Day 104 on the Ice Age Trail

When I began hiking the IAT, I planned my hikes like a purist, knocking off each portion of the trail in order. Later, I learned that there were perfectly good reasons for hiking sections out of order, or in a direction counter to the one I was generally traveling. One trick I have learned is to reserve connecting routes – road walks – for the winter months.

The trail may be under a foot of snow, but the roads to those segments are plowed – usually. In addition, I’m not frying on the asphalt when road hiking during the winter.

So, why take two days during October – prime hiking time – to do 28 miles of road hiking? Two forces were at work here. First, I had access to a place to stay that wouldn’t be available during the winter, a cabin at ShadyNook Resort on Pike Lake. Better yet, the owner agreed to shuttle me, saving me from two lengthy bike rides. Second was the worsening pandemic. If the present trends continue, I may be self-quaranteeing this winter. Taking all of this into account, I decided that the right time to do these hikes is now.

Jim, the owner, was waiting in his pickup for me on the morning of October 13th. Not seeing him in a mask, I quipped that my wife had a present for him, and tossed him an extra mask that I brought just for this situation. Properly dressed, we made our way to my starting point at the Otter Lake Bait and Camp Store. The plan was for me to hike from there back to ShadyNook – roughly 15 miles. I thanked him for the ride, hoisted my pack onto my back, and set off just before 8:00. It was 50 degrees and cloudy.

A staple of most Wisconsin farms is the small hut near the roadside for kids to wait for the school bus. As I approached a farm early in my hike, I saw what is pictured above. From a distance, it looked to be a hut built into the earth. This didn’t seem ridiculous at all to me; I had seen huts built into hills in both Europe and Iceland. Only when I got closer did it become clear that this was a facade. No hut, no elves or other little people. Somebody had a sense of humor and some spare time.

My entire hike was on two lane county roads. At times, the route wound through rolling farm country. At other times, the road was framed by dense stands of trees. Periodically, I would pass streams and ponds, some with beaver lodges. I particularly liked emerging from densely forested areas into farm country. The sky would suddenly get so big, and the sight of it never failed to amaze me.

One quality of this Connecting Route was its variability. Rather than 90% of the walk being a straight shot on one county highway, this walk featured lots of turns – two miles on Road A, turn right and walk a mile on Road B, then turn again and walk a mile on Road C – you get the picture. Simply consulting my map at each intersection and texting my position to Jane added interest to the hike.

Throughout the hike, the weather remained dry, with brisk winds out of the west. They were a constant obstacle, but especially so in the last couple of miles. I really had to lean into the wind to maintain my balance.

I finished my hike at 1:00 pm – just over five hours. It was a good pace, especially considering the head winds. I had plenty of time to shower and relax before a yummy meal at the ShadyNook restaurant.