Saturday I was going to hike with some Ice Age trail volunteers /hikers from the Washington County chapter. This is a step out for me, not real keen on meeting new groups of people in a setting as such, but hell, I don't care. I thought I had read the information correctly and attempted to meet up at the specified spot. Nobody. Did they cancel it? Unsure I waited almost 30 minutes past the 1:00 start time and said, screw it. Do this on my own.
Starting at the Paradise trail head (less than 1 mile west of Wal-Mart) I got my gear on, and by gear I mean it. This was part test of some new stuff (1 hiking pole and camera backpack). The backpack held hy hydration bladder with 70 oz of water, my camera and lens, my jacket, a pocket knife, GPS, some energy gels and jerky trail mix. All together it was over 10 pounds of stuff (over 4 being water). A good beginner test for moving up to larger loads of 25-35pounds if, no, when I do real overnight type trips.
The weather was great, 35° sunny, no wind. The trails were less than optimal though. They were extremely muddy. This made it pretty slippery in a lot of places. Since this is the Kettle Moraine it is hilly so it made for some interesting ascents and descents.
About 20 minutes into the hike, who do I come across? Yup, the group that organized the hike, coming the other direction. Seriously. I let the 20 or so people pass and continued on. It would be better this way. About 10 minutes more go by and I run into a man and a woman; part of the group but obviously a bit behind. She mentioned that I might want to slow up as there were some girls, um, heeding natures call, up ahead. Now that she has me paused for a second she takes the opportunity to launch into meaningless chit chat. Her husband looks to be hard of hearing the way she deliberately talks to him. Which is good as hes about 5 feet from me (she's down the trail about 20 ft) and when she launches into her health issues, I utter 'oh my fucking god' under my breath. Then realize he's right there. I literally giggled as I thought he must think the same thing. I do my best to nod, smile, be polite and GTF out of there.
Other hikers I run into are much more cognizant of whats going on. A simple hello, how are you doing, quick question on the trail "did you see the large group come through?" Although at some point I realize that I thought I was thinking to myself, I may have actually been talking out loud, albeit softly. Who's the crazy one? Just keep it to yourself and no one will be any wiser.
The trail is nice and at some point you would be hard to realize how close you were to an urban setting.
The trail connects up to Ridge Run park, which I have been to in the past. Sledding, hiking with Bailey, where he fell in water as a young dog and became forever leary of open water. A few lakes and damns that hold back the silver creek run the whole length of this section.
I reach the end where it connects to University drive and quick half mile to where it picks up again. Behind Culver's (Hows that for motivation). I did not continue but stripped my jacket off, had a snack and turned around to head back to the car the exact way I came
Trails End.
After a total of 8 miles later I am back at the car, muddy and tired.
First thing first: Boots. If I make this a habit, I will need better shoes than the tennis shoes or the Merrill slip-ons I wore. No blisters but very close. Hot spots on my feet I still feel the next day. The terrain is rocky, uneven and makes your feet tired much faster when they bend to every rock and rut. Also better ankle support. Slippery mud had me twisting them a few times. Nothing painful, just annoying.
Second: Poles. I had only picked up a cheap one that doubled as a camera support. One hiking pole was good, (actually pretty great) two would be spectacular. I had an idea it would be helpful on the up sections (arms help the legs and it much less tiring) but the down sections is where they made a huge difference. No falling or tripping just plant and go.
Next time I will wait until it dries out a bit more and have a pick-up/second car at the end so I don't have to double back on the same trail. Not that it's terrible, but when you just walked it 1 hour ago it's not terribly exciting.
Full Album Here Google Maps Trail Here
Elevation graph of the hike - South to North:
