Day 137: Parnell Segment (Part 1), Fond du Lac and Sheboygan Counties

Day 137: Thursday, February 17th, 2022

Total Miles covered for the day: 2.8

Location 1: The southern end of the Parnell Segment, from the south trailhead to the Parking Area on County Road SS 

2.8 miles of trail covered

We woke up this morning in Wausau and made a mad dash to the Parnell Segment, nearly three hours' drive away. We are hoping to finish the entire segment this weekend, which could be challenging, depending on what kind of parking we find. 

But today, we were fairly lucky. The wind was blowing north to south, so that's the direction we needed to walk. That meant we dropped a car at the south end of the Parnell Segment, at the parking area at Mauthe Lake, then went up the trail a bit to find a launch point. 

While it was technically feasible to park at the GGG crossing, we decided that was too short, so we went all the way to the parking area on County Road SS, which is about two tenths of a mile from the trail itself. 

We were in position to start hiking at 1:31 pm, a minor miracle. It was 20 degrees.

The first, most obvious thing we encountered was the ice. From what we understand, it was 54 degrees here yesterday, and there was some rain in the afternoon. That, followed by a deep freeze, meant that a lot of the trail was literally an ice runway. 

Make way for the Microspikes!

A week ago, we planned on taking time off to hike the Parnell Segment. We even booked the hotel. Then we saw a weather forecast that was heavy rain on Wednesday, followed by six inches of wet, heavy snow. We canceled the trip.

Then three days later, the entire forecast changed. A little bit of rain, and then warm and windy. Shoot, we thought - we can handle that. At the last minute we rebooked the hotel, and here we were on the trail. 

The wind was brisk, but not terrible. The skies were gray, and we were both layered up for the trail.  

The Parnell Segment in this area is fairly hilly, but they are low hills. The first leg south of SS runs alongside a cedar grove so dense I don't think the ground ever sees the light of day. I couldn't see through it most of the time, which is why we saw so many tracks of deer and other animals. The habitat is fantastic. I know on the other side of the trees was an unnamed waterway that runs south out of Crooked Lake and eventually into the Milwaukee River. I never saw that either. 

It also means there are a lot of coyotes around, and they left their fur-filled scat all over the place, where it now sits frozen on top of the ice along the trail. 

There were a lot of trees down, possibly from the recent wind storms. One in particular looked as though it had come down in the last 24 hours, and I spent a minute or two hoisting the trunk off the trail. 

There was more ice than snow as we walked, and the wind wasn't really a factor. What wind there was came from the back, something we planned for in advance. 

As we were walking along, safe atop the ice and not having to struggle up and down severe hills, I heard Theresa say "I'm having a little bit of fun."

I took a photo. 

I was about to post this photo onto Facebook when my phone suddenly told me I was at 3% battery. That was the end of my photography for the day.

The trail features three water crossings, though there are bridges. Nonetheless, this is one of the things that make winter such a great time to hike through here. Right after the first river crossing we came to the corner of roadway where Tower Drive meets Forest View Road. I went up to look, and there really isn't anywhere to park there in the wintertime, though access to the trail is easy.

Then we turned the corner and crossed another bridge. This time it was obvious that the ground near that creek is often mucky to the point of terrible. A long, low walkway was created on one side, bordered by cedar to keep the gravel in place. On the other side, the ground was all torn up from days past when the temperature was above freezing. For 150 feet it looked like a cow pasture. Today, we just marched across on the frozen tops of the mud piles. 

This was where we first crossed the horse trail, and we would cross it again as we were swinging back to the north and approaching Forest Lake. When the lake came into view we could really feel that north wind blowing as it drew all that cold from the ice up the hillside and in our faces. 

Thankfully, that didn't last long and we were soon approaching County GGG. We crossed that road and headed up towards the campsites. 

Up is an operative word here. There was actually a pretty significant hike uphill before we reached the edge of the campground. Despite what Google map shows, the trail actually cuts within about 50 feet of a couple of the campsites. If you happen to be lucky enough to reserve them, the closest sites to the trail are 545 and 546. You're welcome.

We made one final river crossing shortly thereafter, which like all of them was on a nice bridge. Then we walked up a steep hill that would have been covered with loose rocks and stones, but which was a frozen runway instead. Walking through the conifers on top of an esker, we made our way to the waiting van. It was 4:12 pm, and 21 degrees. 

For the record, the vault toilets remain open here during the wintertime. Just thought you'd like to know that. 

With a little bit of daylight left, we decided to try for one more short leg. The next piece of trail would take us from SS up to the 90 degree bend on Division Road, assuming there was parking to be found. 

This turned out to be a misjudgment on my part. We attempted to approach this from the north, and the road got really icy, really fast. Once beyond the designated parking area, a full seven tenths of a mile from the trail, the road wasn't plowed. All that wonderful ice we encountered on the trail could also be found right here on the road. I made it nearly all the way to the corner, 3/4 of the way up the last hill, when the traction gave out and the car was having none of it. In fact, it wouldn't sit still either. When I came to a stop, gravity took over and we started sliding backwards. Towards the ditch. The ditch that was actually about 20 feet deep. 

I'll make a long story short. I spun the tires and managed to wedge the van against a hill, rather than sliding off the cliff. Then I used my ice cleats to provide enough leverage to spin the car around in the right direction and keep it from falling off the ledge. It was not one of those exciting, funny, laugh about it later moments. It was seriously scary. 

If you're ever attempting to drive down Division Road and it's covered in ice - give it up. 

There was no more hiking today. My knees were shaking too hard. 

Running Total: 923.9 miles of trail covered, 146.7 miles 'extra' hiking/biking. End of Day 137.

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