Originally August 12, 2017.
There is an old saying that the third time is the charm. After having had to cancel this hike twice – once because the trail was closed after high winds and rains and once because of illness – I was really looking forward to hiking the 9.4 mile Albany Segment last Thursday.
Up until this hike, I had restricted my hikes to one day events. I’d hike a segment, then return home to Shorewood. This hike would be the first of a two day set of hikes. My plan was to do the hike, camp overnight at a “family camp” location near Brodhead, WI, and then do a second hike on Friday – just under 16 miles in all. I have hiked that mileage before, so I knew I could do it, but I was interested in seeing how my body would react the second day. Today’s hike would start in the tiny town of Albany and work its way north and west to another small town, Monticello.
My trail angel, Dorothy, couldn’t meet me until 10:30 am, so this hike got started a little later than usual. While I wished the hike could have started when it was cooler, I was extremely grateful for her help. Besides forcing me to walk when it was high heat, the later start presented me with another challenge. According to Weather Channel, the odds for rain went up considerable between 2:00 and 3:00. I was hoping to get my hike done before any rains hit. Meeting Dorothy and driving to my starting point, I saddled up and got started just before 11:00.
Each segment of the trail that I hike is new to me. As a result, I build a picture of it in my mind before I actually see it. Sometimes the reality conforms pretty much to what I imagine. This was not one of those times. For example, I was expecting to see the Little Sugar River and Sugar River a lot. I did see the river at the many bridge crossings as I walked. But, once I got away from those crossings, the rivers were quickly obscured by forest.
This brings me to a second surprise. I’ve been on other “mixed use” trails, and they tended to be pretty open and exposed to the sun. Not the case this time. I think this trail originally was part of an old railroad. While chunks of it were open to the sun, most of it was surrounded by woods, and tree branches hung over the trail like a canopy. More often than not, I was hiking in the shade, and I was grateful for the respite. But, the mosquitoes were awful. If I stopped while I was in the shade, clouds of them would buzz me. That forced me to take my breaks in the heat of the open sun. Lots fewer of them there.
Speaking of critters, this hike was first time I spotted a fish while at one of the river crossings. I think it was a smallmouth bass in the “legal” range of 14+ inches. I also saw a deer crossing the trail about 50 yards in front of me. And, of course, I saw and heard countless birds.
The weather conditions were exactly as predicted. For the first hour, the sky was a brilliant blue with scattered, white puffy clouds. Later, it got progressively more cloudy, and the clouds began to darken. By 1:00, I could begin to see a squall line developing in the west. Fortunately, I was hiking on flat ground, and I was able to make really good time. I finished at 2:10. Three hours and 20 minutes to walk 9.4 miles instead of my estimate of 3 and a half hours. Those ten minutes came in handy. After the hike I drove to the Monticello library to hang out in the cool and to check my messages. Before I could get out of my car, the heavens opened. Heavy, heavy rain. A lightning strike less than 30 miles away, according to the Weather Channel app. No sense getting out of the car and dashing to the library. I waited out the worst of the cloudburst before getting out of my car.
After that, I drove a half hour south to the town of Brodhead. After a quick, early supper at a local greasy spoon, I made my way to the Crazy Horse Campground. After registering, I drove to my assigned site. This area also got clobbered with rain, and there was a lot of ponding at the various campsites. Fortunately, my area was dry. What wasn’t so fortunate were my neighbors, a group of 6-8 drunken 40-somethings. These folks were just sloppy drunk. Lots of profanity. Lots of braggadocio about their penis sizes. I make no claim of being as pure as the driven snow, but these folks were embarrassing, and it wasn’t 6:00!! I walked back to the registration office, explained my situation, and I was quickly moved to another site far away from them.
Now that I was settled, I had more of a chance to size up this place. For my purposes, this was just what the doctor ordered. Hot showers. A snack shop that sold me a couple of Leinies. A pool if I was so inclined. After reading a bit, I walked back to my camp site. The Habitent went up easily in less than 10 minutes. I quickly got my gear situated and hit the hay for what I hoped would be a good night’s sleep before Friday’s hike.
My Days on the Ice Age Trail 