One Way Street

The other day I posted a blog about one of the more difficult trails I've hiked recently. It was challenging, but it was not impossible. I never felt like giving up or turning back. I was thrilled with the sense of adventure and looked forward to seeing what was around the next bend.

True - I was hot, sore and exhausted by the time I finished. But in a good way. The kind of exhaustion with the glow of beautiful exertion swirling around me. My legs vibrated and tingled with the flow of oxygen to my muscles and my lungs were filled with full breaths of clean air. My rosy-flushed skin sparkled with a sheen of sweat mixed with bug spray. And my mind was alive with thoughts and ideas... presumably from the influx of blood circulating to my brain. Hiking is so much better than sitting at a desk in an air-conditioned office all day! I felt ALIVE!

And I'll tell you a secret... I'm not very athletic or physically fit. I'm going to go against all girly-standards and tell you that I'm 5'4" and 160 lbs. - technically and most likely at least 20 pounds overweight. I'm middle-aged and have been working desk jobs all my life. I don't go to the gym (although I try to lift hand-weights and do crunches on my living room floor - but Charlie always turns that into a game of dog-wrestling so I never really get a real workout in).

On top of all that... I have a 50 lb. dog strapped to my waist! And when she wants to go, she lunges and pulls me along with her. We're definitely working as more of a "team" on these hikes lately and she's adjusting well to the roamer leash, but if she jumps up a steep incline, I have to jump with her to make sure she doesn't get yanked backwards when the leash fully extends, and vice versa. So I'm jumping up and down and over obstacles at the same speed as this almost-3-year-old athletic dog.

Plus, I have a backpack full of water bottles (enough for both of us), snacks, poop bags, bug spray and first aid kit strapped to my back. I'm alone out there, with only myself to handle situations that arise.

So... why am I telling you this? Because some readers might be reading along thinking, "That looks like fun, but I could never do that." Well, guess what. You can. If you have legs, you can go hiking. And I think if you are capable of doing something but say you can't, you're doing a disservice to those who actually can't. There are people in the world who would give anything to be able to walk freely down a trail and experience the wilderness.

Life is a One Way Street. There are no do-overs. You can't go back to when you were 20, or 30 or when you weighed 50 pounds less. You are never going to be younger than you are today. It doesn't matter how old you are or if you're overweight or any of those other terrible excuses - you can do anything that you put your mind to. You just have to start. And I'm not just talking about hiking; I'm talking about anything that you've been putting off for later. Dogs teach us to live in the moment, so take this moment to do something that will make your future-self happy and proud. What are you waiting for?

Have you ever done something brave? Were you surprised how good it felt?

Camping on the Ice Age Trail

So last Saturday Charlie and I hiked the Turtle Rock Segment of the Ice Age Trail and immediately following that hike, we headed over to Camp New Wood on the other side of the Wisconsin River to set up camp for the next two nights. Honestly I didn't know if I was going to be physically capable of seting up camp after hiking all afternoon, but amazingly enough we had tents up and a fire going by dinnertime.

Camp New Wood was built on the original site of the Civilian Conservation Corps camp from back in the 1930's and is also on the Grandfather Falls Segment of the Ice Age Trail. That was the coolest part - seeing the yellow blazes on the trees along our campsite! I could now add the distinguishing achievement of camping on the Ice Age Trail to my hiking resume. Never mind that Hwy 107 is only about 30 feet from the campsite. Never mind that I didn't actually backpack into the wilderness with all my gear strapped to my back.

No. That is not how I like to camp. I prefer to fill my car with every necessity I can possibly think I'll need for the two days that I'll be "roughing it" - including my mom. Yep. Mom comes along on all my camping trips because 1) she loves camping and would be extremely upset if I didn't invite her along, and 2) she does all the cooking and dishes, which is awesome because without her, I'd probably subsist on granola bars and apples.

Camping with Mom is like going to an outdoor bed and breakfast. She made bacon and french toast for breakfast, grilled cheese sandwiches for lunch and steak with mashed potatoes for dinner - not to mention s'mores for dessert - come on, what's camping without s'mores! Go ahead and say it - I'm spoiled! Plus she strategically packs all our gear into the car - including room for our two dogs. After a long day hiking, it's a relief to have her along for the camping trip.

Now, most people would probably head to Council Grounds State Park which is about 10 miles South of Camp New Wood, but I prefer to take the path less traveled. Plus I hate crowds and noisy campgrounds. Camp New Wood is a county park but it's barely used. There are 7 campsites that are mostly open (not much privacy) but sit high up on a ridge overlooking the Wisconsin River. Saturday night there was one other camper who arrived late and left early the next morning. Other than that, we had the place to ourselves.

The campsites are $10.00 per night, there is free firewood available if you want to chop it up (the county is attempting to prevent the spread of the Emerald Ash Borer) and there are pit toilets directly across from the campsites. A short walk through the woods takes you to New Wood County Park where there are picnic shelters, more pit toilets, a hand pump water station, playground and boat launch. A short drive (about 15 minutes) takes you into the city of Merrill if you need groceries, ice or firewood (do not bring firewood from further than 25 mile radius).

We camped at site #5 - which, in my opinion, is the best site there. Site #1 is also pretty nice and has a long parking area to accommodate a camper or trailer. At night you can hear the distant roar of Grandfather Falls which is occasionally drowned out by the noise of a passing car on the nearby highway. Otherwise it is completely quiet. There was a rather unhappy family of red squirrels who made all kinds of noise outside the tent at dusk and dawn. I don't think they were particularly happy about sharing their campsite with us... probably something they don't have to do very often. Sunday afternoon we found a painted turtle sun-bathing at one of the other campsites and the dogs had a fun time investigating it. Sunday night I had an interesting experience when another campsite visitor - a large toad we had seen earlier - decided to wiggle himself under my tent. The sound of the tent floor crinkling as he moved closer and closer to me was extremely disconcerting! And Charlie was a bit freaked out by it too. I used my flashlight to gently nudge him back out from under the tent so I wouldn't roll over and squish him during the night. Thankfully there was no "toad juice" under my tent the next morning when we packed up.

We had a great "outdoorsy" weekend full of hiking and camping but I was so blissed out to be home, under the stream of hot water in the shower - washing away all the sweat and bug spray, and lounging on the couch for some t.v. time. Charlie had a few ticks on her and some were fully attached, so we applied another tube of tick meds and "fixed up" all her bites. I think Charlie's pretty grateful to be home too... she's been taking it easy and napping quite a bit this week!

I hope she gets her rest because we have another big weekend full of camping and Ice Age Trail hiking planned for next weekend... stay tuned!

What are your best camping memories? Do you have a favorite camp food?

Ice Age Trail: Turtle Rock Segment

Charlie and I completed the Turtle Rock Segment last weekend! I'm always happy to hike a trail near a river ~ especially the Wisconsin River, but this was one of the most challenging and difficult trails I've ever done. It didn't help that it was a hot day and the deer flies were out in full-force either.

We started at the Burma Rd. entrance with the hope of completing the longest stretch of trail first and then taking a decent break when we reached the river. The problem began when we entered the trail and were instantly swarmed with biting flies that we had to practically run from. I kept my can of bug spray in hand, ready for constant reapplications. I even sprayed Charlie's new Ruffwear Web Master Harness and wiped some spray on top of her head; I felt so bad for her.

The terrain alternated from wide mowed paths edged with trees to overgrown wooded areas where the path was barely visible, although the yellow trail blazes are easy to find. However, the bugs never relented. Occasionally there would be mucky spots and I could see how difficult this trail would be during the spring or after a rainy period, but by this time in the year the creeks and marshes were mostly dried-up.

 

We eventually entered a forest-and-swamp mix that reminded me of the "Fire Swamp" from the Princess Bride movie. I kept waiting for the "Rodents Of Unusual Size" to jump out at me. Maybe it's just because this is such a remote part of the trail, but it was spooky. At times like these, I'm so glad to have my dog, Charlie, along. While I'm technically hiking alone, having her with me helps me feel less so.

Rocks began to protrude up through the trail in spots and I could hear the distant roar of the falls; I figured we were getting close to the river. Finally.

But apparently I was wrong. Instead we continued to trek along completely overgrown trail with waist-high weeds. And the flies were still swarming... although by this point I just gave in and accepted that they were going to be with us throughout the hike. Charlie was a good trail leader and trudged ahead, blazing her own trail. At times, I could barely see her red vest through the thick ferns.

Finally we arrived at the trail marker turning us toward the river, but as we got close enough to see the distant water, I realized the foliage was going to be too dense to get near the river's edge. Charlie kept trying to pull me toward the sound of the water, but we had to keep heading along the trail and hope to find an opening soon. I knew she was getting hot; we needed to find a safe spot for her to go swimming and take a break.

Hiking with a dog has its own special challenges. It's not like you can ask whether they're okay or if they need a break - you have to watch their body language and use good judgment. I always carry enough water for both of us because I don't want Charlie drinking out of the mosquito-filled puddles (and whatever else might be in there). We take regular breaks to have a snack, rehydrate and pour water on top of her back (under the harness) to help keep her cool. I also stop every 1/2 hour or so to check her feet for injuries and pull ticks off her.

The trail was getting MUCH more challenging along this stretch. We had to scramble over huge rocks, boulders and logs while climbing up, down and all around. Having the Ruffwear Roamer Leash belted to me - freeing up my hands - allowed me to grip rocks and tree trunks as I made my way through this crazy trail.

The trail kept going and going and going and all the while the river was taunting us with its delightful babble over the 1.8 billion-year-old rocks of Grandfather Falls... just out of reach. We paused frequently to look for yellow blazes to make sure we were still on the trail - sometimes guessing our way but never getting lost. And finally a view of the river; we had to be close to an opening!

But no. Next thing I know, we're practically swallowed up by ferns that were taller than me! Charlie didn't know where to go, so I took the lead, wading through the ferns and hoping like crazy that we were heading in the right direction.

Six-foot-tall ferns!

Yellow blaze on small tree ahead!

As we emerged from the ferns, I spotted a yellow blaze on a tree up ahead - sweet relief! And yet, the trail continued with no access to the river.

Until finally we came out onto a large sloping rock just below Grandfather Dam. We could see people fishing and picnicking on the opposite shore, enjoying a beautiful Saturday afternoon - such a tease after hiking so long and just wanting to be done already.

Unfortunately the water was moving too swiftly to let Charlie swim here. We headed back up the trail, much to Charlie's dismay, to hopefully find a swimming spot above the dam in calmer water. This time Charlie was in luck! And I totally let her play and frolic in the water for as long as she wanted. She was so happy and completely revived!

After our swimming break, we headed back into the woods to finish up the hike. I found a HUGE snake skin across the trail at one point (presumably a water snake) and we heard deer up on the ridge above us, which Charlie attempted to chase before realizing that she was securely anchored to me.

Snake skin in comparison to my boot - over 3 feet long?

I was dead tired so I allowed Charlie to assist with pulling me up the steep trail above the tiny creek flowing below us.

The hike continued through pretty woods and decent trail terrain. I carried Charlie over the bridge at the final creek crossing because the squares in the plastic grate were too big and her feet would have gone through. When we arrived at the designated parking area off County Highway E, I checked my clock and found that we'd hiked the 5 miles of trail in 2-1/2 hours. Not too bad, but longer than I had expected. Turtle Rock Segment definitely requires extra time due to the extreme terrain and allowing time for possibly wandering off-trail. We found some evidence of trail-marker damage but not enough to cause us to get lost - the yellow blazes are always easy to find if you watch for them.

Wausau's BIG Weekend

View of Wausau's Rib Mountain from across Lake Wausau

This upcoming weekend is known as Wausau's Big Weekend because there are just so many events going on! I really should have posted something about all the events sooner, but somehow time has just been getting away from me lately! Anyway here's a list to recap the BIG events:

• Balloon and Rib Fest
• Chalkfest
• Canoe Slalom Nationals & North American Championships @ Whitewater Park

The Raptor Education Group, Inc. of Antigo is bringing some of their rehabilitated birds (owls, hawks) to Rib Mountain State Park for an up close look on Saturday. Also, there's a Kids' Fishing Derby taking place at Bluegill Bay Park on Saturday. And I'm sure there are a ton of other small events and happenings going on in the area this weekend. I noticed quite a few of the downtown shops already having little sidewalk sales to take advantage of visitors at the Chalkfest on the 400 Block. And if you happen to stop in to Downtown Grocery while you're checking out the chalk art downtown, make sure to pick up a bag of Kanine Kitchen dog treats (shameless self-promotion!). The Farmer's Market on River Drive will be in full-swing and the Gateway Market is sure to have a bunch of food vendors and booths set up too.

It's going to be a visitor's paradise this weekend with so much to see and do. I'm still not sure where Charlie and I will be though... we may just head out to some trail or campground to escape the crowds instead.

Whatever your pleasure is, summer is in full swing here in the Northwoods and there is definitely something to do for everyone! Enjoy your weekend people!

Charlie in the sprinkler

Secret Spots - To Share Or Not?

Have you ever found one of those "secret spots" that was just so awesome it made you want to share it with the world, but then you remember that the reason it's so awesome is because the whole world doesn't know about it?

It's a conundrum. I mean the point of this blog is to share all those beautiful spots with you, dear reader, so you can enjoy them also. But what if everyone showed up at that secret spot? What if people left garbage behind? What if they disrespected the peace and quiet?

I was lucky enough to have a "local" share directions to this really beautiful spot on the Red River in Wisconsin. I'm sure you could figure out where it is if you were determined enough to find it. There is even a pretty cool historic site nearby that was made famous back in the 70's.

A lot of locals come here and most people are pretty respectful, although I find myself picking up garbage every time I visit. Teenagers insist on smoking cigarettes and drinking beer... leaving behind butts and bottle caps. I suppose some things are to be expected but I try my hardest to leave this place better than I found it; it's just too beautiful to treat any other way.

This past weekend, after another round of rainstorms, the water was much higher than normal. Typically the rock formations in the water are more visible... a natural rock waterslide, a whirlpool with rock seats and water so clear you can see to the bottom.

Video from July 2013 (high water level):

Video from July 2012 (regular water level):

 

Would you share your secret spot with the world?