Day 94: Greenwood Segment (Part 2), Bohn Lake Segment, Waushara County

Day 94: Sunday, August 22nd, 2021

Total Miles covered for the day: 5.0 plus 5.5 miles extra hiking/biking 

Location 1: The southernmost 1.4 miles of the Greenwood Segment between Bow String Drive and Browndeer Ct. 

1.4 miles of trail covered, plus 2.4 miles extra biking

Once again this morning, we got out of our warm, comfy beds in Wausau and ventured into sand country in central Wisconsin, looking forward to closing out our 'Central Gap', the small number of miles and segments that separated maps 49 and 52. And once again, we decided the best way to do it in this area was to take a single vehicle with two bicycles, allowing us to hike the trail and bike back to the starting point, a measurable improvement over hiking both ways. 

The first place we went was right back to the section we passed up on yesterday. The plan was to finish off the Greenwood Segment, then continue north if we had more time. To that end, we dropped off a car at the southern trailhead for the Greenwood Segment, up past the longhorn cattle and up past the cattlemen and cattlewomen, who did not make an appearance on this fine, sunny 71 degree day at 12:30 in the afternoon. The humidity wasn't too high yet, with a dew point at 53 degrees, but we knew more humidity was coming. 

Then we got on our bikes and rode to the other end, on Browndeer Court. The bike ride was 2.4 miles, though the trail was only 1.4 miles long. I could joke about being able to hike it both ways faster, but after hiking the segment, I really don't think that would be true. Not even close. 

For reasons I cannot explain, I took only one photo during that first part of the day. It was the ridiculous Oops photo above. I have to say, that's not a very flattering angle for me, and it makes me look like I'm wearing a sombrero. 

Back to the hike. 

Hiking north to south, the first half mile or so was relatively flat. There was a lovely canopy of mature hardwoods that provided a sun-dappled world for the many birds and creatures. It was very easy walking, though the land was noticeably more hilly than the segments to the south. It was obvious that at some point in the past, someone had gone through and done some careful logging, and the results some years later was a very pleasant hike past a dense understory of hazelnut trees. 

Then we made a sharp right turn, and the ground started falling away beneath our feet. We had reached the brink - the point of no return - the event horizon. We dropped 40 feet of elevation in less than a tenth of a mile and then - we were in The Abyss. 

Down, down, down we went, into this massive hole in the ground. Forty feet - sixty - ninety - over 100 feet of elevation lost before we got to what looked like the bottom, then another 25 feet as we reached new depths. 

The pond at the bottom - for how could there not be a pond at the bottom of this giant kettle - was overfull and reached up to kill a large ring of trees. There were hoards of mosquitoes, which in part prevented us from hanging around too long and eating more of the late-season blackberries that lined the trail.

Unfortunately, what goes down must go back up. Hiking back out of that kettle on the other side, while more gentle, was nonetheless a bit of a chore. Suddenly the humid air that wasn't so bothersome just an hour ago was now feeling a little more oppressive. With the aid of a couple well-placed switchbacks, we climbed straight up all 160 feet of elevation before peaking out and getting a downhill break over the last few hundred feet of trail. 

As we walked out to our vehicle, we were glad to have skipped this particular hike the night before. Today was a much better day to visit The Abyss, as I will always think of it. It seems an odd feature right there in the middle of sand country, and I'm glad I got to see it. We ended that hike at 2:13 pm, temperature still only 73 degrees. It certainly could have been worse. 

Location 2: The easternmost 1.7 miles of the Greenwood Segment between the eastern trailhead on 9th Ave and the intersection of Browndeer Court and CTH GG

1.8 miles of trail covered, plus 1.7 miles extra biking

The Greenwood Segment is another one of those where the total is more than the sum of its parts. By that I mean if you add up all the little red distance markers and compare it to the total for the segment, there's a difference of a tenth of a mile or even two, due to rounding. Sometimes that works against us, but in this case it worked in our favor. Though the map showed only 1.7 miles of hiking left, we had 1.8 miles remaining for the whole segment, so we get to claim the extra 0.1 here as a bonus.

We started by dropping a car off at the Eastern Trailhead for the Greenwood Segment and biking our way back to the intersection of GG and Browndeer Ct, a distance of 1.7 miles by road. It was there we began our second hike at 3:09 pm. 

This part of the Greenwood Segment starts out with a steady uphill climb through a nice, mature mixed hardwood forest dominated by oaks. The path is sandy and easy to hike, and with relatively little effort we found ourselves gaining 63 feet in elevation over a little more than three tenths of a mile.  

Needs a tire swing!

Of course, what goes up must come back down (usually), and we walked down an equally pleasant trail on the other side of the hill, dropping 80 feet in elevation before hiking up and down one more small hill and finishing with a small climb to reach the end of the segment. 

Along the way I noticed that a lot of the small trees, mostly the oaks, were suffering from powdery mildew. This was a testament to the persistent high humidity conditions, with low light and moderate (70's to 80's) temperatures. 

Classic Powdery Mildew on Oak Leaves

I also saw many mushrooms, including some of the more deadly varieties, some deliciously edible, some simply disgusting even if they aren't technically poisonous, and some that are hallucinogenic. The woods this fall has been positively loaded with mushrooms, so if you know someone who is an experienced mushroom hunter and you have an interest, this is a great year to go out and see what's out there late in the year. 

We also saw this 'creature' hanging onto the side of a tree. Even though it's just the outer husk, it still clings, well anchored, just like it was when the fully-grown adult cicada popped out of the split back like something from a Stephen King movie. 

Cicada Husk

Contrary to myth and lore, cicadas are fairly common, and they do come out every year to create a high-pitched buzzy whine that can be heard for great distances. Oh - there are the famous 13-year and 17-year cicadas, hatching en masse and creating an ear-splitting racket before laying eggs and dying, leaving the next generation to burrow through the soil for another decade or two. But there are also the average, everyday varieties of cicadas that pop out of the ground every year. This is one of those. 

Another trail feature was a trailer in the woods that someone had dropped out there and built a roof over some 50 or 70 years ago. Judging from the trees that had grown up around it and the TOTAL lack of anything resembling a road, I'm guessing this was planted out here the last time the area was logged, maybe, and then it was abandoned. 

We didn't walk over and check it out. We were just a little afraid what we might see if we peeked inside. 👀

All-in-all, I would call this an elegant, well-maintained trail. The grass was mowed, and there was plenty of excellent signage. We ended this hike at 4:32 pm, 75 degrees, finishing off the rest of the Greenwood Segment. This left only two segments to go and we would be done with the Central Gap. Bohn Lake, here we come.

Location 3: The Bohn Lake Segment

1.8 miles of trail covered plus 1.4 miles extra biking

After driving back and picking up our bikes, we headed up to the Bohn Lake segment, having already covered the one-mile connecting route the day before. We dropped off a car at the southern trailhead, and jumped on the bikes to make our way toward the northern trailhead. The bike ride wasn't too bad, though I would have preferred to have avoided riding down County Road B. Fortunately, no cars passed while we were riding there, an incredible stroke of luck considering how many cars we saw on that road both before and after. 

After locking up our bikes and touching the sign, we were on our way. It was 5:15 pm, still 75 degrees. We were feeling a little tired...

Before we were able to get hiking, though, we heard the noise of an approaching vehicle. Let me start by saying that there was no wind whatsoever. So what's a grandpa to do?

Well done, Granddad. 

OK then - time to get started! Daylight was fading fast, and we had 1.8 miles to hike. Ready... GO!

Why aren't there more benches along the trail like this one?

Bohn Lake is another hole in the ground. It's not The Abyss from the Greenwood segment, but it's similar in character. In depth, they are similar. In volume, Bohn lake is a bathtub compared to the Greenwood Sea. From 9th Lane in the east to County Road B in the west, there is a one foot difference in elevation. Between those two points, one must descend 80 feet in elevation before coming to a bridge that splits two water areas. 

Don't get me wrong. I like bridges. I like water, too. But someone could have saved a whole lot of time and trouble by going the other way around the smaller wet zone and avoiding the bridge entirely. But then we wouldn't have gotten cool shots of me crossing the bridge, either. 

View from the other side

Right before the bridge crosses the water, there is a split in the trail, where an ostensibly 'accessible' loop trail goes the other way around the lake. I can tell you from experience that this 'accessible' trail is nothing of the kind. It's a shameful example of what was once a good idea that was perfectly fine as far as short-term execution, but terrible in long-term planning. Theresa went far enough on that trail to determine that no mowing ever takes place, and it's so overgrown that you would be better off pushing a wheelchair along the actual IAT itself. 

But back to the trail. 

Once across the bridge, we found that the trail runs unnecessarily close to the water's edge, making me wonder what they do in high-water years. If the water level had been two feet deeper, I would have needed wading boots, and the whole section by the lake would be impassible. 

After walking a little more than halfway around the edge of the lake, the trail takes a sudden turn uphill, but it was done so gracefully that it didn't feel very extreme at all, and pretty soon we were up on top, by the large parking area on Hwy B. 

Looking south, we could see our waiting car that was less than a half-mile away along the road, but we stayed true to the trail and crossed B, plunging once more into the woods. 

The trail was not completely uninviting. It zig-zagged back and forth a bit, adding two more tenths of a mile to the distance we had to walk, and the most irritating part was some arbitrary loops at the south end, culminating with a useless sweep to the west across the fields, taking us to an ancient rockpile with oak trees sticking out of it and a trail cut through the middle, including some stone steps. 

Silly. There was literally no good reason to make hikers pass through this old pile of rocks that had been placed there by farmers past. It turned what had been a very nice walk on mostly sandy soil into a clamber over a bunch of boulders right at the end. Just. Plain. Silly. 

When we finally reached our car it was 6:26 pm, 74 degrees. 

For the second day in a row, we drove to Hancock Park in the Village of Hancock to have our dinner. Unfortunately, I had forgotten plastic ware, so I had to improvise by cutting a section out of a Gatorade bottle and using it as a scoop. 

Not bad if I do say so myself. 

Running Total: 706 miles of trail covered; 83.0 miles 'extra' hiking/biking. End of Day 94.

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Day 93: Mecan River Segment (Part 4), Connecting Route (x3), Greenwood Segment (Part 1), Waushara County

Day 93: Saturday, August 21st, 2021

Total Miles covered for the day: 5.1 

Location 1: The northernmost 2 miles of the Mecan River Segment between Buttercup Drive and Chicago Road. 

1.9 miles of trail covered.

You know those times when you've been trying to do something that wasn't even all that hard to do, but for one reason or another you just couldn't get it done, and then one day you finally get to do it? Today was one of those times.

After another week at home, we decided that come hell or hot weather, we were going to finish off the Mecan River Segment. You may have noticed above that while we definitely hiked the last 2.0 miles, I only claimed 1.9 miles of trail covered. That's because the Mecan River is listed as a total of 7.5 miles, and we had already claimed 5.6 miles of it, having carefully added up the little red distance estimates for the various pieces we hiked during our other three hikes. As a result, we only had 1.9 miles left to claim when we finished the Segment. Bummer. 

We got a little bit of a late start this morning, because, well, life happens. Since we were in only one vehicle, we had our bikes with us to facilitate getting from one end to the other. We put both bikes up by the southern trailhead for the Greenwood Segment, then drove back down to the parking area on 6th Lane to start walking. It was 1:30 pm and the temperature was a hot, sunny 78 degrees. It wasn't hell, but we definitely had the humidity to contend with.

The 2 miles on the north end of the Mecan River Segment are nothing like the rest of the Segment to the south, save for the sandy footing. To start with, there's no river. Secondly, there are a lot fewer trees. In fact, the first 1.2 miles of that hike went through what is essentially open meadow or cropland. 

On one hand, that made the trip really hot out there in the open sun. On the other hand, it gave me an opportunity to take some nice photos of wildflowers.

Purple Prairie Clover

Button Eryngo

Butterfly Milkweed Pods

Butterfly Milkweed Flowers

Hiking through a very long 1.2 miles of open prairie

If this part of the Mecan River Segment had not been so beautifully mowed, it would have been real drudgery fighting through all the tall grasses, even if everything was in bloom. As it was, it was just hot.

Once we finally reached the trees, the walk became much more pleasant. It was still muggy, but it was a lot nicer walking in the shade. There were some geocaches along the way to keep us busy, but we were unable to find the one closest to the Distributed Camping Area (DCA). 

Speaking of the DCA, I'd like to put in a good word for this one. It's high and dry, flat, and conveniently placed. There's a nice bench there, and it would be easy to set up and take down again. The big drawback would be no source of water nearby. 

The other neat thing, as far as we were concerned, was that there was a log book by the camp, and it was there that we saw word of our recently met hiker friends, Sunny and Captain Chaos. They had stopped by here on their way south, signing the log and saying hello to the world. It was their first day of an intended 39-day hike that would take them all the way to the Eastern Trailhead. We think of them often, wondering if they made it. 

After our brief rest, we continued down the trail, first through the natural hardwood forest, then through a pine plantation, then through what I would describe as an oak savannah. 

The last two tenths of a mile include a tenth of a mile along a property line through the woods. before popping out into another sunny tenth of a mile along another meadow. 

When we reached the north trailhead we saw this sign, which helped explain a comment we heard Sunny and Captain Chaos make, that they had started "at the halfway point". 

Apparently, according to someone's estimation, the northern trailhead of the Mecan River Segment represents the midpoint on the trail. Had we known this sign was here, we might have made sure we hiked this spot when we reached our own 600-mile mark, which was more than a few long days ago. 

Halfway!!

The time was now 3:27 pm, and we had just completed map 52, but we hadn't yet reached our bikes. 

Location 2: Connecting Route between the north end of the Mecan River Segment and the south end of the Greenwood Segment

0.5 miles of trail covered, plus 2.1 miles extra biking

Since our bikes were an additional half-mile down the road, along the connecting route, we had to keep walking. 

There isn't much to say about this walk except that we passed a farm on the east side of the road that was raising longhorn cattle, and a house on the west side of the road that was raising out-back Wisconsin, beer-drinking cattle farmers out having a get-together with friends while the yung'uns rode around on ATVs. I smile and nodded my head as I walked by. They were nice enough to wave. 

That was a lot more friendly than the longhorns, who just stared as we passed. 

Once we reached the bikes, Theresa decided to just hang around and conserve energy while I biked back to get the car. 

A word about map 52. I would have to look back at our book to see if there was a bigger gap, but I don't think so. We started map 52 back in August of 2013, and we just finished it today, fully 8 years and 5 days later. That bested even map 29, at seven years, 8 months, which I believe had been the previous record-holder. Considering how much focus we put into completing things once we start them, I find it amazing that this map, full of easy walking trails and beautiful scenery, managed to stay unfinished for so long. We hiked or biked along the trails on this map on nine different dates through the years. Amazing. 

Location 3: The Greenwood Segment, between the parking area on Browndeer Court and the intersection of Browndeer Court and County GG,  including the half-mile along the roadway

1.8 miles of trail covered, plus 1.1 miles extra biking

We decided to skip a section of the Greenwood Segment between Bow String Drive and Browndeer Court, and instead cover the next piece north of and along Browndeer Court itself. The best approach, we judged, was to park at the parking area and ride our bikes down to GG where we could lock them up and start walking back. We started walking at 4:39 pm, and it was 82 degrees and muggy.

The hike up the road was uphill and gravelly, but easier than it would have been if it wasn't on the road. Then the trail cuts north into the woods, and we found ourselves walking through a wonderful piece of central Wisconsin woodland. They should have called it 'Oakwood Segment' instead of Greenwood Segment, because oak was definitely the predominant tree species. The path was near idyllic, which made up for the heat. 

Grey Goldenrod

Common Goldenrod

A fabulous walk through the woods

Besides all the goldenrod blooming, we also found ourselves in a dense stand of hazelnuts, and they were ripe and ready for picking. 

Hazelnuts, ripe and ready (aka 'Filberts')

We did in fact harvest a few, but they are far too hard for a trail snack, and we had to satisfy ourselves with cracking them open and eating the tiny, sweet nuts at home. 

After taking a needlessly wandering but fairly enjoyable loop to the north, we were able to  overlook yet another large prairie area. It was the field that makes up a large part of the Greenwood State Wildlife Refuge. There was a bench to sit on and enjoy the view, but we found it occupied by a woman and her two dogs, so we weren't able to make use of it. 

A short time later and we found ourselves at the parking area, with our waiting car. It was 5:55 pm, and it was still hot and muggy. I gave up on looking at the temperature. It was not going to relax one little bit today, so we just went with it. 

There have been plenty of days we called it quits by 6:00 pm, especially if we were planning to drive home, but today was an exception. We got it in our bonnets that we wanted to close out on the Central Gap by Labor Day, and it we were going to achieve that we needed to use every bit of sunlight and energy we had available to us, so we decided to cram in a little more biking to cover the remaining connecting routes in Waushara County.

Location 4: Connecting Route between Bohn Lake and Greenwood Segments

1.0 miles of trail covered

It was time to make tracks if we were going to get more done before sundown, so Theresa dropped me off on my bicycle at the eastern trailhead for the Greenwood Segment and I started riding north. She drove the one mile north to the south end of the Bohn Lake Segment and started biking south. It took almost no time at all to cover this ground, and we were off for yet one more Connecting Route before we were done for the day. 

Location 5: Connecting Route between the Deerfield Segment and the Bohn Lake segment

1.8 miles of trail covered

Once more, using the two-way method, we were able to complete a tiny bit of roadway with one car and two bikes. I dropped Theresa off at the southwest end of the Deerfield Segment and she started biking back toward Bohn Lake. In the meantime, I drove back down to the Eastern trailhead for Bohn Lake and started biking north. 

The distance was 1.8 miles, though if you add up the pieces on map 50 it only comes up to 1.7 miles. Again with the rounding. We were trying very hard to beat sundown, so I didn't do much by way of photography, but I did stop long enough to capture this shot of some yellow foxtail grasses glowing golden in the setting sun. 

Yellow Foxtail

That last shot was taken at a few minutes after 7:00. I took it shortly after completing my ride while I was riding back to meet Theresa. Somewhere in the middle of this 1.8 mile stretch of roadway, each of us, going in opposite directions, crossed the 700 mile mark on our journey. I'd like to think it happened exactly in the middle, when we crossed paths. 

We had 8.7 miles left in our Central Gap. After today's effort, we believed we would finish it before Labor Day as planned. Only time would tell. 

Running Total: 701 miles of trail covered; 77.5 miles 'extra' hiking/biking. End of Day 93.

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Day 92: Emmons Creek Segment, Connecting Route, Portage and Waupaca Counties

Day 92: Sunday, August 15th, 2021

Total Miles covered for the day: 13.0 

Location 1: The Emmons Creek Segment  

2.6 miles of trail covered, plus 3.6 miles extra biking

A week has gone by since our last hike. Funny how that seems like a long time right now. I don't remember why we didn't go hiking yesterday, but today was a nice day and we were off and running. 

We are reaching the point where we don't have very much trail left that we can snap off on a day-hike. Before today we had about 30 miles left in the Central Wisconsin area, from Emmons Creek down to the Mecan River, and by the end of the day there was only about 17 miles left. Add that to the 25 miles or so up in Langlade County, and that's all that's left of the trail that is closer to us than a two-hour drive, one way. Sooner, rather than later, there will be no such thing as a day trip.

To minimize expenses this time around, we decided to go with one vehicle and two bicycles. We started by driving down to Emmons Creek Drive to leave bicycles at the north trailhead, then drove down to the parking area on Stratton Lake Road. We started hiking north at 11:30 am, temperature already 78 degrees and humid. It hasn't been easy to get away from the humidity this summer. 

In case you're curious about the mosquito nets, they were worth every penny, which wasn't nearly as expensive as all that chemical repellant. And repellent doesn't do as good a job of keeping bugs out of your eyes, ears, nose and mouth. Besides that, if you accidentally get a little mosquito netting in your mouth, it doesn't taste bad. All in all, I recommend it for anyone hiking in the summertime. 

The northernmost 0.8 miles of the Emmons Creek segment is an easy hike across sandy, well-maintained trails. It starts off with a relatively slow, steady climb, that gets just a little steeper the further in you go. There is a bit of erosion in places, but not severe. 

Once we turned east, the trail leveled off, and the path became a real stroll. Then, in the middle of nowhere, we found this bench, complete with concrete pad. 

At the peak, where the trail turns northwest after a slow 180 degree U-Turn, the woods have been thinned out a bit by not-too recent logging, and it was possible to see quite a distance along the trail. After a steady, mostly downhill stroll we found ourselves back at the bicycles. It was 12:05 pm, and the steady beating sun was making its presence felt. 

Our next trick was to ride our bikes down as far as the car to have a bite of lunch. To get there, we had to go up the hill on Emmons Creek Road, which was lengthy, gravel, steep and hot. We walked most of the way up. 

After lunch, we continued our bike ride down to the southern trailhead, where we were greeted with a curious sign. 

The Murry Creek Segment, official though it may look, is NOT a part of the 'Official' Ice Age Trail. The tiny white sign tacked to the side of the post informs hikers of this. I find this curious, because there are plenty of other loop trails along the way. I wonder what quirk of political haggling made this one non-Canonical? I may never know.

But - across the road there was the trailhead sign for Emmons Creek and we started the second leg of the hike at 1:07 pm. It was now 82 degrees, and it was very humid indeed. 

The hike starts out by going steeply and relentlessly uphill for about two tenths of a mile as it walks a line between two pieces of private property. The steepest parts are shared briefly by a frequently visiting ATV, unfortunately, which contributes to modest erosion, but compared to what you find for erosion in many other parts of the trail, it was hardly worth noting. 

Actually, the trail for the first four tenths of a mile was pretty unremarkable, going straight north on sandy tread, with lots of trees on the left and right, and a few 'Private Property No Trespassing' signs to break up the monotony. Then we encountered this sign, indicating that we were entering a prairie restoration area. 

I've always loved prairie restoration areas, though I can't explain why. Maybe it's because I get to see some pretty cool stuff there that you don't get to see anywhere else. 

Canada Wildrye

In fact, I thought it was so pretty, I took a short video as I walked through.

Bee Balm

Wild Bergamot

Woodland Sunflower

A bit farther down the trail we encountered this sign, where if we had been so inclined we could have chosen to walk the Far Away Valley Loop, another trail that crosses through the region. This trail ends on Stratton Lake Road, right where we parked for the IAT, so if you're so inclined, here is yet another hiking opportunity. 

I love these rugged old toadstools.

Downy Rattlesnake Plantain

Below is the iconic bridge that crosses Emmons Creek. 

The bridge gets you across Emmons Creek just before coming out into another large, open meadow where, if not for the diligent mowing, the crossing would be a little intimidating. 

As we got very near the parking area, we encountered this beautiful white plant, which I should have recognized, but didn't. Maybe it was because I didn't think of this as something that would grow wild in Wisconsin. It is white sage. No, it's not what you buy in the grocery store. It's a different kind of sage that is a wonderful attractant for pollinators like honey bees, and is treasured by many Native American tribes for a variety of uses.  

When we reached the end, it was 2:40 pm, and still 82 degrees. You can tell from the photo above that this little 2.6 mile walk had taken some starch out of our collars. It was muggy. But we had our bikes with us, and the desire to knock off some connecting route before we were done for the day.

Location 2: The Connecting Route between the Emmons Creek Segment on the north and County Road A on the south.

10.4 miles of trail covered, plus 0.2 miles extra biking

So last week Sunday, we made an ill-fated attempt to bike the connecting route between the Deerfield Segment and the Emmons Creek segment by squeezing it in between thunderstorms. The result was pitiful, and left us with over 10 miles to go, including the rather substantial hill south of Apache Drive. 

Again, since we were in one car with two bikes, our options were limited. We could bike both ways (=no), we could bike in opposite directions (=maybe), or we could bike one at a time with a vehicle riding behind for safety (=yes). Since Theresa had experienced an intentional near-hit while riding these roads last week, we decided on the last option. 

Working north to south, we started at about 3:00 pm, temperature still hanging around 82 degrees. Theresa went first, and cleared the hill on the way to Heffron (there's an intersection of a town if ever there was one), and then downhill to County Road P. Then came the long hill leading up to the apex of 15th Road, and the delirious ride down to County A. Theresa actually went a bit beyond that intersection, about two tenths of a mile, because I had misread a map somewhere and didn't realize we were covering ground for the second time, from the other direction. Then it was my turn.  

I rode the opposite direction, which meant I needed to climb Mount 15th right away (just north of County A) and then I was able to enjoy a much more leisurely ride the rest of the way, even though there were plenty of hills to overcome. 

By the time I finished my leg, we had completed maps 48 and 49, and the last of Portage County. It was 5:44 pm, and the temperature had dropped to a discernably cooler 75 degrees. That, we decided, was worth celebrating. 

On our way home we decided to try out a place called King Cone, in Plover. We had driven by the billboard on I-39 enough that I just wanted to give it a try. King Cone is the ice-cream equivalent of a microbrewery, where they make their own ice cream flavors right there in the back, and they advertise always at least 40 different flavors available, or something like that. 

I'd give the place a 3.5 stars out of 5. The ice cream was good, and they had lots of flavors, but the portions were small and expensive. To tell you the truth, if you want an out of this world ice cream experience, go to the Windmill Ice Cream Shoppe in Tomahawk. It's worth the wait. Oh - and a single is probably plenty, but order the double if you dare.

Running Total: 694 miles of trail covered; 74.3 miles 'extra' hiking/biking. End of Day 92.

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