Day 25, Sept 27, 2024
Albany lodging to DCA Montrose. 23.3 trail miles (plus 0.4 getting back to trail from lodging).
Total IAT miles: 389.4
Left my beautiful lodging in Albany just after 7am and was back on trail at 7:15.
Long flat rail trail/bike path from Albany for over fifteen miles up until just west of Dayton. The exception was a detour off the rail trail for a mile or so which gave some nice countryside views. Passed some marshes and waterways. Saw a few folks out running and biking.
3-ish mile roadwalk to the Brooklyn Wildlife segment, which was beautiful. It wound through/up/down fields. Crested a hill at one point, and there was a gorgeous view of the meadows and fields below.
Stopped three miles before the DCA to get water from a pump as there is no closer water source. Heavy pack for the final three miles into the Montrose Segment. The DCA is in the trees with a dirt floor which means my tent should be dry tomorrow – yay! There was a thru-hiker register, which I signed.
The day felt difficult because of all the miles. Weather was nice, though. Low 70s with a stiff breeze. Never got too hot. Much of my way was shaded.
Need to drink more water. It’s difficult when the campsites are dry. Tomorrow’s DCA is supposed to have running water right at the site.
I feel really tired. And sad for some reason. I know it is normal to have different emotions flood the body when hiking double digit miles everyday, so I am trying to let the emotions come and go as they will.
Day 26, Sept 28, 2024
DCA Montrose to DCA Badger Praire County Park. 14.5 miles
Had an off day. Wasn’t the trail’s fault.
Tossed and turned last night.
The temps were fine (70s…not ideal for me but not hot either) and I was in the shade most of the day, nevertheless, I felt angry at everything. Also, one of my pack straps dug into the front of my shoulder, which doesn’t usually happen, and that pissed me off too. The woods and fields were pretty as usual, but I wanted to snarl at every tree and flower. My body felt exhausted. I made sure to eat protein and drink a lot of water on trail, but my mood was dour regardless.
I saw a ton of people on the trail today. More than everyone else I have seen on this entire hike put together. And i was in such a bad mood that I hated them all. They were too clean, too chipper, some of them too peacock-y (muscle-bound men without shirts). Their dogs were too fluffy and happy.
I was aware of my mood and tried to figure out my problem. Was it just exhaustion? Maybe. I could use a zero. I have one coming up in Baraboo, but that’s six days away.
I clambered down a steep riverbank for water only to find a drinking fountain 0.1-mile later. That added to my grinchiness.
Had a huge lunch at a diner half a mile away from my DCA for the evening. Salmon and hash browns and mushrooms and onions and eggs and cheese and blueberry pie with ice cream and a huge glass of milk. That made me feel a bit better.
Got to the park that has the DCA, and there was a bike race going on with tape stretched across various spaces to make lanes. The tape blocked the trail. I clambered underneath the tape, struggling to clear my backpack. Two women nearby watched but did not help. That did not improve my attitude.
The DCA was a mowed spot right next to the popular trail and 50 feet from the bathrooms and parking area. The good news was that there were flush toilets and a water fountain at that bathroom. The bad news was that everyone walking the trail would walk right by my tent. The next DCA was 20 miles away, so I would have to deal with the situation.
I went back to the bathroom area to wait out the race. There was a covered picnic shelter with outlets next to the bathrooms, so I plugged everything in to recharge, sat in the shade, put my feet up, and texted a few people.
Music blared from the racing host’s platform. People cheered on their loved ones. I drank tons of water and started to feel human again.
The racing ended hours later. The organizers took down the tape. Most people went home.
I walked back to the DCA area, set up my tent, and decided to risk it and strip as usual to clean up. No sooner had I finished and gotten into my sleeping clothes than a family with three little kids came along with a photographer. The mother saw me, and her face fell. Apparently she wanted to use the DCA area as their setting for family photos. They all went into a trampled portion of the field instead, and for the next twenty minutes I heard the mother speak to her kids in a sing-songy voice trying to get them to smile. Eventually they got their shots and left.
Near sunset, I entered my tent and tried to get comfortable. My efforts were in vain because for the next hour various people walked right into my space. I heard them talk to each other about the tent, and I heard them get close before deciding not to touch it. Two guys almost zipped open my rain fly. I heard them whispering, I heard one of them telling the other that they shouldn’t. Noiselessly, I took my air horn from my tent’s inner pocket and readied it for action. With my other hand, I held my phone. I pointed both the phone and the air horn at my rain fly, waiting for one of the guys to unzip it. If that happened, they’d get a blast of my air horn at their faces while I recorded the whole encounter. They got so very close…and then they decided they shouldn’t dare. They walked away. I was both relieved and disappointed.
It got dark enough for people to need headlamps, and that’s when the foot traffic finally stopped. I reclined and fell into an uneasy sleep.
Day 27, Sept 29, 2024
Ice Age Trail. DCA Badger Prairie to DCA Andersen Preserve. 21.2 miles.
Got three hours of semi-sleep, then three and a half hours of deep sleep. No one bothered me during the night. I started packing up at 4am and – dry tent, inside and out, even though I had camped on grass! I was grateful.
Before leaving, I went back to the shelter area’s’ water fountain and filled up my bottles. FarOut showed no good sources of water for the next fifteen miles.
The sun had not yet risen when I began hiking at 6am, but there was enough predawn light for me to manage without my headlamp – especially since I was mostly moving through open fields. E The quiet and cool early morning contributed to the serenity of the landscape, and my leftover grumpiness from yesterday fully dissipated. I felt renewed even though I did not get a full night’s sleep.
Walked through a huge golf course after the sun was over the horizon. Men readied the course for the day’s players. I exchanged greetings.
The road walks were just a few here and there, fairly short, with no high speed traffic.
The Valley View segment went through some swanky neighborhoods. The trail ran adjacent to backyards in many places.
Lots of people out trail running and walking on the wooded Cross Plains segments. I am impressed at how responsible dog owners are here in Wisconsin. In NH, half the time dogs are not on leashes when they are supposed to be, and those unleashed dogs often jump on people.
Temps were in the upper 70s by the time I got to the residential area of Cross Plains, and i felt hot and thirsty. My water was almost out – as I filled at the fountain by the IAT headquarters, a woman named Amy approached and asked if I was a thru-hiker. I told her I was, and she invited me into the building, which is closed on Sundays, (and it was a Sunday). She was there because an organized group hike would take place in about an hour. She graciously offered a shower, laundry, etc. I was tempted – but my last laundry was two days ago, and I didn’t feel grimy enough to justify the delay in getting to my targeted campsite. I did fill up all my water bottles. Two other volunteers, Jenifer and Bruce, also asked if I needed anything – everyone was so nice!
From there it was two miles to the night’s DCA. This one was in the woods and nicely tucked away. It had a tent pad, a cooking area, and a dirty water area. Nice! No water though. FarOut isn’t clear regarding tomorrow’s first water source, so I will try to save a liter of what I now have and hope that gives me what I need for the first part of my hike tomorrow.
