Day 205: Connecting Route, Waushara County, Connecting Route, Marquette County

Day 205: Saturday, July 2nd, 2022

Total Miles hiked for the day: 11.7; Net Miles -0.1 

Location 1: The portion of the connecting route south of Chaffee Creek between the intersection of Duck Creek Avenue and County Hwy CH and the intersection of County Road J and Edward Court

3.4 Miles of trail covered

Yes!!

We are exhausted, but we had a GREAT DAY! Yesterday (last night, really) we drove from Wausau, WI to Westfield, about an hour and fifteen minutes both ways, so that we could chop off the near end of our farthest gap. We were able to slide that gap all the way down to Duck Creek, and today we would finally finish that connecting route. 

But first...

Do you remember that sign from yesterday's post? About the Swedish Breakfast at Clauson's Barn Theater? I did. And despite getting home last night well after dark we both managed to drag our butts out of bed this morning and get ready to go early enough that we could drive right back down here again and go to Clauson's Barn Theater to find out what a Swedish Breakfast was all about. 

What we found when we got there was our choice of Swedish pancakes or waffles, ham or Swedish meatballs, fried potatoes and fruit salad, all for a mere $9.50 per person. We were also serenaded by piano music from one of the talented Clauson clan while we enjoyed our breakfast. Turns out this was one of only two weekends all year that they put on this special feast, and having everyone running around in Swedish costumes just made it all the more enjoyable. 

We took our time, trying to not rush ourselves through one of the reasons we're walking the trail in the first place, and didn't get to the actual walking until well after 12:00. Still - July 1 - we had all day, and that lasted a good, long while. 

Naturally, we were crisscross hiking, and I got dropped off at Duck Creek Avenue with bright, sunny skies, headed south in 80-degree heat. 

Can you imagine being the person responsible for laying down pavement in a straight line like that? I really don't know how they do it.

It wasn't long before my mind started to wander and I started posting my 'Random Road Hiking Thoughts' to Facebook again.

Random road hiking thought #1. I know they make caffeine free diet Mt Dew, but I really don't see the point.

Think about it. Mountain Dew is all about sugar and caffeine. If you take those two things away - why bother? Have you ever seen caffeine-free Monster Energy Drinks? No you haven't. There's a reason for that.

Random road hiking thought #2. Nearly every plant we walk by is an important food source for something.

Grass. Dandelions. Trees. Algae. Flowers. Poison Ivy. Nettles. Weeds of all shapes and sizes. If it's green, it's food. And there is a surprisingly large variety of those green things that we humans could eat, too, if we bothered to learn anything about them. People from 200 years ago would look at us and wonder how we manage to get through the summer, let alone the winter. We don't know how to harvest and eat anything. All that knowledge was lost as soon as it became possible to walk into the grocery store and buy prepackaged everything.

Coming into the north end of Westfield this house caught my eye. Maybe I just liked the garage doors, or the color theme. It still catches my eye, but I would absolutely get rid of that ugly giant start.

Coming into town from the north we slipped in on 6th Court, which I agree is a much safer place to walk than County M. We walked past Westfield Veteran's Park on the corner of Main Street and Spring Street. M is a busy road, and while there is plenty of shoulder to use, it still has a lot of cars. 

At Veterans Park there is a water fountain with nice, clean water. 

And there is a stirring memorial wall for those from the area who had given their lives in military service. 

Since we weren't following the path east along 2nd Street our route took us south on Main Street for several more blocks, then finally just out of town on what had now become County JM. The walk ended at Edgewood Court, where I touched the signpost from three nights ago.

With this simple 3.4 mile walk, we finished two maps, a county and the last bit of the Eastern Bifurcation. Our farthest point from home was now all the way up in Waupaca County on map 46, which is where we headed next.

Location 2: The portion of the connecting route south of the New Hope Iola Ski Hill Segment between the south trailhead and the intersection of Nottleson Road and County Road B

8.4 Miles of trail covered

Nottleson Road is a very pretty, narrow road rounding the west end of a large set of hills. The trees are small, but it still feels like a nice walk through the forest. What you don't get from the picture below is the peripheral sense of being caught between a large hill that shoots imposingly uphill on the right and a large forested area on the left that is significantly more flat. 

This large hill, which has no name I was able to find, sticks up from the surrounding farmland like some giant orca laying half buried on a sandy beach. It is one of many such islands on the earth in that area, mostly all covered in trees. It would be wonderful if someday the IAT would put in some trails through those hills, or along Peterson Creek. Ten miles through this terrain would compete with anything you would find in the Kettle Moraine area or the Harrison and Parrish Hills. 

Instead, I had to be contented with enjoying the hills from the road, which did the best it could at threading between them but wasn't completely successful. Hills were unavoidable. 

Random road hiking thought #3. There are a lot of song lyrics I never learned correctly growing up. I find that even now, when I look up the correct words, I often forget them and revert back to what's in my memory.

Walk This Way? That was eye-opening. Jumping Jack Flash? Yeah - that wasn't what I thought I heard. Don't even get me started on Blinded By The Light.

Random road hiking thought #4. Every single carbon atom in our bodies has been recycled over and over and over again. We are made up not only of fungi, plants and animals, but also rocks and dinosaurs. Truly, as CSNY said many years ago, we are stardust.

I heard recently that nearly every cell in our body has been replaced over the course of the last two years. That seems to be the only thing people are that efficient at recycling.

Nothing to see here - just a wood cut.

Random road hiking thought #5. I will go significantly out of my way to be somewhere I think will be "interesting".

"Hey - we should go {insert place here}."

"Why?"

"I don't know - I think it will be interesting."

It generally is. On the subject of interesting, did you know there were cactuses in Wisconsin. Ones that look very cactus-like. This one was found at the intersection of Rosholt Road and Hwy 161, shortly after walking up a rather large hill with farmland on both sides. These were certainly planted here as a decoration, but believe me there are plenty of wild cactus growing in central Wisconsin.

Random road hiking thought #6. I don't need a time machine - I have Lodi for that.

Or any one of a number of small towns I have walked through on this journey. I thought of Lodi because it is so unapologetically old-school, renewing, restoring and reveling in their last-century roots.

This below was another sighting less welcome than the cactus, and far more dangerous. Central Wisconsin - indeed all of Wisconsin - is filled with this roadside hazard. Wild parsnip, while technically edible as a root vegetable, is quite awful when you touch it. Getting the oils on your skin and letting that skin be exposed to sunlight will leave you with terrible blisters and most likely permanent scars. Google the images at your own risk.

Random road hiking thought #7. When we were growing up as kids we didn't realize that we were also watching our parents grow up.

I posted these to Facebook, as I mentioned. This one got a reaction from quite a few people.

I was not sure as we were making our way north that we would finish today. As always, the goal was just a little further than was really good for us, or even healthy for our bodies. Aches and pains, blisters and bandages, night cramps and sunburns, Advil and Aspercreme. These are our steady companions as we make our way down the road day after day. So to a certain degree, does it matter if we walk nine miles in a day, or eleven? The effect on our bodies is basically the same. On the other hand, if we can only get to the end of the connecting route...

The scenery along this CR is gorgeous.

Behind this farm is a lovely stream. We didn't get to see it here, but just to the north and around the corner we crossed over it on Trout Creek Road.

One of our crisscross spots.

See you soon!

Great parking at both parking lots near Nace Creek State Fishery Area. 

I spotted this incredibly healthy staghorn sumac at the edge of one of those parking areas. 

Random road hiking thought #8. What we think of as huge boulders is nothing more than tiny skin cells that have sloughed off the surface of the Earth.

If you think about it, a boulder like this one, eight feet in diameter, is roughly one part in 147,000,000,000,000,000,000 when compared to the earth. 1/147 quintillionth of the size of the earth. That's actually a lot smaller than a skin cell when you compare the two.

Random road hiking thought #9. The first few drops of rain on a hot Rural Road produce a smell I am not overly fond of.

We did encounter a few rain drops today as we walked down the hot road. The smell is dusty, oily, and somehow alkaline. Ozone, maybe? Not my favorite.

There's a bit of a hill on Wasrud Road. Coming down is easy enough, but going up the other way looks a little imposing. And there is nowhere to park at the top of the hill, so the only way to deal with it on a crisscross was for each of us to walk up and over the top, me from the south and Theresa from the north. There is nearly a 200 foot climb from the south and a 100 foot climb from the north.

Random road hiking thought #10. If cats could talk... they wouldn't.

Once having cleared the hill I had a very short walk to get to the parking lot for the Ski Area and the trailhead for the New Hope Iola Ski Hill Segment. 

I went to get the car and go back to get Theresa, but as usual I declined to touch the sign until we could do it together. 

When returned, I had to. I just had to. What man with Norwegian blood in his veins could resist?

The trip to the sign took a few seconds. Or all day, depending on your perspective. 

Five hikes left.

The tally:

• 0 new Snails today
• Completed maps 53, 54, 45 and 46
• Completed Waupaca and Marquette Counties
• Converted 11.8 miles of biking to the 'hiked' category
• 37.2 miles to go. 

Running Total: 1211.7 miles of trail covered (1099.8 hiked), 396.1 miles 'extra' hiking/biking. End of Day 205.

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