After a great hike on July 15th, I was eager to return to the Ice Age Trail on July 16th to hike the 2.9 mile Pine Lake and the 3.4 Straight River segments. Weather conditions were good for a hot summer hike, and the trail was likely to be dry, just as McKenzie Creek was the day before. I looked forward to the opportunity.
Among the things I eagerly anticipated was meeting Barb Cedar, today’s Trail Angel. We had been corresponding for several weeks, and I was glad to meet her in person. On the way to the trail head, Barb shared that she also volunteers at a county-run meals-on-wheels program. Since I volunteer at a food program through my church, we had something in common to make the time go quickly as we made our way to the trail head. At 9:00, I got started with a short road walk to the first segment, Pine Lake.
Pine Lake began with a short walk through an open field before ducking into wooded country. As the hike continued, I learned that more time would be spent hiking open country on this hike than on the previous day at McKenzie Creek.
My morning on Pine Lake was the occasion for me to receive a couple doses of humble pie. For starters, I snagged my foot on a tree branch and quickly found myself sprawled out on the ground. Guess I needed to focus more attention on the ground immediately in front of me than than I thought was necessary. Slice of Humble Pie#2 was the result of sloppy map reading. At the intersection of 260th Avenue and Pine Lake Road, I hung a left onto Pine Lake Road instead of walking west 75 feet and following the trail to the left LIKE THE MAP SHOWED. In my defense, I could hear the traffic on WI-48, my next landmark, which gave me a false sense of security. Long story short, I went about a half mile before I realized my mistake and reversed myself to correct my error. In the process, I lost a good half hour plus.
Once I returned to the actual trail, I hiked 1.4 miles through a combination of open meadow and wooded country to the end of the Pine Lake Segment on Round Lake Road. After a 15 minute break for lunch, I started my hike on the Straight River segment.
The first 2/3 mile was a good walk along a tree line bordering two large farm fields – one corn and one soy. I can safely report that the corn was much higher than knee high at this point in July. Soon the trail bent towards the Straight River. To be honest, I questioned if I was walking alongside a river or a pond. As you van see from the picture at the top of this page, it was blessedly placid. My first reaction upon seeing it was I had come upon a birdwatchers’ paradise.
After about a mile, the trail bent away from the river for a bit and ran west along WI-48. It crossed the river again and began a steep ascent to the top of an esker. In terms of scenery, this was the most spectacular part of the hike. To my left – see the picture immediately above – was Long Lake. On the right, the Straight River wound its way through the Ice Age Trail Alliance Straight River Preserve. The trail alternatively went from towering over the lake to plunging down to the river’s level. Very spectacular and very challenging. After 0.8 miles, the trail turned north, away from Long Lake and the Preserve. Soon I came to the end of the segment. After a brief road walk, I reached the parking lot where my car awaited.
Normally, my journal entry would end here. Today, I’ll extend it a bit. When I finish a hike, and I have another one scheduled the next day, I will often drive to the meetup point for the next hike and mark it in my phone app for future reference. In this case, I drove to the west terminus of the Trade River Segment. I parked my car and got out to look around a bit. A couple of guys were sitting against their car enjoying some PBRs, and they called me over to shoot the breeze. I didn’t know it at the time, but I had met Bill Farrelly and Brian Olsberg, aka Old Guys Hiking. I’ve seen their posts often on Facebook. Rather than write a journal, they record their impressions by doing selfie videos of them chewing the fat about the day’s hikes, usually while seated at their campsite enjoying brews. They always end their remarks by hoisting their beers to toast the day while saying “Old Guys Hiking.” I’ve enjoyed their videos, and after meeting them, I immediately knew these guys would be fun hiking partners.
Nice to meet you, gentlemen.
My Days on the Ice Age Trail 