Dodging storms

Thunder, hail, and a porcupine!

Troll, Little Bird and I all hike together for the first two miles on easy ski trails. There is some up and down but it’s all very gentle. Troll is about to turn around when we see two eagles take off nearby. Such cool birds! There is a little ski shelter with the typical small seating benches. I guess you could set up a tent in it in inclement weather.

Troll walks back to the truck and Little Bird and I continue on eventually leaving the ski trails for hiking trail with some steep ups and downs. It’s hard work this hiking!

We then have a two mile gravel road walk and it’s super windy. We get blown around and hear thunder in the distance. We figure the predicted storm is about to hit us and add pack covers and rain jackets. But not much happens near us.

We enter the woods again and have a great encounter with a porcupine. It waddles towards us on the trail seemingly not noticing us. We are delighted! Little Bird had never seen one and this is definitely my best sighting ever. It finally turns and starts to climb a skinny tree. It’s putting up quite the performance for us!

We manage to tear ourselves away and continue on. More ski trails follow and we enjoy some lovely beaver ponds with massive lodges.

Troll joins us again. A storm is blowing in and the sky darkens. I have never seen it this dark at 11 am. I’m a bit scared we’re going to get caught in it but we only have a five second hail storm and the thunderstorms just misses us. Soon the sun shines on us again and the contrast with the dark sky in the distance is gorgeous.

In the afternoon we encounter some seriously flooded sections of trail. We have to get creative to find a way around but with the help of beaver dams manage okay. The Ice Age Trail has many wooden benches everywhere even at some of the swampy areas and we joke that the wood might have served a better purpose as a bog bridge.

In the end of the day we walk by a large scout camp and wonder what to do about the severe storms predicted for the night. Do we want to risk camping out or should we try to find a safer place to sleep? I remember reading something about cabins in the Far Out app. While I walk a few more miles on the road, Troll and Little Bird go explore. Good news! They got two cabins at the Shady Rest campground for the night! There are even showers there. Woot!

We enjoy a relaxing evening outside on the porch swing while these storms also just miss us. Haha. I hope this luck holds up!

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