Originally printed February 23, 2017.
Sorry this is a little late in being written. My computer was in the shop.
Last week, I hiked a Connecting Route of 13.9 miles from Kewaunee to above Algoma.
What made this walk somewhat unique is that this was only the third time I was hiking with someone. Earlier in the week, a fellow hiker, Dave, posted on the Thousand Mile Club Wannabee Face Book group that he was looking for someone to hike this section with him. I had seen a lot of his posts and pictures from previous hikes, so I was relatively comfortable that he was a legitimate hiker. After an exchange of Face Book notes, we agreed on a plan. He was hiking on Thursday. I was going to meet him at the end point of his Thursday hike at a restaurant in Kewaunee, and then shuttle him to his car which was parked west of town. Then, he’d meet me on Friday morning at the end point of that hike and drive me to the starting point of our hike. After that hike was completed, I would shuttle him back to his car.
Outside of his posts, I knew nothing about Dave, and I wondered what he was like. Hike with the wrong person, and a nearly 14 mile hike could seem like 140 miles! Once I entered the Port ‘o Call restaurant and saw him, my mind was eased. He was easy to spot – he was the only person sporting hikers regalia, including walking sticks. That being said, he didn’t seem to have a hiker’s frame. He was young, over 6 feet tall and big; in his words, he was very out of shape. Yet, he had just finished a 16 mile hike, and he was doing an additional 14 miles the next day. He had already put in over 900 miles on the trail, and he was in the process of mopping up some segments that he previously skipped before putting in for his 1000 Mile Club certificate. So, in my eyes, he was a hiking machine. I drove him to his car, said goodbye and agreed to meet him at our hike’s end point at 8:00 Friday morning. Then I drove to Algoma Beach Hotel, where I would spend the night.
A little later, as I was unpacking my car, he pulled into the lot. Apparently, he discovered what I already knew, that this hotel had the best rates. He was in luck – there was a room available. We agreed to meet and drive into town for dinner. That evening we ate at the Fish Tale Ale House. Pretty good pub food. I learned a little bit more about Dave. He was a year younger than my son. When he wasn’t hiking, he managed an Aldi store in northern Illinois. He’s using the experience on the Ice Age Trail as a building block to hike the Camino De Santiago in Europe. I found that striking since the Martin Sheen movie, “The Way,” is built around a trek on the Camino, and seeing that movie was one of the things that attracted me to try hiking. After a nice meal, we returned home and retired to our respective rooms. I did my usual routine of checking in with Jane, watching some TV, reading, and preparing for the next day. Wonder of wonders, I fell asleep not long after hitting the pillow, and I slept like a rock.
After breakfast in the morning, I drove to the end point of the hike, where Dave was waiting for me. I climbed into his car, and we made the drive into Kewaunee. After a brief equipment check, we were on our way.
After my previous hike in subzero weather, I was ecstatic about our weather that morning. This was the day before the big heat wave that hit our state. We were blessed with brilliant sunshine, a calm breeze, and temperatures in the low 30s, which warmed to the high 30s-low 40s by the time we finished. I actually took off a jacket about a mile into the hike, yet was very comfortable. Happily, I was able to avoid the overheating that plagued me the last time out.
I’ve written before that Connecting Routes can be pretty boring, with nothing but a lot of open farm country. This hike had plenty of that, but it also had a good amount of variety. For example, the hike both began and ended with walks through pretty towns. Plus, several miles of our route ran close to Lake Michigan, which was a sparkling blue that morning. Last, the conversation Dave and I had made the miles go by quickly. We talked about what we were seeing at that very moment. We spoke about previous hikes. I was struck by how much our paths crossed. Politically, we pretty much lined up the same way. Also, he was a band and choir guy in his his school days. When I remarked that I was also a singer, we had that much more to discuss.
While I had quite a bit to make those miles move along, one obstacle I could not avoid was a muscle strain that started with my right hip and moved down the inner part of my right leg. Try as I did, I could not get those muscles to loosen up(Memo to self: pack some Kinesiology tape next time.). The muscle strain bothered me for a lot of the last half of my hike. In particular, the last couple of miles seemed to really drag, almost as if I was hiking on a treadmill. When are we going to reach the end, for Pete’s sake??
Finally, I could see me car; it wasn’t a mirage. We made good time, completing the nearly 14 miles in 5 hours and fifteen minutes. Time to celebrate with a fish fry in Kewaunee!
My Days on the Ice Age Trail 