Wed. Nov. 23, 2011, Ice Age Trail near Kewaskum, Wisconsin

Foggy Morning near Kewaskum, WI

Sunburst Ski Hill



Weather and Details:  Started at 6:46 a.m., finished at 1:15 p.m.  7.5 up and down miles.  Low of 28 degrees and very foggy in the morning and got up to 48 and sunny, then cloudy by the time I finished.  Felt good all day.  A very nice part of the trail. - County S to the Sunburst Ski Hill parking lot.

Wildlife:  Crows, birds, Pileated Woodpeckers, cows, rabbit, old male chocolate lab, some scruffy little gray and black long hair mix puppy that was bouncing around everywhere with a girl on her bike and grandpa walking with her.

Lots of deer hunters, wore full blaze orange so no issues, I had time to go and felt like going, so that's how it goes.  Not sure how anybody gets a deer on public land like that with so many other people, I did find that the secret is to just go deeper into the woods, farther away from the roads.  Everyone likes to be near the road probably in case they get a deer it's not so far to haul it out.  But deeper in was far better, no one really.

Riding the bike shuttling back on County H reminded me of how much I dislike being on busy roads like that, people are blasting by at top speed, good grief.  I've been spoiled by the nice long trail in Kettle Moraine.

Finished at the Sunburst Ski Hill, the property the trail goes through behind the ski hill is closed during the gun hunt season, so will need to come back and finish that after it's over. Thought about staying down there overnight but weighed it all out and decided to head for home.  I was right by Shelter #1 and that would have been fun, was tempted.  Good thing I did head for home because I'm really feeling it now and could use a good night's sleep in a warm bed.

Sunday November 6, 2011, IAT south of Dundee, Wisconsin

Just south of Dundee, WI

Very blue berries

Hiking on an Esker or Drumlin - it's complicated..

Good view of the trail

Details & Weather:  Temperature in the morning was around 43, got up to 55, very mild. Started hiking at 6:35 a.m., finished at noon - 5.5 hours.  6.25 total miles of Ice Age Trail. Towards the end of the hike it was really a blustery day.

General:  Slept at Campbellsport so I could get an early start.  A little cool in the morning but not bad. At first didn't see anyone for a long time, then ended up seeing (and hearing) several Squirrel hunters, a hiker couple with their dog, a woman runner with her Border Collie, then 3 older ladies hiking, so it was probably the busiest I've seen it out on the trail. Started out strong, but the last 2 miles were getting hard in general, out of shape it appears.

Lesson's Learned:  Had 4 extra AA batteries with me and none of them worked in the camera - all dead so used my cell phone instead.  Need to bring some more food on the trail, I could have used some I think. Should have worn an orange hat.  Scratch bike lock combination into lock. Bring light gloves. Put more air in bike tires.

Wildlife:  Flushed 2 Grouse and heard them take off; Jay; Chickadees; A Doe and her fawn perfectly silhouetted on a ridge line, the fawn bleated at me when it saw me; heard Geese; Squirrels; Squirrel hunters; Sheep; a Llama; horses; a black Lab; Calico Cat; black Border Collie with a red scarf; a black & white Mixed Dog.

Dangers:  Likelihood of getting shot by a squirrel or bow hunter was high since I was wearing all earth colored clothes and hat, should have worn something orange. Had to be careful to avoid slipping down several slopes with marbely rocks. When on the bike there were a couple of drivers that couldn't see the need to move over a little to the left when passing me even though there were no other cars around within a 3 mile radius.  I gave them the appropriate feedback, so I'm sure now that they've seen the error in their ways, that next time they'll move over...