Day One: This is likely my last summer trip this
year with the Brew Hut. School for Justin starts next week. I have a
family weekend pass and used it to tow up to Antigo Lake Campground,
which is a very reasonably priced ($20/night) municipal campground
northeast of Wausau, Wisconsin.
The
campground offers full hookups, nice showers and toilet, free wi-fi,
bike loaners, and campfire wood for donation. Additionally, downtown
and a grocery store are a short walking distance away. The City’s
hiking/biking trail of 2.3 miles runs right next to the campground.
There is an active industrial building across the street–Merit Gear.
There is some truck traffic during the day, but it was quiet at night.
I was set up by 7p.m on Thursday night, picked up some tortilla chips
and a six pack of Lakefront Brewery’s IPA at the grocery store, and
watched a little television before falling asleep by 10 pm.
Day Two: Today, I woke up early, ate my granola,
banana, and yogurt, brewed coffee and was hiking on the City trail by
7:30 a.m. Unfortunately, I walked in the wrong direction (towards
downtown), so I ended up walking about 3 miles. This was a sign of
things to come. For a municipal trail, there were some nice views and a
great boardwalk through area wetlands.
Back at the Brew Hut, the lazy part of me wanted to read a book and
take the morning off. However, that little voice in my head (maybe it
was my wife, Julia), told me to hit the road and get some serious hiking
in. Leaving the Brew Hut behind, I drove the Nissan Frontier northwest,
entering the Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest. One of my goals was
to scout out future dispersed camping spots for the Brew Hut on future
trips. That didn’t work out so well. I’m sure there are spots
(although I haven’t found mention on-line), but I didn’t find anything
suitable. Eventually, I drove by the a sign for the Jones Springs
Trail. Several loops were available, although there was a warning about
high standing water and flooded streams for a small sector of the
trail.
Being
a former Appalachian Trail thru-hiker, I sometimes ignore warnings,
such as this one, thinking that I don’t mind getting a little wet or
that the warning was intended for casual hikers, not me. The red loop
was about 6.4 miles, per the map. 80% of the trail was beautiful,
mostly following up and down ridges. Sometimes, the hills were
challenging. There were a few beautiful backcountry campsites for
tenters.
With just a couple of miles left in the loop, I came across this:
The
police tape did give me pause, but I noticed that there were no signs
actually closing the trail. It was only a short distance to finish the
loop. I felt confident that I could pick my way across any water
hazards. The first mile was easy and dry. After that, I noticed a lot
of dead trees across the trail–as though no one had maintained it for
some time. Then the trail dipped just a little in elevation, not much,
but enough to notice some water ahead. I started across logs that
someone had evidently put across the beginning stretch. After that, the
logs ended, and there was absolutely nowhere to go. The water beyond
was more than a foot deep, and there was deep mud under the water.
I started back across the log to firm ground, so I could re-evaluate
the situation. Boom–I fell to the right, my right leg going into the
mud about calf high before I pulled it up again. Okay, going across
wasn’t going to work. I looked to the right and left to see if there
was a way around. Nope, water and mud as far as I could see. So I
walked back to my little police tape scene and continued on to see if
the orange loop was open. Nope, more police tape. I went back to my
map, and it appeared that the “small” part of high water blocked my way
to completing any kind of loop. At this point, I might have said
“Fiddlesticks” or some similar expletive. I was stuck and was going to
have to do a complete reversal of my path. At least I knew it was a
pretty hike and higher ground. All the same, it turned into a 12 mile in
and out, instead of a 6.4 mile loop. That gave me 15 miles for the
day.
I felt like I deserved a good meal. T-bone with fried plantains on
the cast iron skillet. Along with a glass of homemade chardonnay, I had
enough motivation to blog tonight.
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