Day 31, 20 miles, dells of eau Clair campground

I sleep great but my tent is pretty wet from condensation again.  I take it down and lay it inside out on the wooden posts in front of my site. As I come back from the bathroom it’s already almost dry. The sun is doing good work!

The lady (Jeannie Bean) who chatted with me last night realizes she read the Ice age article about me and wants to introduce me to her dad. We chat some more, take some pictures and it’s 7:30 when I leave. Not super early but with the road walking section I’m not worried about time.

I walk out of town along the main drag and am looking for a coffee shop. But then I decide I’d rather have a smoothie. I’m in luck, ‘The Woken Bear’ coffee company makes smoothies! Yum! They know about the Ice Age trail and have been dreaming about hiking the Appalachian Trail. Of course I encourage them.

I down the smoothie on my walk out of town and then fear not having finished soon enough to find a trash can. The last gas station saves me from having to carry the cup all day.

I transition back to smaller roads and the recommended connecting route. It’s nice walking and a friendly farmer with one tooth chats with me about the trail. He’s seen several people walk by over the years.

I pass by a farm operation and large tractors pulling big trailers with cut grass go back and forth on my route. I have to pay attention that I don’t switch to the other side of the road to make room for one as another comes from behind. I’m happy when I’m past their turn off.

Then it’s a little ways to a nice piece of trail. The first section is especially nice. I’m cruising! It ends in a boardwalk section and then continues past a parking lot where it turns a bit more muddy with cedar trees. I still enjoy it. Much better than grassy ski trails.

The Plover Creek even has stepping stones so my feet stay dry! The water looks lovely and clear but I’m carrying enough to get me to the campground.

I can’t believe how easy today felt. I get my 20 miles done before 4pm and don’t even feel tired. I head straight to my new best friends, ‘Dial Up’, ‘Scootch’, and ‘Kodachrome’. These are the ladies I chatted with a the campsite last night. They’re glamping in site 2 and I’m invited!

It’s a bit challenging to get my stakes in the gravel site but they have a plastic hammer I can use. That does the trick. All set up, I can now enjoy the appetizers in the mosquito free zone by the picnic table. They set up a net tent and there is a nice table cloth. Cheese, salami, guacamole! Yum!

Then it’s time for the inquisition (their words) as they ask me tons of questions. It’s fun because I get to talk about hiking. They suggest walking to the cascades and hanging out there. Sure, why not?

It’s nice to sit there and soak it up. I wouldn’t have taken the time to do that in the morning. We ask some passers by to take our photo and make more friends.

Done relaxing, it’s time to cook dinner. I don’t know what’s going on so let them do their thing. They’re all from Swiss descendant and pull out a bag of Rösti! Add some brats and asparagus and I’m a spoiled girl once again. We stay up past hiker midnight chatting and exchanging hiking stories. So fun!