Originally printed June 11, 2016
Hot and humid. Highs projected for 90 degrees. Time for a hike.
Huh?? On a day that most people would spend in air conditioned comfort, I was spending the Friday morning and early afternoon hiking. With the choir season over, I want to get in as much hiking as possible. As long as there was no risk of a storm firing up, I was good to go. My only concession to the weather was starting my hike an hour earlier.
On this day, I was grateful to David and Jeannie from the Waukesha/Milwaukee chapter of the Ice Age Trail Alliance for picking me up at the end point of my hike and taking me to my starting point. In this way, I could simply do the hike, then get in my car and drive home. Jeannie and I exchanged emails prior to Friday, and there was a little back-and-forth about where the end point was. I was planning to meet at a DNR parking lot on Waukesha County Line Road – Highway Q – about 1/2 of a mile east of the trail’s end. That’s what showed on my map and my guide book, both printed in 2014. What Jeannie referred to was a lot on Highway K. This is probably one of those cases where a phone call would have been better than an email. Yes, there was a lot on Washington County K just north of its intersection with County Q, but it wasn’t marked on my map. Plus, there were two Highway Ks; one in Waukesha County eight miles south and one in Washington County. So, at 8:00, I was about a half mile away from my ride wondering where she was. It was only when I called Jeannie that we recognized the source for the misunderstanding. She was going to contact her husband, David, who was in his truck waiting for me. At that point, I realized I was in cell phone hell when the call suddenly was cut off. So, I started driving west in hopes of finding David. Fortunately, we each know the make and model of the other person’s vehicle, so we quickly found each other. I parked my car at the new lot, got in his truck, and we were off.
On the way, I learned that David and Jeannie were members of the 1000 Mile Club, meaning they had hiked the entire trail. They pulled a pop-up camper to various sites and used them as base camps for 2-3 days at a time. For the last leg of their hike in the extreme northwest part of the state, they decided on the fly to stay up there for a week to knock off the last 90 miles. An interesting fact: David informed me that they hiked in weather ranging from the 90s to minus 3. Very soon, we were at the staring point at Centennial Park in Hartland. Dave and I said our good-byes, and I got started after a quick visit to the rest room and some stretching. It was in the high 60s, clear, and very humid. It was 8:40 a.m.
The first leg of my hike was a long connecting route of 1.7 miles, most of which was along Dorn Road. There was no shade to speak of, and the asphalt road was already baking. It didn’t take me long to build up a lather. I walked past a combination of farms and new subdivisions. Interestingly, the only deer I saw the entire hike was along this section.
Soon, I entered the first leg of the actual Merton Segment, a wooded footpath about a mile long. It had rained heavily the night before, and there was a lot of mud and standing water. I was wearing Gore-tex shoes, and I was concerned about getting my feet wet and courting blisters as a result. So, at my earliest opportunity, I changed into waterproof shoes.
I pack roughly 10 pounds of gear in my backpack. A lot of it I pack “just in case”, but I really hope I never need it. That’s the case with the extra shoes. For 12 hikes, I wondered about my choice to pack them, since they take up valuable room and weigh more than any other items I carry. Today the extra shoes earned their value. I also put on my gaitors to keep the mud and water off my pants and socks. For the rest of the hike, I really focused on the three or four feet in front of me because the rocks and tree roots were extremely wet and slippery. If I wanted to enjoy the view, I made myself stop first. Even so, I still managed to slip and nearly fall a couple of times. By the time I finished this first leg at 10:30, the temperature was now in the high 70s, the humidity was oppressive, and my shirt was soaked.
After a brief walk on another connecting link, I turned left onto the Bugline Trail, a paved, multi-use trail which is part of the Waukesha County Park System. I walked northwest on this trail for just under two miles to the end of the Merton Segment. Originally, this was part of a rail line, so the trail was basically flat and wide with some cover from the sun and wind. The country was quite pretty, a combination of farmland and subdivisions.
After I turned off the Bugline Trail, I crossed under a rail bridge and began the 3.1 mile Monches Segment. This trail through a forest of maple trees basically follows along the Oconomowoc River. At first it is along its east side, nestled between the river and Waukesha County Highway E. The the country rolls a bit here, but it is relatively flat. After about a mile, I came to a very impressive bridge built by the volunteers of the Ice Age Trail Alliance. I was very tempted to stop, take off my shoes and socks, and soak my feet in the water passing below me. But, I resisted the temptation, mostly out of concern about being carried off by mosquitoes, and soldiered on. As soon as I crossed the bridge to the west of the river, the terrain became much hillier. This is why the Ice Age Trail Alliance rates this Segment as a “3” for hilliness. I climbed a steep grade that was roughly midway along side a large hill. After a while, I gradually descended to the highway. My car was a short distance away. I stowed my gear and enjoyed some cold chicken and almonds in air conditioned comfort. According to my car’s thermometer, it was now 88. I took off my filthy gaitors and exchanged my mud-caked shoes for what I was originally wearing.
40 minutes later I was home and enjoying a well-deserved shower. I have now broken the century mark, having hiked 107.6 miles if the Ice Age Trail.
My Days on the Ice Age Trail 