Pictures!

Typical of the Lodi Marsh segment

Janesville, home of bad haircuts for 21 years!

Pregnant triangle plates at Ray's in Edgerton

Awesome salad at Jennifer's.

Juliet (Joelle) wading through the trail in Verona. I'd guess this was the work of the Montague's.

Saw this in Madison


Where North begins? For who? People from Illinois aren't real people so they don't count. I'm from EC which is over 2 hours north of here and the North doesn't begin for us until we cross at least Hwy 64, 20 miles to the north of there.

Oxymoron

In Portage you walk along Mullet street for a bit and this is a typical view, seriously.

Gary and his sweet smoker!

I can see the light at the end of the tunnel! (Chaffee Creek)

Im guessing the handiwork of Matt

Hartman Creek

A lazy day in Point

Aug. 30
What a lazy day! My friend Tony headed back to his hometown of Watertown for the night so I lazed (I love the word lazed) around his house in Point while his roommates moved in. I met them last spring when I came up for the Point Bock Run. Tony, Brandon, Mike, Jeremy and non-roomie Kurt know how to party. To continue on the small world theme of late, Tony's roommate Brandon worked with my sister this summer. One thing about Point that really annoys me is people riding bikes refuse to ride on the streets and insist on riding on the sidewalks. Sidewalks are for people and streets are for bikes. It's not like there is a ton of traffic in Point. I almost felt like I was an annoyance to them because they had to slow down and go around me as I walked. Pretty lame.

The campus is abuzz with the incoming freshmen running around trying to figure everything out before the first day. I saw a couple girls this morning walking around finding all their classrooms. Freshmen. The returning students know better and wait for the last minute to get their books and everything else ready. You can always tell who the freshmen are because they walk around in large herds, vulnerable on their own, but safe within a herd. As they age and gain more confidence, they will break out on their own or into smaller pods and roam campus quieter.

Looking back over the last month, it doesn't feel like I've been drifting for that long, but I see how many miles my feet have covered and I stand in amazement. I've learned a lot and met many amazing people, all of that has prepared me for my expedition through the Northwoods. I'm going to need it all as the weather and seasons start their inexorable march towards another Wisconsin winter. There is no turning back now, only one way to go. Forward.

The Kindness of Strangers

Aug. 26
Mary Jane Thalacker carries the moniker of "Strawberry Lady" among hikers and she lived up to her name with a bowl of berries sprinkled with a little sugar for breakfast. I sure do like strawberries. Gary gave me the honor of signing his kitchen RV so my name will live on as he travels around to fairs and other events peddling his BBQ. I'll miss those guys, they were great!

I made it to Westfield and loaded up on groceries as I was not sure the next time I'd be able to restock would be. I tend to putz around quite a bit so between the grocery store and library, I spent over 3 hours in town somehow. Realizing, I needed to move on, I saddled up and headed out of town only to come across a bar called the Thirsty Beaver. With a name like that, I had to stop in for a drink...or two. An hour later I hit the road with many miles between Johann's and myself. I arrived at the I-39 wayside and the start of actual trail again. The 25 mile roadwalk between sections was getting a little old. Walking in Waushara County, I started to enjoy the scenery more than in the past. When I first came to the county a few years back, I didn't care much for the sandy soil, scrubby oaks and pine plantations, but actually getting out and being able to enjoy the land made me start to appreciate it more and realize that it is quite beautiful.

I got to Johann's in Richford in time for the start of the Packer game against the Colts, lucky "planning" on my part. People had been talking up this bar so I hade some high expectations and it lived up to them. A lot of the good conversation and jokes I heard aren't appropriate for this blog, but don't worry, I still wrote them down in my journal! Not everything was inappropriate though. I had a great "all you care to eat" chicken meal for $6. I wasn't very hungry but was still able to polish off 6 pieces of chicken and 2 helpings of the mashed potatoes. Not my best effort, but I feel I still got my money's worth. Johann came in and we talked for awhile about this and that and he let me pitch my tent behind his hotel across the street. Perfect! With my tent set up, I headed back to the bar and found one of the ladies walking around in a dress. Turns out no one believed that Miss Cindy had a dress so she had to prove them wrong. Later on, she felt bad for me sitting by myself at the end of the bar so she invited me over for some conversation. Her birthday was a few days earlier and I don't think she has stopped drinking since. Miss Cindy's (there are two Cindy's at Johann's so one was Cindy and the other was Miss Cindy) shot of choice was three quarters Jack Daniels and a quarter of apple pie which she sipped on the whole night. She also claimed I was the smartest person to ever thru-hike the trail. She knows those things I guess. Being a modest gentleman, I accepted her claim. Things started getting a little weird with language not fit for the blog. I think the only sane/regular person there was the bartender with tattoo covered arms. She was very pleasant and easy to talk to, plus she had a PBR tat on her arm. Can't go wrong with that! A couple shots and a few beers later, it was time for bed.

Aug. 27
The bar opened early for breakfast so I ambled over and had a little grub. Miss Cindy was back drinking already so I figured a bloody was in store for me. Regular Cindy was working the bar/kitchen and was pretty interested in the IAT and gave me a Johann's bandana to remember them by. Very nice of them! Miss Cindy, not wanting to be left out and always the thinker, had me autograph a piece of paper so if I ever get famous, she'll have proof that we met. I think she's on to something!

The cool temps of the past few days were slowly leaving as higher temps moved in. Waushara County has a great stretch of off-road trails just past Johann's. The Mecan River segment was a very enjoyable stretch. I'd like to come back in the fall and see what she has to offer as the leaves fall onto the river a hundred feet below and are carried away until a branch or log stops their downstream slide. I hiked the short distance on a spur trail to an overlook of the river. I sat in silence wit the only sound being the breeze ruffling the still green leaves. That is until a couple deer walked into the river and frolicked around, acting like kids trying to cool off in a stream on a steamy day. The deer eventually moved on and so did I. There is a kiosk at the end of the segment with a hiker log book. I apparently missed a log book earlier in my journey, but not this one. I opened it up and saw that Matt and Cici had written in it two weeks prior when the MSC project just North of there was going on. Pretty neat!

The real treat of the day came when I crossed the road and started the Greenwood section. On the post was a brightly shining MSC Project 2010 placard. I'm not sure if the glue holding it on was even dry yet! I loved the views from the prairie with the rolling hills and short grasses, reminding me of an alpine meadow (I'm sure most of the plants I enjoyed were weeds or invasives, but I still liked it!). The new posts and blazes looked resplendent in the afternoon sun, especially because the birds had christened each post with a lovely coating of white. The trail entered the woods and I was greeted with newly minted tread that wasn't "close enough," but perfect. I notice that the quality of tread goes up at projects that I'm not a part of. My "close enough" philosophy and copious amounts of distracting the volunteers really decreases the quality of the product. I had been told of a huge bench and ottoman awaiting me in the pines and sure enough, they were there and I thought it would be a great spot to take a nap. So I did. My only disappointment came when I found out the ottoman was a footstool, not a remnant of the Ottoman Empire quietly residing in the woods of Wisconsin, waiting for the empire to rise once again. Later in the segment, I ran into Randy, the local chapter coordinator and builder of the bench and ottoman, Pam from NPS and a DNR real estate guy. It was nice to see someone I knew! Bohn Lake was up next and with it came the memory of throwing Gary's meticulously carved pumpkin into the fire, which made for great pictures. Thanks Gary!

Aug. 28
Today I was going to make a dash for Hartman Creek State Park and my first shower in a week! About halfway through my hike there was a bar in the town of Heffron (you can get the bar and church in the same picture!) that I was really looking forward too. The Companion Guide just said "Heffron, meals" which translates to "Heffron, bar." Signs kept pointing me towards the bar, actually Heffron Tavern, building my anticipation. I arrived at 11:15 to find the place closed. What a downer. I sat on the stoop and made my own lunch, complaining to myself about how a bar could not be open at 11 on the weekends. I loaded up and was about to leave when the door opened and a guy popped his head out and said the bar opened at noon. I was saved! Cold PBR buoyed my spirits. Mark, the owner, was pretty groggy at first but after half an hour, he woke up and became more friendly. I had a great time talking with Mark. He figured that I knew about Northern Wisconsin and the North shore of Lake Superior, and he was correct. He was thinking about taking a trip up there for the fall colors and wondered if it was worth it. Oh yeah, I said, it would definitely be worth it. I went to the boundary waters in late September and the colors inland were terrific. Our conversation moved from road trips, to our disdain for late March and April, to the advances of the pickle industry in the last 50 years. As we sat in the bar, the farmers across the street were harvesting cucumbers for pickles. They had quite the operation going and it was neat to see how fast they harvested the pickles and filled up the semis.

I said goodbye to Mark and headed North towards Hartman Creek. I got there and started talking to the girl at the office. Turns out she graduated from my high school two years after me and used to hang out with some of my friends. Nice! I was about to leave and set up camp when this lady started talking to me. One thing led to another and next thing I knew she invited me over for pizza! I pitched my tent and showered (that felt so good after a week without one) and headed to their campsite. Char and her husband Chris from the Dells were camping with Lon and Pat from Kewaunee and they welcomed me in. Lon used to be a scoutmaster so he knows a thing or two about cooking with a dutch oven. Those pizzas were amazing! They come camping that weekend every year so the ladies can go to a nearby Amish auction so for dessert we had a cornucopia of excellent baked goods with ice cream to go with them. Lon asked if I wanted maple syrup for the ice cream. Being new to the maple syrup on ice cream game, I was caught off guard and I think seemed a little too eager for another chance to taste the deliciousness of the perfect match. Lon makes his own maple syrup so that was an added bonus! I ate well that night! The night descended on us as our conversation kept rolling. A campfire was lit and awhile later, we all turned in. Nights like this is what makes my trip so enjoyable. The kindness of Char, Chris, Lon and Pat to allow a dishevelled drifter into their camp and dinner table is almost overwhelming. My night at Hartman Creek was a truly great experience.

Aug 29.
I peacefully slid awake as I hear a chipmunk trying to scratch its way into my tent, I shooed it away. It had been a beautiful night to camp. The humidity of the day dropped and so did the temperatures increasing the allure of a well-built campfire. As I walked around the campground, with most folks still sleeping, the birds and squirrels scurried about. The smell of the first tendrils of smoke wafted through the trees as the few people up got their fires relit without the use of a match. The sunlight was creeping down the trees and with the filtering effect of the campfire smoke, created a gorgeous panorama. Ah, the scenic beauty of early morning! The only human-made noise was the low drone of air conditioners running in campers. Ugh.

Went over to Lon and Pat's site for breakfast. We had more Amish goodies and toasteted cinnamon raisin bread slathered with Lon's homemade maple butter. Mmm! That was delicious! Char's brother Jim stopped by and instantly started chatting away. He was well versed in the IAT and was good friends with Jim Powers whom I had stayed with weeks earlier. What a small world! We rehashed a good part of our conversation from last night because Jim was intrested in my trip. That was a great way to pass the morning. I'm glad I ran into Char at the office and she invited me over for dinner because they made my stay at Hartman Creek a great one. I gave them a few pointers about their upcoming camping trip to Wyalusing. I told them what trails to check out and ones to avoid and even neat things off trail to see. Having worked there the past few years, I told them to drop my name to someone at Wyalusing, but on second thought, I'm not sure that's a good idea! They left me with a fudgecicle and I went on my way.

Boy, it was a hot one! The Waupaca River looked like a nice river to canoe down until I saw all the trees down across it. Too bad! My friend Tony, who worked with me on the trail crew last year, picked me up at the end of the day and brought me back to Stevens Point. We went swimming right away and did that ever feel good! There was a cookout at his house that night but I had to leave early and do my fantasy draft. They didn't have internet at their house yet so we went to campus to find a computer which turned out to be a lot harder than expected. A computer was finally found at a kiosk in their athelitc facility so I had to stand there for the next 3 and a half hours while freshman milled around getting a feel for the place and Tony and his friends were eating great food and drinking. Not a pleasant experience. I got back to his house and was so hungry I resorted to eating two brat buns with sauerkraut and ketchup (not too bad actually!). In the next hour I slammed six PBR's, I think that may have done the trick. We ended up at a random house party, a bar and then an after bar where Tony passed out while playing quitar and I found a couch and tried sleeping. I didn't feel like walking in the morning once I stepped out in the heat so I decided to take a day off. I think I deserve one of those every now and then! My time on the trail the last week was really fun. I met a lot of great people and saw a lot of neat things. This trip reaffirms my belief that people are generally good people who want to help. Some folks think everyone is a threat and are always on guard, but they miss out on some wonderful chance encounters and meeting new friends. With one month down, I have another to go and I hope it is as great as the first one!

Inspiration, move me brightly

I'm skipping ahead a few days to get caught up as yesterday was a doozy.

Aug. 25
Got going at 7:30 and the first thing I see is an old guy walking the biggest dog I've ever seen in my life. I got closer and realized it was not a huge dog, but a little horse. The guy was walking a pony. We talked for a bit and I learned he had been retired for 27 years after working 30 years at the GM plant in Janesville, but he doesn't expect to hit the 30 year retirement mark. Being an expert in breaking horses, I delved into that topic and then onto fishing and finally the Amish.

I made it to John Muir Memorial Park and came across a ball field, because if John Muir was anything, he was a fervent baseball fan (I don't think baseball had even been invented yet..). Quiet Jim from MSC just finished his section hiking of the IAT and ended with the John Muir segment. I really like Jim ending there. Without John Muir, we may not have had the IAT because Muir was the father of the National Parks. Congrats Jim and great choice on the last section! It was pretty awe-inspiring to stand and walk through the same land a giant of American conservation had spent his teenage years. A day or two earlier, I had walked past Aldo Leopold's shack. Waukesha County has the Conservation Hall of Fame along the trail, but the last few days I've been seeing where some of those folks came from. What made Wisconsin such an epicenter for conservation and ecology? Was it just happenstance that Muir and Leopold lived in the sand counties or is there some underlying factor that makes Wisconsin so special? Both guys traveled near and far but Muir kept his family farm on Fountain Lake near to his heart and Leopold kept returning to his shack on the Wisconsin River. We may not be surrounded by snow-capped mountains, deep and wide canyons or the shimmer of the ocean, but we do have lakes and rivers that support a vast array of flora and fauna. We are blessed with such a beautiful state but most people don't realize it or really care about it. That disconnect from nature is a huge problem with the world today. We treat the outdoors as our toilet (which I have been doing lately) and ignoring the delicate nature of it. This starts with kids who never get out and appreciated what real nature is. That's why the Summer Saunters program Luke and Chris started in Lodi is a great idea. They take youngsters out to various sections on the IAT and have them hike and write about their experience. It may not seem like much, but it's planting a seed in their mind that hopefully, with enough nurturing, will grow into a love or at least appreciation for Nature. It's one thing to learn about this stuff in school, but its another thing to go out and actually see, feel and smell the land.

Luke and Chris work with kids from a small town who probably are already somewhat well versed in the woods and prairies, but Leah followed the blueprint and started a Saunters program in Milwaukee. She said some of those kids had never left the city, much less viewed a forest, meadow or peaceful stream. To get them out of the city and into a more wilderness setting would have to be an eye-opening experience for them, laying the groundwork for more thought, appreciation and curiosity about our world. The Milwaukee Saunters program can be nothing but good. You don't have to thru-hike or disappear into the wild to gain a better understanding of the world of wilderness. Take a canoe trip down a quiet river, go to a park and hike the trails, walk through a prairie with a wildflower book and try to identify a few flowers or maybe go camping somewhere a little more rustic that doesn't have all the amenities you have at home. Going a day without a shower won't kill you! Get out of your comfort zone!

The same problem applies to food today. We don't know where it comes from, only caring about the cost. That's why I liked when Hotz and I went to Brennan's to get food for dinner and Luke and Letha having great local and fresh food and Jennifer having a beautiful garden. It frustrates me when I have friends who have the means to eat better (local and fresh) but choose Walmart because its cheaper. The local stuff is healthier too! Ok, enough with the unoriginal preaching!

I walked across Buffalo Lake into Packwaukee for lunch. They take pride in the Indian name of the town, but why not just name the lake Tatanka Lake too? That would be a lot more interesting! I had lunch at T's Causeway and these two younger fellows walked in. One talked about "two story beer bongs right out of the dorms in Madison." Oh, this might get interesting. They started talking pretty big about how much beer they could chug when the bartender, who was a pretty good looking lady, said she had something of a beer bong. She pulled out a horn, not quite a beer bong, but something awesome to chug out of! The bartender filled the horn with their beer of choice, Busch Light of course and the first guy started to chug. He stopped halfway through complaining that it was too cold. He eventually finished it and his friend tried and did the same thing. So much for being badass drinkers. I'm at the end of the bar by myself, watching all this go down. Now is my time to make a move. "Fill it up again" I say. "I'd like a shot at that." I chugged it without stopping putting the youngsters to shame. I mean its only a single beer, anyone can do that. Yeah, its cold, but you just man up and do the job. Pussy's.

A short time later another guy walked in and tossed a box on the bar. He told the bartender to cook them all. Turns out he worked for a food distributor and had some food the needed to be eaten up so he brought the fish down to the bar to cook in the deep fryer. Nice! I had four pieces and figured it was time to move on. On the way out of town, the sheriff stopped me and warned me about the rabid raccoon ahead... interesting.

I walked to Gary and Mary Jane Thalacker's house who have hosted hikers in the past. They were so nice! Gary brought me out a huge plate of BBQ pork over spaghetti and a side salad. Oh man! I mowed through that without any trouble even after all the food I ate earlier in the day. Gary retrofitted an old RV into a mobile kitchen. It may be one of the coolest things I've seen. He travels around and is a BBQ vendor at various events. We should hook up with him for an MSC event. Then he showed me the smoker where he cooks his meat. "Just open the lid and smell" he tells me. I opened it and was whisked away to a land of BBQ and smoked meaty goodness. I had to do everything to stop drooling. I found out Mary Jane was a big Civil War buff. What more could I ask for? I had a place to pitch my tent, surrounded by the tools of BBQ pitmaster and got to talk Civil War for a bit. Doesn't get much better than that! I'll have to stop back there after I'm done with my hike, they were awesome. Gary also showed me the Ox Cart Trail which is an old trail that they used back in the 1800's before we had real roads. It was the main highway in the area and would be a great place for the IAT to cross. Fascinating stuff. In the morning Mary Jane brought me a thing of strawberries to keep her title of "strawberry lady" current. That was a good night and morning!

Time to get a move on. I'm thinking about making a push to Waushara County and Johann's!

Devli's Lake Pictures

My co-worker came out and hiked Devil's Lake with me. And this is all I have to show for it.

You, Me and the Devil Makes 3

Aug. 22
Woke up to Luke yelling at me for not finishing my beer the night before. I don't know how it happened, but that was a travesty. The last few sips of the warm Lake Louie was great. Luke and Letha got me going just in time to catch the ferry. I enjoyed staying with them. Being a teacher, Luke is of course loaded. When he picked me up for lunch the day before, he had $100's falling out of his pocket. He didn't know what to do with them all. His friend Chris, on the other hand, is also a teacher but doesn't flaunt around his affluence. Luke may be an asshole, but he's from Iowa so you can't hold it against him too much, plus he is a helluva griller. He is also sort of my trail mentor as I knew nothing about hiking before talking to him, again, amazing for an Iowan. Letha is so pleasant and nice and is great at feigning interest in what I had to say. There are "gems" along the IAT like Gibraltar Rock, but I think we should have a list of unofficial gems like the Washington House in Two Rivers, Luke's grilling and maybe this Johann's I keep hearing about in Waushara county. I'm sure there are plenty more out there.

I took a pleasant trip across the ferry and immediately stopped for ice cream. It may have been 10:30 in the morning, but it tasted sooo good. My bureau coworker Joe called and said he would hike through Devil's Lake with me. Hell yeah! We met up, had a PBR, and I ate the lunch that Luke packed - all the leftovers from the previous night. Now, thats trail food! It was nice walking with Joe beause he knows the park so well and filled me in on everything I was seeing. I had never explored Devil's Lake before so hiking through it was a real treat! The views from the bluffs were amazing and the rock work to build the steps was mindblowing. My knee was hurting pretty good going up, but going down the pain went away. The pain is coming from under the knee cap so it can't be too serious!

We got to the park office and Katie came to pick us up. We went to my campsite, had some beers and dominated the taco's Katie had brought. She planted taco's in my head Thursday and I was finally able to scratch that itch Sunday night. They were great! Giese stopped by and had a beer or two with us. It was a lot of fun to have 3 friends hanging out with me at the end of the day. I have some pretty special friends! Giese left and we dropped Joe off at his car so Katie and I went swimming as night was settling in over Devil's Lake. The air was a bit chilly and so was the water, but a Baywatch entrance helped warm me up. What a refreshing way to end the day! It was a lot of hard walking through Devil's Lake and I know more awaits me as I continue my journey.

The Master Griller

Aug. 21

Brad was determined to get me on the road at a decent time and failed. I decided I was going to slack pack by dropping my pack off at Luke's house in Lodi. Slack packing is a great thing. Brad dropped me off by Hwy 12 and I got going at 9:30. I made pretty decent time getting to the Lodi Marsh. Right before I turned onto Lodi - Springfield road, I came across a pumpkin patch with some monster pumpkins. There were a few that I would have trouble rolling over. I entered the Lodi Marsh segment with high expectations knowing who takes care of it, but the first tree down across the trail squashed that ideal. The segment is quite beautiful with glimpses of what's to come through Columbia County, big valleys and hills. I waltzed into Lodi in search of a beer so I called Luke to see if he wanted to have a drink or two. He picked me up and we headed to a bar on the outskirts of town where we met his friend Chris. A bloody, snit, beer, order of cheese curds and a philly cheese steak later, I was ready to hit the road again. It took awhile to get my stomach in order after that impromptu meal. At the Lodi High School, they built a sweet bridge that is the largest structure built on the trail. It's pretty impressive. By the end of the day, I made it to the Merrimac Ferry after passing through the Murphy property which is where the October MSC project is. I've been helping with trail layout there so it was nice to see what Tim and Luke had been up to while I've been hiking. They didn't mess anything up too bad. There are some amazing views from the property looking across Lake Wisconsin towards Devil's Lake. That project is going to be awesome!

Luke picked me up and we headed back to his place for dinner. Luke and his wife Letha pulled out all the stops for dinner. Before we had the big meal, they laid out a great spread of fruit, bread, cheese and chips and salsa. I would have been content with that but more food was to come. We had beer can chicken, tenderloin, corn on the cob, grilled tomatoes and grilled eggplant. That was one of the best meals I've had in a long, long time and the best one I've had on my hike. I have had some great meals so far, but they all bow down to Luke and Letha's. I like to grill and think of myself as a decent griller, but Luke put me to shame with his bounty of perfectly cooked meats and veggies. I can only dream of attaining his skill of taming the flame.

I've had it pretty easy so far as I've only camped 7 times since the start of my journey, but that is about to change. My long run of friends along the trail has come to an end, leaving me to my own devices. My meals wont be as good and sleeping accommodations will not be as posh, but my hike will go on. I have a nice run the next week and a half before it gets real up in Langlade and Lincoln Counties. The untamed trail of the Northwoods awaits!