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

Wisconsin NCT Day 1: Iron County Forest (Hwy. 122 to 169)

Nov. 11, 2017

I'd planned to hike about 25 miles of the North Country Trail today, from the U.P.-Wisconsin border near Ironwood, Michigan, to the Copper Falls area. My friend, Doug, was going to join me.

Yesterday, we hiked about 14 miles of the Ice Age Trail (Harrison Hills) for an article I was writing for Backpacker Magazine. Well, instead of hiking in typical November weather -- about mid-40s for Wisconsin -- it was 2 degrees yesterday morning and it had snowed!

By the time we got on the trail it had warmed up to 23, but that was still far colder than we were prepared for. Not to mention we didn't have good boots for the snow. We soldiered on and completed our hike, but Doug decided he did not want to hike 25 miles today. It wasn't as cold, but there was lots of snow on the trail. Fair enough. I'm the big hiker, not him.

We decided to ax the 12-mile road walk from the border and start in on the trail portion. Trail angel Bethany shuttled us on, and we were off. Sigh. Almost right away we missed an unmarked turn and went a fair way out of our way -- uphill, of course. But we got back on track and actually enjoyed a lovely day in the snow.

Yes, our feet got pretty wet. But the woods were gorgeous in the snow. In the afternoon, the sun came out -- just in time for our arrival at a scenic waterfall, Wren Falls. When we reached the car, I decided to hike the extra 5.1 miles down to Hwy.169 to knock off a few more miles. Since Doug isn't trying to hike the NCT, he took the car into town and got some coffee to warm up while I was hiking.

One thing Doug did gain on this hike was a trail name: Burr. I gave it to him because when he hiked with me on the Ice Age Trail in the summer, he ended up with so many burrs on him that he threw away his clothing rather than pick them off. Then, on the NCT, it was so cold he was shivering -- Brrr! So it's a fun little pun.

Snowshoe

Miles: 12.2
WI NCT Miles to Date: 12.2
Total NCT Miles to Date: 204.1

Day 20: Jackson Creek Campsite to Northern Terminus (270-Degree Overlook)

June 21, 2018

I had a lovely breakfast at my campsite this morning, then packed up for the final day. I had less than 10 miles to cover, and the guidebook promised a nice ending. It said I'd initially climb to the top of Rosebush Ridge, the high point on the trail, then descend down to a nice, flat meadow that would take me to the Otter Road Trailhead.

Ha!

It was once again buggy and hot, and wearing that bug jacket made things hotter and more humid. The hike up to the ridge was intense and a difficult way to start the day. There was no view from the ridge (the guidebook mentioned that, but I was hoping I could sort of see something -- nope). 

I was so excited to get to the meadow! But -- oh no! -- it was very overgrown, potholed and difficult to walk on. So being flat really wasn't much of a help. 

The one bright spot was seeing the Andy Lake campsite. I had originally hoped to make it there last night, and was disappointed to have to stay at Jackson Creek. Well, Jackson Creek was a nice campsite and Andy Lake looked TERRIBLE. It was totally overgrown, there was barely a creek let alone a lake, and the benches at the campsite were all dilapidated. If I had pressed on and hiked until 8 p.m. just to get here, I would have been so mad.

When I was nearing the end of the trail, I popped out on another logging road (or some kind of dirt road). There was one blue blaze, but then the road split and there were no markings. You could continue straight or turn right.

At this intersection, a mama grouse rushed at me. It startled me, but I knew what was going on after my run-in with a mother grouse earlier in the hike. Luckily, this time I was on a very wide road versus the narrow, rocky trail I was on before, so it was easy to dart around her.

I turned at the intersection because I did see a pink ribbon hanging from a tree, and I assumed that must be the marker. But after hiking for quite a while and seeing nothing, I was afraid I'd made a mistake. Maybe the pink ribbon was for the loggers. Maybe I missed seeing a blue blaze while trying to dart around the grouse. Just when I was thinking of backtracking, even though I'd probably gone a half-mile, I saw a blaze! It was the only one on that long stretch of road. 

Soon I was at a trailhead. I knew from dropping my car two days ago that I needed to turn left to get to the Otter Lake trailhead. In minutes I was there, where Brian was waiting. We hiked in together to the spur trail to the overlook. Earlier in our trip, he had said this overlook wasn't that inspiring, but I thought it was awesome.

He took lots of photos and sent the drone up, and then I signed the trail register and took a little peek at the Border Route Trail, which heads east about 60+ miles from the spur trail -- picking up where the SHT ends -- and goes through the Boundary Waters area. It looked pretty rough, and Brian said people often get lost on that trail and the next one that hooks in -- the Kekekabic -- because there aren't many volunteers to maintain them. Yikes! I'll have to hike both someday to finish the North Country National Scenic Trail, which piggybacks on all of these trails.

I do know one thing -- I will be hiking those trails in the fall, when the mosquitoes are dead!

So that's my journey. Oh, one more thing. When I got back to my car and started putting away my gear, I found a tick on my sock. I am happy to say I merely flicked it off without a scream or any flailing.

HIKE ON!

Snowshoe

Miles: =9.4
MN NCT Miles to Date: 320.7

SHT Miles to Date: 320.7

Total NCT Miles to Date: 592.4

Day 19: Camp 20 Road to Jackson Creek Campsite

June 20, 2018

Two days from the end. The plan today was for Harriet to lead me to the Otter Lake trailhead -- I knew I could find it myself, but she insisted on meeting me and leading me there -- to drop my car. This is the trailhead where you can take the spur trail to the terminus at the 270 Degree Overlook. After dropping my car, she was going to take me to Camp 20 Road and drop me off for my last two days, which would involve a final night camping.

Well, on the drive there I suddenly started getting really emotional and started to cry a little. It was weird, because I'm ready to stop hiking. The trail has been wonderful, don't get me wrong, but it's also been hard. And sometimes you're just ready to stop. But as always, long-distance hiking is very therapeutic for me, so it's always sad to end. I guess that's what was happening.

Harriet brought me almost to the Camp 20 trailhead. She had told me the previous day that the road there was terrible, and she wasn't kidding. It's only the final 1/4-mile that's bad, but when I dropped my car there yesterday I was afraid I'd pop all of my tires -- the road is filled with enormous potholes. So I had her drop me off before that last stretch. We parted ways and off I went.

As soon as I hit the trailhead/parking area, I knew what I was in for from last night: MOSQUITOES! They were all over the parking area, and worse when I stepped onto the trail. I wasn't hiking long before a met a young man coming the other way. He also had a big bug jacket on like me, and barely stopped to talk because of the mosquitoes.

There were some scenic spots today, namely the Hellacious Overlook. But a couple of nasty areas, too. At one point, after making it through scruffy vegetation and onto a logging road, I knew I had about a mile to hike before heading back into the woods. Nice, because fewer mosquitoes. After hiking not quite a mile, I suddenly saw a blaze to my left. The trail! 

I followed it in but the trail seemed to end almost right away, so I went back out. Maybe it was the old path and they never painted over those initial blazes. But moving forward, I saw a lot of water in the logging road ahead and no blazes. Back into the woods I went. 

I tried hiking farther, and found another blaze or two, but the trail was really overgrown and at one point there really was nowhere to go. Back out onto the logging road again. I finally looked at my guidebook and it said that if the road was flooded, you could take a side trail around the flooded area. OK, so that route to my left was the detour for the flooded road -- except it DIDN'T GO ANYWHERE! I'm guessing it hasn't been maintained in quite a few years.

Luckily, as I prepared to splash through the flooded road, once I got up close you could just walk on the tall grass on the side and get around it just fine. 

Later in the day, when I was closing in on my campsite, I hit a logging area. There was a blaze on a post right as you got out of the forest and onto the logging road, but it was tilted such that it looked like it was pointing you back into the forest, or possibly up the road. Neither option seemed right, but I walked up and down the logging road and then tried some bushwhacking. Nothing. Finally I spied the path -- it just crossed the logging road and continued on. Sheesh! People need to take more care setting those posts.

When I got to Jackson Creek I was excited to set up my tent. Oops! As I was shaking it out of the bag I realized I'd never dried it out after the last time we used it, which was back in Gooseberry Falls and in the rain. The tent dumped out with a great splash of water.

I wiped most of the tent up with my towel and then spread the rain tarp out over a small tree, and everything dried by bedtime. Yay! 

Unfortunately, the mosquitoes made dinner and washing up in the creek unpleasant. So I hurried into my tent on the early side and got a good jump on writing one of my Star Tribune SHT pieces. 

Oh -- there are some really cool, huge, glacial erratics right outside my campsite.

Snowshoe

Miles: =15.5
MN NCT Miles to Date: 311.3

SHT Miles to Date: 311.3

Total NCT Miles to Date: 583