Originally printed November 16, 2017.
Fourteen degrees above zero.
Wind chill five degrees above zero. Calm winds.
Let’s go for a hike.
That sounds about right.
This was the challenge I faced on last Friday, Day 2 of my hike from the Devil’s Lake area to the city of Portage. I applied the same principles I used the day before to stay comfortable and to enjoy the hike – dress a little cold at the start and ventilate a bit to avoid overheating. The only change I made in my routine was footwear. I wore winter boots instead of my usual, lighter weight hiking shoes. This was primarily to protect my left foot, which was still smarting from a blister on my little toe. Although I had popped the blister the day before and taped moleskin to the area, it was still smarting.
The route along Levee Road was south of the Wisconsin River, and it traced a parallel track with the river until it intersected with Wisconsin 33. Then it turned north on a bridge across the river and crossed into the city of Portage itself. At that point, it became the Portage Canal Segment, a three mile urban trail, and it followed along the canal until the trail’s end at Highway 33. Total distance 11.5 miles, all of it flat as a pancake.
Based on a quick look at the map, I expected a pleasant hike along the Wisconsin River, then a quick pass though Portage. What I wasn’t counting on was my view being partially blocked by a fairly tall levee. Thinking about it now, I have to wonder why this was such a surprise. After all, the name of the street is Levee Road! In spots the levee was very close to the river. At other times, the levee was a good distance away from the river, with a good-sized flood plain between the river and where I walked. The signage along the way indicated that, in spots, the levee ran on private property. When it was clear to me that I would be trespassing, I stayed on the road. Otherwise, I walked on top of the levee and was treated to views like the picture at the top of this note.
This area is the Pine Island Wildlife Area. The flood plain is a grassy marshland with intermittent stands of trees. The topography was the same on the south side of the road. This area has been designated as an Important Bird Area, or IBA. I learned that areas receive this designation only after meeting an agreed set of criteria established by Birdlife International. Over 12,000 such areas have received this designation worldwide, including a good number in Wisconsin. This area is excellent habitat. I am not a bird watcher as such, but I saw cranes, blue jays, cardinals, a woodpecker and two pheasants during my morning hike. For those who want to get out in nature in smaller dosages, seven small parking spaces are spread along the length of the road for easy access.
This includes hunters. The DNR has posted signs stating that this is public land open to hunting, and I did see a hunter as trail Angel Debby drove me to the hike’s starting point. Later on in the morning, I had a first of its kind experience while hiking. While walking on the road, I spotted a hunter resplendent in blaze orange standing on the levee about 70 yards in front of me and facing south. A pheasant was flushed from the south by either a dog or a fellow hunter on a drive. The hunter lifted his shotgun. Blam! Blam! The bird exploded in mid air and fell to the earth to the left of us. As I passed the hunter, he was asking the hunter who was on the drive who had flushed the bird – the second hunter or his dog. Now, I am very supportive of hunters and their rights, but I wondered if that was a little too close for comfort. Yesterday, I called the DNR to ask. If I understood correctly, the hunter could fire his weapon as long as he was fifty feet or more from the CENTER of the road. It appeared to me that this hunter was a little closer to that. The DNR rep asked if I wanted to file a complaint, but I declined.
As is usually the case when hiking connecting routes, I made really good time. However, about 2 and a half hours into the hike I had to pull in for a bit of a pit stop. That left toe of mine was beginning to fester, and I didn’t want to wait until it was really hurting to do something about it. So, I stopped, broke out my first aid stuff, and did my best to replace the moleskin and to pad the area a bit with bandages. It worked a bit, but the foot continued to bother me. I hoped I would finish soon. I knew I was compensating in the way I was walking, and I hoped it wouldn’t lead to long term troubles.
A little more than three hours into the hike, I passed under I-90/94. I could tell I was in the outskirts of the town of Portage. About a mile later, I came to the intersection with Wisconsin 33, turned left, and walked a little less than a half mile across the Wisconsin River and to the start of the Portage Canal Segment.
For those of you not from Wisconsin, Portage takes its name from the unique geography which has two of Wisconsin’s major waterways – the Fox River and the Wisconsin River – come within a mile and a half of one another. Both the Indians who originally lived there and the European settlers who followed took advantage of the lowlands between these two rivers as a land highway, or portage. This included the early explorers Jacques Marquette and Jean Nicolet in 1673 on their journey to find a route to the Mississippi River in 1673. In order to move commercial cargo between the two rivers, the building of a canal was started in the 1850s. Difficulties with building a system of 26 lift locks delayed completion of the project until 1876. Unfortunately, by that time moving cargo by rail had eclipsed water transport as a way to move goods.
After I crossed the river into town, the trail bent sharply to the right through a pretty neighborhood of homes that overlooked the river. Less than a half mile later, the road jogged to the left a bit and ran alongside the canal itself. After the trail crossed a main street, the trail ran through an industrial area. There’s no way to sugarcoat it – this was not an attractive neighborhood. The trail ran past a recycling firm and a major propane distribution hub before crossing under Wisconsin 33 and ending at a small parking lot where my car was parked. While this segment was not the prettiest walk, it did give me a chance to experience a town with an important place in Wisconsin’s history. Had I wanted to, I could have taken a short side trip to any one of several restaurants in the downtown area. The night before, I had eaten at the Corner Pocket. Nice sandwiches, and the Spotted Cow was icy cold. If for nothing else, the segment freed me from hiking along the side of a highway.
When I finished, I unzipped my jacket to find that I had built enough body heat to cause me to sweat through my clothes and make the inner lining of my jacket moist. Fortunately, I had a dry top and a fresh jacket, and I quickly stripped down and changed into them. It was nice to drive home without feeling clammy. Another lesson learned.
In all likelihood, this will be my last hike for the year. Deer hunting starts on November 18th, and I prefer to yield the trail to the hunters. Plus, I have 26 rehearsals and concerts between now and Christmas. Hiking will have to wait until January.
Time for some numbers. I hiked 24 times for a total of 243.7 miles this year. Average mileage per hike was a shade over 10 miles. Since I started on the trail in February, 2016, I’ve logged 507.5 miles.
Happy Thanksgiving!
My Days on the Ice Age Trail 