The Scary Northwoods

I'm sorry about the dearth of posts lately as the internet has yet to be discovered in the Northwoods. That limited my options of getting a blog entry out to pony express and pigeon. Horses and the IAT do not get along very well so that eliminated the equine solution leaving me with the pigeon route. I was going to send an attachment with the pigeon but apparently they are out of passenger pigeons so a homing pigeon it had to be, attachmentless. Anyways, here's what I've been doing.

Sept. 6
My parents dropped me off at the start of the Lumber Camp Segment, leaving me alone with the scary Northwoods. Shortly thereafter, I came across the famous Hillbilly Hilton. Not being a hillbilly, I was confused by the lock but I eventually figured it out. The Hillbilly Hilton is quite the place and I would really love to come back up and actually spend the night. It's the old root cellar from the logging camp that has been converted into a small shelter complete with two beds and a wood stove. In the week or so before I arrived, two scout troops and about 10 people signed in saying they stopped in. Quite busy! The rest of the day was mostly pleasant as I ran into Lee from the local chapter and walked through Veterans Memorial Park at Jack Lake which is a sweet campground with brand new showers and a disc golf course! Just before you hit the park, there is a primitive campsite on a different lake that had an outhouse, fire ring and a canoe with a paddle and life jackets. Now that's a primitive campsite! The trail had been easy to follow all day until I crossed Hwy 45 and hit a new logging area. No blazes were to be found so I just kept heading west until I came to a T with a trail heading north and one going south. I didn't find any blazes and knew that I was supposed to be going west so I got the compass out and bushwhacked my way through the woods and a sweet bog/swamp thing. I ended up 20 yards from where I was supposed to be. I'm guessing if I took the south road I would've hit the blazes in less than a 100 yards. Oh well! I walked a few more miles and pitched my tent around the raindrops foretelling of a storm to hit later that night. It was a helluva storm!

Sept. 7
Today was one of those miserable days that I usally associate with spring, 50 and windy with drizzle. In the Western Highland Lakes segment there was a chunk that was blazed really well which turned out to be the work of Randy. He was pretty proud of this when I met him a few days later. I came to the area known as the 5 points but I did not see any Natives or Dead Rabbits though. A few hundred yards farther down the trail the signage disappears in an area of logging...if only they would've continued the blazing a little farther! I, of course, found the right way with my great instincts and penchant for being right. Parrish Hills was next up and it was rugged. The blazing was easy to follow but there were times I wasn't too excited about going where it wanted me to go. Fording the Prairie River with drizzle and temps in the 40's was not something I wanted to do late in the day. I stumbled, shivering and thirsty into a bar along the trail on Hwy 17. Turns out pizza and PBR cure all ails! I left after dark and headed into the woods to find a campsite.

Sept. 8
It was a chilly night. Morning brought clouds and high winds. Lovely! I crossed into Lincoln County early on and found my first tick! A deer tick at that. Good thing you can't get Lymes twice... The Harrison Hills segment brings you to the highest point on the IAT at Lookout Mountain which measures 1920 feet. I climbed the fire tower to look across the Northwoods and to have lunch, but being a chicken, the high winds forced me down. When the endless Harrison Hills segment finally ended I was tired and plopped down at the trailhead and turned my phone on to check the time. A voicemail from Randy was awaiting me with the promise of Leinie's! He told me of a new section of trail just ahead cutting off some roadwalk before hitting the Underdown section so I saddled up and headed that way. I was looking for some flagging and an old railroad bed when I ran into fellow DNR employee Gary Bart. He was looking at the management options of the new parcel so he walked with me through most of the route. Nice guy! I got to the otherside and found Randy waiting with some cold Leinie's and plenty of beef sticks. I devoured both. That was much needed! Continuing on, I found a nice site along a lake in the Underdown segment as darkness fell.

Sept. 9
It was an even colder night but I slept great! I'm not sure the last time I slept for 10 hours while camping. A late start I got, but morning on the lake was beautiful. A nice day after a couple crummy days helped boost the spirit. I breezed through the rest of the Underdown and started a 10 mile roadwalk. I ran into an old guy working on fixing the gravel road and had a great conversation. Dave Fox was his name and he said I just missed seeing a wolf cross the road. Darn! After 20 minutes I got the boots moving again. An hour later a truck pulled up and it was Dave who wanted to give me a CD he had recorded of country classics. He had sold enough to enable him to give one away every now and then and he thought highly enough of me to give me one! I knew quite a few songs on there from either Randy singing them or hearing bluegrass versions of them. I thanked him and trucked along. Now the trick was to not destroy the CD before I could get it to safety.

If you've ever looked at your mailbox before, they all say "approved by the postmaster general." Does the postmaster general actually approve each design or do they delegate that to someone else? I could see their secretary coming into their office saying "guess what day it is!?" Shaking their head in dismay the general sighs and mumbles "mailbox approval day..." I'm guessing it would be similar to Big Block of Cheese day on the West Wing.

With these thoughts in my head I got lost trying to find a shortcut to the Grandfather Falls segment. I shake my head in dismay thinking about my bullheadedness that steered me through the thick woods. Stupid me. This debacle set me back so the only way to make it up was to go to a bar which Jankow's just north of Grandfather Falls was happy to help with. The people in there were awesome! I got a few free beers, a pudding cup, a couple capri suns and two Hersheys chocolate bars! After getting my fill, I walked off into the sunset.

Sept. 10
I didn't sleep all that well even with the sound of Grandfather Falls in the background. I had a big day ahead of me so I got up early and started my 27 mile dash to Wood Lake County Park. It was a gorgeous day for hiking and I took advantage. The trails in Lincoln County were all mowed in the last month which I am very thankful for but when I got into the New Wood Segments I came upon tread built by MSC. It was an absolute treat to walk along the finely crafted tread. That segment really made me appreciate what great work the folks at an MSC event do. It's pretty wild walking the New Wood Segment along the New Wood River. It almost feels like it shouldn't be Wisconsin because it's so beautiful yet, remote. I loved it. The Camp 27 segment has an awesome beaver dam you have to cross. I loved the fact that there are carsonite posts on either side essentially saying "yes, you do have to cross that thing." Next up was the Timberland Wilderness segment which I remember working on, but I could barely recognize the landscape because of the logging that had gone on. It's quite a shame. I arrived at Wood Lake with daylight to spare so I went for a swim and made myself two dinners! I think I deserved that after 117 miles in 5 days. That night it rained a couple inches...

Sept. 11
It was still raining when I got up but I sure didn't want to start walking, but walk I must for the mysterious Ginger Lee was meeting up with me. She arrived thanks to a shuttle from a local chapter member and I began to get ready. I didn't really know what to expect from Ginger because I knew almost nothing about her and couldn't find anyone who even knew her until I got to Rita's in Antigo. She turned out to be quite affable, looking like a young Laura Dern, even though the weather was less than inviting. Ginger was a chatty Kathy as we walked through the rain drenched woods of Taylor County. I guess she had an encounter with a bear and doesn't want that to happen again. The trail was wet and very overgrown with bramble making for a not so pleasant walk but we pushed on. I ended up walking about 15 miles with part of that on Rustic Road 1. I'd have to say that it was a very beautiful rustic road with 2 lakes that looked like a nice place to have a cabin. Ginger picked me up after the Rib Lake segment and we headed to pick up my tent which I had left to hopefully dry. It was dry and we went to Camp 28 looking for a room to dry off and get a good shower in. I really needed that shower! There was a drawing for Talladega tickets at the bar that night with the drawing after the race. I had all intentions of being there but Wanda called right when the race was ending and I missed my chance to go to Talladega and experience NASCAR for free. To ease my loss, there was a show about the rustic roads of Wisconsin on TV. I love coincidence!

Sept. 12
Had a crazy dream last night where I was watching a movie and Shaq was a guys butler screaming "There's no ketchup in the bathroom!!" Wonder what Freud has to say about that one? We went down to the restaurant for breakfast and ran into Drew Hanson who we missed the day before on the trail that goes through his land. It was great running into him up here! I loaded up on bacon grease because nothing keeps the bears away like bacon grease (actually bacon grease is to bears as chocolate is to Augustus Gloop). Ginger dropped me off and I set off looking forward to having another person hike with me by the days end. Matt the Hoofer met up at the start of the Chequamegon and the Mondeaux Esker. He had some cold PBR waiting in the car! The trail was very wet, or you could say underwater, for a large portion of the afternoon, but the day was perfect for hiking and so was the company. We made it to the Mondeaux Lodge just before it closed and ordered a pizza. I was getting out my money when Matt said he was taking care of it. His dad had slipped him $20 to take care of us while hiking. That's the second time Charlie helped me out. He's like those benefactors of old who financed the great expeditions of the world. Shackleton had James Caird, Janet Stancomb-Willis and Dudley Docker and I have Matt's dad. Ships and newly discovered land was named after them, but I have no ship and haven't discovered anything new yet so perhaps I could name my backpack "Charlie."

Sept. 13
We awoke at the Mondeaux Flowage on a beautiful fall day. We cruised most of the day, at least while Matt had the lead. He walked with ease through the forest like a well-rested thoroughbred while I plodded along with the weary feet of a rented mule. We had some good conversation about great adventures and challenges. This fall, Matt is hoping to Walk the Wauk in a single day. That's like 46 miles. He's crazy, but I said he should let me know when he attempts it because I might want to give it a shot myself. We made it to Jerry Lake by 5, giving us ample time to rest, set up camp and get a campfire going. The campsite has a great pit toliet that overlooks the lake, reminding me of the best toilet I've ever used which is on Smoke Lake, just east of Sawbill Lake in the Boundary Waters. Oh man, the sun was going down and I had an amazing view of the lake while I enjoyed the moment. The campfire was warm as the night cooled down. Today was a good day.

Sept. 14
Matt and I parted ways after breaking camp, he biked back to his car and I hiked on to Lake Eleven. It rained after Matt left which made sense because Matt is a pretty smart kid and he knows when to get out of a bad situation (or at least rain). The segment was in better shape than the last two but there were still some wet and overgrown sections. I stopped for lunch and sat down with my back against a hemlock when a porcupine ambled down the trail towards me. I sat there and watched him get closer and closer before I realized it was a porcupine and I shouldn't let it get to close. Kabobs were not on the lunch menu. I yelled a few times to get it to stop about 10 feet from me. It didn't seem to concerned about me and putzed around on logs and in the trees while I finished lunch. I talked to a guy the next day who said porcupine is the only animal you can eat raw without having to worry about any disease's or things like that. Interesting. If you are the person who lost a granola bar on the Lake Eleven segment, don't worry because I ate it. I was planning on ending my day at the Sitting Bull in Polley, but it was a little hectic in there while they destroyed the old bar and began building a new one. I stayed and drank my fill until a local offered up his yard to pitch my tent. Sounds great! He was telling stories about how a previous owner of the bar had offered a free drink to anyone who rode their horse to the bar. Mike, the local, asked what you got if you rode a horse into the bar. Free drinks all night was the answer so Mike of course went home and got his horse and rode it through the door and into the bar. He said he was too drunk to ride the horse home so he held onto its tail and let it lead the way back. Classic.

Sept. 15
Storm clouds were on the horizon as I put my tent away. Mike brought me into town and I had a breakfast burrito and two pancakes. I've been scarfing down food the last few weeks and if the scale is right at my parents house, I have gained back a lot of the weight I lost early on. I walked over to the grocery store to get a few things for the day and came across the bakery. So many good choices but I went with the creme filled long john. Then, the strawberry cream cheese filled donut talked me into buying it too. I would later regret that decision. The rain was ending as I left Gilman and headed west towards Cornell. My parents were going to pick me up at the end of the day so I had a good meal and a warm bed to look forward to! I got to the corner of Hwy 64 and 27 and decided to check out the bar. Good thing I did because 10 minutes later it was pouring outside while I was pouring a beer down my throat. I tried the shake of the day but lost yet again. I've been trying the shake of the day in most of the bars I've visited but have yet to win. I feel like I have a good chance of finally winning in the last week of my journey. After a few High Lifes to support the troops, I walked through Cornell and across the big blue bridge. A guy pulled over and asked what I was doing and if I needed a ride. We blocked traffic, but who cares, its Cornell. A real nice guy who I see has already checked out the blog. I walked another 50 yards when another guy stopped wanted to talk to me. Turns out this guy was Chris McCrackin who hiked it with a bunch of scouts in the late 90's. It was really fun talking to him as we tossed stories back and forth. My Eagle Scout award has garnered some street cred along my hike. He recognized my dad from scout camp. What a small world! Chris is hiking it again with his younger son which would be quite the accomplishment to hike it a 2nd time. He was real supportive and gave me encouragement to keep on going until the end. When I'm done, I'll have to meet up with him to talk more about our hikes. My dad picked me up and we headed home to good meal. After dinner was a different story. What's the last thing you want to do after walking 900 miles? That's right, move furniture around the house. I think that's the only reason they wanted to come pick me up today. They needed the muscle to move stuff around after getting new carpet this week. I was not amused. Oh well. It rained pretty good all night so being home was better than being in the rain.

I'll get back on the trail tomorrow and hopefully hike the actual trail miles in Chippewa County. This weekend I guess a camera crew from Discover Wisconsin is going to meet up with me at the Hemlock Creek segment. That should be interesting! My Aunt and Uncle live in Birchwood so I'll get one more night inside before the end of my hike. I'm still shooting for next Friday. 170 miles in 9 days should be manageable. My feet are growing weary but the end is near. I'll make my final dash for the finish line and enjoy my last week on the trail. I'll be meeting friends and a coworker along the way, helping to spur me on. I've come a long ways but the end is in sight. I'm going to actually do this! Holy Cow!