Originally printed September 20, 2017.
Last Sunday’s hike was intended to be a “connect the dots” kind of day.
Previously, I had hiked some segments of the trail west of Madison while staying in the Spring Green area to catch some plays at the American Players’ Theatre. However, I had not hiked the Connecting Routes linking those segments with the neighboring segments. With these CR hikes out of the way, I would have only two segments to hike in order to finish the Dane County trails.
Usually, I have pretty low expectations of hikes along Connecting Routes. If they are moderately pretty and somewhat interesting, I’m OK (bathroom and drinking water availability are pluses, too). Sunday’s 12.5 miles proved to be interesting and challenging in ways I hadn’t expected.
After a good night’s sleep and a plate of bacon, eggs and potatoes, Jane and I packed the car and headed to Table Bluff for the morning’s hike. One unique aspect of Sunday’s hikes was its truncated nature. Usually, I hike from Point A to Point B, get in the car, and head for home. Not so on Sunday. Instead, I would hike 4.7 miles in the morning from Table Bluff to Indian Lake, meet Jane, drive to the next starting point, and hike 7.8 miles from Springfield Hill to Lodi Marsh.
Just before reaching the lot at Table Bluff, we saw a couple of dogs at the edge of the road. Both appeared to be mutts – a Golden Lab mixed possibly with a German Shepherd and a Border Collie mix of some kind. They were probably out for a morning romp from a nearby farm. We passed them and pulled into the lot. I got out of the car and was bent over adjusting my gear in the back seat when I was surprised by the lab mix giving me a nudge and a big, sloppy kiss. At about the same time, the border collie brushed against my leg. Both dogs craved affection and insisted that I pet them. I did so, and then they went around the car for some love from Jane. While they had tags, it was impossible to tell where they were from. I finished adjusting my gear, shouldered my pack, and set off after kissing Jane goodbye. For the first time on the trail, I had an escort.
Happily, the route I hiked this Sunday morning was off the charts beautiful. I was surrounded by lots of rolling hills broken up every now and then by ridges of imposing trees like the picture above.
And, I had entertainment! My two friends continued to shadow me. Of the two dogs, the lab mix seemed the more adventurous. A fox crossed the road about 50-70 yards in front of me, and the lab mix went bounding into the woods after him. He left me to run into a corn field and flushed some mourning doves in the process. Later, he flushed a flock of turkeys. In the first 2-3 miles, I saw more critters than I had seen in the entire hike the day before, and it was all due to my newfound buddies. Meanwhile, the border collie mix stayed a little closer to home. Perhaps she felt the need to herd me.
While I liked their company, I wondered more and more about where “home” was, and when would they leave me. They would both periodically depart, and I would think with some relief that they had made for home. Then, I’d see the lab mix break from the brush in front of me, or the border collie would suddenly appear behind me. While home could have been anywhere, I grew more and more concerned that I was taking them farther and farther away from it.
At roughly the two and a half mile mark, it appeared I had lost them. Then, while looking behind me and to my right, I saw that somebody had the border collie mix on a leash. They were a good quarter of a mile away from me at the top of a good-sized hill. I shouted, “Is that your dog?” Finally I got their attention. They wanted to talk with me, and pretty soon a guy was driving toward me on an ATV. They had made some calls and found the owner of the border collie. Was there another dog? Yes there was, and I described the lab mix. He nodded; it all made sense. Don’t worry, he advised me – we’ll get him. He turned away and sped off for home. Relieved, I continued walking forward, when who came out of the brush toward me but my buddy! Now, I hate backtracking with a passion, but this dog seemed to be attracted to me. If I could get to that guy’s house, maybe the lab mix would follow me. So I turned around and hiked back and up to the guy’s house on top of that hill. My buddy was in the bushes to the left of me. I hoped he would continue in the same direction I was headed. He was, and as I came near the top of the hill, I could see that they had both dogs on leashes. Home actually was near Table Bluff, so these guys – or gals – had ranged a good 2.5+ miles from home with me. Was this usual behavior? I don’t know, but I expect these dogs were going to be in for some harsh words as their owners picked off all the burrs that had accumulated and checked them for ticks.
While this was going on, I was becoming increasingly aware of heat coming from the little toe on my left foot. A blister in the making! I had already lost time with the backtracking, but this had to be addressed right away. Blisters are no fun on the trail. While the blisters themselves are bad, walking with them will cause other problems because, try as one might to avoid it, some other part of the body is going to get injured because of compensation. So, I sat down in a farmer’s yard, took off my shoe and sock. A blister had already developed. I applied some moleskin padding over the affected area, and did my best to tape up the toe to protect it. In less than an hour, I was done with Act I of Sunday’s hike and munching on a sandwich while Jane ferried me to the jumping off point for the afternoon’s hike at Springfield Hill.
I got off to a bit of a slower start in the afternoon. Even though the drive from Indian Lake to Springfield Hill was relatively short, it took enough time so that my muscles began to tighten some. And, much as I didn’t want to admit it, that blister was really bothering me. So, less than two miles into the afternoon’s 7.8 mile hike, I sat down to deal with this blister a second time. As best as I could guess, the problem was that my shoes were a little too big for me. As a result, my feet were slipping around inside my shoe, and the rubbing was causing the blister to grow and fester. This time, I changed into fresh socks and put on my spare shoes. Even though they are supposedly the same size as my original shoes, they wear more tightly on my feet. I hoped things would calm down a bit (they didn’t).
I would like to say that this hike was an interesting as the morning hike, but that simply was not the case. Basically, I was walking in open farm country. As I was hiking north on Bitney Road, I ascended a large hill. When I reached the top, I was struck by how big and open the sky was. But that was pretty much it for scenic wonder until the last mile+ of the hike east along Lee Road and north along Lodi Springfield Road. First, Lee Road was bracketed with trees which provided some welcome shade. Second, I was getting a preview of coming events as I looked north. In the foreground was Lodi Marsh, the first leg of my next hike. It was primarily flat and open. Further north huge hills arose in the distance. Looks like the my next couple of hikes in the Lodi-Fern Glen area are going to be fun.
Jane was waiting for me at the Lodi Marsh parking lot. I got in the car, grateful to take some weight off my left foot.
My Days on the Ice Age Trail 