Scoutmaster Musings

I walked 54800 steps on the trail today.
I traveled about 26 miles today.
HALF WAY!!!
Our campsite is almost exactly at the halfway point of the trail. Check out my current location on the map.
I know the actual trail miles change as new sections are created and reroutes occur, but with the best data we have this is the spot. I expect the second half to go quite a bit faster since our legs are stronger, the weather has cooled, and there will be fewer restaurants and such to visit. :-)
So, here's a picture of what my home away from home looks like now.

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John Muir had a huge impact on the wild places of our country. He founded the Sierra Club. This memorial park to him has a spring-fed kettle lake and a trail around which is part of the Ice Age Trail. Yes, we walked the loop :-). This was after our morning grass walk to get our shoes nice and moist :-(
With the good sun, our shoes are drying quickly.

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We're up before daylight and on the trail through fog and sunrise. It's cold this morning - about 44 degrees - so we walk to warm up.
All roadwalks today heading to Portage and we've reached the Aldo Leopold center. Very nice building (with bathroom) so we're taking a break to check out the displays. He had a big impact on outdoor ethics and promotion of wild places. Hopefully, we'll find some water here also.

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I walked 24378 steps on the trail today.
I traveled about 11 miles today.
Picking up right where we left off at the Lodi Marsh, we started hiking at 5pm today. The hike into Lodi was great! The trail was well maintained, the temperature was comfortable and the humidity was much lower. It felt wonderful to be back on the trail again, strolling over the miles.
In Lodi, we met a family having ice cream and talked about the IAT with them a bit. Then, we met the owners of a beautiful house that we were admiring right on the trail through town. They've made it into a B&B and they were very friendly folks asking us if we needed anything. We also met a past mayor of town who offered directions though we were fine with our maps.
You probably figured out all this chatting took up some time. :-). Leaving Lodi, the breeze, setting sun, and fresh air were perfect for walking more miles. We completed a nondescript section and then roadwalked around Gibraltar Rock which is shown in this photo. We hiked on until about 9pm - well after dark - to our camping spot under some nice pine and walnut trees.
The crickets and fireflys are out and it's time to rest for another day. Tomorrow, we ride the ferry!

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Leaving for the trailhead in an hour. Anxious to get moving again and looking forward to the 20 degree drop in temperature and new terrain to cover.

We picked up more supplies for the next month and that's one of the best parts of long hikes - I get to eat pretty much anything I want and as much of it as I can hold. :-)
You might notice that some of this is not healthy food you'd want your family eating every day, but on the trail we're trying to get lots of calories in a light load. I do have fish, cheese, crackers, raisins, and noodles besides all these snacks.

Camera and cellphone are charged. Maps are ready. Clothes are washed. Ready to go.

I sure hope we run into some scouts or hikers out on the trail during the next week or so. That would be a fun surprise!

Scout On

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I get back on the trail tomorrow, picking up where we left off around Lodi, WI. The high humidity and heat stayed around longer than hoped and rides to the trailhead worked out that made Sunday the best day to start. 450 miles completed and 650 left to do.

Before I leave, I'll be picking the monthly contest winners of Scout Shop gift cards and ClassB.com coupon. So, be sure to enter the contest tonight or you'll miss out until next month.

Remember, if your troop or pack is in Wisconsin, I'd love to have you hike with us on the Ice Age Trail. You can see where we are at the Hiking Dude site.

Scout On

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We made it to Whitewater Recreational Area yesterday and finally met up with Peter and his wonderful family in Janesville (they are in Scouting). The whole story is much longer, but I misplaced my cellphone in Paul's Porsche and I'm hoping he finds it and calls my hiking buddy's phone.
We met Paul on the trail and hiked with him about an hour into Whitewater rec area and he then offered to drive me to pick up our vehicle so I could move it forward on the trail. When he dropped me off and left, I realized I did not have my phone. The phone is how I take pics and make blog entries from the trail. I expect it's on the floor of his car. By the way, it was a most excellent ride!

Right now, I'm in the Milton, WI library which is right on the trail but will not be making any blog entries for the next few days until Paul notices the phone or checks in here and sees this post. :-)

Other than that big mistake, the hike is going well. My right leg still hurts but an Ace bandage I bought at 5:30am this morning has helped a lot today.

If anyone is planning to thru-hike the Ice Age Trail, DO NOT do the Storrs Lake segment. The trail is under at least a foot of water for a few hundred yards - and they've not had much rain here. It was a fun adventure, but I'd skip it next time. Fortunately, we found a manufacturing plant just after the segment in Milton that had an outdoor faucet in the shade.

I'll write when I can. You can still follow our progress via my Spot at this page.

Hike On

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We're on top of the tower at Lapham Peak - don't know who decides when a hill becomes a peak, but it's an amazing view for 50 miles in all directions! You'll need to tilt your screen to see the tower :-)
We can see Holy Hill far in the distance to the north which was our starting point yesterday. Now, we had southwest through the Kettle Moraine.
Check out my current location on the map.

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Along the trail, there have been quite a few Eagle Projects done to improve this great resource for people exploring the natural world of Wisconsin.
Here is an example of a bench. We noticed 3 benchs in this project but there were probably more. These benchs provide welcome rest for hikers and they appear to get lots of use - not by us of course, as we walk on by all day. :-)

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I traveled about 28 miles today.
We made it to the hwy H trailhead to end the day. Bug suits were used the entire day and we got a few jealous looks from folks passing us on the trail.
At a water stop at a campground, we met Gary and his family and friends. I noticed his Philmont scout ranch t-shirt right away and we were welcomed to sit for awhile. Gary had just returned with his Hartford troop from a great trek in New Mexico.
After a cold coke, we continued the last 9 miles through the forest on a very nice trail with lots of small ups and downs.

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We got an early start with a ride from a very helpful scout back to the trail at 6am. We've hiked 7.5 miles - all on roads - and are now resting on the front porch of the old hotel at the Rhine Center intersection. Check out my current location on the map.
Today will be short with my mom shuttling us back to Potowatomi to get my vehicle and make plans for the next week or so while staying at my folks'.
Yet another beautiful day walking through the farmland of Wisconsin. A 3mile trail section is ahead and then the long Kettle Moraine forest trails.

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I traveled about 28 miles today.
Camp Rokilio Rox! We hiked here from Manitowoc today on almost all roadwalking. The hike wasn't too exciting but the destination is great! We arrived just at dinner and the staff was very welcoming. They are just starting their last session of Cub World for all cub scouts so the staff should be pretty tired - but you couldn't tell.
We've been given a cabin in which to stay and a scout staffer is driving us back to the trail early tomorrow. Oh, dinner was great too!
After dinner, I was asked to talk to the cubs and I just let them ask me questions for about 5 minutes. It was fun and there were still more hands up when we finished.

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