Aug. 16
Randy made breakfast and I put some of Jim Powers homemade maple syrup on the pancakes. Great way to start my day! I got going at Devil's Staircase after Randy packed me a lunch consisting of leftover chicken legs and bacon. Now that's some trail food! Devil's Staircase is a pretty neat section as it squeezes between cliffs and the rock river. There is some amazing rock work towards the end of the section that if you get a chance, you should go check out. Taking a shortcut through a new residential development, my cavalier attitude blocked me from looking at the directions so I took a wrong turn and ended up in a bean field...whoops. I figured it out and continued the road walking. I ended the mostly uneventful day at the Albany trailhead for the Sugar River Trail, where Jennifer was kind enough to pick me up. We headed back to her place after deciding that a big salad would hit the spot. Jennifer has a nice garden that supplied most of the ingredients in the salad which was quite delicious. After the salad was when the magic started. She introduced me to ice cream with Honey Bunches of Oats, topped with Cowboy Dave's maple syrup. Oh man! That may be my new favorite food. Cowboy's maple syrup has a great smokey flavor that goes amazingly well with the cereal and ice cream. I started the day with maple syrup from one MSCer and ended the day with syrup from another! I then found out that Jennifer is a direct descendant of Roald Amundsen who is the first person to reach the South Pole. I'm a huge fan of polar exploration and have read quite a bit of literature on the topic, so being this close someone as awesome as Amundsen is a big thrill. We spent the next half hour discussing polar expeditions. That may not be everyone's cup of tea, but that was right in my wheelhouse!
Aug 17.
We reprised the cereal with maple syrup combo for breakfast, but switched the ice cream for yogurt. It wasn't quite as good, but I'm not complaining. Jennifer dropped me off right as we were getting into a great conversation on the classic movies Jurassic Park, Congo, and Independence Day. The mid-90's were a bastion for awesome movies with even better quotes. Jennifer was going to pick me up at the end of the day so I was able to slack pack. After walking for awhile I decided it was time for a break so I was about to cross a street and sit down when a bus pulls up full of kids. I half expected Luke to jump off with his Summer Saunters kids and start walking, but a lady hopped out and told some kids to start walking. The bus rolled away as I sat down. A bit later, I rose and continued my hike. I had gone a mile or so when I started getting passed by kids running. I realized that the bus probably had the long distance team from Monticello on it. The first kids who ran by were quiet with good form, but the last ones to pass were breathing hard like Gimli walking through Lothlorien and had horrible form.
Onward I traveled, making good time. Sometime in the morning I realized I had a tunnel to go through and I didn't have my headlamp with me. Hmmm. I thought I'd be a man and descend into the darkness without the aid of a light. That changed pretty quick after entering the tunnel and was wishing I had the light of Galadriel in my pack. I opened up my cell phone to guide the way, but the feeble light it gave off was swallowed up by the hungry darkness. I noticed a light shimmering on the wall ahead of me so I thought someone was coming the other way, but then the light went off. My mind flashed through movies like My Bloody Valentine where the killer used a pick to bash the heads of the victims. I had no idea what was ahead of me when the light reappeared and I figured it was someone coming from the other end. Lucky enough it was just a guy walking his bike through. No pick wielding murderer or balrog. By this time I could see the light at the other end and continued on my way. I was almost out when an owl hooted and I nearly crapped my pants. My underwear was saved that disgrace. My feet kept me moving all the way through the Brooklyn Wildlife Area. I made 24.5 miles, my best day yet! Jennifer picked me and brought me to Theresa's place in Belleville. We ordered pizza, talked trail, and played some cribbage (I won 2 of 3 of course). I like seeing all my trail friends off the trail and in their own environment so I get to see who they really are. I know that Jim really loves his dog, Jennifer has a sweet taste in books and Randy is still Randy. Not a bad day!
Aug. 18
Theresa got me going early because she had to get to work (what is this work thing I keep hearing about?). I got going at 6:45, my earliest start yet. I had a little extra hitch in my step today because I was going to end up in Madison! My friend Joelle offered to hike with me through Verona. I hadn't had anyone walk with me yet so I eagerly took her up on the offer. She brought me a little lunch consisting of watermelon and cookies. Perfect! Through fair Verona I strolled with Juliet. She stopped by the Wisconsin version of a modern day Apothecary on her way and picked up a few potions (or at least a 6er of Capital), which we enjoyed along the way. We passed through prairies with blooming compass plants, which by any other name, is still a compass plant. Juliet and I made it to the end of the Verona Segment and enjoyed the last of the beers. Neither of us committed suicide, but it wasn't a total loss. My friend Hotz picked us up and dropped Joelle off at her car. I was hesitant to get into his vehicle because he was wearing a shirt and tie and I looked like a hobo, but in I went. It was great walking with someone and have them there to listen to my ramblings. I thank Joelle for the beer, cookies and walking with me!
Hotz and I went to the store to pick up some food to grill. Ribeye's were on the menu, along with a plethora of vegetables. We picked up a couple 40's and headed back to the house to do some grilling! Rich and Nicole stopped by with baby Alex who is getting so big. It was nice to see them and see that they are doing well. Hotz's lady came home and we dominated the dinner food. Hotz's house may have been the nicest place I had stayed so far, I'm sure not complaining!
Aug. 19
Cross Plains (CP) and the IATA headquarters awaited me today! Hotz dropped me off on his way to work at 7:30 and I got going. It was nice with him because he lives a few hundred yards from the trailhead in Madison. The trail takes you though University Ridge Golf Course which was neat, but it was pretty disappointing to find the trail not kept up at all. I guess I expected a little more from the biggest chapter in the state on a highly visible section. Making it through U-Ridge, I passed by fancy neighborhood after fancy neighborhood. I questioned the need for a house that big. The houses are too big too enjoy and look pretty dumb anyways. The ones I did like though, were the prairie style homes inspired by Frank Lloyd Wright. As the trail dipped in and out of the housing developments, I was dismayed by the similarity of all the houses. Each neighborhood has its own set of rules about what you can and cant do with your house or yard, even the mailboxes have to be the same (My friend Richie though, has the only black mailbox amongst the throng of white ones, which I like a lot. It's adds a little character to the place). I just don't understand what the appeal of that is. Yea! My house looks just like yours! One of the big problems with America today is the lack of creativity. We used to lead the world in creativity, but we have been slipping in recent years as education has been declining. Teachers try and instill the kids with the ability to think on their own and be creative, but those same kids go home to a neighborhood of sameness and lack of creativity caused by the iron fist of homeowners associations. Homeowner associations are a form of socialism in America. They are a mysterious group that has complete control over everything that goes on in the neighborhood, from the color of the house to the type and height of a fence. They let you do little things with your yard to keep you "happy" but in reality, its not enough to quell the monotony of boring houses. People need to be let free and think for themselves, I mean its their own house for pete's sake!
After ranting in my head about the homeowners associations, I arrived at the IATA office in CP. All the staff gathered around to gawk at the thru-hiker in their midst, anxiously waiting to hear my stories from the trail. Pretty quickly, they realized I wasn't as interesting as they thought and one by one they went back to something way more entertaining, work. It was great to see everyone there though. I had a few beers and chatted with whoever would listen. At this point I realized that most of them had been reading my blog so they already knew everything so I had nothing new to say. Mike and Brad worked up a plan for a fish fry the following night and Kevin invited me over for a few drinks after work. I showered at the office and was about to leave when Sharon, Tim and Brad stopped me and forced me to disassemble my pack and get rid of unnecessary items. I was in for a beat down. Sharon, who has hiked thousands and thousands of miles, told me to ditch a bunch of my stuff, but I held my ground on a few things. I ended up parting with my pudgie pie makers and pick-mattock, along with a few other items. I put my pack together and with my tail between my legs, I headed out (actually, they said my pack wasn't too bad which I thought was good coming from such esteemed hikers). Katie had offered up her place for the night so she came along to Kevin's where we "happened" to walk in as dinner was being served. Katie was planning on my making taco's for dinner so I didn't want to eat too much of Kevin's food. We ended up drinking, talking and being amused by Kevin and Krista's kid Charlie. He's going to be a helluva soccer player someday. The night flew by and next thing we knew, it was well after 9 and too late for tacos. Damn.
Making it to the office was a big goal of mine. I figured that if I made it that far, I would have gained enough credibility so, if I couldn't go any farther, I could show my face at MSC events again. The staff was great and extremely helpful. I love those guys (and gals)! Next up for goals is getting farther than Jennifer got while hiking the AT, 500 miles. Only 100 more to go to do that!
Aug. 20
Katie stopped at Kwik Trip in the morning so I could get a few snacks and a bit more breakfast before hitting the office and starting back up. No cooking or baking from her this time. I said my goodbye's to the staff and got on my way. The humid was terribly thick, making it hard to breath. I worked up a dandy of a sweat. It was nice walking the Table Bluff segment because I have fond memories of that project in 2006. I was so hungover on the Sunday of the project from a going away party in Madison that all I wanted, or was able to do, was carry duff buckets. Also, that's where I learned about the chilly willy....
I struggled with the humidity throughout the day, not making very good progress. I was almost to Indian Lake and running short of water, when I saw a couple of old guys sitting on the porch so I thought I'd try and get my water refilled. The old guy, who must have lived there, warned me that his water was unfiltered and from the well. I didn't really care if I was drinking well water, I just wanted something wet. He was walking into the house and I told the other old guy I was hiking the Ice Age Trail. The owner guy stopped dead in his tracks and asked me if I was a member of that group. In my head, I'm thinking "Just say no, just say no" but what came out was "Actually, I am." Shit. He shook his head and went in the house. With a full water bottle he came back out and we started talking. He went on a rant about how the ice age folks don't know anything. How would they know where the glacier went? The guy then brought up that he found some rocks with shells in on his land. I mentioned that this used to be covered by an ocean, but he countered with his theory. Someone bought some shells and lost them over there and thats why there are shells in the rocks. Hmmm. He kept rolling, saying historians don't actually know if Black Hawk came past the area in the 1830's because how would they. He also said that we don't owe the indians anything because they were dumb enough to sell their land for a couple bottles of whiskey. He didn't take my argument, that we killed most of them and stole their land, too well. I needed to get out of that conversation.
Indian Lake was nice, but the humidity was killing me. I cooled off on the end of the segment and set up a pick up from Brad. Storms were on the horizon as I walked. I crossed the bridge to nowhere over Hwy 12 and took a shortcut to where Brad was picking me up at. The wind started blowing like a banshee, so I took my hat off to keep it from flying away. Brad brought me a requested Gatorade and we headed to his place. Not a bad farmhouse! I cleaned up and we headed over to Wollmer's house. Now that is a house with an awesome basement. I could get real comfortable down there! We went to Lodi for the perch at Dolphin's. You get 8 big pieces with coleslaw, a bun and beans. Quite the plateful. I was the only one who finished because I'm a fat ass (I weighed myself at Brad's and I was down to 162...Yikes!). I have had a few epic fish fry experiences over the years so 8 pieces was nothing to sweat. The night ended after watching a bit of the David Hasselhoff roast on Comedy Central. There were some pretty vulgar jokes, but still funny. I got to bed a little later than I wanted, but oh well, I'll manage!
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