Whitewater to Janesville

July 14, 2014Hiking, Ice Age Trail, TravelCracker Barrel, Gander Mountain, Janesville, Trail Angels, Whitewater WIkarenfranza

7/12 – Well, we did not walk from Whitewater to Janesville, we took a bus. My left foot has been giving me increasing discomfort, so Dr. Jim prescribed a few days off, to see if it will heal. There is a sporting goods store in town, so I’m counting on a new pair of boots to help. We’re tucked into a very nice Motel 6, next door to a Cracker Barrel, across the street from a Walmart, so all our needs will be met while my foot gets some rest. (Somebody please tell Doug Nixon that I was wrong and he is so right about Cracker Barrel – the best restaurant ever!)

We’ve been following the Ice Age Trail for a full month now, and have walked over 300 trail miles, plus all the miles we add by walking into and out of towns. With the exception of the Nice People of Wisconsin who occasionally pick us up on our way into a town, we have been getting by on our own.

With the prospect of being laid up for a few days and seeing some long road walks ahead, Jim reached out to Tess, one of the Trail Angels who help support Ice Age Trail hikers in this county. Tess completed the 1100 mile trail last year by hiking in sections, and is one of the handful of women who have achieved this goal. She understood our frustration at being sidelined by injury, but assured us that it happens to everyone trying to complete the long road walks. In fact, she was surprised that we accomplished as much as we did.

Tess came to our motel with maps and suggestions of ways we could break up the miles differently, and encouraged us to reach out to other trail angels as we continue on. This is very good advice.

Next to our motel is the Janesville Bible Church. Whenever we find ourselves near a church on Sunday, we stop in. Last week in Eagle, it was a Catholic church. We sat through the mass, sang the hymns and walked out without any one saying a word to us.

This week’s service was about as different from that one as night is to day. There were only about 12 people, but just about everyone came up to introduce themselves and welcome us. After the service (and I’ll have you know that my verse finding skills are VERY good), the pastor’s wife invited us to stay at their home, and offered to make an herbal compress for my foot. We were touched by their friendliness, and will take them up on their offer of supper before we move on.

7/14 – This morning we walked the mile over to Gander Mountain, a huge camping/hunting/hiking store that just opened in town two weeks ago. (Coincidence or answer to prayer? You decide!) I danced out with a new pair of comfy boots, new socks, and new Keen hiking sandals to wear in wet weather. My feet feel better, and my spirit is elevated 100%. (Jim’s not so much, as the purchases went on his credit card…)

I don’t have many pix to share, so here is one from home of Lexi and Emma eating ice pops while watching Frozen. I find this amusing on several levels.

Train

July 10, 2014TravelEagle WI, Trainkarenfranza

The train whistle blast sure wakes you up in the morning!

Beinghere

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.

View original post

Eagle to Whitewater

July 10, 2014TravelEagle WI, Elephant Stone, Lake La Grange, Whitewater WIkarenfranza

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..
.

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 fashioned bicycle

July 8, 2014Uncategorizedkarenfranza

It’s not as easy as riding a bike….

Beinghere

View original post

Old World Wisconsin

July 8, 2014TravelEagle WI, Old World Wisconsinkarenfranza

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

July 6, 2014Backpacking, Hiking, Ice Age Trail, TravelDelafield, Eagle WI, Nice People of Wisconsinkarenfranza

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

July 3, 2014Backpacking, Hiking, Ice Age Trail, TravelDelafield, Hartford, Holy Hill, Nice People of Wisconsin, Wisconsinkarenfranza

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.
br />

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

June 30, 2014Backpacking, Hiking, Ice Age Trail, TravelHartford, Nice People of Wisconsin, West Bend, Wisconsinkarenfranza

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

June 30, 2014Backpacking, Hiking, Ice Age Trail, TravelKewaskum, Nice People of Wisconsin, Rails to Trails, West Bend, Wisconsinkarenfranza

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!