Category Archives: Backpacking

Portage to Oxford to Westfield

Backpacking, Hiking, Ice Age Trail, Travel, , , ,

8/7 – we left Portage to hike to our next stop north. Our plan was to do a full day’s road walk, spend one night on the ground, and then continue our road walk on to Westfield. At this point of the Ice Age Trail, there is no ‘trail’, only road walk.

It was another beautiful, sunny day. We distracted ourselves by playing Cloud Animals as we walked – what does this one look like to you?image

By late afternoon, we were starting to look for a stealth camping place, when a friendly couple working out in their yard called us over to chat. We explained about the Ice Age Trail, and how we were planning on sleeping on the ground that night, as we were too far from Westfield. They asked why didn’t we stay at the motel in Oxford just down the road? Our map didn’t show a motel anywhere close by, but Jean looked up the number for us and gave us directions. Thanks again, Nice People of Wisconsin!image

I know Jim was looking forward to putting up our little tent one more time, but I was very happy to rest on comfy pillows after a hot shower. Our days in Wisconsin are drawing to a close, and Westfield will be our last stop.

Next morning we walked into Westfield, a tiny town with a Pioneer motif.image

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Here’s a sign you don’t see on Main Street every day – I just know this will be a classy place!image

Baraboo to Portage

Backpacking, Hiking, Ice Age Trail, ,

8/3 – it’s a 25 mile walk out of Baraboo, just cornfields and asphalt as far as the eye can see. No shade. This Burma-Shave style sign was the most interesting thing we saw all morning (you may have the pleasure of Googling Aldo Leopold and John Muir if you don’t know who they are!) image
By mid afternoon, we reached the Wisconsin River, and walked parallel to it for the rest of the day. There is a high levee between the river and the road, and our guidebook says that this can be a very wet walk, but not today, so the mosquitoes were mercifully absent. We found a place to stealth camp by 5pm that was out of sight, as the whole area was posted as No Camping, Public Hunting and Dog Training Area.

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Got up Sunday morning and walked into Portage, the third oldest settlement in Wisconsin. Portage is French for “to carry”, and here is why. Back in the day, you could put a boat in the St. Lawrence Seaway, steer through the Great Lakes and down the Fox River. Then you would have to take the boat out and carry it for a mile and a half until you reach the Wisconsin River, which flowed into the Mississippi and eventually got you down to the Gulf of Mexico. This bottleneck made the town of Portage an important town until the railroads came through and made shipping goods by water more or less obsolete.image

We were too late for mass at the Catholic church, but the Episcopal service was just winding down, and we were invited in for coffee and cake. This small parish hasn’t had a priest in so many years they can’t remember, but are happy to gather weekly for morning prayer, and hire a supply priest once a month for Communion. These nice people insisted that we take home all their leftover pastry, perhaps confusing hiking with homelessness…

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We’re at a groovy hotel with a stand-up comedian at the front desk (really!). This should be fun!

Okee to Devil’s Lake to Baraboo

Backpacking, Hiking, Ice Age Trail, Travel, , , ,

7/28 – we got an early start this morning, knowing we would have to walk three miles back to the Merrimac Ferry. We don’t usually have much luck getting rides early in the morning when folks are on their way to work. As we left the motel, Jim stuck out a thumb, and the first car that came by pulled over! It was a Native American nurse on her way to work at the Ho-Chunk Nation community center, where she runs a health clinic and cares for the elders. We learned so much about this tribe and her love of her job and her people on the short ride to the ferry. A beautiful soul!

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We walked in to Devil’s Lake State Park on the Ice Age Trail, through a wild-flower filled meadow, with the hills looming before us. In an hour, we were in the woods, taking switchbacks that kept going UP.

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This is the highest elevation we will see on our Wisconsin trip. As we looked down over the rocks, I was filled with peace, which was quickly shattered when Jim showed me that the trail down to the lake was a quarter mile of rugged rock steps (with no bannister!) that we would have to scrabble down. Although I don’t like climbing UP, I am terrified of falling DOWN. With a 25 pound pack on my back to upset my center of gravity, this was a horrible hour for me. I was too scared to stop and take a picture, so you’ll have to imagine it, but, needless to say, I lived to tell the tale! Here’s the bottom, which doesn’t look scary at all:image

So now we are at the lake, looking at kids swimming and boarding and boating in really cold water. We ate our picnic lunch, and watched a group of priests, all dressed alike, play frisbee.image

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Now we have to climb the hills on the other side of the lake to get to Baraboo. This is a steeper climb than this morning, and every ten feet or so, there’re is a number painted on the trail. We have a long time to climb and ponder what these number might mean, until we reach the summit and all is revealed: here is an emergency call box that can be used to summon help if someone has a heart attack or falls off the cliff, and the numbers are locators for the EMTs. There’s even a stretcher:image
Don’t fall off the cliff, Jim!
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We descended without further incident, and started our walk into Baraboo. I know you will not be surprised to learn that Derek was happy to stop and give us a ride to our motel. Nice People Rule!image

Lodi to Okee

Backpacking, Hiking, Ice Age Trail, Travel, , , , ,

7/28 – today we walk to the shore of Lake Wisconsin. We left our motel and started with a 4 mile road walk. It was a beautiful morning, and I appreciated the blue sky, barns and silos,

20140728-195735-71855526.jpg the ever-taller corn (see the ears and the red silk?),

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The ever-present moo-sers,

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The Gibraltor Rock segment of the Ice Age Trail took us up to the highest elevation yet, and gave us some peaceful views of the countryside below.

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We emerged back onto the road at the Merrimac Ferry, where we thought our motel would be. We looked around, and asked around, and discovered we’d overshot the motel by almost three miles. Would we have to walk back along the road??? You know by now that a Nice Couple from Wisconsin rolled off the ferry, and gave us a ride right to the motel door. I continue to be grateful and humble in the presence of such fine people.

Cross Plains to Lodi

Backpacking, Hiking, Ice Age Trail, Travel, , , ,

Guess what! Someone from Russia is reading this blog! Greetings and welcome, whoever you are!

7/25 – we set out from our B and B after a hearty breakfast for a full day’s walk and a night on the ground. We walked several hours of trail, followed by lots of country road with no traffic. We knew there were no official places to get water today, so we filled our canteens to the brim in the morning, and figured we could filter some water from Indian Lake, which looked lovely…image …until we saw the sign:image

Yikes! Between blistering wildflowers and toxic algae, we’d better be careful! We ended up asking for water from a house along the road, and a Nice Person obliged, so all is well.

Our path took us through more fields of ripening corn. Look at this pic, where the crop on the right has bloomed with tassels, while the rows on the left are a few weeks behind. Corn sells here at the Piggly Wiggly for ten ears for a dollar. What is the midsummer price where you are?

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Another benefit from today’s walk were loads of ripe blackberries in the woods, free for the sweet picking. We had our fill!

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Happy to report that the Lodi Marsh section was mosquito-free, even at dusk. Jim found us a pretty level camping spot not far from the trail. We noted the sign that said the area was a combined hiking and hunting area, but didn’t register alarm until we heard gunshots in the field near our tent. Yikes! We then noticed that others hiking through were all wearing bright orange vests. Luckily, I was wearing my orange shirt, so we were as protected as we could be…

In the morning, we continued up into the hills for some beautiful views:

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20140727-113625-41785551.jpg then back down, crossing into Columbia County.

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The town of Lodi was quiet and friendly, with several parks and a stream running beside the Main Street.

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Lodi’s sign says it is home to Susie the Duck – since 1948, a family of ducks has nested in the park right off Main Street every year, so the town sells cracked corn to encourage them to stay, and holds an annual Rubber Duck race in honor of the original Susie. What a nice story!

Now it’s time for Jim to plan the next leg of our journey, to another fun place to pronounce: Baraboo, and Devil’s Lake!

Belleville to Verona

Backpacking, Hiking, Ice Age Trail, , , , , ,

7/21 – Cameo Rose B and B continued to delight us with fresh cut flowers and a four course breakfast garnished with mint and lemon balm from the garden. I meant to take a picture, but it slipped my mind when I saw the stuffed French toast… Oh my!

We got back on the Badger Trail, and had a lovely two hour trek on the straight Rails to Trails path before we found ourselves back on the highway at noon. Today was very warm by Wisconsin standards, in the upper 80s. Once again, a Nice Person of Wisconsin stopped for us almost immediately, saying that it was much too hot to walk. When we said we were on our way to Verona, this lovely lady changed direction and took us all the way to our hotel, even though she wasn’t originally going into town. Thank you, Nice Person!image

We’ve decided that the reason so many people stop for us is my floppy blue hat. What do you think?

We will be in Verona for several days, completing the Ice Age trail segments nearest to town in the mornings, and returning to the hotel in the afternoon. This is an especially nice way to hike, as we can leave our packs behind.

7/22 – today the weather warns of record-breaking heat (high of 90!!), so we set out early to be done by the hottest part of the afternoon. The trail starts behind the public library, which, of course, is on Silent Street. Love a town with a sense of humor!image
The trail took us through some wildflower-filled meadows and up a hill that let us look over the town below. We found ourselves humming “the hills are alive” and looking for Julie Andrews… What a lovely morning!image

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We want to take a moment to thank the state of Wisconsin again for setting aside land, mowing and maintaining so many parks, bike paths and multi-use trails, and the Ice Age Trail volunteers for all they do!image

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New Glarus to Belleville

Backpacking, Hiking, , , , ,

We left little Switzerland this morning for a 12 mile walk north. Rather than go far out of our way to pick up the Ice Age Trail, we plan to get on the Badger Trail after a 4.5 mile road walk. No sooner did we get on the road and stick out our thumbs, than a car pulled up to offer us a ride. Christianne, from England, was on her way to church, knew right where the trail was, and brought us up to the trailhead. Another Nice Person of Wisconsin!image
Now our walk was only 7.5 miles. The Badger Trail is also a bike trail, and we encountered several cyclists out on a beautiful Sunday morning. For a while we walked between walls of corn on either side, so high that we can’t see the farm buildings and silos.image
By early afternoon we reached the Cameo Rose B and B, the very nicest place we’ve stayed. Here are some pix of the gardens where we relaxed away the afternoon, looking at gold finches and wild turkeys strutting through the yard, while listening to the waterfall:

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Our hosts Dawn and Gary really love their place, and it shows. If this isn’t nice, I don’t know what is!

Albany to New Glarus – Back on the Trail

Backpacking, Hiking, Ice Age Trail, Travel, , , ,

7/17 – today we start a nice, flat 18 mike walk on a Rails to Trails multi-use path along the Sugar River, that the Ice Age Trail shares with the Sugar River Trail. We will break this walk into two days, camping out overnight, as the only town enroute (Monticello) does not have any lodgings. The young and strong would do this walk in one day, but I am the old and not-so-strong, and I want to test out the healing of my foot.
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We encountered a retiree bicycling group from Madison, and the riders walked with us a while and took our picture. They hadn’t encountered hikers on their bike trail before!

We have food for the journey, but the map doesn’t indicate a place to refill our drinking water today. A challenge! Jim has been carrying his water filter, and today will be his first chance to use it. By mid afternoon, we were hot and thirsty, so at the next bridge, Jim scooped up some Sugar River and squeezed it through the filter to refill our canteens. The Sugar River is not sweet, but the water was very welcome. We each carry two quarts of water (adding 5 lbs. to our packs) plus Jim fills a collapsible water container with another two quarts for supper and breakfast during our last water stop of the day.image
As you can see by Jim’s fashionable outfit, the mosquitoes were out in full force today. Not only did we need our net suits plus Deet, we had to zip the suits all the way up to our necks. Walking along like this makes me feel like an astronaut in a space suit, viewing the world from a distance. Eating reminds me of watching the females in Muslim countries eat wearing their veils. You can do it, but it’s no fun… Joggers and walkers stopped to ask where they could get suits like ours. Answer: Amazon!

7/18 – in the morning we broke camp and walked the last 5 miles to New Glarus.

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20140718-205404-75244722.jpgThis town was settled by a group of Swiss immigrants in 1845, and they turned their town into a little Switzerland. Chalet architecture and painted cows everywhere!

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Even businesses not trying to attract tourists express the Swiss theme:

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After checking into the Swiss Aire motel, we ate an authentic Swiss pub lunch of Brats and local beer at Puempel’s Olde Tavern.image Tomorrow, we will check out the tourist attractions!