Wisconsin NCT Day 5: Lake Owen Area to Drummond

Aug. 26, 2018

We heard lots of coyotes howling last night, and once a wolf. It was pretty cool. We set our alarm to wake us at 6 a.m. because we need to be back home in time to host a book club meeting tonight. 

We had eaten, broke camp and were on the trail by 7:30 a.m. Because we'd gone so much farther than planned yesterday, today we had just 4.4 miles left to the Drummond trailhead. 

The mosquitoes were out in full force once again, and it was muggy with no breeze. So not the most pleasant. We also ran in to several stretches with lots of wild raspberries that scratched us. Oh, well!

Lots of hunting dogs were out; we think they might have been in training to hunt bears, which is controversial here. Passed Sally's Overlook, which appears to need some TLC, to say the least.

Reached the trailhead by 9:30 and are on the way home. When and where will we tackle the next stretch of the NCT?!

Snowshoe and Stubs

Miles: 4.3

WI NCT Miles to Date: 80.0

Total NCT Miles to Date: 271.9

Wisconsin NCT Day 4: Marengo Shelter to Lake Owen Area

Aug. 25, 2018

Today was beautiful! We got up and partially packed, then backtracked a little to check out the Swedish settlement. We saw the ruins of a barn, an intact springhouse and the spot where the root cellar had been. Interpretive plaques told about the family that lived there. It was interesting. What a hard life it must have been to settle this rocky land.

Back at the shelter, we packed up and bid Milkweed adieu. She was heading back east to her car. We were heading westward. After crossing Old Grade Road, we ran into a group of hikers. They were members of the Chequamegon chapter of the NCT! Marty Swank was even there, the former chair I'd been emailing before this trip. They told us we shouldn't camp at Two Lakes campground as we had planned, but should instead hike a little further to the adjacent peninsula, where there was a campsite-in-development right on the lake with a bench and little beach. They gave us easy directions on how to find it, then bid us farewell.

The spot we were standing at was an overlook, so we hiked up. It offered fantastic views -- maybe 180 degrees. Then it was back down and onward. 

Our big challenge today were the mosquitoes. After all of that rain, they were out in force. But we enjoyed the day, especially crossing some beaver dams. But then, as so often happens, a snag. In this case, a big one. 

We reached the Two Lakes campground. I was ready for a snack, but we opted to wait until we reached the campsite. For some reason I thought it was less than a mile away. In reality, the start of the peninsula itself was a mile or so away, and the volunteer pointed to the beach site as down the peninsula, across the bottom and at the start of the way back up -- so maybe 2-3 miles away.

We were told the campsite was past an old area where power lines once passed, and that it was a driveway with carsonite NCT posts on either side. The road was big, because it once led to a resort. It was also flagged since the NCT was going to create a campground there, and there was a bench at the site. How could we miss with all of that info? 

Our first surprise was hiking more than a mile and finding ourselves barely at the peninsula. It was clearly going to be farther than we thought. I again didn't eat anything even though I was quite hungry because, well, we were almost there.

We found the area where the power lines had once been, but we never found a big road, much less one flagged and with carsonite posts on either side. We did spot a bench trailside, but it was on a cliff above the beach. Where was this place? And how could two people miss it if it was so easy to find? I have no clue, but we marched almost all the way up the other side of the peninsula before giving up and deciding we needed to find a spot in the woods and camp. It was already 7 p.m. and we were closing in on another 20-mile day. It was too late, and we'd gone too far, to try and re-hike everything looking for this spot -- which we might never find anyway. 

Thank goodness we only hiked back about 10 minutes when I saw a pine forest that abutted the lake. It was easy to clear a flat space for our tent, and it was easy to wash up. There was even a nice knoll facing the lake to sit and eat our dinner. 

But I had been hangry for the last few hours, and so it had been stressful trying to find the beach site. I may have said some naughty words. The takeaway? Always eat/drink when you need to, even if you think camp is only a few minutes away. Because it may actually be 2 hours away! 

Miles: =24.5

WI NCT Miles to Date: 75.7

Total NCT Miles to Date: 267.6

Wisconsin NCT Day 3: Mellen to Marengo Shelter

Aug. 24, 2018

There's nothing like hiking in the rain! When I'd planned this little trip, the forecast called for nice weather. As our departure day drew close, it changed to rain for today. I laid out my rain gear, but forgot my coat. While it was supposed to be 65 degrees -- not that cold -- it was supposed to rain the entire day. I bought a poncho last night, then decided this morning (while it was pouring) that I needed more protection. So we stopped at the Wal-Mart in Ashland en route to our rendezvous with trail angels Bob and Jan Zeilenga and I got a raincoat. Good call!

Bob and Jan are lovely folks who shuttled us from the trailhead in Drummond -- where we'll end Sunday morning and dropped our car -- back to the trailhead on Kornstead Road. They live in Florida most of the year, but have a home near Lake Owen here and volunteer with the NCT because the trail passes so close to their home. How kind of them!

It was raining pretty hard when they dropped us off. Oh well, at least it was warm out! As hikes in the rain go, this wasn't so bad because it was a warm rain. And it kept the mosquitoes away. Still, it's never great because you can't see much and can't enjoy any snack breaks or lunch. It was especially hard on this trail because there are no benches trailside anywhere, and there weren't even good rocks or tree stumps to sit down on or set our packs when we stopped -- and we didn't want to set them in the mud. Oh -- the other positive is that several bridges are out, necessitating wet-water crossings, but it didn't matter since our feet were wet anyway. J

We had maybe a one-hour break from the rain about 4-5 p.m., but then it really began to pour again. Our original plan had been to camp at Beaver Lake campground, but it was raining hard when we reached that spot about 3, and we didn't want to set up camp in the rain, so we opted to push on another 5 miles to the Marengo Adirondack shelter, which is just past an old Swedish settlement.

Various mileage signs we saw along the way contradicted our maps, so that was frustrating - how many miles did we have left?! Of course it was more than we thought/hoped, but eventually we reached the shelter at 7 p.m. Athena/Milkweed was there for the second night and graciously made room for us and let us use her clothesline and enjoy her fire. We shared some fresh veggies, cheese and coffee with her.

The rain had stopped by the time we reached the shelter, but we got chilled quickly once we stopped moving. So I headed down to the river and washed up, then put on dry clothes. Our dinner tasted great after our long, difficult day. Tomorrow should be better!

Snowshoe and Stubs

Miles: =19

WI NCT Miles to Date: 51.2

Total NCT Miles to Date: 243.1

Wisconsin NCT Day 2: Hwy. 169 to Mellen

Aug. 23, 2018

What a glorious day on the trail! Trail angel Bethany met Stubs and me in downtown Mellen, then shuttled us to Vogues Road, where I'd left off last November. It was sunny and cool and we enjoyed walking about three miles along Hwy. 169, which was devoid of traffic and lined with trees.

The paper maps I have said this connecting road route was +6 miles, but Bethany showed us a new trail and trailhead/parking lot about 3.5 miles down the road that shaves 2-3 miles from the total. I'm glad she pointed that out because while we would have noticed the parking lot, the trail's start across the road wasn't marked well and was difficult to see (a mowed path in the grass) if you weren't looking at it just right.

But we got on the path, which winds several miles before merging with the trails in Copper Falls State Park. I'd always wanted to see this park, which is noted for its waterfalls. They were lovely, but on the small side. I'm guessing it's because we've had such a dry summer. 

From there, the trail led through a prairie that was in full bloom with goldenrod and was gorgeous. The trail got pretty gnarly as it flowed into Mellen, and we may have missed one-quarter of a mile or so because the trail sort of ended in impassable scrub, so we got up on the road and walked into town.

Our plan had been to end the day here, but since that new pathway shortened our day by a few miles, we decided to add on the next connecting road route, which was just 2.3 miles.

Since Stubs isn't trying to section-hike the whole NCT, he moved our car up to the trailhead at Kornstead Road and hiked back toward me. He lucked out -- the trail from Mellen goes straight uphill for most of those 2.3 miles. It wasn't so bad at first, when the road was blacktopped, but it turned into gravel eventually, and that was hard on the feet after hiking 18 miles already. But we made it!

Snowshoe and Stubs

Miles: =20

WI NCT Miles to Date: 32.2

Total NCT Miles to Date: 224.1