Day 19: Connecting Route, New Hope/Iola Ski Hill, Connecting Route, Skunk and Foster Lakes, Waupaca River

We got some rain overnight, but nothing too bad. Phil Brinkman, a friend and fellow book club member, was my crew member today. He so kindly offered to bring me a treat, so I requested a scone. He brought a delicious raspberry one that I'm still dreaming about.

The day started off with a bang: I took a wrong turn on the connecting route. I was a mile or so off before I realized what I'd done. That is so annoying! Luckily, things got better. I had a nice walk through New Hope/Iola Ski Hill; most of the trail was lovely, although there were two spots where enormous downed trees with lots of branches were difficult to get around and impossible to walk over.

A long connecting route was next. Not too fun, but the route was pretty, and I did see lots of glacial boulders in farm fields.

Skunk and Foster Lakes were pretty walks after getting through some early bramble -- and one big snafu. This segment pops you out on the road for a short road walk before picking the trail back up. When this situation occurs, the short jog on roads is marked. Not this time. I popped out of the woods with no indication of which way to go. I had a map, but discovered the map was cut off right in the middle of this segment. Phil was supposed to be on this road waiting for me -- he had my other maps -- but was at a parking lot we thought would be here, but was elsewhere. Neither of our cell phones had service.

I tried asking two locals which way to go, but neither one knew. Luckily Phil was on the ball and, after studying the maps some more, realized I would be emerging at this road, not the parking lot. So after freaking out a bit, I was relieved when Phil suddenly magically appeared on the road.

My last hike for the day was through the bulk of the Waupaca River segment. This is another lovely segment: great footing, great views, well maintained. Phil says he plans to return and go trout fishing there.

Have to mention Dreams of Yesteryear and A Victorian Swan on Water. I stayed at both Stevens Point B&Bs the last two nights. They're a block apart, and both are lovely properties with the nicest innkeepers, not to mention great food. I highly recommend them when hiking the IAT.

Day 18: Ringle, Connecting Route

I started off my day on the last bit of the Ringle segment. A lush, green carpet of soft moss unrolled before me in the forest. It was pretty cool to see, and definitely nice on the feet. The woods dump you out onto the Mountain Bay State Trail, a nice, flat, crushed limestone path. Again, really nice! I loved my experience in Marathon County. The trails were pretty and well-maintained, and chapter chair David Mix was very helpful and accommodating.

After that nice start, I was faced with a roughly 30-mile connecting route. I planned to do about 25 miles of it. Connecting routes are so hard on your feet. I was lucky in that I was able to walk on relatively soft, gravel shoulders for much of the way, which is not always possible. Highway I was newly paved, so both the shoulder and the road felt cushy. Got a lot of running in in both Ringle and the connecting route. Unfortunately, the last 6 or so miles on County A were awful. It was one of those roads where they spread blacktop or tar and dump stones on top. Those last few miles beat up my feet terribly. :( Oh well, that's part of doing a thru-hike.

Since I was on relatively main roads all day, no dog issues; people keep their dogs constrained so they don't get hit by cars, I imagine. At the end of the day, though, the one dog that didn't like me passing his property was, of all breeds, a Bassett hound. He waddled as quickly as he could on his stubby little legs right into the busy road and kept baying at me. I wasn't worried, though. Even after a 30-mile day, I figured I could outrun him.

The story of my lost sunglasses
So I have a favorite pair of running sunglasses that I brought along. I was wearing them this morning, then couldn't find them after a few hours. I frantically searched my Camelbak, pockets, etc., to no avail. I figured they must have slipped off the top of my head, where I prop them sometimes, when I was checking out this sign in Hatley and futzing around with my pack, my vest, etc. That makes the third thing I've lost so far: a pack of my energy jellies, a map and now my sunglasses.

A few hours later, I was trying to read an interesting sign across the road, but it was a bit blurry. So I ... took my sunglasses off my face to see it better. And that, folks, is how I amuse myself on the trail. (That is not old age, by the way, it's trail fatigue.)

If that wasn't funny enough, near the end of the day I tried to call Patricia to arrange my pick-up. No cell service. Horrors! Would I have to walk all night? I took off my sunglasses (it was cloudy now anyway) and hooked them on my Camelbak strap, even though I know that's not wise. I wanted to try and find someone and ask to use their cell phone, and I wanted people to see the sweet face of a middle-aged lady. Lucky me, another older woman was out walking (on that horrible road), and had a cell phone on her. She let me call Patricia and we arranged the pick-up.

So Patricia opens the car door. I'm pooped, so I quickly whip off my Camelbak and climb in. We've driven a few miles when I remember my sunglasses were on my Camelbak strap. If I just take off my pack without grabbing the glasses, they slide off. I start pawing through everything in the van to see if I'd thought to place them inside, but no luck. So we turn around and go back to where I ended. But there are no sunglasses on the ground. I check the car once again, and they'd slid under my car seat. Oops. Those naughty sunglasses!

Day 17: Connecting Route, Plover River, Eau Claire Dells, Ringle

People often ask me if I'm afraid. Afraid to be alone for five weeks, afraid to be alone in the woods, afraid to be on the Ice Age Trail, I guess. No, I've never been afraid. Until today.

Now, I'm largely out of bear country. I was a tad nervous about running into one of those. But today I was reminded of what I truly fear: aggressive dogs. I was on a re-route around an IAT section closed for bow-hunting. A dog came racing at me, barking furiously. Long story short, it kept charging at me, and I had to walk backwards yelling at it. At the property line it ran back to its house, but kept barking. Not a good sign. I hustled to the trailhead -- at least a half-mile away -- and the dog ran into the middle of the road and barked at me the entire time. I had to keep turning around to make sure it wasn't suddenly going to charge at me again. It appears the owners were home, due to vehicles and other clues; no idea how they could have missed their dog barking furiously for 10  minutes straight. I was terrified. It was not fun.

Not an hour later, another dog raced out at me. Similar scenario, although at least this time the owner was outside. But she was one of those people who just calls to her dog from the porch instead of running out to get it. The dog ignored her, of course, and kept charging at me. Finally the lady walked out and got the dumb dog, then told me, "He wouldn't have hurt you." Yeah, right. I've heard that before, right as a dog ran up and bit me.

Nasty dogs aside, it was a beautiful day for a hike. It's never that fun to walk or run long miles on a connecting route, but I got the job done. The Plover River segment was beautiful; in parts it looks like a swamp or bayou, and the river has some pretty stretches. The E.C. Dells were reminiscent of Grandfather Falls, with jumbled rocks along the trail and in the river, and lots of rushing water from the force of the dam. The first part of Ringle was quite woodsy; I didn't pay too much attention as I was eager to reach the van.

Today Bobbie Joy and Patricia were my crew members (and will be for the next few days). They were fantastic, leaving me "trail magic" in the form of candies with my water drops and bringing amazing treats when they came to pick me up at the end of the day. Fortuitously, Patricia is a nurse practitioner. I thought I might be having an adverse reaction to my antibiotics, and she confirmed that that was likely the case. Since I only had a day-and-a-half left to take them, I'm tossing them.

Thanks to chapter chair David Mix for giving me the skinny about all of the Marathon County trails before I started out this morning. Two sections were closed for hunting, and he pointed out other useful things as well.

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.

Day 15: Highland Lakes East, Old Railroad, Lumbercamp

Today started out with a connecting route of 4.5 miles. It was a beautiful run, and the weather was perfect. Highland Lakes East was strange. I entered on a wide service-type road, then was almost immediately turned into the woods, had to crash through bramble, and was dumped out on a road. Not at all what the map indicated, but there were markers galore pointing me there, and a big Ice Age Trail sign when I exited. However, there were no directional markers from there. What the heck?!

Not wanting more mishaps, I simply followed the roads to the trail’s end point. When I got there, Doug said he’d tried to walk in to meet me, but it was all swampy and basically impassible. So I’m guessing those arrows were a re-route around the swampy area. Still, there should have been some kind of explanation and markers directing you.

Old Railroad was a pretty nice hike. It followed an old railbed for the most part, so it was flat and reasonably wide. There were some sections with grass almost to the knees, but nothing that bad. At one point you passed by some beautiful lakes.

The last section I tackled today was the first chunk of Lumbercamp. Gosh, this was a beautiful stretch! Nice, wide, grassy paths. The first section was covered with the most beautiful clover, and when sections opened up around you, it looked like a golf course. I just loved this. Unfortunately, Doug ran to meet me and stumbled on a hidden rock, wrenching his ankle pretty badly. It’s all swollen tonight. Still, great crew member that he is, he washed my clothes at the next-door Laundromat (yet another reason to love this Holiday Inn Express) and bought me some Epsom salts. I think he needs to use them on that ankle.

Didn’t see any hikers today, but at one point I spied some animal in the distance that looked like a Shetland pony; it trotted off into the woods. Now, I’m sure it wasn’t a Shetland pony. But what could it be? Its gait was clearly like that of a horse or dog, not a deer or bear. Wolf? Possibly, but aren’t they nocturnal? (I keep telling myself they are.) Plus there was that blond mane thing going. Interesting …

While Old Railroad and Lumbercamp could use a bit more signage, it would be hard to get lost there. The arrows and markings are there for any turn. If you don’t see anything, just keep going straight. Still, it’s always nice to have a reassurance marker now and then, especially if you’ll be walking straight for, say, 10 or 15 minutes. But overall, a good experience and a great day.

Day 14: Harrison Hills, Parrish Hills, Highland Lakes West

Today I bid adieu to Maura, which was sad. She was a great crew member. She got me to my first segment (the end of Harrison Hills), dropped some water for me at Parrish Hills, then headed home. My friend Doug was scheduled to arrive about 6 p.m. tonight.

I was now in Langlade County. The infamous Langlade County. People say the trails here aren’t marked well and are overgrown. I started Parrish Hills skirting around the first part (chapter chair Joe’s recommendation), because there’s a creek crossing and lots of wet spots. With my blisters still healing, and having no crew support today, it wouldn’t be good to have wet feet. After that slight detour I started in on the real trail and all was going well for the first mile – until I passed a little lake and popped out into a large clearing. The arrow pointed me straight ahead – east, the way I needed to go – but I couldn’t find any arrows or markings across the meadow back into the woods. Heck, I couldn’t even find any path into the woods. What to do? Retrace my steps and take a really long detour? Not good. I saw a service road to the north, and decided to follow that. Apparently a lot of eastbound hikers must do this, because after about a half-mile or so I found a marker saying the Ice Age Trail was up ahead. When I got to the trail, it was the spot where I would have come out of the woods across that clearing, if I could have figured out how to get into it.

So now the question was whether to get back on the trail. This spot was where Joe told me there were signage issues because storms had knocked down a lot of trees with blazes. He said even experienced hikers had gotten turned around here, and had given me a re-route. After the clearing experience, I decided to take the re-route, which was pretty long and all on gravel or paved roads – not fun for the feet.

While on the re-route, I heard lots of hunting dogs barking and yowling. Soon several pick-ups filled with dogs in cages rumbled by on the gravel road. A few dogs were running along the road, bells jangling around their necks. I stopped one of the hunters and asked if the dogs had bear bells on. Yep, he said, to keep away the bears and also the wolves, the latter of which would kill the dogs without hesitation. I said a lot of hikers had bear bells on, but I didn’t have any. He told me bear bells really aren’t that effective; what I needed was mace.

I was going for a nice hike and had to go through bramble. I was going for a nice hike and had to go through bramble and hundreds of bees. I was going for a nice hike and had to go through bramble, hundreds of bees and walk without a bear bell. I was going for a nice hike and had to go through bramble, hundreds of bees, walk without a bear bell and walk without mace.

Eventually I got back to the trail at a wayside park. And it was there that I finally met Papa Bear and Hiker Dude (see photo), two men I’d heard were thru-hiking east to west. I’d read a bit of Hiker Dude’s blog before I started my own hike and got too busy to read it regularly. The two were quite nice, and we chatted for a while, swapping tales of the trails we’d each just left behind. I was glad to hear my next few miles would be easy. I felt badly I didn’t have equally cheery news for them about what lie ahead. Papa Bear told me tomorrow was the start of some kind of "archery" hunting, and he’d purchased blaze-orange hats for just $3 at the Wal-Mart in Antigo. Well, the Wal-Mart is right behind our hotel (I love this hotel), so I figured I’d get me one for tomorrow.

I continued on my way, and suddenly got a call from Doug. He’d arrived early. Looking down at my watch, I was horrified. He was early, and I was about 2 hours behind schedule, thanks to getting lost and the long detours I’d had to take. Thankfully the rest of Parrish Hills and Highland Lakes West were great – mainly Highland Lakes West, which was mostly a flat, wide, dirt path. I was able to run much of the way, and shaved an hour off my expected arrival time.

Doug and I enjoyed a great fish fry in Antigo at Heartbreaker’s Bar, I think it was called. Highly recommend it. And great crew member that he is, he ran over to Wal-Mart and got us both blaze orange hats.

Day 13: Underdown, Alta Junction, Harrison Hills

It was great having Maura with me on my “zero” day. I was bummed at having to take one, to say the least, but she made it fun. We rented “Admission” from Red Box, ate subs and just had a lot of laughs. 

We also stopped over at the home of Langlade County chapter heads Joe and Peg Jopek. What a nice couple! Joe showed me loads of photos of the upcoming segments in Langlade County, known to be confusing. He pointed out how this county signs the trail, the difference in ATV signs vs. Ice Age (they’re very similar), etc. He also advised me to do a slight detour around the start of Parrish Hills tomorrow, since there’s a creek crossing and lots of soggy areas, which won’t be a good thing for healing blisters. And he and Peg will be dropping water for me tomorrow afternoon, when Maura leaves for home and I won’t have my next crew member, Doug Erickson, until the evening. What service!

On to today. I took it easy, only scheduling about 14 miles. It was pretty nice, I have to admit. We got to sleep in a bit, enjoy the hotel breakfast, let the dew burn off the grass so my feet wouldn’t get soaked and let things warm up a bit (overnight low was about 35). The last bit of Underdown I did was pretty mosquito-y. Ugh. I ran into my second hiker, Bob from Two Rivers. Bob has been hiking segments every summer for several years, logging about 250 miles/summer. Today he drove all the way from Two Rivers just to hike all day, then drive home – and it’s 3 hours each way. That’s dedication!

Alta Junction is a new, short segment, with nice, new signage.

I got about ¾ of the way through Harrison Hills. As its name implies, it’s pretty hilly. And they’re the long, super-steep uphills and downhills that aren’t easy to do either way. The nasty mosquitoes continued until afternoon, when a wonderful, strong breeze blew up and got them out of my way.

You know, I know the mosquitoes are much worse in the heart of summer. And I’ve hiked through much worse buggy conditions, like some biting black flies in British Columbia that relentlessly pestered me for hours on end. So the mosquitoes I’ve encountered thus far haven’t been that bad. And yet … they are. When you’re hiking all day, every day, even a modest number of mosquitoes buzzing in your ears, lodging in your eyes, biting your shoulders, etc. are highly annoying. Sometimes I yell at them out loud. Like, “Knock it off, already!” Or, “That. Is. Enough!” Doesn’t help, of course, but it makes me feel better.

This afternoon I ran into another thru-hiker, Adam from the Milwaukee area. He said Parrish Hills wasn’t too bad, but the Kettlebowl is difficult. These are the Langlade County segments often mentioned as confusing. I’m ready to tackle them after Joe’s tutorial yesterday, but I’ll admit I’m a bit nervous. I’ll be tackling Parrish Hills right when my crew is changing, so I’ll be alone in there. Yikes!

So Harrison Hills so far has been mostly lovely. Nice trails, albeit some quite hard. There were just two really nasty sections of overgrown raspberries that cut me to shreds and tripped me. When I made it through, I rewarded myself with a bite of a candy bar – and it was right there that the path snaked off in an unexpected direction, so I missed the turn. Luckily I realized it pretty quickly. And hey, I got a real cool mushroom shot on the wrong path (see below).

The antibiotics seem to have kicked in quickly. My feet felt pretty darn good today, and the fever’s definitely gone. Tomorrow I’ll bump up to 20 and see how it goes. Beam me good directional thoughts so I don’t get lost in Parrish Hills!