Day 69: Tuscobia Segment (Part 2), Washburn and Barron Counties

Day 69: Sunday May 30th, 2021

Total Miles covered for the day: 8.4, plus 0.1 miles extra hiking

Location: The Tuscobia Segment, between Balsam Lake Road to the east and 21st Street to the west. 

We've been doing a lot of hiking over the last 30 days. And the conditions have not been ideal. We've had rain, we've had snow, we've had frost and muck. We've had temperatures down to 25 and up to 90 degrees. It's been quite a month. 

Today we decided to 'take it easy' and hike the rest of the Tuscobia Segment. We had already hiked the 1.9 miles on the west end, and the 0.9 miles on the east end, leaving the 8.4 miles in the middle. This was longer than what could be considered an 'easy' day for us, but on the other hand, the walking was straight, level, and, for the most part, totally muck-free. 

But as you can see from the above photos, it's not completely grass-free. 

We decided to chop it in pieces starting from the northeast end near Birchwood, so the first thing we did of course was to drop a car where we left off when we hiked the old Blueberry Segment, which has now been annexed into the Tuscobia Segment. 

Good ol' Blueberry. I remember it well. 

Then we drove down to County Road T, in the imaginary town of Angus, and started hiking northeast at 9:15 am. It was only 53 degrees, which was great, and we were traveling light, without the backpacks. 

If there is anything you could call the 'hilly' section of the Tuscobia segment, this is it. Yes, true, it is laid on top of what used to be a railroad bed, but not all aspects of the new trail remained level and straight. Here, in particular, it's almost like the railroad was never there, and we had to hike up and down a few times on a rather terrible surface because part of it is shared with Mules and ATVs. Where they run, the trail is stones and gravel, a far cry from the crushed gray gravel you'll find on most of the segment. 

Part of this mile or so of trail actually cuts off to the side of the ATV trail, but I could tell by the lack of footprints and the total lack of a discernable 'path' through the grass that most hikers just stick to the gravel anyway. 

The trail dips significantly where an old bridge had been removed, and we hiked across a second bridge that isn't immediately visible from the roadside, then back up the other side to the waiting car at 9:45 am. One down, seven to go.

What we also accomplished during that mile was to complete all trail miles in Washburn County, including Timberland Hills, Grassy Lake, Bear Lake (yes, Bear Lake - go look closer), Tuscobia and part of the connecting route on the way to Hemlock Creek. By the end of the day our plan was to knock off Barron County, too.

Have you ever seen this flower?

I'll bet you recognize it now! (Columbine)

Early Meadow Rue

For part 2, we parked our launch vehicle on 26th street, and started hiking at 10:15 am. It was still 53 degrees, and it actually felt just a little chilly because of the humidity. The path here was more what we expected, basically flat, straight, crushed gray gravel, and the view didn't change much. But the highlight of the day was crossing paths with three charming women who were hiking the other direction. 

We stood and talked with them for quite a while, asking about their adventures. I'm not sure what gave me the impression that they were serious section hikers, unless maybe it was their feet.

Don't let those disarming smiles fool you, boys! These three women were warriors of the trail in every aspect. They knew the ropes, and knew just what they needed to make each segment safe and comfortable.

"Where are you from?" we asked. "Stevens Point", they told us, and we shared that we were from Wausau, trying to close out our western gap. They were also section hikers, and had chosen the Tuscobia segment to hike that day, same as us.

We asked them where they had been the previous day, and they told us they were at the Harwood Lakes Segment in Chippewa County. We were, in fact, considering hiking that very segment within the next day or two, so we were interested in what they had to say.

"Ticks", was one immediate response. 

"Hills", came another.

"Kind of wet", was the third. 

It reminded me of the Three Fates. 

We told them about our method of hiking, and they told us that they had seen our vehicle.

I could have spent the entire day in the company of these three besties from Point, but alas, we were walking east and they were walking west. Finally we parted ways. It was the next day before I learned they had given themselves the nickname, "The Pointer Sisters" while they were hiking. I will ever remember them thus. 

We ended our part 2 hike at 11:15 am, and the temperature had dropped again to 52 degrees. Hiking this piece achieved the mini-goal of completing Map 10, so we celebrated that achievement with all the appropriate pomp and ceremony and went on with our day. 

For part 3, we drove down to Brill and parked in the Town Park near the excellent restrooms that were easily and publicly available, about 300 feet from the trail.

We started this hike at 11:45 am, and the temperature had dropped another degree to 51. This piece was a tiny bit longer, about 3.2 miles, and featured a couple of turns and some actual scenery. It also featured a very light rain, so we put up our rain hoods and kept on a-going. After Thursday's ritual drowning, this was nothing. 

We were amazed to see a  few trillium still displaying their white petals, though pink was far more common. 

Along this piece we passed several ponds, all enhanced by beaver activity. In one location in particular you could see where the beavers had blocked off a culvert. Though this was charming, in a way, it poses a real problem for those who are trying to maintain the trail. There was so much water building up on the uphill side that it is starting to threaten the trail itself. In a not too distant future it will start to overrun the trail and will definitely create some nasty washouts. 

Though it was level, straight, easy walking, this section did start to feel like it was  a lot longer than 3.2 miles. Even so, when we finally made the second major turn and made it to 26th Street again, the time was only 1:45 pm. For us, this was making pretty good time. I think it was the never-changing nature of the segment that was making our toes ache. Or else it was the miles. Either way, we were starting to drag our butts a little, and it was still early. But it had stopped raining, and the temperature had climbed to a respectable 55 degrees. 

Now - we had been hiking for days out here in the Rice Lake area, and every day we had been too late to partake of a special indulgence and go to the Norske Nook for pie. The restaurant closes every day at 4 pm, so rather than risk missing it again, we decided to take a break and head into town. 

The Norske Nook is renowned for one thing - award-winning pie. We have visited the Norske Nook a number of times over our lives, always before going to the one in Osseo, and up until today I would have said it was some of the best pie ever. Today, we got a slice of Chocolate Cream Pudding Pie and a slice of Lingonberry Apple. We were a little disappointed. 

But we didn't let it diminish our enthusiasm for completing the segment today.

Part 4 of our day was the last three miles of the segment, from 21st Street all the way into Brill. We could have cut it into pieces, possibly parking near 23rd Street or 22nd Street, since the trail crosses both of those, but we decided to just go for it. The day was getting on, and we didn't want to waste the time it would take to reposition the cars.

So we drove down to and parked at 21st Street, in the same tiny triangle of land cut off as the trail passes the corner, and this time headed east instead of west. It was 3:30 pm and the temperature was 54 degrees. 

This time, as we touched the sign behind us we were once again 'touching the river', the contiguous part of the trail we had already hiked that led all the way back to the western terminus, and we would be bringing it east with us. By the time we reached the car, that continuous highlighted line would extend from map 1 to map 12, almost all the way to Weyerhauser. 

The first thing we encountered was the 'blob'. From a long way down the trail it was difficult to decide exactly what we were looking at. Turns out it was just a pile of sticks someone had made during a trail cleaning effort of some kind. 

The most memorable thing on this part of the trail was being passed by four horses, two going in either direction. I learned something about horses and trails. The two that were traveling east to west were not wearing horseshoes, and they were hardly making a mark on the trail. Sure, they were leaving other obvious signs of horse-passage, but no hoofprints to speak of. 

The other two horses, the ones that came up from behind us moving west to east, were wearing horseshoes, and as they passed they were absolutely tearing up the trail where they walked. If I had been passing that way on bicycle, I would have been seriously annoyed at the horse-owners, especially since this was NOT a designated trail for horse travel. 

Along the way I passed numerous ferns, flowers, and lovely greenery. I also passed stinging nettles, poison ivy and giant hogweed, all of which should be avoided for different reasons. If I had also seen wild parsnip and poison sumac I could have named this the Australian Outback of the IAT. 

The very last thing we did before coming into town was cross over the Brill River, which is done on an fairly new wooden bridge built for snowmobile traffic. On one end of it was a rock with a strange carving on it. If you know what this means, please leave a comment.

A few minutes later and we were in Brill, touching the sign one last time for the day at 5:10 pm, temperature 54 degrees. As a bonus, we completed map 9, the Tuscobia Segment and Barron County all at once. 

Running Total: 479.6 miles of trail covered; 40.2 miles ‘extra’ hiking/biking. End of Day 69.

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