there was a telephone pole with a street lamp on it. "Narnia!" Theresa said. 

Then we looked around a bit more, and there were more lights. Not running, of course, because it was daytime and no one wants to snowshoe without any snow, but there all the same. The IAT follows one part of this lovely trail gently through the trees, fairly close to County Highway H, all the way back to the parking area where our car was waiting. 

One thing we noticed on this piece is that the bears seem to take exception to the light poles. At every pole where a light was attached you could see where the bears had scratched and clawed at the pole, about 6-7 feet in the air, and some of them were so badly damaged they had to be replaced. Theresa told me if I saw a pale-skinned woman riding a sleigh or carriage, I was to ignore her and under no circumstances accept any Turkish Delight. As it turns out the advice was unnecessary.

We ended our hike along this piece of trail at 11:19 am, and it had only gone up to 39 degrees. We couldn't put it off any longer. If we were going to close map 5, we needed to hike the other half of Indian Creek. Mustering both cars and our courage, we headed wet. I mean, west. Interesting typo... 

Location 2: Eastern half of the Indian Creek Segment between 30th Street to the west, and 15th Street to the east.  

2.3 miles of trail covered

We parked one vehicle on 30th street where we had parked before, and then our launch vehicle at the large and obvious eastern trailhead on 15th street. We started at 12:36 pm, temperature 42 degrees, and gritted our teeth as we headed down the open field and into the woods. 

Right away we could tell that the trail was muddy. In fact, we spotted what turned out to be a beaver track right there on the trail, though we didn't know it at the time. I wish I had gotten a picture of it, because it looked a bit like a human hand, maybe the size of a nine-year-old, but with webbing between the toes. Onward we went. 

But the strangest thing happened. As soon as the trail went into the trees, it became absolutely gorgeous! Easy walking past a farmer's field, then through a little grassy area, then up through some pines, walking on a soft bed of needles, then through a pine plantation just taking shape. It was so nice we wanted to stop and have a picnic, and would have except that we had already eaten lunch.

Right around N 45 40.292, W 92 11.810 we came across a mailbox. Or not a mailbox. It was a mailbox post, but instead of a mailbox there was an Ice Age Trail Ammo Can, with a log book for people to record their thoughts. I like the idea, and we had seen similar items before. I read a few of the comments, and apparently some people like walking through standing water in April more than I do. My advice - wear muckers, or knee boots. But I already complained about that end of Indian Creek a few days ago. I digress.

Right at this spot, the trail went from open and sunny to hiking through the wet forest. At least this time there was some elevation change, so the water didn't all stay in one place, but it was still not as nice a hike as what lay either to the east or to the west. After crossing a small creek, the trail plunges southward on an easy slope, eventually making it's way to the south end of two ponds that represent the headwaters of Indian Creek. It was here I feared the worst footing, but it turned out to be just fine, actually much drier than the stuff we just walked through. 

As we hiked the last half-mile or so to the car, I picked up a few of the geocaches sprinkled along the trail, although one or two eluded my brief searching. 

Typical Hepatica

We reached the end of the Indian Creek Segment - the middle actually, but it was the end for us - at 2:48 pm, and the temperature had crawled up to a full 51 degrees. We had been dreading this hike, but as it turns out it wasn't too bad, unlike its ugly twin to the west. 

Location 3: The tiny little piece on the eastern end of the Sand Creek Segment that runs along 30th Ave.
0.2 miles of trail covered

It was fairly early in the day, but we had already hiked nearly 5 miles, and didn't really feel like taking on another long segment. There was simply nothing close by that was a suitable length, so we ended up walking a tiny little piece of the Sand Creek segment that went along the road on the east end. 

We were planning to hike Sand Creek tomorrow - a six-mile segment with no breaks - and anything we could do to make that shorter was good. As it turns out there is just enough room at the corner of 30th Ave and 1 1/2 Street to park a small vehicle, so we did the two-car thing and walked off this two tenths of a mile of gravel road. It wasn't much of an accomplishment, and there's very little to say about it, but at least it meant we were only facing 5.8 miles in the morning. 

This put an end to our fifth hiking day during our nine-day planned vacation. 

Running Total: 388.7 miles of trail covered; 36.8 miles ‘extra’ hiking/biking. End of Day 54.

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Day 53: 

Southern Blue Hills Segment (Part 1), Connecting Route, Rusk County

Timberland Hills Segment (Part 2), Burnett County

Day 53: Wednesday April 14th, 2021

Total Miles covered for the day: 4.6

Location 1: Northernmost piece of the Southern Blue Hills Segment, along Yuker Road.
0.8 miles of trail covered

Monday was a day of rain. 

Tuesday was a day of rain and snow.

Wednesday morning we woke up in the car and looked out to an inch of snow covering the ground. But we were determined to make the most of it. 

Yesterday we hiked nothing but connecting routes, and decided we would at least start the day that way today. Between the Northern Blue Hills Segment and the Southern Blue Hills segment is a 1.1 mile connecting route, attached to a 0.8 mile piece of the Southern Blue Hills Segment that walks along Yuker Road. We had looked at hiking both of these the evening before but decided it would be too late in the day when we were done, so we left it for this morning. The trail used to go straight through, rather than taking this horseshoe-shaped bypass, but there is now a 'Trail Closed' sign blocking the way. I'm sure there's a sad story there somewhere. 

We started by driving down Yuker Road to the place where it heads south into the woods and park a car, then drove back to the other end of Yuker Road near County Highway F. If you're doing this, by the way, don't bother looking for yellow blazes along Yuker Rd. There are none, except for one on each end. 

Yuker road is unremarkable. It's a gravel road. It's mostly level. It curves a little. And it cuts nearly a mile off of the 7.3 mile Southern Blue Hills segment, so it's worth doing for old travelers like us that don't like segments that long. 

Location 2: Connecting Route between the the Northern Blue Hills Segment to the north and the Southern Blue Hills Segment to the south.  

1.1 miles of trail covered

Hiking done, we drove the van to the southern trailhead of the Northern Blue Hills Segment. I dropped Theresa off, then went about 1/10th of a mile or so farther west to park along the road where it was a bit wider. We hiked that piece of road from north to south.

Even though County Highway F is a paved road, and one of the few roads that cut through this part of Wisconsin, we saw literally no traffic in either direction as we hiked along the road. We had chosen to hike it from north to south, though it wouldn't have mattered which way we went because it was down in the middle and uphill on both ends. 

And here we actually saw yellow blazes. The hiking was chilly, because the snow hadn't completely melted yet, but the sun was out and the worst of the weather was over. And there were one or two things to enjoy along the way. Theresa noted a particularly pretty creek and woodland area, where the birds were singing, and everything just felt like it was coming to life. We heard the cranes and the geese flying around, and woodpeckers hammering at trees. There were a lot of birds, actually. And the sun was on our faces. I've had worse days. 

I also noticed an abundance of aluminum cans along the road, just ripe for salvage. When I'm done with the trail I'm going to write a book called 'Hiking the Ice Age Trail Connecting Routes for Fun and Profit". Or maybe not. Time to move on.

Location 3: The middle section of the Timberland Hills Segment, between Boyd Ln to the east and the end of Skinner Rd to the west.
2.7 miles of trail covered

Instead of nibbling away at more connecting route, or walking another part of the Tescobia Segment, we decided to head back to the west end and try our luck at a little bit of trail hiking. We decided to risk hiking some of the Timberland Hills Segment, adding to the tiny amount we had hiked on Tuesday. (Was that only yesterday?)

We parked our van back down at the end of Skinner Road, and drove the car up to the very nice parking area on Boyd Lane to start our hike south. We started at 3:15 pm, and the temperature was 44 degrees. A beautiful day for hiking. 

Let me just say that this was an absolutely beautiful trail with one huge draw-back. They apparently ran out of yellow paint while putting out blazes, because there were stretches where you could walk two tenths of a mile without seeing a single yellow blaze in either direction. Considering how the IAT has a propensity to careen wildly off a perfectly nice and hikable multi-use path into the woods and along some Billy goat trail full of rocks, it's only natural to keep your eyes peeled for just such a diversion from common sense. 

I'll tell you up front that there are no such changes in direction. The whole trail through this piece of the Timberland Hills Segment remains on broad multi-use trails that are groomed in wintertime for skiing. So the anxiety-inducing lack of yellow blazes can be ignored, to a point. Even so, I remember one intersection I came to where the trail split both left and right and there was no blaze in sight. If not for the fact that we had downloaded a series of GPS coordinates to our phones to use as trail guides, we could have easily gone a quarter or a half-mile in the wrong direction, only to have to back-track and try the other path until we finally spotted a blaze.  That, and ONLY that, is the only thing worth complaining about on this piece of trail. Now to the good stuff.

As we hiked, the gently rolling hills often went past lovely scenery, and we heard and saw many swans, geese, ducks (mostly buffleheads), cranes, woodpeckers, chickadees, phoebes, hawks, and many others. There was a cabin along the route that apparently is available for rent, at least in the wintertime. I'm not sure about summer. It might be worth asking. 

Of course, there were places along the path where persistent water made the area a bit muddy, and it was occasionally necessary to bypass a puddle by walking a little into the woods, but nothing too difficult. 

One oddity we saw was that along the trail, when rocks occasionally stuck up into the path, the tops of the rocks had been painted orange. We had great fun debating the purpose of the painted rocks. Was it because they intended to come through and remove the rocks that were marked? Was it because they needed to lift the lawnmower blades a bit when they got to the rocks? In the end, though, I think Theresa got it right. She theorized that the rocks were painted orange in an effort to forewarn skiers in case the snow got a little thin. If you see orange on the trail, stay away from it if you don't want to damage your skis. 

 

We ended our hike at 5:34 pm, the temperature a balmy 46 degrees. 

Running Total: 383.7 miles of trail covered; 36.8 miles ‘extra’ hiking/biking. End of Day 53.

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