A hilly and wet short adventure. Total miles: 13.5 (out and back)
I wanted to squeeze in a quick getaway in between grading assignments for my summer class. I chose the Harrison Hills Segment of the Ice Age Trail because it was fairly close. I did not do the whole segment due to time constraints. Overall it was an OK trip. I am chalking it up to a great training hike.
Highlights: The hills are pretty constant and rolling. This was challenging for me since it is early in the season, but made for great training. The campsite I stayed at was wonderful! It was located on Chain Lake and has a firepit and is on a small peninsula. Someone had already broken up a bunch of kindling and gathered wood for a fire. Although it took a lot of work, because everything is still very wet, I had a fairly nice fire that evening. I also had a beautifully peaceful morning watching the beavers and enjoying the sunrise. The trail is extremely well-marked. The volunteers in this section do a wonderful job. I figured out on this trip that I need a smaller tent for my one-person adventures. I also brought along my Z Seat (Thermarest) instead of my camp chair. I decided that I love it for breaks on the trail, but missed my camp chair when at camp. It may become my luxury item.
Lowlights: Water. There was a sign at the beginning of the trail warning of requisite water crossings due to flooding for the next three miles. There was a suggestion for a reroute, which required three miles of ATV trail and road walking. As I was going only 7 miles, I didn't want half of the hike to be on the road. So I decided to push through. The deep water hit pretty quickly and there were four unavoidable water crossings ranging from mid-calf to upper thigh depth. I had to carry Maggie through a few of them. On the way back I decided to acquiesce to the reroute, which ended up not being well marked and I got off track. Thanks to the Earthmate app I got back on trail, but ultimately added 1.5 miles to my trek back. The campsite is accessible to drive-ins and at one point 15 teenagers trekked in carrying their gear by hand. Since I was in their preferred spot they chose a spot across the lake. Their voices carried across the lake and they were loud and vulgar. Thankfully, after about an hour they decided to leave. Also, the entire trail had cell service. I tried to keep my phone on airplane mode, but got distracted by email several times, which brought about worry and stress. I could use more self-control, but prefer to just not have the choice.
Tips: If you choose to do this route be OK with water crossing. I wear trail shoes, which dry quickly, as do my trail pants. But my socks were wet the rest of the trip. I wore my sleeping socks back the next day. I do not recommend water crossing in "waterproof" or leather hiking shoes as it takes days for them to dry.
I had a stand-off with a MASSIVE snapping turtle on a branch bridge. It was bigger than Maggie. After some posturing and a fake charge, it slipped into the water and swam away. Nature is awesome!
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