Boy, talk about purists! I’ll come back to that.
Regular readers of this column may remember that on a couple of different occasions, I’ve written about our treks on the Ice Age National Scenic Trail. Three couples (David and Karen, John and Laurie, Marilyn and me), who might be called “senior citizens” by someone who doesn’t know us, started about 10 years ago on an “impossible dream” of walking the only national scenic trail entirely within one state.
I say “impossible” because the Ice Age National Scenic Trail stretches nearly 1,200 miles across Wisconsin. It meanders through 28 counties on the way. (We have traversed 11 so far!) The eastern end is located in Potawatomi State Park in Door County. Its western end is located in Interstate State Park on the St. Croix River in Polk County. The trail roughly follows the outline of the glacial ice floe as it pushed into Wisconsin 15,000 years ago. As you walk the trail, you can learn about kames, eskers, kettles, drumlins and moraines — some of the landscape features left by the glaciers.
Why are we doing this? Partly just to be able to say that we did it, I guess. We’re all long-retired and really don’t need this on our resumés. But by far the best reason for doing it is that we are all good friends and enjoy each others’ company … and, besides, we usually end our walks at a nice restaurant!
The trail is long and sometimes hard. The mosquitoes are rapacious in the shade. The sun is calefacient in the open. The humidity is onerous in the wetlands. There are no restrooms or comfort stations. No vending machines or water coolers. Sometimes the brambles and the briars twine across the path and scratch our legs. Sounds like a fun way to spend a day, doesn’t it?
Well, yes, as a matter of fact, it is fun. Especially when you share the adventures with good friends. You not only learn about the topography, you also view some breathtakingly beautiful scenery.
We have walked through gorgeous prairies with rainbows of hundreds of varieties of wildflowers and kaleidoscopes of butterflies. We have observed flocks of red-winged blackbirds in the cattail marshes and catbirds in the marges of the woods. We’ve seen sandhill cranes and herds of cows in the fields, and even an albino squirrel. We’ve seen ripening mulberries, raspberries, blackcaps and chokecherries.
As I explained in those previous columns, this small group of good friends started our adventures on the trail several years ago. We didn’t start at the start; we began in Glenbeulah in Sheboygan County, and we’ve been doing segments of 7 to 8 miles at a time five or six times each summer. So by now we’ve covered a span of over 350 miles, traveling down the eastern side of the state as far south as Janesville and now walking up through the central part of the state and approaching Devil’s Lake.
One recent walk started with a murderous uphill climb that culminated at the the top of Gibraltar Rock near Lodi, overlooking a spectacular panoramic view of Lake Wisconsin and gorgeous farming country. I have lived all of my life in Wisconsin and I had never before been to Gibraltar Rock. I recommend it.
I have to admit that before we began this journey, I was pretty much unaware of some of the landscape features that exist here. The Ice Age Trail necessarily passes through some urban areas, and once in a while we walk on paved bike trails or gravel paths (and an occasional city street), but primarily we traipse along some fairly rugged, narrow, uneven pathways in the woods, through oak savannas, prairies and wetlands.
However, one of our recent walks began in Merrimac. If you know anything about Merrimac, you probably know that Wisconsin Route 113 crosses Lake Wisconsin there. There’s no bridge! You cross on a free ferry called Colsac III, which is operated by the state Department of Transportation. So the Ice Age Trail crosses the river on the ferry!
So, purists that they are, some of our troop, led by our intrepid leader and logistics guy David, declared that they were going to walk onto the ferry, walk around the deck on the crossing and walk off at the other end. After all, how can you say you walked the trail if you rode part of the way in a car?
I have a few health issues and can’t walk entire segments this summer, so I got to drive the car onto the ferry. OK, so I’m not a purist!
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