Originally printed July 20, 2016
Good things come in small packages, they say. Well, I had a small window(package?!?) of time to squeeze in a hike this week. I didn’t want to hike later in the week because of the extreme heat coming soon to our part of the country. And, our schedule this week was a little crowded, so a full day hike was out of the question. That left me with Tuesday afternoon for a hike. Since Jane and I wouldn’t get to our starting point north of West Bend until roughly 3:30, this was going to be a short hop – 5.4 miles. It would also be the latest start to a hike since my very first day on the Ice Age Trail.
Normally, I have been hiking from south to north, starting where I ended my previous hike. That assumes there is a safe place where Jane can wait for me. As we drove north from Milwaukee on US 45, I was checking my map. Based on what I was seeing, the end point appeared to be right along the highway! I certainly didn’t want Jane parked along the shoulder of the highway waiting for me, and we knew that the planned starting point was secure. So we decided before starting to reverse course. Jane would drop me off at the north end point, and I would hike from north to south. Once we actually got to that northern drop off point, we learned there actually was a secure lot close by. But, we stayed with our north-to-south flight plan, since I would get on the trail and hopefully finish my hike 15-20 minutes earlier.
At first, the Kewaskum Segment ran concurrent with the Eisenbahn Trail, a multi-use trail that was an old Chicago and Northwestern right-of-way. Very quickly, I came to a bridge under US 45 that left the Eisenbahn. The guidebook warned me that this underpass is often swamped with water after rains, so I was expecting to walk on a surface that was dirty at best and muddy at worst. I was very surprised to find that the underpass was actually concrete. Yes, there was some ponding of water, but this was much better than what I expected, and it saved me from having to walk across US 45. I walked west near a small “farm” of petroleum tanks. Soon, the trail turned south onto a street that went past the Sunburst Ski area, a system of four hills for downhill skiing and tubing. The Summit Ski Corporation has granted an easement so that the IAT can run across the south end of their property. Since I was skirting a ski hill, the terrain through which I was hiking was quite steep (a “4” out of a possible 5 according to the guidebook). After passing Sunburst, I entered the 125-acre Roman and Mercedes Otten Preserve. What a jewel! The trail skirted along stands of trees separating farm fields – absolutely beautiful views.
Like my last time out, I had a little trouble staying on the trail, but it wasn’t nearly as bad as before. This time, the trail was along the edge of a farmer’s filed of bush beans. I passed a sign and kept walking along the edge of a field. That seemed logical that the trail would go along the edge of the field. It wouldn’t go THROUGH the field, would it? Within another 100 yards, I began to wonder about that, because the trail was getting a bit overgrown and because there were no more trail markers. Back to that last sign. Yes, it was there, but the arrow was pointing directly across the field. I looked across the field, and I could barely make out a trail marker. As I panned back towards me, I could see the trail. It was really nothing more than a footpath across the field, and it was partially obscured by the bush beans. Off I trudged. After a bit, I came out of the last stand of woods on this segment, walked through some more open country, and came to the southern edge of the Kewaskum Segment. It was a beautiful 2.1 mile walk, and I recommend it highly.
At this point the trail led me on a 2.2 Connecting Route to the next chunk of trail, the Southern Kewaskum Segment. I was on quiet county roads the entire time. The roads were relatively quiet, especially considering that people were coming home from work. Still, I hugged the left side of the road facing traffic since there wasn’t much shoulder on these roads. Soon, I came to the left hand turn onto the Southern Kewaskum Segment. This 1.1 mile trail goes up a rise and basically follows a power line right-of-way. Very briefly, it went into some beech and maple woods. But, mostly, it went through grass that came nearly up to my armpits. It terms of scenery, I’ve been on prettier segments. But, I had the feeling that this would be a wonderful place for bird watching or for seeing other animals. As if to prove me right, near the end of the right-of-way, I flushed a fox about ten yards in front of me. It ran ahead of me on the trail for another 10-15 yards before disappearing into the grass again. After a short while, the trail on the right-of-way ended. I turned south onto Friendly Drive, walked 0.3 miles. There was Jane waiting for me.
To celebrate a good hike, we visited the Tochi restaurant in West Bend. Eastsiders in Milwaukee may remember its days as a Shorewood landmark. It moved to West Bend earlier this year. Still great food, but the room is very noisy. We enjoyed our meal dining al fresco.
My Days on the Ice Age Trail 