Today is all road walking except for 2 miles of trail in the middle of the road walk. I finished all the official Trail in town last night so today I leave from the other end of town. I will meet up with the green route about halfway to John Muir county Park.

I didn’t wake up till 6:00 a.m.. this is the latest I have slept in on the whole trip. Today is a perfect day to sleep in because I’m in no rush as my mileage isn’t very long. I think with my alterations to the green route it will be around 20 or 21 miles today depending on where I stop.

I went to the breakfast room at 6:30 and met someone from Galesburg Illinois. I have some good friends and Galesburg, so I asked them if they knew them. By some stroke of luck he did know them and we took a selfie and sent it to them via Facebook. I wish I was a fly on the wall when they read that message. I will have to harass them a bit later.

It was probably around 7:15 before I got out of the hotel and started hiking. The beginning of the route is a road that parallels the highway, so the scenery is not great and the traffic is medium. They can’t all be stunning.

After about 3 mi it turns onto some smaller roads. The route all morning bounces between really small roads and medium use roads for short distances. The last three or four miles into John Muir Park I am on the suggested route. I get there just before noon so I stop at the picnic area and have lunch. I also refill my water bottles but not completely as I only have about 9 or 10 miles left to go and I still have a nearly full Gatorade.

There is a woman there with two young children and the children ask if I’m hiking the Ice Age Trail. I was really impressed that they even knew that the trail was. They look to be about three and five. I told them I was and that made them happy.

This park is the boyhood home of John Muir. It is a large lake with a trail that goes all the way around it. There is one stream that is an outflow of the lake and one stream that is a spring-fed source for the lake. The childhood home is up towards the spring but it is not open to the public.

After another half a mile over some Meadows it’s back to road walking. This time I am going to veer pretty far off the suggested path. This suggested path goes North then East over North-South and East-West roads. The route I am taking goes diagonally straight into town but will have more traffic.

I have already walked this particular road for a mile or so and it was not too bad of a walk. There’s a car about every 60 seconds and there is not much of a shoulder but I can step off when I need to. The bad part is I am committed to the full 9 miles. If it doesn’t work out there’s no way I can turn around or cut off towards the suggested route.

It is also getting quite warm by now at least in the upper 80s. My umbrella helps but if there’s no breeze it is still hot. If there is a breeze then it is bearable. The next 3 days are supposed to be even hotter.

I take a break under some trees to rest and drink my coffee. After a 30-minute rest I have a lot more energy now. The combination of rest plus coffee is amazing. I have about six more miles into town.

The afternoon goes by uneventfully. As I approach town there seem to be more stores than the guidebook indicates. The guide book really undersells some of these towns.

This is the smallest turtle I’ve ever seen in my life. He made it across the road safely, too.

My first target is Rendezvous Paddle and Sports. It is a restaurant that also brews their own beer. I have one of their IPAs which is only the second beer of this trip. It was quite delicious and paired well with the hamburger and fries. The staff there recognized that I am an IAT hiker and wish me well.

My second target is a campground. There are two to choose from. The first one does not answer the phone, but the second one does. Winner. It is a mile and a half down the road. It takes me 30 minutes to get there.

They have two tent sites and I take the one that has a nice tree to pitch my tent under to keep the dew off of it overnight. They have a pretty well stocked camp store, so I buy things for breakfast. Next up is the showers.

Tomorrow is going to be all road walking so I will have to plan my water very carefully. Plain old woods are easier to hike in than roads.

Emotion of the day, Boredom

There wasn’t much excitement today. It started with road walking and ended with road walking. The park in the restaurant or the only highlights.

The park was a little bit of a let down. John Muir is a pretty famous guy. I’ve seen his Redwoods Park and I’ve seen his Trail in California. Those are Grand features. This park was just a trail around the lake. I guess I was hoping for more educational materials on his life and activities. Or at least to be able to see this childhood home.

The restaurant and beer were good though. And this campground is pretty nice. I sat in their air conditioning for an hour after my shower doing my blogs. But now as I sit in my tent it is warm and muggy.

Tomorrow is supposed to be hot but the day after even hotter. I think much worse days are about to come. So I guess a little boredom isn’t so bad after all. Stay tuned for misery.