Day 184: Connecting Route, Rusk County, Connecting Route Chippewa County
Day 184: Saturday, June 4th, 2022
Total Miles hiked for the day: 21.3; Net Miles 0.0
Location: The Connecting Route between the Southern Blue Hills Segment and the Chippewa Moraine Segment
21.3 Miles of trail covered
There is a long connecting route that bridges Rusk and Chippewa Counties that winds along mostly on pretty quiet roads in a general north-south manner. One year ago this week, Theresa was out here hiking this exact road, in advance of me coming and joining her for the weekend. Over the course of several days she walked the entire 21 miles, self-shuttling with a bicycle, in temperatures that exceeded 100 degrees.
When I arrived that weekend a year ago, I chose to bicycle the distance so as to get it crossed off the map, but now of course I was paying my dues.
Theresa and I spent the night last night van-camping, and I'd prefer not to put in writing the exact location where we stayed. It was probably legal, as far as the parking goes, but it's the sleeping that gets a little iffy. There are vagrancy laws in a lot of places that make it illegal for one to sleep in one's car, which makes it hard to do what we're doing.
We woke up early this morning and drove to a park where we had scoped out a porta-potty the night before. Then I drove out to the trailhead sign for the Southern Blue Hills Segment just west of Weyerhaeuser while Theresa slept in the back. She didn't have to hike this road, so she was going to take a well-deserved day off while I went road-hiking. The time was 6:40 am, and it was a sunny and pleasant 46 degrees out.
I was very, very worried about the day at this point because I was experiencing sciatic pain, but fortunately I managed to walk it off within the first three miles or so while I was walking straight into the sunrise.
There were so many mosquitoes this morning that I almost broke down and put on repellent, but I found that by the time the sun was really up they pretty much stayed off the road.
As I walked I tried to focus on the flora and wildlife around me, to take my mind off pounding the pavement. I spotted this marsh horsetail plant, a variety of horsetail I was not familiar with. You can see from the dewdrops that it was quite damp this morning.
Crossing Soft Maple Creek, there was a beautiful wispy fog lifting from the water, which I couldn't quite capture. Still, this is a very nice view of the river, flowing clean and cold.
As I walked, I was having tons of fun with my new Merlin Bird Identification app on my phone. All those wonderful happy spring songs I hear can now be associated with the birds I know, and a few that are new to me.
- Eastern Wood-Peewee (new)
- Veery (new)
- Northern Waterthrush (new)
- Common Yellowthroat
- Chestnut-Sided Warbler (new)
- Black and White Warbler
- Red-Eyed Vireo (new)
- Red-Winged Blackbird
- Yellow Warbler
- American Redstart
- Oven Bird
- Indigo Bunting
- Philadelphia Vireo (new)
- Black-capped Chickadee
- Song Sparrow
- Bobolink (new)
- Eastern Kingbird
- Dickcissel (new)
And all of this before 9:00 am.
After getting through Weyerhaeuser it's necessary to go two tenths of a mile west along Hwy 8 to get to Historic Road. It is possible to avoid Hwy 8 altogether if you simply cross the highway and walk the frontage road in the cemetery. It dumps out onto Historic Road right in front of the Historical Marker.
Historic Road is extremely rough, covered with loose sand, gravel and full-on rocks. I've been on better logging roads. The problem is a near total lack of clay particles in the dirt. There is nothing that binds the soil together.
I should have put something in this next shot for scale. That rock is roughly the size of both fists put together. I threw this stone and several others like it to the side of the road, because it's the kind of stone that will put holes in your floorboards and wheel wells.
The result is that walking on this road is as challenging as any piece of trail and worse than most, because there is the perpetual risk of turning an ankle.
I noted as I walked along that there was a wastewater treatment facility of some kind, and that the runoff water right off the edge of the road was basically toxic sludge. To my horror, I saw deer taking a drink in one of those disgusting ponds, and that is something I just cannot un-see no matter how much time passes.
Thankfully, Historic Road is only 1.1 miles long, and County Road F is a much nicer place to walk. The road crossed Soft Maple Creek again, but by now the fog had lifted completely for the day.
The 'official' connecting route takes an unnecessary but enjoyable side-trip along Right-of-Way Road, creating a 2.5 mile horseshoe departure from the busy county road. I took that route if only because that's the way I went when I was here on bicycle, but also because last year when Theresa and I were here she saw a nursing fawn.
And - I couldn't believe it - at the same point in the road, I saw another fawn and it's mother. This one wasn't actively nursing like last year, but it was almost uncanny how similar the setting was.
The area has a very healthy deer population. I'm certain I saw at least 20 deer today as I walked, and I passed a man on Right-of-Way Road who says he walks there every morning and sees at least six.
There is a pretty steep gravel hill getting back up to County Road F, and then I got to hike right back down the hill again on the way to Pondell Road. There wasn't much to see until I got close to Potato Creek State Wildlife Area.
There is a parking lot here, though I have yet to see any vehicle parked here. I know from past experience that there is some poison ivy in the lot, and I could still hear the hum of mosquitoes, so I just kept on a-going.
I was now about halfway through the connecting route, and it was 10:20 am. I had been walking non-stop for about three and a half hours, and the temperature had climbed steadily as I walked. It was now about 67 degrees, where it would stay for the rest of the day while I walked. It was a little windy today, 15 mph steady with gusts to 25. That probably helped keep the mosquitoes at bay, and also helped keep me cool as I walked. I did notice, however, that I was starting to develop a pretty bad blister that I was choosing to ignore. It only hurt when I stopped, so I just... didn't stop.
I passed the home of a fellow hiker.
And the home of someone who clearly has a whimsical mind. This, it turns out, was the very spot last year where this wonderful homeowner came out to give Theresa water during that hundred-degree day while she was out there walking. He was concerned for her health, and rightly so. I wish I had known this was the place. I may well have stopped in for a minute to thank them.
The route travels along the west edge of a series of connected lakes that, as far as I can tell, actually flow north into the Chippewa River. There aren't many chances to see the open water, but there are occasional glimpses of creeks that feed the lakes.
At the county line, the road magically changes from Plummer Road to Round Lake Road, with very little fanfare. There is a welcome sign, however. This meant that I had just completed Rusk County and was now making headway on the remaining portions of Chippewa County.
South, south I went. I added a Least Flycatcher to the list of birds, along with a Robin and a Blue-Winged Warbler. I had never even heard of that last one, let alone knew we could find it in Wisconsin.
And hello! What have we here?
This little deer-friend stayed right there, just a few feet off the road, while I took a few photos. No fear. Ah, youth.
I had been keeping in touch with Theresa over the course of the day, because she needed to pick me up at the end. She was waiting for me at Round Lake County Park, where I know there are restrooms and water available. I would have gone to get water, except that Theresa was there to replenish for me. The fact that I didn't need to use the restroom told me that perhaps I hadn't been drinking enough today while I walked.
Having walked 18 miles with only 40 ounces of water taken in so far, I think that was a given.
We decided to take this opportunity to give my legs a break. I sat in the car for quite a while and rehydrated while we talked about the rest of the day and our plans for tomorrow. After a half-hour or so I got back out of the car to resume my walk. I had approximately three miles to go, along quiet 117th Street, very busy Hwy 40, and dead-end 267th Avenue. This time when I started walking again, after taking half an hour off, I really started feeling those blisters. One had turned into many, and they were all screaming at me. I didn't realize it while sitting still, but my feet had swollen up and it took me nearly a half-mile before they felt the same way they did an hour earlier - battered but fully functional.
I have no idea if Kings Inn Bar and Grill is worth stopping at. I would have gone there for a burger, but they weren't open when I walked by.
Finally, the last turn. With over 20 miles behind me I had only seven tenths of a mile left to go. To my immense joy, Theresa was waiting there at the corner for me.
She decided she couldn't let me have all the fun, and even though she had already done this a year ago, she had parked the car at the end of the segment and came down to the corner to wait for me so we could walk the last half-mile or so together. We made our way along the gravel road and uphill to the trailhead sign. At 2:55 pm I touched the sign for the Chippewa Moraine Segment, completing what was for me a personal best of 21.3 miles, a full mile farther than my tally a couple weeks ago out in Polk County.
The only one there to help me celebrate (besides Theresa, bless her heart) was this green frog.
We decided we would drive back to the David R. Obey Interpretive Center to see if they were open yet, post-pandemic, and they were. We spent time wandering around looking at the exhibits and chatting with the guy behind the counter. Then we went out back to sit in the chairs and watch hummingbirds for a while.
I was standing up next to the feeders hoping for a nice close-up on a hummingbird when I heard voiced behind me.
"Oh my God! You're the Snails!"
Theresa had been recognized. These two women had been out trekking the Chippewa Moraine Segment today and had been tracking our progress on Facebook. We announced to exactly no one that we would be out here this weekend, so they had zero expectation of running into us.
They were, however, glad to see us and get their patches. The one on the right was already a thousand-miler, and she was just out enjoying the trail with a friend. Now she's a Snail, too.
The tally:
- Two new Snails
- Five new blisters
- Completed maps 12, 13, 14, and 15
- Completed Rusk County
- Converted 21.3 miles of biking to the 'hiked' category
- 213.5 miles to go
Running Total: 1212.3 miles of trail covered (923.5 hiked), 218.3 miles 'extra' hiking/biking. End of Day 184.
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