It took a very long time for me to get to sleep last night. My body’s metabolism was still very high and making me hot. I had to have the air conditioning down to 65 just to stop sweating. The muscle fatigue also made it hard to relax and fall asleep. But I did finally get to sleep about midnight.

Breakfast was a sad affair so I basically ate yogurt and decaf coffee. I was in no rush to leave today so I didn’t get set off until 9:00.

The trail resumed right at the crosswalk across the highway into the woods. The trail took me around a pond and across the road where there was another pond. The way the trail signs were pointing it looked like I was supposed to start walking down the road to my left. After about a quarter mile it didn’t feel right so I checked the map and indeed I am off the trail again.

The trail went straight across the road instead of along it and I’m not sure how I missed that. Oh well that’s not the first time and probably not the last. The trail keeps winding across a series of cascading ponds. It’s a nice little Park system here in West Bend Wisconsin.

After a few miles the trail turns to road walking. This is more like suburban territory instead of cornfields. It makes for better walking but some of the roads have blind hills. I’m sure the car is coming my direction are as surprised as I am when I see them as well. I think I would rather have corn fields.

After passing through a small community by a lake I get my wish. It’s not exactly cornfields but it’s bigger and wider roads with a much lighter shoulder for me to walk on. There are about 6 miles of this until like get to the trail system again.

Road walking this morning really wasn’t bad. It was partially overcast there was some shade but it was very breezy. In fact it was so breezy that I could not use my umbrella. But I did go ahead and lather up with sunscreen.

The road walking ends with a rail trail that leads into the next town of Slinger Wisconsin. It’s only about 1 mile of walking on the sidewalks in Slinger before it takes you to trails again. But what I am interested in right now is lunch because it is after 1:00 and I am hungry.

I spot the gas station in the middle of town where I am planning to resupply for just one more day of food. To my surprise there is a restaurant right across the street and they have outdoor seating.

After checking out the menu I plan on eating a chicken fajita salad. But once the waitress tells me about the specials that quickly change my mind. The black sheep Burger has feta cheese balsamic reduction bacon bits and arugula on it. It tasted far better than it sounds and it sounds delightful. They’re iced tea was also quite delicious. A little on the weak side but the flavor was amazing.

Resupply across the street takes only a few minutes. A can of spaghetti will be dinner tonight along with a pack of combos. The Gatorade for the pack and an ice cream sandwich for the walk and I am ready to go.

It is nearly 3:00 by the time I leave town. It is only 2 miles to The backpacker campground in the State Park up ahead. But I am not planning on staying there. If I can get about eight more miles of the trail then I can have an easy-ish day into the next town.

My plan was spot on. When I got to The backpacker campsite it was filled to the brim with backpackers with folding chairs and all sorts of things that are totally unnecessary. I basically just waved at them as I walked by and never even stopped.

The next 10 miles or so is a mixture of private farmland and public parkland. From the satellite imagery all of the parklands look heavily wooded. The best looking spots are between 6 and 8 miles from here. That should get me camping by about 6:30 and that sounds perfect.

Yesterday the park signs taught me about eskers and how they are formed. Today they teach me about kettles. I already had the one sign from yesterday show me what one look like. Today signs were more informative and how they actually form with the receiving glacier. Yesterday just said iceberg in ground melts and leaves a hole. Today signs were more nuanced into how they break off, how they get buried, and how they melt away.

The afternoon starts to drag on. My assessment that the tea was weak is indeed correct. I am tempted to make coffee but I don’t need to rush. I will still have 2 hours of daylight so I can afford to lollygag and go slow.

It is a Saturday and there are lots of people on the trails today. In the Pike Lake State Park area I would see a person every minute or so. But even now three or four miles away from that Park I am still seeing other day hikers every 20 minutes or so. It’s a perfectly cool Saturday for hiking so I don’t blame them.

I get to the first point where I think there will be good camping almost exactly at 6:30. But unfortunately this forest is too heavily vegetated to be able to pitch a tent. But only a few hundred yards later I spot a section that looks pretty good. It will be tight but I find a spot where I can pitch the tent without having to crush any saplings. But there are a ton of dead branches that need to be cleared first.

As usual the first order of business is to set up the tent and throw everything inside. There are only a few mosquitoes but I used to the routine. I won’t be cooking tonight since I’m eating my canned spaghetti. Heating it up doesn’t make it taste any better so I just eat it cold.

From where I am camping to the next town is only about 22 miles. That sounds like a perfect Sunday stroll. I will try and get up early tomorrow so that I can arrive at my next hotel early in the afternoon. Yes I am staying in another hotel tomorrow night. Have I mentioned I’m a fan of the hotel rewards programs?

Emotion of the day, Relaxed

Today was a very relaxing day. They didn’t start serving breakfast until 7:00 so there is no reason to get up early. It was a relaxing 2 hours packing and finishing up chores before setting out this morning.

And then knowing that it was a decent mix of road and trails made everything low stress. I had a wide range of mileage to be able to stop for the night, so that took away a lot of stress.

I knew that I would be walking through a town and could resupply and then was pleasantly surprised to find the restaurant as well. I didn’t have to carry much food or water which is always nice.

I even spent 20 or 30 minutes at the Pike Lake picnic area just watching the picnickers. Even when it was time to start moving again and I knew I had to go at least 2 hours before I could find camp spots, I was not worried that I wouldn’t be able to find a spot.

Even though the first camping spot didn’t work out, I was sure there would be another one around the corner. And indeed their was. I wasn’t in any particular hurry today and that was quite a different and relaxing pace to the hike. As long as I get started early, tomorrow should be just as relaxing.