Day 201: Connecting Route, Langlade County
Day 201: Monday, June 27th, 2022
Total Miles hiked for the day: 6.2; Net Miles 0.0
Location 1: The Connecting Route north of the Plover Segment, from the north trailhead to the intersection of Old 26 Road and Springbrook Road
6.2 Miles of trail covered
Theresa doesn't like running. She wears her Snail badge with honor. She would much rather walk slowly than have to hurry on down the road. So when we have to walk six miles in three hours or less, this is not her favorite kind of hiking event. On the roads this is possible. She puts her head down and puts on her 'I'm at Walmart and I want to get out of here' look, then marches down the road to try and keep up with me. It's frustrating for her, and I don't get any pleasure out of it, either. I'd much rather we had all day and were able to walk hand-in-hand, and only on days that weren't too hot, and weren't too cold, and weren't too rainy or windy, and where we had a car waiting for us at the other end.
But with just 75 miles to go and with the crazy amount of walking we've been doing for the last three months (we've hiked 408 miles in the last 90 days, not including today) we're not about to throw on the brakes and take it easy. No - we're just going to go-go-go and get it done-done-done.
Tonight was a case in point. Theresa dropped me off at the trailhead on the north end of the Plover River Segment and I forgot to even get a photo of me with the sign. It was warm, it was sunny, and it was just another day on the Ice Age Trail.
The first half-mile along County Rd HH is right on the county line between Langlade and Marathon Counties. For simplicity's sake I made an executive call and counted the miles in Langlade County. Theresa mostly walked on that side of the road, anyway.
West Bear Lake Road stays quite level for a while, then drops off a bit as it dips towards Carley Road. Then it stays low and level until the turn onto Old 26 Road.
I spent nearly all my time either walking fast or driving back to pick Theresa up, so I didn't get a lot of photos. It's too bad, because this was actually a pretty nice road to walk, with trees close to the pavement and wildflowers in the ditch.
The only other shot I took before the end was of these flowering grass stems. I thought at first that these were bottlebrush grass, Elymus hystrix, but the seeds and flowers were in the wrong spot. I'm pretty sure it's a grass, and not a sedge. I'm wondering if this could be big bluestem, Andropogon gerardii, which would be really exciting since it was just growing alongside the road. In any case, it's proof that grasses have flowers, too.
It would have been nice to have gotten to the other side of Highway 52, where I know there's a nice parking spot right next to the road. Real parking, with lines and everything. But that was another half-mile, and for once I listened when Theresa gave me a firm 'No'. There have been too many times when I pushed for the extra mile, and bit by bit it's been taking a toll on both of us. In order to preserve our sanity, and our aching limbs, it was best that I heeded her guidance. 6.2 miles - I can live with that.
So I had to take another.
I did get this shot of the wildlife, though.
And as I was walking north on Old 26 Road I found this in the gravel on the shoulder. An authentic Snail on the Trail. Or at least the shell. Apparently the snail had left the building, so to speak.
I took this photo, which would have been fantastic, except that the glass on the phone reflected a tiny sunspot onto Theresa's upper lip like she had a Christmas ornament piercing or something.
Nine hikes remaining.
The tally:
- 0 new Snails today
- Completed map 39
- Converted 6.2 miles of biking to the 'hiked' category
- 69.2 miles to go.
Running Total: 1212.6 miles of trail covered (1067.8 hiked), 363.2 miles 'extra' hiking/biking. End of Day 201.
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