Originally printed September 9, 2017.
After a pretty good night’s sleep at the Crazy Horse Campground near Brodhead, I was up at 5:30 Friday morning to eat, clean up, break camp and head to the end point of that day’s hike to meet Tess, my trail angel for a second day. Unlike the last time I camped, my eggs were hard boiled instead of soupy. I also had a bowl of oatmeal to fuel myself for the morning’s hike. The night before, the woman behind the desk gave me a couple of beers and her bottle opener, so I returned the opener to her with a tip and a thank you note. Then I made the 40 minute drive to the end point for the day’s hike, and I arrived in plenty of time to meet her at 8:00……
and I waited, and waited some more. At 8:10, I lobbed a benign phone message to her. “Hi. Just calling to let you know I’m at the end point. Hope you’re OK.”
Many people who know Jane and me as a couple have heard the story about our first date; that I took Jane to a play at the Milwaukee Rep a week before the date on my tickets. What you may not know is that coming to something way before the appointed time is kind of a thing with me. I have been known to arrive at a chorus rehearsal site only to realize the rehearsal was the next evening. I’ve arrived for PT appointments that were scheduled for several days later. The list goes on, and it includes this meeting, which was scheduled for 8:30. Once I realized my mistake, I settled back, flipped on NPR, and waited.
Tess arrived ON SCHEDULE at 8:30. I hopped in her car, and we started the short drive to the hike’s starting point. Along the way I mentioned that I called her, and that I thought I heard classical music in the background when I got her phone mail greeting. She replied that it certainly was classical music by Antonin Dvorak, and then she shared that both she and her husband have sung in various choirs for years. Of course, I mentioned that I also sang, and we had a nice discussion about music, favorite composers, and so on. The day before, we had spoken about invasive plant species, and she had asked me if I could recognize wild parsnip, which is a nasty plant that can cause severe burns to anyone who touches it. I confessed that I would not recognize it, and that I generally don’t touch any plants while hiking so as to avoid burns of rashes. She pulled over on a county highway and showed me some wild parsnip that had gone to seed. It looked brown and seemingly harmless, but she warned me that, even in this state, it could burn me quite severely if I touched it. According to Tess, the biggest challenge to her in combating invasive species is getting enough volunteers to cover the territory. According to her, Dane County is one of the bigger IATA chapters, area-wise, but they are hurting for volunteers.
It was obvious to me that Tess takes her volunteer role very seriously. Once we pulled into the parking lot that was my departure point, she pointed to a stand of trees that was about a mile away as the crow flies. “Those are my woods.” My woods. She said it with a definite pride of ownership. “Tess’s Woods” are in the picture above.
After thanking her for her help, I got started. The temperature was in the mid 50s, and it was mostly cloudy again. The first half mile of the hike was along a county road. I then turned left onto a trail with a stand of trees to my right and a corn field to my left. After another half mile plus of walking, I entered Tess’s Woods.
The trail wound between the trees of this hardwood forest. While the trail rolled up and down gently as it made its way to a junction with the Badger State Trail, it was much more gentle than what I had hiked the day before. The bugs weren’t bad at all. To me, Tess’s Woods would be a real good trail for introducing a child or some other newcomer to hiking.
Very soon I came to the junction with the Badger State Trail, a dirt and gravel “multi-use trail” that gets a lot of use by bicyclists. Originally a rail bed, this dirt and gravel trail is referred to as a “well-connected trail” according to my guidebook, with connections “to the Capital City, Military Ridge and Sugar River state trails; Capital Springs and New Glarus Woods state parks; the Albany State Wildlife Area; numerous local parks and the Jane Adams Trail in Illinois.” Basically, it is very flat and lined with trees the entire length that I walked, which must be a welcome relief on hot days. Surprisingly, the mosquitoes weren’t bad at all, even though I could see standing water. Periodically, the trail would intersect with dirt roads used by farmers to get from one section of their property to another, and I would be treated to a pretty vista of a farmer’s field.
Outside of a couple of people out for walks with their dogs, a jogger, and a biker or two, I didn’t encounter anybody on this section of trail. I found this very surprising, as I had seen this trail the previous Sunday when I hiked to the Verona Segment, and it was a pretty busy thoroughfare.
Usually, I make really good time on flat ground, and that was the case with this hike. In fact, I hiked it so quickly that I double checked my figures to make sure I hadn’t made a mistake. But, it made sense. While the trail was pretty enough, there wasn’t much variety in the scenery. Consequently, there were fewer sights that would prompt me to stop, take out my camera and snap a picture. With fewer occasions for me to stop to snap pictures, I concentrated on putting one foot in front of the other and knocking off the remaining miles. Soon – really soon – I was in my car and on my way home.
My Days on the Ice Age Trail 