Day 145: Holy Hill Segment (Part 1), Washington County
Day 145: Sunday, March 13th, 2022
Total Miles covered for the day: 4.0
Location: The Holy Hill Segment, between the south trailhead parking area on Donegal Road and the place where the trail heads north from Pleasant Hill Road.
4.0 miles of trail covered
This was day two of our two-day weekend, and we had a short hike planned, followed by 'let's do as much as we can before we have to drive home'.
The only real goal was to hike the terrible, hilly part of Holy Hill, between Shannon Road and Donegal Road. Anything after that was gravy. And - spoiler alert - it wasn't anywhere near as terrible as we thought it might be.
Because we were uncertain how our van would behave, or even if we would HAVE a van to use for the weekend, we arranged to get a trail angel ride. This morning we planned to meet Sammy Ray Marshall at the Shannon Road parking area who would then shuttle us down to the parking area on Donegal Road. Sammy Ray, if you're reading this, you ROCK!
Our first challenge was that parking was terrible at Shannon Road. Four cars total, and all four slots were taken, even before we arrived. We had hoped to leave both vehicles there, but scuttled that notion and made other arrangements, putting in an extra tenth of a mile or two walking trying to figure it all out.
Eventually, we ended up just giving Sammy Ray a patch and a gas card and thanking her immensely for coming out to give us a ride. Then we shuttled ourselves down to Donegal Road where we met the rest of the people who made up the Snail Hike.
Yesterday was brutally cold, and only one person showed up all day. Today promised to be a much nicer day, and we had a total of three hikers show up to walk with us, two of whom were new snails.
Meet Mary Siekmann and Jane Flatt. 'Jane from Janesville' she called herself. Mary was just 'Mary'. Both were delightful hiking companions.
We were also joined by a hiker we met earlier, Billie Burdick, who appears in several of the following photos.
After a short hike eastward down the road we were at the trailhead. We started walking at 11:00 sharp, and the temperature was a warm, sunny 31 degrees. The cranes were sounding off in the marsh, trumpeting as we went on our way.
Just as we started one of the women realized she had forgotten to lock her car. She went back while the other two waited. Theresa and I pressed on up the hill, but we left behind the mark of the snail, just so they knew which way to go.
The trail from the south starts out with the biggest hill of the hike. If you include the parking area, the climb is from 1030 feet in elevation to 1222 feet. Even so, the 200 foot climb seemed oddly easy, or else it was just the perfect combination of early, cool, and well-rested.
Or maybe it was the ice cleats.
We first spotted The Basilica and National Shrine of Mary Help of Christians as we crested the first big hill. That's a mouthful, but then so is the name of the group that cares for the facility, the Discalced Carmelite Friars of Holy Hill.
We took a short break at the top of the hill, but didn't sit on the snow-covered bench. Our group was still a little behind us, but shortly afterwards we were overtaken by the Shields family.
There were times when the tread got a little challenging, even with the cleats.
At the top of the second hill was when we got our best view of the segment namesake. There was a bench here, too, also snow-covered.
There would be more hills, but when we left this one, we had conquered the worst that the Holy Hill Segment would throw at us. The grin on Theresa's face was partially because she knew that fact. Our group had caught up to us by now, and we were happily strolling along, chatting and having a merry old time.
As we got close to the Stationway parking area we heard the familiar cry of "Snails!" Chelsea Harris and Carol Wilson were really happy to see us and claim their prize.
Here, too, was a nice parking area with a great view of the basilica. There's also a stone archway visible with a person standing under the arch for scale.
Sadly, the restrooms weren't open, so the ladies had to make their choices and take their chances. For me, it was less of an issue.
Just after crossing Station Way Road we encountered another familiar hiker, who was unable to join us at the start. It was Mary Schwab and her brother Paul Schwab. Mary got her patch last year, but Paul got his today.
They were hiking the opposite direction, and after a brief chat, we all went on our way.
It was a nice trail, and had leveled out quite a bit as we wandered through the woods. There were also a number of interpretive signs, introducing people to some of the familiar trees that are essential parts of the 'Northern Mixed Hardwood Forest'.
We had reached a point on the trail that the rest of the group could no longer meander along at our Snail's Pace. Poor Mary had parked all the way at the north end of the Segment, while the other two were parked back at the start. She also had some dogs at home who couldn't be left indefinitely, so they picked up the pace and headed north while we kept plodding along.
We stayed in touch with the group by text message, and we know that they all found their way safely back to their cars. We made it to Shannon Road with no issues, and I hiked the extra tenth of a mile down to the parked car.
We had to drive back down to Donegal before we could do anything else, and we ended up spending quite a bit of time setting up for the next leg.
This iconic hill is a typical kame, of which there are many throughout the Kettle Moraine area.
We set up the cars for a very short hike, going from the east end of Pleasant Hill Road to Shannon Road, which meant starting with a short road hike. Right as we were about to start walking, my phone rang. It was work. Another emergency call. I told Theresa to hike on ahead of me, and I would catch up if I could.
After fifteen minutes or so on the phone, I determined I could walk and talk, so I took off at a trot to catch up with her.
The going was straight and easy, and we were walking into the face of the late afternoon sun.
I did catch her eventually, and we finished together. We ended this leg at 4:00, and I was just getting off the phone. It was 48 degrees. Somewhere along the way we encountered two more snails, Ann Feiler and Carol Bredesen, but sadly my phone pulled its 'vanishing pictures' trick and I lost the photo.
It was Sunday, and it was 'go home' day, so even though the next leg was only a mile long, we knew we couldn't finish the rest of the Segment, so what was the point? Instead we left behind the last 2.9 miles for another day and called it quits while we were both still standing.
Maybe 'leaning' is a better term.
Running Total: 967.9 miles of trail covered, 148.0 miles 'extra' hiking/biking. End of Day 145.
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