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| Indian Creek Headwaters |
“My favorite thing to do is to go where I’ve never been.”
– Diane Arbus
I find that a very true statement-though there is nothing
wrong with returning to favorite places as well. A “place” I’d never been is almost all of Wisconsin’s Ice
Age Trail, although I’ve been able to knock off a couple segments this
summer. The IAT is currently
undergoing an update of it’s field guide, an ongoing process to be sure maps
and segment descriptions are current. The update procedure involves editors
hiking sections of trail, noting
any changes from previous descriptions and adding additional information. It’s also important to describe the “feel”
of the trail-intangible things that help characterize hiking a segment. Checking map accuracy, GPS waypoints
and local points of interest are also part of the field editors duty.
A last minute request to hike a segment in Polk County in
North West Wisconsin was forwarded my way in hope it could be completed before
a September 1st deadline for the field guide. The 140 mile drive from home
could fit into an early morning journey on a day off, so I agreed and hit the road before things got too hot
during a recent heat wave.
At 4:00am, the traffic, even on I-53 headed north, was light and I was
able to reach the segment terminus as daybreak arrived. The plan was to lock my mountain bike
there, drive back around west to the trailhead, hike the section of trail
taking notes, waypoints and photographs and pedal the bike back to the
car.
The Indian Creek Segment of the IAT is the eastern portion
of what once was the much longer McKenzie Creek Segment. There are ample parking areas at both
ends of the trail and it’s well marked and maintained. All IAT trails have yellow
blazes-either painted, plastic tags on trees or in open areas, carsonite posts,
which make navigating easy. In
some of the lower fern covered areas of Indian Creek, I’d check the blazes
often to stay on course. This
segment isn’t as glacially featured as others, with the first and last part of
the trail fairly flat and easy, but there are some good glacial hummocks at the
midpoint challenging hikers up steep climbs and descents.
The majority of the trail is on public land and the forest
is mostly managed for larger stands of hardwoods by select cutting. Crossing 30th st. (a
gravel town road) marks the midpoint and the start of a trek through open woods
and dry (at this time) rocky creek beds.
A short ridge climb puts the trail above a small picturesque water lily
filled lake, the headwaters of Indian Creek, which flows north. The habitat is ideal for wildlife, and
I saw several deer and grouse and plenty of black bear sign-rotted stumps tore
apart, fence posts raked and chewed on and berry filled scat. It is berry season, so it really wasn’t
a surprise when as I stopped to make a photo, a movement of black caught my eye
a short distance away. A year or
two old bear slowly ambled through the brush toward me, unaware I was fumbling
with the zoom on my camera.
Realizing he’d need to be too close for a good image, I decided it’d be
wise to talk loudly to announce my presence, at which point he stared, turned
and trotted off. A pretty
neat encounter to say the least!
The final mile of the trail consists of narrow hand carved
trail, a short bridge crossing and an open mowed meadow, finishing at the trail
terminus parking lot. From this point, the IAT continues a 1/2 mile south on
Cty. Hwy. E, and then climbs into the woods east on the Sand Creek segment into
Barron County. The bike was waiting and I had a 7 mile hilly ride ahead of me
to return to the start-not a bad thing,
my legs enjoying the change-spinning pedals and producing a little
breeze on this hot morning as a relief.
The trailhead
and waiting car are within the McKenzie State Wildlife Area off Ct. Hwy. O,
perhaps another place I’ve never been to explore another time. For now, a quick change, a look over my
notes and a slow drive back, stopping to investigate other nearby points of
interest for the trail guide.
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