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Ten Degrees and Getting Colder

  Cold Sunrise   That's just the name of the song written by Gordon Lightfoot.  It was actually -13 F when I got up this morning (wind chill -24).  Tucson may have pulled back into the lead!  There's a lot of weighing pros and cons of Colorado vs Arizona by the wood stove.  Not much else to report. I did enjoy a few games of pool and a beer with my brother this week.  We don't get together very often, so it's good to try to keep the lines of communication open, especially with my mother celebrating her 86th birthday next month.  He lives in Milwaukee and just started semi-retirement.  Our opposing politics and lifestyles keep things very casual and surface-level.  Not that there's anything wrong with that.   It's important to find common ground.  He and his wife have started going to concerts and recently saw the Steve Miller Band.  Music is one of our common interests.      
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The Ice Age Trail: Slack Road to the Merrimac Ferry




Winter has returned to Wisconsin, but conditions were pretty good for late February.  There was enough soft melting snow on the trail to keep things from getting too slippery or muddy.  This trail segment is a few miles north of Lodi on Slack Road about 1/2 mile from the intersection of Slack and Hwy V.

The footpath has several ascents and descents following switchbacks that eventually lead to wonderful views of Lake Wisconsin, which is the part of the Wisconsin River between the dam in Portage and the dam in Prairie du Sac.




The current has partially broken up the lake.  The quiet bays are still full of ice today, despite the 70 degree weather last week.



Straight across the lake in the middle of the above photo, you can see Devil’s Head ski runs coming down the Baraboo Hills.

The trail comes off the bluffs back and forth along more switchbacks until reaching Hwy 113 below.  Here, the path runs between the road and the railroad tracks until emerging at the Merrimac Ferry boarding area and parking lot



The Merrimac Ferry is free for cars, bikers, and pedestrians. It’s a popular and scenic way to get to the Devil’s Lake State Park area, which is on the other side from me.  This rendition of the Ferry is called Colsac III, and has not started the 2017 season. If the weather continues the warming trend, the ferry will begin operating soon.



This trail is in and out without any loop.  The round trip is about 3 to 4 miles (guesstimate). On the way back, I stopped at my favorite bench for one last view.



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Location: Wisconsin Wisconsin, USA

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