This is a continuation of the Antigo trip…
Day Three: Per my custom, I was up early to eat
breakfast and brew coffee. The campground put out some nice advertising
for Antigo’s farmer’s market, so I walked over to the Heinzen Peaceful
Valley Pavilion, where vendors were still setting up at 7:45 a.m . I
continued to stroll around downtown and was one of the first customers
at the 8 a.m. opening. I scooped up two quarts of maple syrup to bring
home and veggies to stir fry that night for dinner, along with some 50
cent sourdough rolls.
As I hiked back to the Brew Hut, someone yelled, “Hey, John.” It was
Deb from Lodi, who seemed as surprised to see me hiking down the street
in Antigo as I was to see her driving down the street in Antigo. Small
world!
Back at camp, I changed into long pants, long sleeve shirt, and
packed up bug spray and water. Then I drove 20 miles northeast of
Antigo to the Lumberjack segment of the Ice Age Trail. The access was a
small parking lot on Hwy A.
I wish that I could report that this was one of my favorite segments
of the Ice Age Trail, but I can’t do that. Nearly all of the ten mile
hike (5 in and 5 out) was on old logging roads, which isn’t too
surprising as this segment is called the Lumber Camp segment. After I
made it back home, I read the Ice Age Trail Organization’s notes on the
section.
“Besides grassy stretches not mowed regularly, the heat, insects and
special provision of water make summer less desirable for enjoying the
pleasantries of a trail experience.”
That pretty much summed up my hike. The grass was chest and
shoulder-high in places. The trail wasn’t really wet so much as the
grass was wet. Within 20 minutes, my shoes, socks and pants (knee down)
were soaked. Here’s a sample of the trail.
In almost any hike, one can find natural beauty, and this segment was no exception.
And there were berries. Not all the berries were ripe, but some of
the berries were so ripe and sun-warmed that the berry would partly fall
apart before exploding in sweetness inside my mouth
Of
course, as I dawdled to pick the choicest berries, the mosquitoes ate
me alive. The fruit was worth it, but only to a point. The Ice Age
notes mentioned insects, not just mosquitoes, so they were probably
thinking of the deer tick and wood tick that I plucked off when
performing a “check” back at the campsite. Neither were embedded yet,
so that was a bonus.
I ate an early supper:
Dessert was a Lakefront IPA and the Packer’s exhibition game against Washington. Life in the Brew Hut is good.
Comments