Day 159: Connecting Route, Kewaunee County
Day 159: Wednesday, April 13th, 2022
Total Miles covered for the day: 9.8
We originally had a Snail Hike Event planned for today, but the weather forecast called for rain, rain and more rain, with possible thunderstorms. This was too much and we didn't want people driving all the way up here to Kewaunee just to sit out the storms, so we canceled the official hike. It was a good decision, since last night there were heavy thunderstorms rolling through that even dropped some hail. When we woke up this morning the forecast was still marginal.
Getting ready to go I realized I never got a photo of the five of us who were staying at the Condo, so I snapped a quick photo of the four remaining people.
Jan Hincapie, Sheila Meehan Gailloreto, Theresa Jansen and Brock Jansen Mising: Delores Olver, who spent two nights with us there as well |
Once again, everyone else had other plans, so Theresa and I decided we'd just go straight back up to the place we left off last night and see if we could finish off the rest of the connecting route between Kewaunee River and Tisch Mills. We could dance through the rain without any problems, and if needed we could run away whenever there was lightning.
We made the relatively short drive up to Valley Road in only one vehicle, and we did crisscross hiking all day. It was a little warmer today, but still cool enough that we needed to dress in layers.
We actually got a fairly late start today. We've been pushing hard, so this morning we just got a little lazy. It was 11:20 when we jumped out of the car to snap this photo.
Owing to the constant threat of rain, we were running short legs and moving fast. The first skip was just 1.3 miles, the second and third were only one mile each.
It was a very gray day. Below is Scarboro Creek.
Parking alongside the road was good enough for one or two vehicles most of the way. As we walked we kept up a blistering pace (for us), and so little by little we started shedding layers.
My perspective on road hiking is that you have to embrace it for what it is. The truth is, if all you did here in Wisconsin was find a way to hike from thickly forested hilltop to wide-open valley to cedar grove to swampy bottomland, you would be missing half of what's here. It is true that we all see plenty of farms and fields, houses and horses, front yards and fences. It is true that one thing we all like about the IAT is getting away from those things, but as we walk the country roads I often find myself with a new appreciation for those things when viewed at a slower pace.
People are endlessly creative, and there is beauty to be found in the small details. Like this barn quilt, depicting their beloved horses.
By this time we could see that the forecasted rain was never going to hit, and we left behind the raincoats. There actually was a tiny little sprinkle, but it felt more refreshing than anything else.
We reached the end of the trail by about 4:00. In doing so we also completed two maps, 99 and 100, which was definitely cause for celebration. This was literally a blistering pace for us, having covered nearly ten miles in just over 4 1/2 hours - a mind-boggling 2.2 miles per hour. That probably explains why I started getting a blister on my little toe, though I was far too aware of everything Theresa had been going through to say anything about it.
I have been helping her wrap her blistered toes every morning for quite some time now. The little blister I was dealing with, painful and annoying as it was, was NOTHING compared to what Theresa was walking on every day. It's true what they say - men are wimps when it comes to pain.
So now that we were done with the 24.3 mile connecting route between Tisch Mills and Kewaunee River (yes, the official route is now four miles shorter but we took the old route through Bolt), we decided to head south and take on another mile or three of the connecting route west and south of the City of Manitowoc Segment. But first we figured we could drop off one of the cars at the condo.
When we got there we found that our roommates had finished their hiking long before and had already prepared dinner again. Tonight was Mexican Lasagna night, and I have to say it was pretty good. Getting our bellies full of food was enough of a deterrent to more hiking, but when the rain started for real that was definitely the last straw. Besides that, it was the last night together in the condo, so we hung around and traded stories until far too late into the evening. Tomorrow was another Snail hike, all the way back up to the Forestville Segment, so we had to get to bed for some shut-eye.
We said farewell to our roommates and trotted off to bed, satisfied with the 9.8 miles we achieved on a day that was supposed to have been dotted with thunderstorms.
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