Hemlock Creek, Tuscobia, Bear Lake, and Grassy Lake segments plus their connecting road walks.
Was able to secure four shuttles for these hiking days, so I did not have to out-and-back anything. Yay! Many thanks to Mark, Linda, and Laura for the rides. Also, I previously neglected to mention Kathy, my shuttle driver for four days (Lake Eleven and the road walks to Cornell). These are all kind and wonderful volunteers who offer transport with advance notice.
Sept 21: Hemlock Creek is a lovely section that is also in the process of being rerouted, so future IAT hikers might not go this exact way. Lovely woods walking by small lakes, ponds, and flowing water. Hunters were out with their dogs, so ‘tis the season for blaze orange. Continued on the connecting route (roadwalk) to the Birchwood spur trail for a total of 9.4 chill miles with around 500 feet of elevation gain.
Sept 22: Skipped ahead due to shuttle logistics and did the easy peasy 5.7-mile connecting route through Haugen. Maybe 200 feet of elevation gain..? Scenic road walk that goes through the cute and tiny town.
Sept 23: Went back and got the Tuscobia segment. The vast majority of these miles are on an old and flat railroad bed, so the scenery all day was redundant. There were a couple small and bridged water crossings to break up the monotony. 11.3 miles with around 340 feet of elevation gain.
Sept 24: Bear Lake and Grassy Lake segments. Bear Lake is a mix of ATV road (through a Boy Scout camp) and single track between small lakes and along/over/by beaver dams. Also goes through an aspen harvesting area. Quite a few little hills. Grassy Lake had a lot of ATV roads that are currently being widened, so oftentimes the ground had been recently churned. There’s still a significant amount of single track through the forest though and, as is common in this part of Wisconsin, lovely stretches by lakes and beaver territory. 13.8 miles with around 750 feet of elevation gain.
79.1 miles left! Am taking a day off today. Was crazy tired yesterday evening and ended up sleeping almost ten hours. Don’t know why I was so tired since these last four days have been quite relaxed in terms of miles and elevation gain. Oh well. The break today felt good. Also, my new batch of T25 patches arrived. Any applicants waiting on a patch will get them soon since everything goes out to 2026 finishers tomorrow morning.
