Day 16: Lumbercamp, Kettlebowl, Connecting Route

Today was a momentous day for a few reasons. Mainly, it marked the day I finally stopped marching east and began my dip down south to Janesville. If you look at a map of the Ice Age Trail, there are three main segments: the march east from St. Croix Falls to Antigo, the march south to Janesville and the march north to Sturgeon Bay. One main segment down, two to go! I'm also supposed to be heading into tamer trails, which will be much appreciated.

The Antigo area had rain all last night and this morning. Miraculously, as soon as I stepped out of the car at Lumbercamp, the rain stopped. Still babying my blisters, I put plastic bags over my shoes and cinched them at the ankles. I did this once before, and the bags lasted 2 miles. These puppies lasted 6 miles -- all but the final one in Lumbercamp. Wow. The trail was perfect for a post-rainy night: mainly wide lumber roads. It was pretty easy hiking, and pretty easy to keep my feet relatively dry.

The guidebook says there's something called the "Hillbilly Hilton" in this part of Lumbercamp. I've been excited to see it ever since I began planning this venture. Unfortunately, I must have passed it right by. I thought it would be easily visible, and/or have signage, but I guess not. It's supposed to have a crude bed and table/chair, I believe, plus an iron stove.

Next up was Kettlebowl. Now, Kettlebowl has a reputation. All of the five or so hikers I've met heading west said they got lost there. Joe from this chapter agreed a lot of people get lost there. He showed me loads of photos of the segment, and the different types of signage used. I vowed to rock the Kettlebowl, and be the first thru-hiker this season to successfully navigate it. I did! While this area's trails can always use a little more signage, I didn't have any problems at all. Trail-wise, there were a few nasty, overgrown spots (vegetation up to my waist and shoulders), but overall it wasn't too bad.

To end the day, I ran about 10 miles on the connecting route. We never had any more rain today, and I only changed shoes/socks three times, and that was mainly to be safe.

Thanks to Doug Erickson, my crew member extraordinaire for the weekend.