Gandy Dancer, a frappe and a drunk

Day 2: Rail trail, road and trail to Straight lake!

We continue on the Gandy Dancer trail for another 10 miles at which point we hit Cafe Wren. I had heard about it from other hikers and it doesn’t disappoint. I get a frappe and a scone and Little Bird gets a milkshake and a sandwich.

The walking is easy and after another 4 miles we leave the rail trail and road walk to the truck. Troll meets up with us and we plan on a short break at the truck before he drives up ahead again. The break gets cut short when two guys up the road are having a fight and one of them gets thrown out of the car but he tries to jump back in. The driver yells to us call the cops. We’re thinking about it but the one guy leaves the car and starts walking towards us. He then invites himself to our party and eventually asks Troll to give him a ride about two miles up. It’s all pretty awkward and he seems pretty drunk. Troll encourages us to move on and he deals with the guy. Ending up giving him a ride. We’re a little worried about leaving him but he’s okay.

We head into the woods and the rest of the day are on lovely trails. We enjoy some more wildflowers, walk over serpentine bog boards and see glacial erratics. We walk along the Trade river towards Straight lake. The lake is really beautiful and we see white swans. At the end of the lake we turn off and walk to the truck. Troll drives us to the Straight lake campground which is primitive and has no car access. There are little carts we can use to haul our gear in and Troll loads in his two burner stove along with our overnight gear and we walk another 1/4 mile to our tent site. We get spoiled by Troll cooking us dinner and have a fun evening. By 8 pm we’re all tired and ready for sleep. I’m impressed with Little Bird hiking over 20 miles on day two. I think I’m just as tired as she is.

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Comments 3

  • kathie0729 -IG handle : May 14th

    I’m looking forward to hopefully seeing you in the southern part of the IAT!!! Love that you’re in Wisconsin and heading to break a record!!!

    Reply
  • Kathie : May 14th

    I’m looking forward to hopefully seeing you in the southern part of the IAT!!! Love that you’re in Wisconsin and heading to break a record!!!

    Reply
    • Apple Pie : May 15th

      Thank you!

      Reply

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