Originally written March 25, 2018.
What the hell?!?
Get your ass moving!!!!
That was me Friday morning when I woke and realized it was too light out to be 6:15, when I wanted to get up, and that my alarm had not gone off. Once I checked my clock and realized it was 6:45, I bounded out of bed, brushed my teeth, rushed into my clothes and started slamming stuff back where it belonged. The alarm not going off? Much as I would like to have had another reason, I had to call it like it was – my error. I was meeting Gary, the trail angel, at 8:00. Fortunately, it was roughly a five minute drive to the Kwik Trip where I was meeting him. I checked out of the motel and made it to the nearby coffee shop for an omelette by 7:15. Breathing a lot more easily, I ate breakfast at a leisurely pace and made it to the Kwik Trip with enough time to spare for gassing up the car, which gave me the (internal) justification to park it at the far end of the station’s parking lot while I was hiking. Gary was waiting for me, and we made the drive to where my hike ended the day earlier. After getting on my pack, I said goodbye and got started. It was 8:21. It was a cool 21 degrees with brilliant sunshine and a cloudless sky.
Today’s hike would be more of a challenge in that it was 11.9 miles, three miles longer than Thursday’s hike. I wasn’t satisfied at all with my pace on Thursday, and I was concerned about being on the road well into mid-afternoon – so concerned that I decided on Thursday to make a sandwich to take with me. To help with my pace, I stowed away my heavy, fleece-lined cargo pants in favor of relatively lighter jeans.
The first leg of my hike was a three mile north westerly walk on 10th Road. Right off the bat, the road made a bit of an ascent as it cut through stands of hardwoods on either side of me. At the crest of the hill, a fairly large stand of pines stretched out on the right side of the road and bathed in the morning sunlight. On my left was a hill with a farmer’s field on the rising slope. There at the top of the hill were two sandhill cranes. While I gazed at them, I noticed some movement on my right. There I saw two turkeys scurrying up hill along a shrub line at a pretty good clip. Here it was less than 30 minutes into the hike, and I had two critter sightings. If the rest of my hike was going to be like this, it was going to be a good day.
Another hopeful sign came when I reached my first turn at Gale Avenue. I hiked that first 3 mile section in an hour. Generally, I had been dissatisfied with my pace over my previous two hikes. No complaints about pace, at least not early.
I’ve come to the conclusion that Connecting Route hikes on paved roads like this are great to do during the winter – early spring months. First, while it is “open hiking” in the sun, one doesn’t fry on the asphalt like they would in the warmer seasons. Second, unless one is hiking in precipitation, the road conditions are usually dry – no slogging through muddy patches. Last, since the grass on the shoulders has been knocked down over the winter or previously trimmed, a hiker can easily walk on a grassy or leaf-covered shoulder that cushions their steps.
I have also come to the conclusion that I really like early morning hikes, even though I would not consider myself a morning person. The sun is low in the sky, and I take great delight in how it bathes the countryside in a lovely, brilliant glow. When that same morning light is filtered through stands of pines, like during Friday’s hike, that is really special.
After walking 1.3 miles east on Gale Avenue, I turned north onto 11th Avenue. My dominant image of this 2.5 stretch of road was rolling hills cutting through wooded areas with elegant stands of pine framing the road. It was here that I had my big thrill on this hike. About 100 yards away, I could see a deer on the left side of the road. That was nice; another critter sighting. If I could get close enough, maybe I could get a photo ( I wasn’t wearing my bell today.). As I kept walking, I thought I should be seeing a second deer. When I’m driving on country roads and I see a deer, I am always on the lookout for a second deer, and my wariness is usually justified. There. On the right side of the road. Yep, there’s deer #2. Keep moving. Pick up my walking sticks so they don’t clatter. Just then, something flushed deer #1, and I saw its white tail flush. Then, I saw the same with deer#2. But, I saw more deer on the same side of the road as deer #2 turn and bound into the woods. Three, four, five, six! I know of people who have seen groups of a dozen or more deer. But, this was the biggest group of deer I had seen on my 56 days doing this. Easily, it was my Thrill of the Day.
Further up the road, I met a woman out for a walk with her little dog. Normally, I don’t see many people on my hikes, and my conversations are usually restricted to hello/how are you as we pass like two ships in the night. We both gushed about the wonderful weather, and she asked me about what I was doing. So, I explained a bit about my hiking project, and I showed her my maps for the day. We also talked about how close such wonderful country was to our homes. She and her husband are from Oak Park, IL, only three hours’ drive away. We must have spent 15-20 minutes talking.
Eventually, I turned east off 11th Drive onto Fox Road. I worked my way east and north to County Highway K which paralleled the south shore of Buffalo Lake, a long, shallow lake created by a dam across the Fox River. Basically, this was like walking through the lake country of Waukesha County. 2.4 miles of lake properties broken up by occasional subdivisions. It could have been worse, but it still was pretty boring.
Finally, I reached the intersection with Wisconsin 22. I turned north and headed into Montello. This tiny (1,495 population) town is the county seat of Marquette county. I can’t speak for the entire town, but the southern approach to the town was pretty dreary. The homes were run down. I had the impression that these were hard scrabble people who were scraping to get by. It is an old town; according to Wikipedia, the first land claim was made in 1849.
I did learn the reason for all the references to Granite. At one time, a granite quarry was located in the town which employed upwards of 200 people, according to a plaque at that site. Over time the quarry became known for the beauty and quality of its granite. So great was the granite that it was chosen for President Grant’s tomb over 280 samples from all over the world. Ownership resided in one family for four generations. In 1977, it was closed and sold to an Irv Daggett. In 1992, he supervised the construction of four artificial waterfalls, which flow all year. The city pays the charges for the electricity needed to pump the water. It is really quite impressive to come upon this right in the center of town.
I was relieved to be done at 12:47. I feared I would be out there up to six hours. After eating my sandwich and some fruit, I got started for home. Wayz routed me along WI 23 to US 41, a route I had not driven to get to this area. So, I had the chance to explore some towns I had never visited before, like Princeton, Ripon, and Rosendale.
My Days on the Ice Age Trail 