June 24th was the last of my three days hiking in Northwest Wisconsin. Arguably, it was the best day of my trip.
On tap that day were two segments – the 6.0 mile Sand Creek and the 5.4 mile Indian Creek segments. Both are “3” rated for hilliness and ruggedness out of a maximum of 5.
I was up and on the road to the trails earlier than usual for a couple reasons. First, it was a good hour from the hotel to the western terminus of the Indian Creek Segment, where I was meeting Dean, today’s trail angel. In addition, I was meeting him a half hour earlier than usual out of deference to his wishes.
I arrived at the pickup point first. Shortly afterwards, Dean arrived in his van, and I climbed in. Dean impressed me as the kind of person I would love as a road trip companion – very accommodating and conversational. On our way to the hike’s starting point, we stopped at the midpoint of the Indian Creek Segment. It was supposed to climb into the 80s that day, and I wanted plenty of water, so I left a gallon of water here to replenish my supplies. It would certainly be better to have too much water available here than to not have enough. Very quickly we reached the hike’s starting point. I thanked Dean for his help. At 8:00, I started my hike in brilliant sunshine,.
After a short walk down a dirt road, I turned right and entered the forest canopy of the Sand Creek Segment. It was magical. Trees towered over me, as the picture on top shows. surprisingly, this trail hardly had any rocks or tree roots to trip me. I actually could walk briskly while gazing at the scenery in the distance, as opposed to focusing on the three or four feet immediately in front of me. For a change, I could stride confidently.
I finished Sand Creek at 10:15. After a .3 mile road walk north on County E, I turned left and entered the 5.4 mile Indian Creek Segment. The first mile plus was in open country. By this time, the sun had climbed high in the sky, and I was baking. I was grateful when the trail entered the Polk County Forest. From that point till its end at Polk County Highway O, the trail was similar to the lush canopy of Sand Creek with one exception. Indian Creek had more rocks and tree roots to trip me, especially the western half of the trail. I was back to focusing on the trail immediately in front of me. My extra water was waiting for me at the trail’s midpoint at 30th street. After refilling my water bottles and enjoying some lunch, I hooked my empty gallon jug to my pack, where it made a dandy racket to scare off any critters in the area.
My hike ended at 1:20, but my day wasn’t through. When I crossed County O and entered the small parking lot, I met a young man who was staring at a motorcycle sitting on a trailer hitched to a pickup truck. A bicycle was on the ground and leaning against the flatbed. He explained that he intended to ride his cycle to the east end of Grassy Lake. His plan was to then hike from there to this spot, more that 30 miles. Without the motorcycle, he was looking at a 30 mile plus bike ride before he took a step on the trail. I decided to give him a lift and spare him the bike ride. He was extremely grateful for the help, and we carried on quite a conversation while I gave him a lift.
Afterwards, I drove to Rice Lake. After a quick shower, I took my dirty clothes to a nearby laundromat to put them through a dryer at high heat for 20 minutes to kill any ticks that might have remained. Better that than bringing ticks home with me. Right, Jane??
So ended a great day of hiking. Both trails were excellent, just the right distance for a new hiker, well groomed and well marked. If I had to pick one over the other, I’d choose Sand Creek. It gets a nod from me because a hiker would have less time out in the open, and because it contains fewer tree roots and rocks to trip a hiker.
My Days on the Ice Age Trail 