Just Like Beggar's Canyon Back Home!

Sept. 20
Had another great breakfast while Wifeswap was on TV. I've had the pleasure of watching two Wifeswap episodes while on my trip and I have to say I'm a fan. The people they find to be on the show are classic. This episode had a family that lived on a farm and only ate raw food while the other family was well-to-do and lived in a big city. Hi-jinks ensued. Finally got rolling at 10:30 after Aunt Nancy dropped me off in Brill. I'll have to make it back up their cabin again. Made good time to Haugen in time to have a beer but the one bar I saw wasn't open. I didn't look too hard to find another, but it looked like a beer-free day... I was pretty excited about the days hike because I would be going through Camp Phillips, which is my old scout camp (I like how I talk about finding beer in one line and then the next I'm talking about my old boy scout stomping grounds). The trail comes right to the campsite that my troop stayed at back in the day so I was knew the area well. It was here where I first heard about the IAT all those years ago and now I was back to hike the whole thing. I walked all around camp to see if anything has changed and just to check it out again. They had a new shower building. Wusses. Maybe my memory is a bit fuzzy, but I don't remember showering while at camp. We'd go swimming and then rinse off but that was about it. The trading post was closed, quashing my hopes of a thelmas lemonade with a couple squirts of flavoring from the slush puppy machine. We drank a ton of that while we were up here. Another new thing they had was a big rock with a plaque affixed to it commemorating the group of scouts led by Chris Mckrackin that hiked the whole trail in 1999. Pretty neat and hopefully it plants a seed and gets more people involved with the trail in the future. The rest of the day went by OK other than when I took a wrong turn while talking to Tim on the phone. Whoops! As the beautiful sunset was making up for a cloudy, windy day, I came across a guy chainsawing along a logging road. He instantly offered me a beer. Score! Talked to Ty for 20 minutes and would've like to stay longer but I needed to find a spot to camp before it got too dark.

Sept. 21
Holy cow did it storm hard last night. Absolutely downpoured with heavy thunder and lightning. I used that as an excuse to get another late start. It was a pretty nice day with most of the walking on ski and snowshoe trails. Ran into another guy who was section-hiking the trail. He was working his way east so he had a long way to go. Late in the afternoon/evening I finally crossed into Polk County. My last county! It's a big one though with 63 miles of trail. My friend Barry called and left the best message ever. He began by painting the picture of Luke Skywalker in Star Wars: A New Hope flying down the alley about to blow up the Death Star. Obi-Wan starts talking and tells Luke to let go and use the force. Luke switches off his computer, prompting the command center to ask if everything was OK and why he switched off his targeting computer, Luke calmly replies that everything is fine. My friend Barry said that was me, I had turned the computer off and I was hiking on instinct (Just like Beggar's Canyon back home!). Anytime I can get a message comparing me to a scene in Star Wars I'll take it. I love it! Didn't feel like cooking at the end of the day so I settled for cold instant mashed potatoes. Yum! I sure eat well.

Sept. 22
Got started before 8 which hadn't happened in quite some time. I wanted to get some miles under my feet and end up at Straight Lake by the end of the day. The McKenzie Creek segment is really nice, especially when you get to the DNR land. There are some huge red and white pines dotting the landscape, along with the rivers and creeks creating a beautiful backdrop to hike through. If I were a tree, I'd like to be a white pine with hemlock a close second. Those trees can be massive! I'd have to say a beech would be my last choice because I don't trust them with their smooth bark. I ran into Pete picking mushrooms by McKenzie Lake which sounds about right for an IATA staff member. My coworker Jason was found shortly there after. I don't think he missed having me around. Pete challenged me to make it to the Swerkstrom cabin by 5 so we could hit happy hour in Luck. It was going to be tough even with a lightened load, but motivating me with beer seems to work pretty well. I busted ass. The Pine Lake segment has the dumbest section of trail along the whole IAT. Right at the beginning you cross a road to enter a field. The trail brings you to back corner of the lot and then goes at a 45 degree angle back the way you came following a pond. The trail continues around the pond to the other back corner and then turns to head back to the road. I'm walking this and when I came to each corner I audibly yelled out "You've got to be kidding me!" You don't realize whats going on until it's too late. You cross the road about 50 yards from where you entered, it was like someone was playing a game to see how much trail they could fit into a couple acre lot. It's so stupid. They say the IAT is about half completed, I'd be willing to bet that if the whole thing gets off-road sometime, it will be longer than the Appalachain Trail which is twice as long at the current Ice Age Trail. As a thru-hiker the twists and turns can be annoying at times. I know that from point A to point B it's about 4 miles as the crow flies, but as the IAT goes it would be more like 7. I understand that you have to work with the land and the features and straight trail is boring, but sometimes it gets a little ridiculous when I'm trying go west and the trail goes east. Kickapoo is Algonquin for "one who goes here, then there" and I think that would be an understatement for the circuitiousness of the IAT.

Anyways, I survived the Lombard Street of the Ice Age Trail and continued my assault towards Straight Lake. I didn't read the notes too carefully so I, of course, started walking down the wrong driveway when I got a Hwy 48. That cost me 10 minutes. I got back on track and climbed up the esker seperating Long Lake from the Straight River. That's quite the esker! I made it to the new parking lot for Straight Lake on I at 4:10. I don't think I'm going to make it in time. Damn! Working the 3 projects at Straight Lake in the past year, I've had the joy to walk the segment quite a bit, but you don't fully appreciate it until you've walked over 1000 miles and come to 5 straight miles of MSC quality tread. It was an unabashed joy to traipse through the forests and along the lakes on some of the best trail you can walk on. I ran into a runner and another couple walking the segment so it was great to see others enjoying the gem they have at Straight Lake. I think it's my favorite section of trail.

I made it to the cabin at 5:15 to find no one there. I laid out and relaxed while waiting for them to come back from where ever they were. Pete, Jason, Fred, Chet and his brother all came out of the woods 20 minutes later. Chet "Grey Ghost" Anderson unloaded a 12er of Leinie's O bottles and a 30 of PBR. Nice!! We sat around and talked for awhile. Chet thru-hiked the trail last year so he was picking what was left of my brain. I'll be working with him when I get back to work so I'm sure we will delve deeper into long distance hiking talk. I'm sitting outside the cabin and thinking that I'd be back here in a week to start working again. We have no electricity or running water and I'll be camping, so I'm not sure if my new home for the next couple months isn't a downgrade from the conditions on my hike. Oh well, I'll have Jason to annoy at least.