I woke up early and got about 90% packed before before the breakfast opened at 6:30. I don’t have a super long day today so I don’t need to rush but I still have to get an Uber ride back to the trailhead. I don’t end up making it on to Trail until about 8:15. I wanted to use Lyft but they couldn’t find any drivers within 5 minutes so I switched to Uber and they had one 10 minutes away.

This trip is partially an experiment I’m conducting to compare Lyft and Uber. So far there are no surprises. Uber is more reliable and more expensive. Lyft is just fine, they just don’t have as many drivers.

The trail wanders through the campgrounds for at least a mile if not two. It takes me by the camp store so I stop in to buy a Coca-Cola for my afternoon caffeine. Hey, why not? After all, I’m carrying a Marie Callender’s microwave meal for lunch.

There is a little bit of elevation to the trail but it’s not steep. It feels like the PCT, but looks like the AT. The weather is still pretty cool so it is very pleasant hiking. This section of Trail is supposed to last about 8 miles.

I am delighted to find a wild hop vine growing right next to the trail. I pick one of the cones and it is almost mature. It has a fairly heavy amount of yellow lupulin within the petals. I tear one open and smell it and it has a wonderful aroma of a piney / citrusy hop like maybe a Cascade. I pick another one and put it in my camera bag so that I can smell it for the rest of the hike. Or at least until it stops smelling.

The trail ends at a parking area with about 20 cars in it. I did not see a single hiker leading down to the parking lot so there must be many trails leading away from here. I am done with trails for the day. I have 19 miles of road walking ahead of me.

The first half mile is flat, but the road turns up a steep slope for a solid 3 miles of climbing. It is still cool and there is a decent amount of shade on the road so it is not unpleasant hiking other than the huffing and puffing. I do need my umbrella for sections of Sunny road because it is warming up.

For the first 3 miles of the road walk I will be following the suggested route. But after that I will fear more Northeast where the suggested route keeps going north. My route is about 3 miles shorter but also has a least three miles on a busier highway. I am hoping it turns out to be in my favorite or at least an even trade.

Around 12:30, I pass a wooded area that doesn’t have any No Trespassing signs, and has a wonderful rock to sit on. This looks like a wonderful place to stop for lunch.

The chicken alfredo pasta survived the trip up the hill. It is still a little bit cool. I wonder if I should have actually microwaved it before I left. I might try that next time because I have a feeling I’m going to be doing this again. Even cold it tastes pretty good. But it is not evenly mixed in the container so I have to use my spoon to get a little bit of sauce and a little bit of noodles and a little bit of vegetables in each bite.

I also have a Milo’s lemonade that I sit on during lunch. The Rock in the shade and the almost real food makes a pleasant little 10 minute break.

This guy’s wins the mowing award of Columbia county, Wisconsin.

The roads on the route I have selected are very desolate. I am starting to figure out that if there is no paint on the asphalt then they’re probably is not much traffic. Every time I come to a road with painted lines the traffic increases. And as the shoulder width increases so does the traffic. I might be able to use this with satellite view to scout out roads in the future.

When my small roads end and the large road begins, I still have nine miles to my final destination. The large road is about what I expected. There is a car every 30 to 60 seconds sometimes more. But there is 3 ft of paved shoulder and about 6 to 8 ft of rock shoulder. So even though there is a lot of annoying and loud traffic, the walking is actually pretty good and pretty safe.

The only exception around Bridges when I have about 5 ft for me between the barrier and the white stripe. The bridges are short no more than 40 yards. But there are two interstate overpasses that are a good 200 yards and above a rush of traffic below. When you can see heavy traffic below and heavy traffic right next to you, it almost gives you a vertigo like feeling. It was really unnerving. But luckily lasted only one to two minutes each time.

There is a BP gas station at the first interstate over change, so I stop and get my obligatory ice cream. I should have gotten a Gatorade too, because my water is really hot. I have plenty, it’s just not pleasant to drink. It’s supposed to be 15° warmer over the next week so this might end up being a common theme. I wish I had not sent my oolong tea back home, because it makes drinking warm water quite pleasant. Hopefully this will be the end of the heat waves.

When I get to the bridge that crosses the Wisconsin River I am now on official trail again. It starts down a residential street a block away from the river. After a half a mile or so it goes behind the houses onto a trail along the canal. I followed the trail to the end of the canal then I can backtrack up to the street and start heading my direction northward towards the hotel.

I think I have about three or four miles to the hotel from here. I was originally planning on eating somewhere downtown before heading to the north side of town, but I’m just not that hungry so I keep walking. There are nice sidewalks the whole way so it’s easy walking even though there is a decent amount of traffic on the roads.

Less than a mile from the hotel I passed by a Jimmy John’s. A good deli sandwich would make an excellent dinner tonight. It would also make probably the cheapest dinner I’ve had on this trip so far.$11 later I have a sandwich and a bag of chips in my pack. I drank four or five cups of ice water in the time it took them to make my sandwich. Cold water is wonderful.

I keep hiking towards the hotel and see the Aldi grocery store that is across the street. This is where I was planning on buying my resupply. But I also noticed there’s a super Walmart on the left side which is the same side as the hotel. I think the Walmart will be easier to get to so this is where I will resupply.

After checking in and taking a shower I take some mental notes about the number of meals I will need for the next 4 days while taking into account the number of restaurants I will be able to stop and eat at along the way. I really don’t need that much food but I’m sure that once I get in the Walmart I will buy too much anyway.

I didn’t do too bad in the shopping department today. I did double up on sweet things – buying both snack cakes and cookies when I really only needed to buy one. I justified the double purchase saying to myself that the snack cakes were for dessert tonight and then I was only carrying the extras. Lying to yourself is so easy.

Emotion of the day, Comfort

While the day did drag on until 7:30, it was not a stressful day. Not even during the 5 mi of the busy highway. The first 8 Miles on the trail was very cool and relaxing. I could have hiked this in autopilot mode for weeks.

The first part of my road walk was on very desolate roads, and even gave me an opportunity to relax in the shade on the steps of a small Church. I don’t think I saw more than 25 cars that entire section.

And the wide shoulders on the busy highway didn’t add any stress to that section even though it was noisy and obnoxious. And I think I finally found my Wisconsin rednecks. Four or five cars honked at me as they drove by. I assume they were not pleased with me hiking along the road. But who knows. At least no one screamed out a window “get a job” or something like that.

And the only stress of shopping in a Walmart is making sure you don’t buy too much. I did also buy one more Mountain House dehydrated meal for this next section. I am really glad to know that Walmart carries them regularly.

Knowing that I would get a shower again tonight and be able to eat anything I wanted was very comforting.

Oh, I almost forgot the most important part of the day. My pack no longer stinks like stinky man-dog piss! That is immensely comforting. When the temperature gets into the mid-90s in a few days, that is going to be extremely important.