The Finish

Sept. 23
The forecasted flood never came as I woke to a dry ground, but daylight brought the rain. Lightfoot's Early Morning Rain wasn't going to work today (unless I'd go with the Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald but it was a little too early in the year for that) Dylan's "Buckets of Rain" or "A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall" fit the weather a bit more. It rained the entire day and pretty hard at times. It wouldn't be my hike if I didn't get horrible weather at the end. It's days like this that can really put you in a bad mood, but I always remember that no matter how bad it is, through all the clouds the sun is always shining. You may not be able to see it, but I take comfort knowing the sun is up there, waiting to warm my face and dry out the land once again. Similar to the sun is the Cafe Wren in Luck. It's a warm, inviting place that helps give us the power to go about our days. I stopped in and they let me lay my stuff out so at least I could pretend that it would dry out. My lunch was delicious! Rain looks a lot more pleasant through a window while sipping on a hot chocolate.

While getting ready to head back out into the rain I talked to a host of people. Three old ladies who were self-proclaimed "esker lover" asked me about the esker east of town so I filled them in on the location. Boy, they were happy to figure out where that was! I don't think they will be disappointed because it is quite the sight. Then a couple started talking to me about Charlie, my backpack. They were from Colorado and lived a few miles from where Osprey is located which led us on a path of great conversation about how awesome Wisconsin is. Talking about the sweetness of Wisconsin is one of my favorite past-times. I finally ventured out into the rain to finish the miles to Centuria. I was singing out loud to help pass the time and to drown out the sound of misery falling from the sky in the form of rain. I wish Rambo was there to help me remember the lyrics to the oldies. I went with Neil Diamond for awhile and then onto the Beatles and other classics from the 60's. Days like today are ones that I would've liked an iPod so I could put on some Pink Floyd and just zone out. That's the one group I've missed the most on my hike. I think listening to Floyd along the way may have increased my enjoyment of the environment around me. I'm not talking about the Floyd you hear on the radio either, I'm talking about the Animals album, Echoes, Piper at the Gates of Dawn. Songs that are long without many lyrics enabling you to fully appreciate the majesty of the music. The first thing I did when I got home was take a shower with Echoes playing. That may be my favorite song. Anyways, enough about how awesome Floyd is.

I made it to Milltown and decided I needed a beer so I stopped in at Hack's Pub. It was a real nice place with a great beer selection but a PBR was what the doctor called for. Pete called to figure out where I was because I was camping at his place. He assured me that there would be a break in the rain, at least that's what the radar said. I looked outside to see it raining even harder. Hmmm. Another PBR please. I cruised the last few miles to bustling metropolis of Centuria. Got to Pete's in time for dinner. They made chili and mac n cheese to mix together. What a great idea! I love learning new ways to eat mac n cheese. Pete's two young kids started crying when I showed up. I'm a pretty scary guy. After a bit, Aspen, the older one, opened up and stopped being so shy. He kept calling me Jason (apparently he has taken kindly to my coworker) but that's close enough to Dave. June on the other hand never appreciated me being there. I thought I was going to get a high five the next morning from her after showing them how to balance a spoon on your nose, but it was not to be. Aspen was pretty rambunctious and kept wanting me to throw him up in the air. Once upon a time, I was in pretty good shape so something like that wouldn't be too hard, but after two months on the trail, my arm muscles have been savagely depleted. He wore me out.

Pete helped Tricia put the kids to bed we headed over to the Glass Bar. We couldn't go to the Harvest Moon bar even though tonight was the Harvest Moon because of Centuria politics. If you want a great laugh, read up on the happenings of the Centuria Village Board. This writer for the local paper has it out for the "younger, inexperienced" board members and sensationalizes everything. I wish I could write for the that paper and counter her pieces with outlandish articles of my own. I would love it. I'd have to invest in a thesaurus to spice up my articles enough to equal her verbosity. Anyways $1 tappers of Icehouse were waiting for us at the bar. We had some pizza and eventually switched over to Sand Creek. We got the bill at the end of the night and were blown away. We had just spent $50 at a Centuria bar. Seriously? $50 in Centuria and we started with $1 taps of Icehouse. Holy cow. That shouldn't be possible but that just happened. Tomorrow might be rough.

Sept. 24
The deluge of the previous day was replaced with 40 mph headwinds, temps in the 50's and a random mist. Perfect last day! I knew I was getting close to the end because the weather had turned nasty for the last few days. I don't think the weather is ever nice in Minnesota and sometimes that carries over along the border. The rain was from the Viking fans crying over their lost season and the strong winds came from them jumping off the bandwagon. It's like in Lord of the Rings as they near Mordor, there was always clouds, lightning and storms swirling overhead. The sun finally came out after Frodo destroyed the ring, perhaps Minnesota will be nice after the Vikings move to LA. I don't think my little hangover helped things either, but it was the last day and the end was in sight so as the Men at Work song goes "Ain't nothing gonna break my stride, nobody's gonna slow me down oh no, I've got to keep on moving." Tim told me a few days earlier to savor the last few miles. I sure savored the last few bites of my second helping of apple crisp that Tricia had made. I'm not sure that's what he meant, but it was excellent! I reached the St. Croix segment after being blown around by the wind and had lunch along the river. The setting was perfect for reflection on my journey. I wrote a bit in my journal and got going again to warm up. It was chilly! Walking along the river was a joy, but crossing a few of the streams entering the river was a bit more tricky because of the rain. A friend called and said he would meet me at Lions Park. It was unexpected, but great as Manfest Mike brought PBR and venison sticks! A true man! Manfest Mike had to go get to his deer stand so I loaded up my pack with the extra PBR's and set off to complete this sucker. Mindy Creek was nice, but more beautiful sights awaited at the western terminus. I was crossing a street and Wanda tried to run me over. We chatted as she stopped in the middle of the road but my mind was on the finish.

I entered Interstate Park and opened a PBR. I was going to finish in style. The heart started racing a bit as I hit the visitor center. I finally saw glimpses of the river again but yellow blazes were not to be found. I came to a T and had to stop and get out the companion guide to figure out the way to go. That's ridiculous. I would've felt pretty stupid getting lost with a few hundred yards to go after making my way 1100 miles through some pretty wild country. I guessed right and drank the last of my PBR as I walked into the pothole trail parking lot. Hell if I'm going to finish without a full beer in my hand so I tossed the empty into my pack and pulled out a fresh PBR as a group of people from Minnesota looked on. Refueled, I hiked with eager anticipation. I rounded a corner and saw the western terminus! I made it and not a soul was there to witness it. People told me to hike my own hike so it was fitting I ended alone. I think if I hadn't been drinking, I would've cried, plus Pete was on his way and I don't need him seeing me cry as he is going to be my boss the rest of the year. Not the impression I want to leave. My feelings were all mixed up, should I feel happy, sad, relief or pride. I think they all came out. Pete showed up a few minutes later and he took some pics of me at the end trying to look stoic. Stoic comes easy after two months in the woods. I sent a text to my texting buddy who helped me through my hike and next thing I knew I was talking to Tim on the phone, followed by Luke. Everything was a blur.

We headed to the Cassel Tap to celebrate with my buddy Riles who was there to pick me up. They have amazing bloody marys. I took a shot and had some beers as I tried to comprehend what had transpired the previous two months. My phone was blowing up and so was my mind. Riles and I headed back to Menomonie where we proceded to drink til 5:30 in the morning and then got up at 9:30 to get to the bar for the Badger game. The drinking didn't stop until we passed out at 9:30 that night. What a way to celebrate!

I'll post my reflections and ruminations on the trip Tuesday hopefully along with some pics. Turns out I took 1545 pictures so a few of them should be decent.