Hike 13

Starting point—Tisch Mills
Ending point—??? Nearing Mishicot
Distance—6.6 miles
Cumulative Distance—80 miles

We had hoped for a longer hike, but AJ decided to nap the afternoon away after protesting naps all morning. Our hope was to get him into his carseat right after lunch, and he could nap in the car and on the trail. Great plan, except he fell asleep in his high chair while eating. He definitely needed a good nap, so we postponed our hike until nearly 4 p.m.

It was a gorgeous afternoon, and we had two sections of real trail! We put AJ into the backpack carrier, which he loves.

The fall colors were absolutely beautiful, and we enjoyed the IAT signage in Tisch Mills.

Part of the trail through Weber(?) Woods has a creek that passes through.  It probably is a good thing it was fall and the water was low.  We didn't listen to the sign!

Walking through the woods gave us a first hand view of the color changes happening!

 Once we got back on the road, we ran into a bunch of dead snakes.  There was 3 or 4 of them that we came across in the few miles we walked on the road.  Although they looked alive, they were far from it!

As we came up to the car, we had three sandhill cranes take off - which gave us a nice silhouette against the beautifully setting sun!

 Hopefully we'll get a few more hikes in yet this fall and then some over the winter as well. We've made better progress this year, but we have a long way to go!

~Kerry, Dave, and AJ

Hike 12

Starting point—Bolt
Ending point—Tisch Mills
Distance—5.5 miles
Cumulative Distance—73.4 miles

We decided to maximize what's left of summer by hiking after work this week. It was wonderful weather (again).   Shortly into the walk, we stepped into the set of "Birds," although none of us were attacked!

We encountered quite a few people in their yards, a few walking/biking and several in vehicles, all of whom were very cordial. It seemed like everyone waved or said hello.   Can you blame them with as cute of a baby as AJ is? :)

One guy provided Dave's vindication for the pace we were hiking, since Kerry was worried it was going to be dark before we got to the car ... he started the conversation with "How far are you running?" 

The benefit of walking to dusk is seeing a doe and a fawn in the field.  They didn't mind us at first, but after a minute of watching they took off like a flash!

We also got to see an awesome sunset. 

Overall, another great afternoon/evening on the Ice Age Trail!!

~Kerry, David, and AJ

Hike 11

Starting point—Franklin
Ending point—Bolt
Distance—4 miles
Cumulative Distance—67.9 miles

Kerry needed to get an 8-mile run done for her half-marathon training, so we maximized our time on the IAT and minimized our use of vehicles. Normally we take two vehicles to shuttle ourselves along the trail, but this time we took one. After Dave and AJ got out at the start of our trail for the day, Kerry shuttled the vehicle to the ending point. And then the race was one ... Kerry trying to run to the starting point and back to the vehicle before Dave and AJ got there.

 It was a gorgeous day for a run, comfortable and sunny with some awesome cloud formations. It was nice to run along new roads to explore the area, but it was different to be "hiking" the IAT without Dave and AJ.

 

Dave and AJ's hike was a nice calm walk down country roads.  We seen about 20 yellow finches flying along the ditchline near the start of the day's hike. 

 The clouds looked threatening for a while, but nothing ever materialized in the form of rain. 

 

This section of hike did bring us the closest we will ever be to our house in Denmark.  We crossed county KB, which means we now walk away from our house for the rest of the trip!

Overall - good day to get out for a walk!

~Dave and Kerry (and AJ!!!)

Hike 10

Starting point—Montpelier
Ending point—Franklin
Distance—7 miles
Cumulative Distance—63.9 miles

There's something nice about walking in the country, knowing that most intersections also double as mile markers on your journey. We headed out to the IAT after breakfast this morning to beat the forecasted 90-degree weather.

Although it was warm, it was an enjoyable hike. Out little dude was happy the entire hike, playing with his feet, eating graham crackers, telling us stories and taking a short snooze.

 One of the most interesting things we saw was a school bus converted into farm equipment. The buck (bus/truck combination) was the front end of a school bus with a dump truck mounted behind it. It looked like a bus until it was nearly past us, so we didn't capture a picture of the creation.

We crossed Highway 29 today.  We won't see 29 again until we are more than half way done with the 1100 miles, once we get near Wausau. 

Even though the IAT is not done, and runs on some country roads, we still get to see some interesting things we wouldn't zipping by at 55mph.  One of the places was someone's wood carvings.  The entire yard was filled with them, and it was obvious that he had some great talent!

We saw quite a few finches playing along the road, as well as three sandhill cranes that disappeared into the wheat field as we approached.  There were a lot of wildflowers out on this beautiful July day!

It's amazing how different the corn looks, even right across the road. Some looks wonderful, and some I'm sure won't be harvested this year.

We walked past the Krohn Dairy Store, stopping on way back home for some feta, string cheese and delicious cheese curds.

Hike 9

Starting point—Luxemburg Area
Ending point— Montpelier
Distance—4.5 miles
Cumulative Distance—56.9 miles

Our desire to hike the IAT led us back to the trail despite an overcast, chilly afternoon. We had incorrectly believed it was a bit warmer outside than it actually was. We were able to enjoy the first half of the hike, as we walked through relatively untraveled country roads.

The weather put a damper on our hike, as our littlest hiking buddy wasn't nearly as content as previous hikes. We were glad we decided to do a shorter hike than the original 6.5 miles we had mapped. We'll chalk this hike up to a learning experience in our short history of hiking with children.

Hike 8

Starting point—Ryan's Corner
Ending point— Luxemburg Area
Distance—5.8 miles
Cumulative Distance—52.4 miles

What a wonderful feeling to be hiking three weekends in a row! Our hike took us along the Ahnapee Trail for the last time. We saw a poignant sight as we crossed a bridge, a goose alongside its apparently deceased partner.

Trees are starting to turn green, and some of the fields seemed especially green in the beautiful spring sunlight. Our hike took us along relatively untraveled country roads, so we saw less wildlife aside from domesticated curious cows.

We did see three turkeys and two squirrels cross the road near the end of our hike. It was interesting to watch the turkeys cross the road, then recross the road to take flight.

Hiking a bit of the IAT was the perfect way to spend our Sunday together with AJ.

  

Hike 7

Starting point—Footbridge
Ending point—Ryan's Corner
Distance—6.2 miles
Cumulative Distance—46.6 miles

With record temperatures, it was an easy decision to head to the Ice Age Trail with our 6-month-old son, AJ. We had a wonderful time hiking in short-sleeve shirts (and working up a sweat) with incredible 70-plus weather in March!

We saw quite a bit of wildlife on this hike, including a couple deer, a snake and several groupings of ducks on the the Kewaunee River. We also heard a tremendous amount of frogs along the trail, which makes sense as there was standing water along most of the trail.  There were also a bee colony at the start of the trail.

This section of the trail was flat and easy walking, following the Ahnapee State Trail. I imagine this would be a glorious hike with full fall color, but it was very nice to see the world coming awake again this spring.

The unseasonably warm weather is expected to continue through this weekend, so we're hoping for another hike this Sunday.