Day 17: Waupaca River to Rosholt

Started the day in the lovely Waupaca River segment. When I passed through in 2013 the cabin was locked. It was open today, so I peeked inside and signed the register.

Skunk and Foster Lakes were quite pretty, although I got stymied at the same spot as in 2013. When you enter the cornfield, there are one or two key blazes/arrows missing. I passed the spot where I should have entered into the woods. When I realized it, it was easier to bushwhack and get onto the trail (thanks to GPS) than backtrack. Plus I'd been looking into the woods at every trail intersection when I'd skirted the cornfield and hadn't seen any blazes, so they were either covered by vegetation or set back a ways onto the trail.

I mapped out my own connecting route to Iola/New Hope, which took me on some very pretty side roads. It was great because there were few cars and lots of shade, and it was about 80 today.

At Iola, some guy maintaining the ski trails asked why I was hiking the IAT. He said most people he met were recently divorced, had had cancer, were retired, were seeking something, etc., and he wanted to know my reason. I didn't have anything compelling other than that I wanted to do it. :) He mentioned some rich guy from the Cities landed his private helicopter at the ski hill so he could hike the segment. He was segment-hiking, flying his chopper to all of the legs. Ha!

Ended the day on a connecting route a bit north of Rosholt.

Day 16: Bohn Lake to Waupaca River

Sunday, Sept. 13, 2015

Started off the morning taking some photos with Randy Lennartz, an IATA member who likes to publicize the trail in Waushara County. Hope they turn out well!

It was a beautiful day -- not too warm, not too cool -- and Ed was able to hike back towards me on quite a few segments while crewing me. Bohn Lake was gorgeous. So were Emmons and Hartman Creek. Ed and I really enjoyed the latter. The scenery was great, plus the terrain was as well. It was gently undulating; nothing too strenuous. We hit it at the end of the day and saw a lot of deer and turkey. I saw a groundhog waddle across the trail -- I think the first groundhog I've seen in the wild.

Spending the night with friends in Plover.

Day 15: Western Bifurcation and Chaffee Creek to Bohn Lake

I'm generally a purist. If I'm going to thru-hike a trail, I like to hike it from one end to the other. No interruptions, no switching back and forth. But not this time.

Due to my not-quite-healthy feet, I didn't think it was wise to do 80 miles straight on blacktop (western bifurcation). So today I did the last 12.5 miles of the western bifurcation, up to Chaffee Creek. Then I started in on Chaffee Creek and headed west. I'll pick up the rest of the western bifurcation next week, when I briefly return home to catch a performance of "The Newsies."

The bifurcation miles I did were actually quite lovely. The day was sunny and cool, and the scenery in this part of the state is just beautiful. A lot of fragrant pine forests and pretty, bucolic scenery.

The trails were wonderful, too, of course. They're some of my favorites. Who doesn't like hiking through a giant culvert under I-39?! And how can you not enjoy Mecan River? I like the river portions, naturally, but I also love the expansive rolling field at the end. I was able to hike the new little piece of trail -- I believe part of Mecan River -- that was recently added off of Cumberland Avenue. Nice! I like the furniture in the Greenwood segment, too.

Tonight we're staying with Agnes at the Mecan River House. The place is great, and Agnes is a gem. So friendly and hospitable. (She always lets me wash my hiking duds, too.) I highly recommend it if you're in the area.

Day 14: Groves-Pertzborn to Baraboo

Ed came on board to crew me through the weekend. The day was sunny and cool in the morning -- YES! We had a fantastic hike through the new Gibraltar segment. It's really quite stunning. I ran into a Thousand-Miler Wannabe there -- Annie Banani (sp?). 

We'd decided not to stress about the ferry. If we made it, we made it. If not, no big deal (we couldn't remember how long it took, but thought it was a 20-minute wait). Well, just as we came into sight of the river, the ferry was pulling up. We figured we missed it. For about a second. Then I said, "Let's run!" I took off running for the ferry, while Ed dashed for the car. I made it on fairly easily. The first ramp closed, and Ed wasn't on. The second ramp closed. The third ramp was about to close when Ed drove on. We made it! Turns out the crossings only take about 5 minutes each, but it was still a bit of a thrill to race and get on.

In 2013, I didn't get to experience the Merrimac segment because it was closed for logging. This year I got to hike all of it. At first I hated it -- you start off hiking next to an electric fence. Like, within 6 inches of it. I was terrified I'd be electrocuted if I stumbled and fell into it. There were lots of prickly bushes on the other side, so I had to plow through those so I didn't fall into the fence. After about 10 minutes of this, the trail diverted from the fence and was lovely. Later, Ed told me those fences only have low doses of electricity to keep out animals. I thought if I touched it, I'd be electrocuted to death. 

Devil's Lake was gorgeous, but tough. The worst part, though, was that I couldn't find Ed after descending from the West Bluff. He'd followed signs for the eastern bifurcation, while I was taking the western bifurcation. To make matters worse, we have AT&T, which doesn't work almost anywhere in Baraboo. Long story short, we couldn't find one another for about 2 hours at the end of the day. Ed finally found me at the UW-Baraboo campus. The hike through Baraboo, by the way, is one of the loveliest of any city hikes on the IAT.

Day 13: Springfield Corners to Groves-Pertzborn

Thursday, Sept. 10

I showed up at Unity's front door shortly after 7 a.m. The earliest I could be seen was 10:20. The doctor said I could have cellulitis once again, although this reddish, hot area on the bottom of my foot could just be damaged tissue from so much hiking. She wasn't sure, so she prescribed antibiotics just in case.

Got on the road shortly before noon. It had been rainy in the morning, but the day turned out sunny, warm and beautiful. I love the countryside around Lodi. It's some of the most beautiful in the state. Picked up some free tomatoes a farmer was giving away -- nice!

The Lodi Marsh segments are some of my favorites; they were beautiful, as always. I also like walking through Lodi. Ended the day with a nice walk through Groves-Pertzborn. My feet appreciated an 18-mile day!

Day 12: Madison to Springfield Corners

Wednesday, Sept. 9

Started the day off in the middle of the Madison segment. When I got to the connecting route to Cross Plains, I tried a new path. In 2013, I hated the stretch along a road with a quarry; trucks were constantly coming and going, and it was loud, noisy and dusty. So I took a side road and then hiked on the railroad tracks into Cross Plains. Think I shaved about a mile off, too. Much nicer, although it's hard to hike on railroad tracks.

Stopped in at the IATA office, and the only one there was Matt. What a nice guy. I filled my Camelbak there, dropped off a trail journal I'm donating and then left. Then Matt helped my parents figure out how to meet me at Table Bluff, since downtown Cross Plains is under construction.

En route to Table Bluff, I ran into IATA volunteer Tess Mulrooney, who had been painting blazes at Table Bluff and trimming the trail. Had a wonderful stroll through Table Bluff, then headed over to the new segment at Springfield Corners. You walk in through a lumpy farm field, which isn't much fun, but then the trail picks up and is wonderful. I saw a buck, which is always fun.

Back in Madison, I tried to go to urgent care with Unity, our new insurer. I was afraid I had cellulitis once again, a skin infection that I got on the bottoms of my feet in 2013. There was a 90-minute wait, which they said was normal, but I wasn't even guaranteed to get seen. Gee! We had Dean Care for 25 years, and never waited more than 20 minutes in urgent care. I decided to leave and try to see my doctor tomorrow morning.

Day 11: Albany to Madison

Happy Birthday to me! I'm celebrating my second b-day on the IAT. Who would've thought?!

In 2013, I started my b-day hiking the Mondeaux Esker. Today Ed dropped me off near the end of the Albany section on a rail-trail, then left for work. My parents were going to crew me the rest of the day. The first two hours were fine, and then it poured for about 20 minutes. Not too bad.

During those first two hours -- even though I was trying to keep an eye on the rail-trail signage -- I got off on the wrong trail. Meaning I stayed on the same one, and didn't switch over. I did not notice any markings, although I suppose there was one. This happened to me in 2013 as well. Maybe a big blaze at that spot would help.

So I ended up in New Glarus, which is where my parents were (they thought the trail went there). They helped me get back on track, and I was off again.

The weather was pretty nice, although humid and buggy at times. Most of the Brooklyn Wildlife and Montrose segments were gorgeous, although two walks through cornfields in the latter were pretty bad -- the vegetation was waist- and shoulder-high and quite thick in places so that it was difficult to walk. And because it had rained earlier in the day, I emerged soaking wet and filthy. Oh well!

To keep the ice cream theme going, I had my parents pick up some turtle ice cream at the Culver's in Verona. Yum!

Because Madison is my home area, I got to see one of my kids tonight, plus my puppy and some friends. Also, my ace massage therapist, Tom Harding, worked out some of the kinks in my now-older body. Time to rest up for tomorrow.