Hike 20

Starting point—Two Rivers
Ending point—Two Rivers
Distance—2 miles (a little more than 5 total with retracing to our car and the bridge detour) 
Cumulative Distance—104.1 miles

It was a gorgeous day for a hike, and it looks like it may have been one of our last summer-like days for the year. This Indian summer has been wonderful, so we were glad to get on the trail to enjoy it.

Our hike today led us through Two Rivers. For being a hike entirely through a town, it was a rather interesting and scenic hike. The old buildings would be so interesting to explore, although the demolition of the Hamilton building caused a detour from the official trail. The demolition meant a bridge was closed, so we did a bit of a detour to another bridge and back to the trail.

We were surprised by how many museums exist in Two Rivers. I think we found 4 (one related to wood printing, one for farming, an ice cream one and a fishing village) with 3 of those being right along the trail. The ice cream one was tempting.

Both boys enjoyed the hike along the trail, but Teddy was tired and a bit cantankerous for the retracing part to get back to the car. We're looking forward to the next section through the woods, hoping to get to it this fall without the bugs being bad at all.

 

AJ had the "silver camera" at the end. Here are some of the interesting pictures he took ... at least the ones that turned out :)  There are a lot of them, but I think it shows what a stroller hike (and the drive home) is through the eyes of a three-year old ...

Hike 19

Starting point—Point Beach State Forest
Ending point—Two Rivers
Distance— 7 miles (approximate)
Cumulative Distance—102.1 miles

Well, we didn't hike naked, but at least we hiked today. Given the multitude of mosquitoes, I don't think hiking naked for summer solstice would have been advisable. We missed out on the sunshine from the longest day of the year since it was overcast and quite foggy for most of our hike. We hoped the cooler temperatures in the low 60s would deter the mosquitoes, but they were even worse than last time for parts of the hike. However, we were a bit better prepared with mosquito netting for both backpack carriers. It worked really well, as Teddy escaped with only one bite. AJ didn't fare quite so well since he wasn't in the mosquito netting the whole time.

We ran into four patches of unexpected water. Kerry managed to stay mostly dry on the first crossing by carefully picking her way along the logs. Dave just sloshed through the water, which is what happened for all the rest of the crossings as they were too deep (mid-calf) to stay dry. At least it wasn't that chilly of a day that wet feet weren't a hindrance ... and AJ liked to say "squishy squashy" and "splish splash."

The last portion of the trail we hiked followed Lake Michigan. Although it was much cooler right by the water, the wind kept all the mosquitoes away. That made the hike much happier, as did the picnic and play break we took when we first reached the shore.

AJ was too busy being all boy, playing with sticks and looking at dead fish, to eat anything, but Teddy was quite happy to fill his belly. So happy, in fact, that he finally soundly slept the rest of the hike rather than squabbling like he had for at least a mile or two earlier. All those fish made a unique popping sound when you stepped on them.

We had a bit of a detour in the mosquito-filled woods prior to fording a stream because AJ lost his camera, which is really our digital camera. He removed it from the protective bag and dropped it, so we were backtracking several hundred feet. We decided to rip apart the backpack carrier to make sure it really fell and luckily found it wedged in the bottom underneath his feet.

The hike along the lake was quite enjoyable until we had to slosh through two crossings. At times, the trail had really nice bridges and paths, which is why we were somewhat surprised to end up with wet feet so many times.

As we hiked through Two Rivers, Dave spotted a baby raccoon along the road/trail. We're not sure why it was out and about in the middle of the day, but it was a cute critter for AJ to see.

We ended our hike in the park, and AJ loved playing on the slides and such that were just perfect size for him. Teddy hung out in the swing for a bit before we headed to Manitowoc for some post-hiking food.

Hike 18

Starting point—Point Beach State Forest
Ending point—Point Beach State Forest
Distance— 2 miles (4 miles total because we retraced our steps to get to our car)
Cumulative Distance— 95.1 miles

 We managed two hikes on the IAT within a week, which certainly is a record for us. We headed back to the trail with the boys before it got too warm Saturday. It was in the 70s and sunny, a perfect day for a hike. The trail was gorgeous, through flowers and pines and one sandy patch. We saw a snake slither away and a monarch butterfly, which AJ wanted to keep following.

The only real downside of the hike was the mosquitoes. I think all of us ended up with a few bites, although they seemed to like Dave the best. The boys were fairly protected in the backpack carriers. As everyone else has said this year, the bugs are much worse than usual. Swarms of mosquitoes is the only appropriate way to describe them unfortunately. (I now understand the phrase "as thick as mosquitoes.")

 

Aside from hiking a bit faster and taking fewer pictures to minimize blood loss to mosquitoes, it was a good hike. Point Beach State Forest looks like a gorgeous park where we should definitely spend some time.

Hike 17

Starting point—just outside of Mishicot
Ending point—Point Beach State Forest
Distance— 4.7 miles
Cumulative Distance— 93.1 miles

We spent part of our Memorial Day weekend enjoying gorgeous weather in the 70s on the Ice Age Trail. The boys were comfortable in their backpack carriers, and this was the first time we've used them for any considerable distance. 

Teddy managed to snooze in his carrier, in the same awkward position that AJ used to when he was younger, so he approves of his carrier. AJ loves riding in the backpack! He particularly likes to blow the whistle.

We were excited to make it to a section of "real" trail, which we'll be on for the foreseeable future, since we don't knock off too many miles at a time. The hike along the road was nice without too much traffic. The small portion we hiked on "real" trail was beautiful, minus the droves of mosquitoes. Amazingly, we walked away with one bite on David despite not wearing any bug spray. (But we won't tempt fate next time and will use bug spray!) This was among the worst Kerry has seen for swarms of mosquitoes, but the nicely constructed boardwalk kept us off their radar unless we stopped to snap a picture.

This was a wonderful way to spend part of our holiday weekend, and we're already plotting when we can get back on the trail in June!

Hike 16

Starting point—Mishicot
Ending point—just outside of Mishicot
Distance—1.9 miles
Cumulative Distance— 88.4 miles

 This was our first hike of 2014 and our second hike as a family of 4! AJ claimed the backpack carrier, which meant he rode with Kerry. Teddy was bundled up in the stroller as it was in the low 40s since we were closer to the lakeshore. David pushed the stroller since he needed to take it a bit easier after his emergency appendectomy a little more than a week ago.

It was a sunny day, but the wind was a bit brisk at times. It was wonderful to be out hiking again, and we can't wait to hit the trail more this year even with the challenge of two little ones.

Teddy fussed a little bit, more from being tired than being too cold, which is a good thing. AJ complained about being cold once but for the most part enjoyed watching cars go by, singing songs, looking at the farms and blowing his whistle.

Our hope it to make it to Manitowoc in 2014!