Day 76: Highland Lakes Segment (Part 2), Langlade County

Day 76: Wednesday, June 23rd, 2021

Total Miles covered for the day: 4.7

Location: Middle third of the Highland Lakes Segment in Langlade Country that runs along Kleever Road and Forest Road.  

The Highland Lakes Segment, according to the map, extends 12.8 miles through Langlade County, which includes the 4.7 miles of roadway that passes right next to Bogus Swamp State Natural Area. Technically, that makes this piece of roadway 'trail miles' rather than 'connecting route', so I have it tallied that way in my personal mile tracker. But it's still a road no matter what you call it, and today we planned to call it 'done'.

Today was another after-work dash, going out to take advantage of the long summer days and knock off another tiny piece of trail. Because we were planning to bicycle along this roadway, we decided we would do it in a single vehicle, biking in opposite directions. It was a good plan, but the execution went awry.

Theresa dropped me off at the west end, at the end of Kleever Road where the bus turn-around is, and I started biking immediately down the half-mile gravel road. Earlier this spring the road was hard-packed and looked almost like dirt. Since that time, someone came through with a grater, and it was a much harder crossing than it would have been earlier. 

Anyway, Theresa was supposed to go to the north end on Forest Road where we left off hiking the eastern third of the Highland Lakes Segment back on April 30th and start biking west. Unfortunately there was a glitch with the GPS and she ended up taking a long, winding detour on the south side of Bogus Swamp, and arrived at her starting point mere minutes before I got there. 

So it was that we crossed paths and I was getting off my bike literally as she was getting on hers. This was not the original plan. So my new plan was to drive the car back to the end of Kleever Road, then get on my bike and travel back along the road until I met up with Theresa, whereupon I would turn around and ride back to the car with her. 

This in fact is what we did, although I didn't get anywhere near as far as I thought I would before I saw her trucking up a hill. 

"Holy Cow!" I said. "You got a lot further than I thought you would!"

"Deer flies," she said. "They're a great motivator."

I have no photos from the day, and all I know is that I started my bike ride at about 6:15 pm. I don't even know what time Theresa finished, except that there was plenty of daylight left. What I can do is give an indication of the road conditions. 

Though Kleever Road is flat and gravel, the entire length of Forest Road is paved. It is quite hilly, but if you're biking there is a mechanical advantage to riding east to west, as you will descent about 100 feet in elevation over the 4.7 mile roadway. That's not enough to make or break your day, but it's worth taking advantage of. Originally I thought Theresa made such good time because it was more downhill for her than it was for me. Now I think she just flat-out kicked my butt.

Running Total: 543.8 miles of trail covered; 60.8 miles 'extra' hiking/biking. End of Day 76.

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