Day 112: Lumbercamp Segment (Part 2), Langlade County

Day 112: Sunday, October 17th, 2021

Total Miles covered for the day: 5.1     

Location 1: The western third of the Lumbercamp Segment between Country Road S and the western trailhead on County Road A.

5.1 miles of trail covered

Last night was our last night at the Timberdoodle Lodge, a delightful cabin at Jack Lake Campground which we secured for the meager price of $75 per night. Considering the nearby showers and a thermostat-controlled fireplace/stove to keep us comfortable, this was a steal. No wonder the place books out for the entire summer. 

We needed to break camp before we could head out hiking, so that chore took us a while. After sweeping the floor and making sure everything was a little better than we found it, we said good-bye to the cabin and headed for the woods. 

Once again, there was a possibility that we would be meeting up with someone who wanted a SnOTT patch, so being at the designated starting place on time was a must. 

Our goal was to hike the last 5.1 miles of the the Lumbercamp Segment, a hike that would take us through land in three different townships and through the unknowns in the Peters Marsh State Natural Area. I have noted before that the most inhospitable, remote and generally unpleasant tracts of land tend to be declared 'State Natural Areas', and I had little hope that the Peters Marsh would prove differently. 

We dropped a vehicle at the end of the line on County Road A, and drove back to the starting point on County Road S where we would begin the hike. It was 10:00 am, and it was 48 degrees. Our possible Snail Hiker was nowhere in sight, and we started hiking west. 

The hike started out on an ominous note. The trail was really awful, rotten muddy road to start with, but this lasted only about a quarter mile.

After that, the trail dried up and we found ourselves walking on an open-skied track leading through a young forest of birch and aspen, with densely matted grasses growing underneath. Absolutely perfect habitat for grouse, rabbits and pheasant, but a little sparse for timberdoodle. If you don't know what a timberdoodle is, neither did I until a couple of days ago. Apparently that's another common name for a woodcock, though I wouldn't have known it if Theresa hadn't made a keen observation and logical leap a couple of days earlier. 

Even though the grass had been mowed, we could tell doing so was a never-ending chore, because the grasses in this area can only be suppressed, and never tamed. There simply isn't enough foot traffic on this segment to establish dominance over these durable and persistent stalks of green. 

Nevertheless, we both found this to be surprisingly pleasant, and once we had crossed over the berm, designed to keep four-wheel drive trucks at bay, we had the world to ourselves, and it became a positively beautiful trail that was wonderful walking. 

Turning a corner, where we had a very brief and awkward walk-around, we entered the Peters Marsh area, which we had been dreading. We didn't look to the south to evaluate the access route from Hill Road, but since we weren't going that way and it was theoretically under chest-deep water somewhere along the way, it really didn't matter. 

I took these two shots of the marsh as we walked past.

The trail along the Peters Marsh area was anything but marshy. We had gorgeous flat easy walking on a well mowed and well maintained trail. The sun sparkled merrily on the water as we passed. 

We were enchanted. This is what Sundays are for. Who knew the path to heaven started out with muddy ruts?

We encountered a lovely bench at the pond, located at coordinates N 45 17.149 W 089 02.556, and we stayed there a bit to appreciate the world and all its wonder. 

Nearly every inch of the walk through and past the Peters Marsh State Wildlife Area was on broad, grassy mowed trail, shared with snowmobiles and occasionally horses, though we saw nothing of either one other than the signage. As far as signage goes, there was an abundance of excellent yellow blazes all along the way. It really couldn't have been nicer. 

Club Moss

Who wouldn't want to be hiking Lumbercamp in weather like this?

Even the most idyllic hikes come to an end eventually. We reached our destination vehicle at 2:30 pm, temperature a balmy 62 degrees. There were no ticks, no mosquitoes, no gnats or deer flies. The day was glorious, with bright sunshine and gentle breezes. 

Walking across the road, we touched the sign for Summit Moraine, metaphorically representing the St. Croix River, because we had already covered every inch of maps 1 through 33. Now, map 34 was done. Map 35 was done. Where once yawned an imposing and rugged 72-mile gap in our coverage of the northern half of the IAT, now only 4.4 miles of Kettlebowl on map 36 remained before we could call Langlade County 'Done', and we could extend our river line all the way to map 60. Unfortunately, that way was blocked to us, and we had no idea when we would be able to return and complete the mission. 

Brock's Progress on the Mammoth Hike Challenge: 47.8 miles

Theresa's Progress on the Mammoth Hike Challenge: 49.3 miles

Running Total: 783.4 miles of trail covered, 10.8 miles of trail half-covered; 126.6 miles 'extra' hiking/biking. End of Day 112.

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