Ice Age Trail Trip Report.

“Hello TT'ers just got home.I hope everyone had a great weekend and got to go out and enjoy the great outdoors.Well the club had a turnout of 3 for the 42 mile Ice Age National Scenic Trail.

Friday Night.

I got to the East Trailhead at 6 pm Club member joe was waiting there just enjoying the nice clear skys and clean Northwoods air.We called club member Gary on the cell phone and told him where we were going to be for the night.When Gary got there it was lights out.

Saturday.

After a very nice brisk night we all got into 2 cars and did the car shuttle.This took about 1 hour to do.We were all getting very exicted about hitting the trail and it was not long before we dropped off my car at the West trailhead and started back to the starting point.Once back to the trailhead we put on our packs and the fun began.We found out right away that the bitting and blood sucking bugs were very bad and I mean they were bad.It was the best of days not a cloud in the sky and there was a very nice breeze blowing in the air.The forest was full of sweet smells and all kinds of ferns and flowers all over the place.There was so much plant life everywhere.Whenever you would come to a small creek there was moss all over the tree roots and rocks and there were marsh marygolds and all kinds of life all over the place.As the day had gone on we came to the lake called the Mondeaux Flowage.This was a nice pit stop.We saw lots of people enjoying the great weekend playing in boats or playing games or just relaxing.We got to have a nice ice cold pop and eat lunch.After lunch we started going South East and getting closer to the Yellow River.We would have to cross the Yellow river a total of 3 times.The water in the river was brown but cool too drink in fact in the area all the water was red and brown in color becuase of tanic acid.After going for another 8 miles we were very spent and found a place to set up camp and we all crashed very quick.Total mileage for day one was 20.

Sunday.

After a so soooo very good night sleep we got up to another clear day and very nice temps.There was a nice breeze in the air and the hiking was bug free untill the sun got them up.We got to hike along a nice long Esker which is one of the hills that were left behind after the Glacier.It seemed to go on for about 2 miles or so.There were so many signs of the Ice age all over this trail.There were very large rocks that were out of place which are called Erratics.Some of the rock that we saw were at least 8 feet wide and about 3 to 6 feet high.I was so amazed on the plant life in these forest it was almost like God was putting on a show for us.Still going South we got to Jerry lake and stoped and ate lunch and took a nice brake.We thought about going to go farther then Lake 11 to set up camp but it was a good thing that we did not more about that later.Getting to Lake 11 we set up camp and were not alone for the first time.There were people fishing and there were 2 other backpackers in the area too along with a Man & Wife that were car camping that were so nice to give the 3 of us some trail magic some COLD BEER!!!!!It was so nice of them they were very nice people.It was nice to just relax and puff on a goood cigar and catch some sun.That night we all got another well earned sleep.Total miles hiked for Sunday was 13.

Monday.

Well with 9 miles left we thought that we were in for a nice deathmartch to get out and beat the rush to get home but we were so WRONG!!!!!We were told that there was a 1 mile part of the trail that got hit with a tornado last year and when we got to that part it looked like a H-Bomb had been droped in the area.It was a mess and it was some of the hard hiking that I have done in a long time.We had to look for the trail and duct and weave our way throught the mess of twisted trees and the mass damage in the area.It was crazy it took us 45 min's to do just a 1/10 of a mile is that crazy or what??????After getting throught that as we got to the end of the trail we got to see some nice beaver dams and ponds some of which were at least 4 feet high.Getting closer to the end we saw a very large Pork-u-pine run up a tree and Gary got a very good picture of it.We also saw some Wolf & Bear scat was was nice to see that they were in the area but we did not see any.

If there was one thing that was learned after this trip is that if you have a strong will and a strong body you can face anything.


8)”

“Cool.
Looking foward to da pictures.”

“I will have them done soon!


8)”

“Sounds nice Mike. What kind of bugs were bad, just black flies? It's incredible the damage a tornado can do.”

“Well I am not a good speller so here it goes Mesquiteos & ticks.


I know I know I am not a good speller.

Ya it looked like a war had happned there.

8)”

“Very nice description. I too am looking forward to the pics. Thanks. Nice mileage; what was the topography like? My legs hurt just reading about 20 miles in a day!”

“Topography was up and down and bump and run.

8)”

“Ticks are just about the worst. I pulled one out that was in my hip the other day from walking along the creek fishing.”

“What marathon men!! Yeah, 20 miles one day??? Eeeeeeek!

Sounds like a great trip. I do no envy the final day.”

“20 is a tough day but it's far from impossible.
Trick is, ya just don't take 30 min. breaks evey hour.
Plus walk at a decent pace and the miles rack up easy.
It's also easy with a small group.

The tornado zone sounded like a real pain in the ass though.”

“CMB-I don't want to know WHO you were bumping!!”

“Jealous Tango?”

“Well it was either Joe or Gary! I am in a 'Don't ask Don't tell' state of mind!

Have you been drinking?”

“Smart A$$”

“HAHAHA!!!!!”

“I can say there was no bumping going on with Gary (aka gforce), but I can't speak for Joe.”

“In the tornado damage area they had cleared (made passable) most of the area except for the first .1 to .2 of a mile. The trees were very tightly packed together. So you had a coice of climbing up and over the fallen trees or on your chest crawling underneath, which we had to do three times. We could only guess which way the trail followed underneath the huge pile of trees.”

“walkindude, I'll guarantee those twenty miles did not rack up easily due to the trail conditions. I did 46 mi. in a day three weeks ago that racked up much more easily than that . . . but those were very good trail conditions.”

“I ment the trail had lots of small up and downs.I will admit that this was one very hard trail to hike not becuase of the trail it slef but the mud and bogs and all the crap that was in the way along the trail.I think the next time I would do this trail would be fall when there are no bugs and the water would not be as bad along the trail.

8)”

“Hey CMB, I guess I haven't been paying enough attention to TT threads during the end of term madness. Didn't know you were coming up to my neck of the woods. Not that I was free to connect with you.

Yeah, the bugs have taken advantage of our recent heavy rains and warm temps to hatch en masse. I was being attacked by skeeters in my garage today as I was cleaning it. They could at least wait until I come outside (okay, the big door was open, but still...)

Fall would be a fine time for a trail like the section you did, though it still might be pretty wet. Just would be much less buggy, or none at all if a really good frost had hit.”

“It would have been nice to KILL all the bugs I just pulled off another TICK!!!!!


Man I hate them!


8)”

“As you told me, LOVE THE BUGS!

8)”

“Well its a tough love!!!!!


8\”

“Mike- you should have seen the tick infestation in my pack... the laundrymat was not happy. what time did you finally get home. traffic was miserable.”

“Wow, hiker joe got home two weeks later. kidnapped?”

“tick napped sounds more like it liz”

“...well I was held up by blood thirsty pirates...a whole crew of little buggers!!!
ok I couldnt' resist”