Day 130: Devil's Lake Segment (Part 4), Merrimac Segment (Part 1), Sauk County

Day 130: Saturday, January 22nd, 2022

Total Miles covered for the day: 4.1

Location 1: The western bluff of the Devil's Lake Segment, from the parking area on Park Road just where the staircase heads up the bluff to the parking area at the south shore just before the start of the East Bluff trail

2.3 miles of trail covered

Today! Today!! Today we would finish the Devil's Lake Segment! Oh how we have schemed ways to make that happen. A few miles at a time, separated by days and weeks, we have whittled this down to just 2.3 miles remaining. It was a day long anticipated, and welcome when it arrived. 

We woke up at the Willowood Motel this morning and made slow, thoroughly planned progress towards getting to the trail. The temperature wasn't supposed to be too bad - 19 degrees - but the wind was going to be brutal. 15-20 miles an hour was the estimate, with gusts to 25. 

It was actually the wind that made us decide to hike the West Bluff today, rather than the comparatively low-lying Merrimac Segment. The wind would be coming out of the west, which meant we would have the woods protecting us most of the way. Had the wind been coming from any other direction, the bluff would have been dreadful.

We decided we would do this in two pieces. First, we were going to hike the relatively short bit of roadway along South Lake Road, then tackle the bluff later. 

We dropped a car at the South Shore parking area, literally in the same parking place we were in when we hiked the East Bluff back in November. Then we drove back to the other end, and parked at the South Lake Drive parking area. By 10:14 am we were girded up and ready for the walk along the lake.  

There's a charming bridge that goes from the parking area to the road. We crossed that and started looking for 'the trail', if it was anywhere other than on the road itself. It was, or rather is, on the road, but that isn't immediately obvious from the maps. 

Walking along the south short of Devil's Lake was an eye-watering, lip-chapping experience. The trees that would shelter us later in the day were nowhere in sight. Instead, all we could see was the ice and the fishermen, and those did little to stop the blasts of arctic cold coming in off the lake. On the plus side, it was sunny, sort-of. At least the scenery was pleasant for our freeze-drying experience. 

Quickly, at least for us, we walked the 0.9 miles along the edge of the lake, with howling wintery gusts of wind blasting us from the left and from the back. The ice fishermen were the only other people in sight, out on the lake where the ice had a scant layer of snow. Most of them had tents, but some of those brave souls didn't. I saw one or two of them up close. They had wind burn so bad on their faces it made my ears shrivel in sympathy. 

The road itself, as well as the sidewalk we were staying on, was covered in a sheet of ice.  The further we got to the other end, the harder the wind blew, no longer sheltered by even the distant bluff. Miniature snow-devils could be seen twisting their way across the lake and up onto the shore, ten feet wide and 50 feet high, a frigid tornado of ice crystals. 

Every layer of clothing was needed and put to the test. 

Thankfully, it was a fairly short walk. We left the road and walked toward the parking area on the nice boardwalk, crunching along on our microspikes. 

For 25 cents we could take a closer look at the west bluff. We decided to save the quarter and go there ourselves. 

The parking lot was nearly empty still when we arrived at 10:50 am. I took a photo of our arrival but Theresa refused to look at the camera. She didn't want to turn around and face the wind. I don't blame her. 

And then the moment had finally arrived. We drove to the north end of the west bluff for the second leg, and took on our last section of Devil's Lake. 

We parked at the parking area on Park Road, at the spot where the stone staircase ascends the bluff. Starting our hike at 11:23 am, we were feeling ready for anything. The parking lot was empty, and we thought we might have the bluff to ourselves today. We were wrong.

The trail starts behind this sign. You have to hike around the point, and then start climbing at the angle of the hill. 

The climb is as challenging as it looks. Several hundred stone steps led up the bluff, but hiking them was easier than the "stairs" leading up the East Bluff. This trip would have been Impossible for us without the Microspikes, as every step was literally covered in ice. 

But it is also as beautiful as you might imagine. Along the way, we reached mini plateaus, where it was possible to get a glimpse of the cliff face. 

And a view of the lake and the distant bluffs as well. It's hard to tell from the photo below, but this is not the view of a little greenery separating us from a snowy field. It is the view of several evergreen shrubs clinging to the top of a cliff face, overlooking a frozen lake several hundred feet below. 

I took some of these shots just because it was pretty.

And when you think you're almost at the top, the bluff throws another set of stairs at you, and then another. 

The sky felt very big up there. 

Perched here on this tree was the only bird I saw the entire time we were out there, a rock dove. I missed the shot, but I got the view. 

And, as I mentioned, we weren't alone on the trail. Partway up we were passed by a gal in her 20s who was wearing - and I don't exaggerate - a pair of yoga pants and a sweater. She had a hat and gloves with her, but she wasn't wearing them. 

She was plenty warm, too, just trucking along at her twenty-something pace. The old goat in me says how foolish she's being, because she's not prepared for any unexpected delays in her hike. The old fool in me misses the days when I was so carefree and could hike around like that and not get so cold. 

She wasn't the only one. Soon we were passed by another solo hiker. Solo except for the malamute dog. He was from the near east originally, Yugoslavia or something like that, but he had been in the states for quite a while. His home was much like Wisconsin, he said. Except our hills were smaller. 

And as we were talking to him, another guy came romping up the trail with his malamute. Seriously. The two guys knew each other. The dogs were littermates. They each randomly chose this bitterly cold day to come to this remote spot and hike the same section of trail at the same time, and in the same direction. They hadn't seen one another in years. They started talking, and we knew we were never going to see either one of them again. Off they went, their two dogs having the time of their lives. 

And we met other people, too. Some of them even qualified for Snaildome. 

Eric Anderson & Jamie Nelson

Alexis Cervantes & Jackie Vergara

By the time we reached the top of the bluff we had encountered at least seven or eight hikers total. The longer we hiked, the more people we met, at first in singles and pairs, and then in groups. Eventually we saw at least 25 people on this 1.4 mile section, out braving the cold. Despite our desire and willingness to hand out SnOTT patches, we met no others who qualified for the honor. 

The view from the top was breathtaking. Far below, on the ice, we could see the ice fishermen. They looked as small as birds.  

The walk down the hill on the south end wasn't quite as steep as the climb up the north end, and there was more trail and fewer stairs. Still, that didn't make it easy. If anything it would have been worse, because rather than flat stairs we had sloped, ice-covered slip-and-slides. 

I specifically recall a group of about eight teenagers making their way up the hill as we were coming down. Bad outerwear is one thing. Bad footwear is another. Two of these goons were wearing rubber muckers. Really. Big, sloppy rubber boots that went most of the way up to their knees. Slipping on the ice with every step they took on the way up, I could only imagine what they would face on the way down. 

I knew they would be OK. They were young. They would bounce, or they would heal fast. Wisdom comes from experience. And experience is whatever you do that doesn't kill you. 

They'll learn. 

We definitely hiked this in the right direction. Going down those stairs would have been hard on the knees. The steep trail was easier. The look on our faces in the photo above is the genuine look of satisfaction at having completed the Devil's Lake Segment. I never imagined we would finish it with ice on the rocks. 

It was 2:00, and it was 23 degrees. The only thing between us and completing map 61 was the Merrimac Segment. 

Location 2: The western half of the Merrimac Segment between the western trailhead and the trail crossing on Marsh Road

1.8 miles of trail covered

With some time left in the day and a big goal of finishing everything north of the river before the end of the weekend, we decided to hike the western half of the Merrimac Segment. It was a mostly level stroll across the marshy grassland, a work-in-progress restoration of an Oak Savannah. 

Parking was very poor alongside the road in the middle of the segment, but we found one spot clear enough of snow that I felt like I could drive completely off the road and park safely. Then we drove the other car back to the western trailhead parking area and started hiking east.

The first four tenths of a mile wiggled around through the woods before crossing County DL. 

Once across DL, we were a little more exposed, but the wind was to our backs. 

With every step across the savannah, across the bridges and boardwalks and through the marsh, we were extending our line of completed trail steadily south and east, starting from all the way back on Map 1. 

There were many interpretive signs, all informative and interesting, and we enjoyed the beautifully laid meandering trail. After all the bluff hiking, it was a nice change of pace. 

Near these signs are a few truly old red oak trees, standing witness to all passers-by for over 300 years. 

I learned a little more about the wetlands we were walking through. The water was welled-up groundwater, because it had nowhere else to go. 

And here there was an awesome sign telling about the moraine and the spot we were hiking through. 

About three fifths of the way through the hike, we crossed Parfrey's Glen Creek, and saw a different kind of wildlife. This tiny trout was taking advantage of the fast-moving open water, and was coming to investigate every time I stuck my pole in the creek. 

And even though we could spot the road from where we were, we still had a ways to go before we could get there. 

Across the field on the last loop of trail we saw a gorgeous old 1800's stone hut. 

 

It had been refurbished just enough to make it serviceable as a warming house for some lucky deer hunter. There was a new door with a good, solid lock on it, right next to the only window on all four sides of the house. It may have been warm in there in the 1800s, but it would have been dark. 

Finally! The road!!

It was a gray, windy end to our day, and a little anti-climactic after completing the Devil's Lake Segment, but every mile is a good mile. We hopped in the car at 4:50 pm and warmed our fingers up before heading into Baraboo to the motel for a soup and sandwiches dinner. It was still 21 degrees, but it would get a lot colder before morning. Tomorrow, we would walk the last bit of trail and roadway down to the river and connect our unbroken line all the way to Dane County. Tomorrow would be a good day. 

Running Total: 884.8 miles of trail covered, 145.7 miles 'extra' hiking/biking. End of Day 130.

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