The train whistle blast sure wakes you up in the morning!
We had a room at the saloon in Eagle, WI….close to the train tracks Here is the view from the door of our room.
Category Archives: Travel
Eagle to Whitewater
7/8 – We were happy to bid farewell to the little town of Eagle and the Suhmer Saloon – did I mention that our room was about ten feet from the train tracks, and long freight trains went by morning and evening? See Jim’s video. That train whistle blast will wake you up in a hurry!
We had a clear, cool morning, after a night of rain. Remember what this means? Yup, wet boots and socks, and a stream where the trail should be. Oh well, that’s Wisconsin! We hiked through wildflower meadows, oak savannah, and dark woods, completing the Eagle, Blue Spring Lake and Blackhawk segments of the Ice Age Trail.
The highlight of the afternoon was climbing down to see the Elephant Stone, a much-touted highlight of the Ice Age Trail. Their logo is a wooly mammoth, so this may be why they are fond of this stone. I leave it to you to decide which part of this rock looks like an elephant..
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By mid-afternoon, the mosquitoes went from annoying to voracious, and we both donned our full bug-net suits. The little buggers managed to fly down Jim’s collar to bite his back, and I kept getting them caught between my hat and the net – infuriating! We made camp, jumped inside the tent to get some peace, and ate our dinner inside the little tent too. When we got undressed for bed, dozens of dead bugs fell out of our clothes. Yuck!
7/9 – In the morning, we had about 3 miles of woods before the trail ended and we were back out on the road. We took a break to enjoy Lake La Grange, still as glass in the early morning.
If this isn’t nice, I don’t know what is…
Old World Wisconsin
Today we took a break from hiking to visit a tourist attraction called Old World Wisconsin, where German, Norwegian, and other immigrant farms have been reconstructed, and 19th century-dressed docents demonstrate farm craft (sort of like Colonial Williamsburg).
We had a great time playing tourist for the day, and talking with the blacksmith, hausfrau, schoolteacher, as well as taking pix of all the farm animals. The weirdest craft was watching a young girl skin and eviscerate a squirrel, and boil it up for dinner!
We also got to ride on some old-timey bicycles. Jim was very good at this – me, not so much…
Back at the Suhmer Saloon, we befriended the guy in the next room, an ex-con who rents his room by the week. He struck up a conversation after noting that we wore Crocs on our day off… as Crocs are evidently the preferred footwear of the penitentiary set, he assumed we had also done time in the Big House. Oh my!
Tomorrow we are back on the trail for more adventure!
Delafield to Eagle
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.
There is a tower to climb at the peak, that gave us a great 360 view of the surrounding countryside.
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?
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…
Hartford to Delafield
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…
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!
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!
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.
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
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.
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.
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?
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
Although we really enjoyed getting to know Gino, the proprietor of the Bonne Belle motel in Kewaskum, it is time to move on. 
We 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.
It had rained overnight, and the sky was pretty spectacular.
Then we were back on the trail on our way to West Bend, walking through dappled sunlight and practically bug-free!
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
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! 
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.
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.
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! 
The first Kewaskum residents to greet us. 
The Kewaskum yard kitsch award!
North Kettle Moraine State Forest to Plymouth
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!
We also saw some interesting yard kitsch, and a super-sized Holstein cow:
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!
Elkhart Lake to North Kettle Moraine State Forest
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.
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.
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:
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!
Taking Our Time 