Category Archives: Backpacking

Janesville to Albany

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

7/16 – last night we shared dinner at the home of our new friends Todd and Susan, who we met at church on Sunday. Todd drove across town to pick us up from the motel, and Susan prepared a delicious meal – the first home made meal we’ve had in over a month. We shared conversation about kids and grand kids (they have 14!), and a good time was had by all.

This morning, Susan graciously volunteered to drive us the 29 miles to Albany, so that my foot can continue to heal. This saved us a horrendous road walk. She brought along some fresh and dried comfrey, known to herbalists as ‘bone-knit’, and home-made salve to further help my recovery. What a wonderful and thoughtful person! Thank you, Susan and Todd – it was so nice to get to know you!

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Here in Albany we are staying at the Albany House B and B, the only inn in town. At the beginning of our hike, I thought there’d be many B and Bs along the way, but it turns out that these posh stays are usually out in the countryside, making them impractical for travelers on foot who need access to groceries and restaurants close by. We were happy that Albany House was right in town, although the Main Street of the little town is torn up for the summer, which made finding supper a challenge.

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Also staying at Albany House were a group of artists who meet here each month at the studio behind the house for art workshops. They were great conversationalists and lovely company.image
So, what did we have for breakfast? Fruit parfait, homemade coffee cake, spinach pie and bacon baked with black pepper and brown sugar. We waddled back onto the trail not needing to eat for the rest of the day!

Delafield to Eagle

Backpacking, Hiking, Ice Age Trail, Travel, ,

7/5 – Today we tackle Lapham Peak, the highest point in Waukesha County. (BTW, don’t try saying WauKEEsha, like I did. It’s WAUKesha.). Luckily for us, the trip up the slope was filled with wildflowers, butterflies and sandhill cranes, on a beautiful day with a high of 78 degrees.

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There is a tower to climb at the peak, that gave us a great 360 view of the surrounding countryside.

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The trail continued for several miles along a bike path, where we had fun jumping out of the way of cyclists going in both directions, who really didn’t want to share their road. One man stopped to ask what we were doing on the bike path, and we showed him that it was also the path of the Ice Age Trail. He became a Curious Townfolk at this point, and rode alongside us asking tons of questions about our experience until our trail turned back into the woods.

With the woods came the Return of the Mosquitoes, which had been blessedly absent for the past few days. We walked a total of 15 miles, which is a personal best for me, with no blisters or injuries, and made camp in an oak wood full of poison ivy, but we didn’t get any on us. Best news of all, it didn’t rain! Cue the Rocky theme song!

7/6 – Walked through the mosquito filled woods until we ran out of Deet, then walked out onto the road for our trek into Eagle. We don’t have high hopes for this place, but need provisions. The web says you can get a motel room at the local saloon. Can’t wait!

So who should offer us a ride on a Sunday morning? An Episcopal priest, on his way to celebrate Eucharist at a nearby parish! Father Noah took us right to the door of the Suhmer Saloon and wished us a blessed day. I wonder if we’ll be part of his sermon?

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And now we’re in Eagle. Let’s just say that there is a reason that this saloon has no 5 star ratings on TripAdvisor…imageimage

Hartford to Delafield

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

7/1 – we really missed a storm last night! This morning there were branches and trees down everywhere we looked, and some folks lost electricity. We are looking forward to completing the 30 mile stretch to Delafield with one or two nights out, and no more storms.

We started with a road walk that took us around Pike Lake, then off into the woods. I’m not posting lots of pictures of the trail through the woods, as they all look the same, even to me. See previous posts for nice woods pix…
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I asked Jim to stand by one of cornfields we passed on the road. When we arrived in June, the corn was just starting to come up, and although it is not quite as high as an elephant’s eye, it sure has made progress in three weeks!

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We started on the next trail section, designated on our map as Holy Hill, but we couldn’t get past all the poison ivy, so we ended up road walking some more. I was kind of glad to miss that section, as I imagined it involved a heckuva hill climb, so steep that it made people exclaim, “Holy Hill!”

By lunchtime, we could see two giant spires in the distance, and signs for the Basilica of Holy Hill, which was, indeed, on a heckuva hill. If we were in Europe, this definitely would be on my “must see” list of attractions, so why not here? We left our packs by a picnic table, and trudged up to see Holy Hill, Shrine of Mary, which is maintained by Carmelite friars.
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Here is a chapel where prayers are answered. Outside the door were dozens of crutches and braces, left by those who no longer needed them. There was a prescription to follow, that a supplicant should walk up the 178 steps to the chapel before entering to voice their prayer to Mary. We’ve seen several of these chapels in our travels, and they always have a profound effect on me.

At the basilica, we got into a conversation with the Hample sisters, who recognized us as backpackers, even without our packs. Jim, seeing an opportunity, told them to be sure to pick us up if they saw us walking along the road. They laughed and said they were going to Milwaukee, in the opposite direction.

We got back on the trail and completed the Holy Hill section, which put us back on the road for more road walking. At the end of the afternoon, who should pull up, but the Hample sisters! Returning from their afternoon in Milwaukee, they asked if we still needed a ride, and took us about four miles to our next trail entrance. Coincidence, or answer to Karen’s prayer? You decide!

We walked until 5, climbing over, scooting under, or crashing through several newly downed trees that blocked our narrow trail. Just as we were looking for a stealth camping site for the night, we came upon two Ice Age Trail volunteers, out after work with handsaws to start clearing storm debris. Thank you, Trail volunteers, for all you do!image

7/2 – woke up snug in our bug-proof tent, to a grey, drizzly day. Before too long, our feet were wet, and I was feeling crabby. Our road walk took us into Hartfield, an upper crust enclave of manicured lawns and Mc Mansions. The trail here meandered along paved paths in and out of local parks, next to a golf course and along a river.image Even though it was 60 degrees and raining, there were kids splashing and playing in the water as if it was… Oh yeah, it IS July! The ritzier the neighborhood, the grubbier, wetter and smellier I felt. We arrived at Delafield, not a moment too soon, so we didn’t need a second night out. Yay! Time to do laundry!

West Bend to Hartford

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

We seem to have run out of Native American town names, now that we are 200 miles into our hike…

I checked the weather last night, and saw that today would bring afternoon thunderstorms. When I checked again this morning, the forecast included the word severe, as well as dangerous lightning, hail, and possible tornado. Uh oh! We have eleven miles to walk today, and have to get to the Post Office in Slinger.

We got up early, and were on the road by 6:45. The sun was shining, but the sky told us there would be change before too long. The West Bend segment took us on a meandering trail along Silver Creek and around Lucas Lake, and included a boardwalk to get us over some of the boggy parts.imageimage
The trail abruptly ended and dumped us out on another road walk – one with no shoulder or safe place to walk. About 8 miles along, one of the Nice People of Wisconsin pulled over and, exclaiming that we did not look like axe murderers, offered us a ride.image

Chris is an archeology professor at the University of Wisconsin, and he was lost, so he said he may as well take us where we wanted to go. I looked up the address he needed on Google Maps, and he drove us into Slinger, where we had mailed ourselves our next bunch of maps, before we left Chesapeake.

After picking up our envelope, we spent some time answering questions from Curious Townfolk, who we encounter everywhere we go. They want to know where we are from, where we are going, what’s in our packs, what we eat, where we sleep, and if we have a car parked nearby. Jim concluded this session by saying we were on our way to Hartford, if anyone was going that way. One of the ladies immediately offered to drive us there, saying, didn’t we know there was going to be dangerous lightning this afternoon?
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So Deb, grandmother of 13 and owner of a family carpeting company, took us right up to the door of the Super 8 motel, and wished us well. Another Nice Person of Wisconsin!

So here we are, nice and dry, while the rain pours down, the thunder booms and the lightning flashes. We have new maps to read and tomorrow’s hike to plan. If this isn’t nice, I don’t know what is…

Kewaskum to West Bend

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

Although we really enjoyed getting to know Gino, the proprietor of the Bonne Belle motel in Kewaskum, it is time to move on. imageWe are just moving one town south, which is either 6 miles by road, or 11 miles on the trail. Of course, we are taking the trail!

We started out on the Eisenbahn Trail, which is a Rails to Trails conversion. This means that it is straight and flat, as far as the eye can see.image
It had rained overnight, and the sky was pretty spectacular.image
Then we were back on the trail on our way to West Bend, walking through dappled sunlight and practically bug-free!image
In what can only be described as Heaven for Hikers, the trail ended at the highway right in the middle of town, right in front of our hotel, with an Applebee’s and a grocery store right across the street. Now, into the hot tub we go!

Plymouth to Kewaskum

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

6/24 – As we packed our gear to leave Plymouth, Jim realized that the bag that held our ultralight stove, lighter and pen knife was nowhere to be found. After a frantic search, followed by a methodical search that included sifting through the trash and moving all the furniture, we added two miles to our day by hoofing it down to the Walmart on the edge of town to see if we could resupply. How lucky we were to have this happen in the first town we’ve been in big enough to have a Walmart! In an hour, we were back on track. Our new stove isn’t as light, but will get the job done.

We had a 7 mile road walk to get back on the IAT, the day was warm and sunny, and the roads all seemed to go uphill. Despite our best thumbs-out effort, there was very little traffic and no one seemed inclined to give us a lift. Just as we sweated our way to the top of a big hill, we spotted a nice old gentleman waiting at his mailbox with two bottles of cold water! He apologized that he hadn’t stopped when he passed us on the road because his back seat was full of parcels and dog, but now that the groceries were put away, could he give us a lift? He took us the last two miles to the trailhead, and showed us where to fill our canteens. Wisconsin People Are The Nicest! image

Now we were back in the Northern Kettle Moraine State Forest, with 30 miles to the next town, so we planned to camp out for two nights and average 10 miles a day. The challenges: this section has lots of hill climbing, there are few places level enough to pitch a tent, and our packs are heavier with three days worth of food, and as much water as we can carry. The mosquitoes were evident, but not as voracious as those we encountered further north. The payoff: some of the prettiest meadow and forest trails we’ve seen.imageimageimage

The first afternoon poured down rain, which not only soaked us and our stuff, but also turned the trail into a stream in many places. So much for my hope of keeping my feet dry! We slept cozy in our little tent, but had to get up in the morning and put wet clothes, wet socks and wet boots back on. Yuck!

The second day was clear, but we were either walking in deep forest shade, or crashing through waist-high meadow grasses, that got us wet all over again, so we didn’t really get a chance to dry out.imageimage That night, the temperature got so low that I had to get up in the middle of the night and put on my long johns (thank goodness there is no picture of that!)

The third day dawned sunny and clear. I was so cold that I refused Jim’s recommendation to put my wet socks back on, figuring that the trails must surely be drier today… My boots were soaked in ten minutes, and now both pairs of socks needed washing. Always listen to Jim! Because we did about 13 miles yesterday, we had an easy walk into the town of Kewaskum, and got in by lunchtime to the town’s only lodging, the Bonne Belle Motel. Time for a shower! imageThe first Kewaskum residents to greet us. imageThe Kewaskum yard kitsch award!

North Kettle Moraine State Forest to Plymouth

Backpacking, Hiking, Travel, , , ,

6/22 – although there is still plenty of forest ahead, we left the Ice Age Trail this morning to walk the Plymouth Trail into the town of Plymouth. The fine folks of this area laid a trail that runs parallel to, but not near, the highway, so we can walk in safety and comfort (unlike some other connectors we’ve been on), and provided benches, water, and even a port-a-potty. Thank you, people of Plymouth!

If you don’t share my love of signs, you can skip the rest of this post. Plymouth has some of the best hand-painted Walldog signs we’ve seen yet!imageimageimageimageimage

We also saw some interesting yard kitsch, and a super-sized Holstein cow:
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When we got to our hotel and activated the wi-fi, I discovered that Betty the librarian (or Information Professional, as we prefer to be known these days) had sleuthed out this blog address, became a follower overnight, and reached out to offer assistance – librarians are the most resourceful folks ever! I may rename this blog The Nice Folks of Wisconsin.

One of the hot spots to visit in Plymouth is Chester’s, an old fashioned drive-in where the wait staff brings your food out to your car, and hangs a tray on your window. We were amazed at the number of customers that were lined up for the experience. Although we couldn’t share the full experience due to lack of car, we did walk up to order Chester’s signature root beer float and some of Wisconsin’s famous deep fried cheese curds. Our review: two thumbs up!image

Elkhart Lake to North Kettle Moraine State Forest

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

Our extra day in Elkhart Lake dawned rainy, driving the vacationers indoors or into town. The weather cleared by noon, so we walked into town for lunch, where I experienced the most delicious lean pastrami sandwich ever, with little sweet gherkins right on the sandwich! It turns out that some of the shops here don’t even open til Fourth of July, so this is still pre-season.image
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Have I mentioned that we are now in Sheboygan County? Fun to say, and fun to spell!

6/21 – we bade farewell to resort life and walked out of foggy Elkhart Lake on Saturday morning. Five minutes past the edge of town, who should pull up but Jim, the nice man who picked us up on our way into town on Thursday! He and his wife were on their way back from the farmers market, and stopped to see if we needed a ride. What nice people! As our overall mileage today was pretty short, we thanked them for the kind offer, and walked on.

Before too long, we were at the trailhead for the northern Kettle Moraine segment of the Ice Age Trail. As we prepared to enter the forest, we came upon Betty and David, just emerging with their dogs, and swatting mosquitoes in a familiar fashion. They posed for a picture, as they are the first folks we’ve met actually using the trail.image
In the Small World department, Betty is a librarian!

The Kettle Moraine State forest is the hilliest section we’ve hiked so far, composed of rocks dumped by an ancient glacier. Due to all the rain, the rocks were slick and the going slow at times, but the hike was quiet and pretty. Here are some artsy shots, courtesy of Jim:imageimage
We completed our 10 miles for the day, and looked for a place to stealth camp for the night. Luckily, we got our tent and tarp up before the rain started again, and we were cozy and bug-free all night. This was the first time we were camping near trees that we could tie the tarp to, so we had a much bigger area to shelter our stuff. Have I mentioned that our bug tent has no tent poles? We hold it up with our two walking sticks and two lines. Ingenious little contraption!image

Manitowoc to Elkhart Lake

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

6/18 – woke up this morning to thunder and pouring rain, putting a damper on our plan to hike 15 road miles. We put on our raincoats and pack covers, and walked out of lovely Manitowoc. After 10 minutes of walking, a van pulled over and offered us a ride. What luck! However, the van was a local cab, so we would be paying for our ride, which was okay with us.

Joey, a retired long haul trucker, was happy to take us to the next town, Valders, about 5 miles down the road, which would leave us a very manageable 10 mile walk for the rest of the day. He asked lots of questions about the hike, and checked our map to make sure he was leaving us in a good spot. When we got to Valders, far out on a rural road where he was unlikely to get another fare, he refused our money and wished us well. Wisconsin people are so nice!

We trudged along in the drenching rain, which soaked us to the skin despite our rain gear. There was absolutely no traffic. With every mile, our packs got heavier as they soaked up water. Then we saw a bar on a lonely corner with no town around it, with a sign announcing it opened daily at 6am! We were game for anything that would get us out of the rain. I was also very curious about who would go to a bar early in the morning!

It was around 11am, and there was only one old guy nursing a beer, but a succession of others came in while we were there, ordering Cokes or cranberry juice. A group of retirees were at a table playing cards. We ate our frozen pizza (the only food they had) as slowly as we could, and pronounced it delicious.

When we emerged into the daylight, the rain had stopped! We shook off our gear, squeezed the water out of our socks, and walked on. Within an hour, the breeze had dried us considerably and the sun had warmed us sufficiently that I decided the day was actually pleasant.

Our goal for the day was to reach Walla Hi park, where we could refill our water bottles and camp for the night. We reached the park by about 5pm, and found that the promised well water did not exist, and there was a big sign that said, No Camping. So, Jim walked to the house nearest the park to ask if we could fill our bottles from the hose. There was no one home, so Jim took that as a yes, and we had water.

Then he scouted for a place in the park where we couldn’t be seen by anyone driving through the park, and we pitched our little mosquito-proof tent. This is called Stealth Camping, and is the recommended method for most of the Ice Age Trail, which has very few authorized camping areas. After a yummy dinner of mac and cheese and pepperoni with hot sauce, we crawled into our sleeping bags and wished the mosquitoes a good night.

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Next morning we were packed up and on the road by 6am, after a hearty breakfast of oatmeal and coffee. Today we would actually reach an an official Ice Age off-road trail at La Budde, then walk into the resort town of Elkhart Lake.

The trail was sad and neglected, overgrown with weeds and not maintained at all. We slogged through waist-high weeds and climbed over downed tree trunks, before emerging back on the road, now thankful for a road walk!

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But what is that buzzing sound in the distance, louder than 10,000 mosquitoes? Oh no! It’s Nascar Weekend at Elkhart Lake! Every place we tried to get a room for the night was either completely booked, or had a 4 night minimum. We eventually called the Chamber of Commerce, who had a short list of options, and we were able to book for two nights at the Victorian Village Resort for $220 a night.

So here we are in our king sized canopy bed, looking out onto our veranda to the lake beach below. Even though it’s barely 70 degrees, it’s summer, and families are paddle boating and swimming in the clear lake. This is a huge resort, with a theatre, several restaurants, and indoor and outdoor pools. It sort of reminds us of the film Dirty Dancing…

Kewaunee to Two Rivers

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

6/14 – Well, today was an interesting day.

After yesterday’s long road walk, we were eager to get back on a nice forest trail, so decided to shortcut the Ice Age Trail map to avoid three more road walk days with no access to lodgings or provisions, and just get to the next town south.

So eager were we, that we stuck out our thumbs in an effort to get a ride to the next town instead of doing the long road walk. That’s when we met the sheriff, who hung a U-turn to find out what we were up to.

After running our driver’s licenses to make sure we weren’t escaped criminals on the run, he invited us into his squad car and offered to drive us to the county limits. How could we refuse?

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I was hopeful that this generous offer would get us to the next town, but Jim knew better. Sure enough, the nice officer drove us out past the nuclear power plant and left us in the middle of nowhere. We had to walk several hours to get back on track, and then had to do more road walking to get to the Trail head.

Undaunted, we sallied into the forest, to meet our old friends, the mosquitos. Back on went the head nets, and on we went to what was billed as a lakeshore hike through Point Beach State Park. After several hours of hiking, we had seen many more bugs, no other hikers, lots of woods and no lake.

Turns out the map generated by the IAT folks bore little resemblance to the actual trail, and when we thought we were almost done, we still had many more miles to go. We’ve encountered errors on each of the maps used so far, and wonder how we can get more accurate info…

We finally crossed paths with a bicyclist who pointed the way out of the park, and actually followed to make sure we got out. Once on the road, a grizzled old Native American man picked us up and gave us a ride (finally!) into Two Rivers (pronounced by the locals as Trivers). Thankful for the kindness of strangers!

We ended up walking about 17 miles today, and I have the big blister to prove it.

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