Brock & Theresa's Ice Age Trail Journey

Day 173: Brooklyn Wildlife Segment, Dane County, Connecting Route, Green County

Day 173: Sunday, May 15th, 2022

Total Miles covered for the day: 4.6

Location 1: The Brooklyn Wildlife Segment
3.3 miles of trail covered

The last Snail Hike.

Well - second to last. We have another hike scheduled on September 24th, and that will be our final-final Snail Hike.

But as far as the segments go, this is it. One more opportunity for hikers to meet us at a trailhead parking lot somewhere and walk the Path of the Snail. True to form, there were old friends and new friends who joined us for the hike.

After checking out of our airbnb last night in Oregon (a nice place, but too many rules) we met this crowd at the very same parking lot we met the group from the day before, the large and convenient lot on County Road D near the intersection of D and DD. It's not at the end of the Segment, but it is a convenient starting point.

It is only now as I look at the photo do I realize I was the only one present with a 'Y' chromosome.

It was a day for taking photos. The temperature was a perfect 70 degrees, and the day would top out at 73. The skies were mildly overcast, and the ground soft and easy from the recent rains. Spring was in the air, and there was green and flowers everywhere. No amount of money could have purchased a day like today for our last group hike.

Our friend, Sue McCallum was there for our last hike. Brooklyn is her home town, so she was playing tour guide, even though she had never hiked the whole segment herself.

There were some birders who showed up late, but they they weren't here for the Snail Hike, so I guess they were right on time. Sort of like wizards.

We didn't play short-hike, long hike today. There was only one launching point, and that was at the parking area on the other end, at Hughes Road. We trundled everyone in a couple of cars and made our way south. We told everyone that they were free to group and hike at their own pace, and that we would be bringing up the rear. As always, we said our good-byes at the start, knowing that we would never again lay eyes on some of them.

We hung around a couple of extra minutes in the parking lot because someone contacted us and told us they were running late. We waited for her, and then made our way to the launch point. With no surprise we found that the others had parked already and were headed down the trail. I saw the last of them way off in the field when we arrived, but of course we never caught them.

What was a surprise was these two young folks who arrived late but wanted to find us and get their patches. Their timing was excellent as it turns out, because they caught us in the parking lot and were able to take on the day at their own pace, which was not very snail-like.

Off we went, 9:50 am, happy as clams.

These were the other hikers I spotted off in the distance.

This photo is funny because of what it isn't. It looks very much like they were fighting a ferocious headwind or something, but what really happened is I was trying to catch an action shot of them walking down the path, and they were ducking out of the way because they thought I was taking a picture of the tree. The result was something the Minister of Silly Walks might be proud of.

The only reason they were behind us at all is that they were taking a few minutes to get organized while we started out ahead of them.

Here come the apple blossoms!

And in just a few paces down the trail our two gazelles were in front of us, heading to their own target vehicle. Farewell, young gazelles! May you find hasty happiness in your day.

Sue and I share a fondness for wildflowers, and she knows many that I don't. I'm only just learning with the help of my PlantNet App, and it has been an enjoyable part of my Ice Age Journey. This one below, I think, is Downy-Yellow Violet. I have to admit I'm confused by the name. Shouldn't the flower be... violet or something?

And this isn't a wildflower, but I found it very interesting. I didn't recognize the cluster of reddish leaves surrounding the very early growth of leaves, but Sue recognized it instantly as Black Walnut. It is so distinctive a feature that I'm surprised at how difficult it was to find a corroborating source on the internet.

A little past 10:00 we passed this nice little bench.

But for once, we didn't stop to enjoy it. There was something about the day that was just carrying us right along, with no need for rest.

I understand that every piece of trail has a good side and a bad side to it. The conditions in which you hike - rain, snow, sunshine - make a huge difference to how you feel about the experience. And today was certainly a magnificent example of spring weather in Wisconsin. Even so, I have to say that the Brooklyn Wildlife Segment turned out to be one of our favorite hikes on the whole Ice Age Trail. It is beautifully groomed.

It follows a logical and gentle path through a vital forest full of interesting trees.

And though it flirts and dances with several hills, it never asks the hiker to dominate them, allowing for a gentle walk and the ability to appreciate this small corner of the world peacefully.

And while we were walking north we encountered this very excited young lady who had tried several times, unsuccessfully, to cross paths with us in the past. Like so many others, she has been following our progress and knew her opportunities to get a patch were running out.

They (you) are all wonderful, these people who seek us out just to say hello and get a patch. Because while we know it's the patch they will walk away with, part of the happiness they feel is related to meeting this old lady who is hiking the whole trail despite all her aches and pains and a general dislike for long-distance walking. She has inspired many, and I can see it in their eyes.

And then there's this fellow, below. He's a lot more like me. He just gets out and hikes the same trail over and over again because it's close to home and he likes to walk.

"Yes", he said. "I'm out here a lot." I gave him a patch and he got a funny look on his face.

"You know", he said, "if you cover up the first two letters, that's my name!"

Meet Mr. Ott.

And there were more. Here are two gals we ran into who had no idea we'd be here today.

Nope - make that three gals. Must be good weather for a hike or something.

There are a lot of crisscrossing trails out here in the Brooklyn Wildlife Area, but the IAT is well marked, so it's difficult to get lost. But it also means it has multiple points of access and numerous users who are not dedicated IAT hikers. I have encountered many spots along the trail where kids have built forts, but this one may be the most complete.

Hidden in that darkness is a small, natural alcove with a rock face for a back wall and a slight overhang. This has been enhanced somewhat with lean-to ribs and roof poles for stability. It's not much as far as shelter goes, but I'd be more than willing to use it to shelter out a bad storm. The 16-year-old kid I used to be would have found this a cool destination spot to go out for an overnight camping adventure. The old goat in me tells me the night might prove a tad bit uncomfortable.

A bit further north, when we came out of the woods on a hilltop with a particularly scenic view, I was treated with another new spring wildflower I didn't know. Pictured below is the Pride of Ohio, a gorgeous white bloom in the shooting star family.

You could see for miles from this small rise.

In two weeks the oaks have changed from greening buds to nearly mature leaves.

And the air was filled with the scent of wildflowers and trees in bloom.

These are Thymeleaf Bluets.

The trail did wind back into the woods for a while. Here is a spot where an overarching tree makes for a squirrel overpass, easy for us hikers to go under. You can see how beautiful the trail is through here.

We got back to the cars a few minutes before noon.

But of course this didn't mean we were done for the day. Or even done with the Segment. As I noted yesterday, the parking lot is a half-mile down the road from the end of the Segment, and there is a quarter-mile spur trail from the lot that takes you to a point eight tenths of a mile from the end. Lots of choices and options can be made on how to address this, but in the end we had one of our hiking companions shuttle us the half-mile down the road so that we could walk back to our car in the parking lot. It meant walking the same quarter-mile spur trail twice, but goodness knows we've done worse than that getting to and from the trail before.

So at 12:03 pm, Theresa and I headed down off the roadside and onto our very last 0.8 miles of trail.

As it was at the start, so it was at the end. Just the two of us, hiking along together. And as we hiked this last mile of trail, we made darn sure to stop and smell the pretty flowers along the way.

This time, when we walked past a bench, we both parked our butts down and took a good, long look at the world in front of us.

We probably sat there a good 15 minutes, hardly saying a word as we took it all in. We have a long ways to go yet, but this was the end of the Segment hiking, or at least the end as far as our first adventure goes.

And as easy as that, we touched this one sign, and it all came together at once. We had just finished all of Dane County. Map 67 was complete. Our last trail hike was complete. All that was between us an our Thousand-miler status was about 300 miles of roadway.

Location 2: The rest of the Connecting route between the Brooklyn Wildlife Segment and the Monticello Segment, from the south end of the Brooklyn Wildlife Segment to the town of Dayton.
1.3 miles of trail covered

And there was no better time to get started than right now.

Yesterday we walked a portion of the connecting route south of the Brooklyn Wildlife Segment and our plan for today was to finish hiking it off. That would complete the CR, Map 68 and Green County, but what's even more astonishing is that it would connect 'the River', our continuous line of coverage, from the St. Croix on map 1 all the way to the north end of the Greenbush Segment on map 90.

So with a mere 1.3 miles to go, we drove down to Dayton and started walking north.

We saw cows.

We walked.

And we are starting to feel as worn out as this sign.

2:37 pm. Touching the sign. Too tired to really be excited.

It would be easy to get all philosophical here, but I won't. And it's too early to be emotional. And we have achieved so many milestones along the way that this one feels like just one more. And yet, there is something unique about today's milestone. Something worth commemorating. For today, after 173 days of hiking or biking the Ice Age Trail, we finished the very last Segment.

(UPDATE: After we finished this walk, but before our September 24 final hike a new Segment was opened in Marathon County. Read more about that on our Day 211 Hike.)

We know full well we'll have to go back and re-finish a few. Biking doesn't count for Thousand-miler status, of course - not even on a bike route. But recall that our first objective - our first goal - our first adventure was to make our way across the state on our own power, and that included bicycles. No apologies - it was our adventure.

And true to that goal we have walked every inch of the segments that needed walking, and a great many of the connecting routes as well. And to see this day approaching has been somewhat surreal. To see the day actually arrive when we could honestly say we had traversed every last segment on the trail - all 125 of them - that was amazing even to us. So to commemorate the moment, I choose instead to get poetic. Here is my Ice Age Trail rewrite of the Geoff Mack song, 'I've Been Everywhere', as made famous by Hank Snow and Johnny Cash:

I've Been Everywhere - the IAT Version

I was totin' my pack down a long gravel connecting route
When along came a 4x4, windows down, and he gave a shout.
"If you need a lift, Mack, throw your pack in the bed."
And I said, "No thanks - would you like to walk with me instead?"
We started hiking, he said, "You know what? This is great!"
And I said, "Listen, I've seen every road and trail in this here state!"

I've Been Everywhere Man
I've Been Everywhere Man