#50HikesWisconsin

50 Hikes in Wisconsin: #31 – Governor Dodge State Park

August 11, 2015 by Abbigail Kriebs 4 Comments

Scott and I were so excited to go hike Governor Dodge State Park.

We’d been talking about going for years, and I am not exaggerating. The park is not quite an hour from our house, so just far enough away that we could never do it spur of the moment, which is always when we have time to go hiking. But it’s also not so far that we weren’t a little ashamed of the fact that we had never been in the nine years we have lived in Wisconsin.

So we finally made it: we headed out on a Sunday afternoon just as the temperature was starting to break so it would be a bit cooler for our hike.

And then we got to the park, walked up a little hill to the trailhead, and discovered that the trail we had been waiting so long to take was closed.

Closed.

We had driven an hour to hike a trail that was closed.

So what does my husband do? Walks over the little trail closed barrier and keeps on hiking.

And I followed.

And we had a lovely time hiking up the cliff and taking photos. Until we went to find the trail to head back around the other side of the lake and we couldn’t. There was no trail. It just did not exist.

So, we hopped on an ATV service trail, knowing it had to take us to some form of civilization.

And we walked, and walked, and walked.

At this point, I got a bug in my eye, was sweating so badly my sunglasses were accumulating condensation, and was curious if we were heading in the right direction or not. Nature 1,000,000; Abbie 0.

Scott adamantly declared that he was sure that the ATV trail connected with the horse trail in just a little bit. He was sure. As the ATV trail kept swinging east and south, unlike north like I wanted it to, I had time to think. And worry.

Much to Scott’s credit, we did butt up with the horse trail not long after, and as soon as we knew we were headed back in the right direction, I realized what I had been worrying about.

I was not worried that we would run out of water.

I was not worried that we would actually stay lost.

I was not worried we’d run out of food or daylight.

No. I was worried that we would be caught. We would be caught, and we would be punished and we would never be allowed to hike in state parks in Wisconsin again.

This is what I learned about my self that day: I would rather BE LOST IN THE WILDERNESS FOR DAYS than be found a rule breaker.

And this, dear readers, is the sum of my childhood, my young adult life, and even my adult life until this point.

I am a rule follower.

So, the hike that could have ended in true mortal disaster only gave me anxiety because I thought we’d get caught.

At least the finale was lovely?

What about you? Are you a rule breaker, like Scott, or a rule-follower like me? Any specific instance in life where you knew undoubtedly which one it was?

P.S. I’m pretty sure this reinforces the fact that I am the real-life Hermione Granger.

50 Hikes in Wisconsin: #27 & 26 – The Kickapoo Valley Region

August 6, 2015 by Abbigail Kriebs Leave a Comment

I’m a bit behind in sharing about our #50HikesWi project this summer. Turns out, we are hiking at a faster pace than I can blog!

We went camping for the Fourth of July, and after kayaking down the Kickapoo River on Saturday morning, decided to further torture ourselves with a second hike from our book.

Wildcat Mountain State Park – Hike #27

Wildcat Mountain State Park is one our favorite camping spots. We’ve been there a half a dozen times, and had never taken this trail down through the valley and back up. And I mean UP. We had about six people from our camping crew and the only one itching to run back up the hill was the tiniest of the bunch: a rat terrier named Snickers.

(all iPhone photography here, so apologies of the low res)

This one was a pretty straightforward hike, except that a friend spotted a random 60+ year old parked in the middle of the ravine.

So maybe it wasn’t so straightforward after all.

Jersey Valley County Park – Hike #26

Our second hike of the weekend was also in the Kickapoo Valley, at a park that we found the dead end of a county road that skirted the ridge and then dove down between two corn fields to this lake tucked deep in the valley.

This hike was also hilly – it essentially skirted the whole lake, up through the woods on the right hand side, around the back of the lake, and then back up the hill and down again on the left. It was a good hike, but at least in July the forest was so think that you really couldn’t see anything for most of the trail other than the trail itself.

Except that we did see a juvenile Bald Eagle, so that was cool. He’s sitting on a tree in the photo below.

The Jersey Valley hike would probably be lovely in the fall – and less buggy, too.

Next up: the hilarious, almost-disastrous hike we took in late July at Governor Dodge. It taught me more about my personality than most anything else in life.

What about you? Have you gotten out to explore any new-to-you places in your neck of the woods lately?

50 Hikes in Wisconsin: #35 – Picnic Point

July 30, 2015 by Abbigail Kriebs 2 Comments

*Edited to Add: I have NO idea why all the photos in this post turned sideways on me. Until I figure it out, please enjoy the slightly odd experience of viewing them all at an angle.*

As a UW-Madison graduate, I am ashamed to say that I have never been to Picnic Point until July of 2015, a full four years after I graduated.

In my defense, I never lived on campus. At the end of the day, I drove away with Madison in my rear-view headed for my own little yellow house out in the valley. I had my own space: I didn’t need to find it in downtown Madison.

So I never made it to Picnic Point until this last weekend. And let me tell you: had I lived on campus, this would have been my spot. A tree-lined, gently walking path, plenty of seating along that way that just beckoned for a girl and a good book… this would have been the slice of get-a-way paradise I would have needed back then.

It was a lovely walk, an easy walk, filled with little paths that jutted off to the water every so often, a small stretch of sandy beach, and several places to strike up a campfire. I took all these photos with my iPhone, so be gentle when you judge. :)

And the best part of the hike? When you’re done you can walk, drive, or take the 80 bus down to Memorial Union Terrace for brats, fries, and beer with friends. And sunsets like this one.

This was our 4th hike out of our “50 Hikes in Wisconsin” book. I’ll share hikes 2 & 3 once I get the photos edited, and the hilarious, could-have-been-so-so-bad story about hike #5 soon thereafter.

Have you ever sat out on “the Terrace” as everyone loves to call it here in Madison? It’s lovely, isn’t it?

(and if you haven’t, you are totally invited to my city and I will buy you a beer while we watch people sail around Lake Mendota. Promise.)