Finishing the Whitewater Segment

The weather finally got nice enough to leave the house for awhile on Sunday so I bundled up and headed out to finish up the other half of the Whitewater segment of the Ice Age Trail.

The Ice Age Trail Guidebook said that the section from Esterly Road to Hwy 12 was nice after a snowfall so I've been waiting for the wind to die down enough to see it after a snow.

Even though it hadn't snowed since Thursday it looked like only a couple of people had been walking on the trail.

Since I've been back from Kentucky I haven't been hiking and the 5 mile out-and-back hike through the snow turned out to be a little more challenging than I thought it would be.

The first half wasn't too bad, I rested at the top of hills and kept busy looking for details to take photos of to pass the time.  I was determined to keep going and get working on burning some serious calories.

I had almost made it to Hwy 12 when I came across another lone female hiker who was nice enough to take my picture.  Michelle reassured me that the end was near and we walked the last bit together.

I was happy to find out I'm not the only lady out there trying to knock off these segments without benefit of shuttle rides.  It's always good to know you're not the only crazy one in the woods.

Deer crossing

Michelle and I parted ways and after a short rest I started the return journey back to my car.  It was an act of sheer determination as I was so tired I'd call it shuffling more than hiking.  Occasionally I'd lean against a tree for a few minutes, my heart pounding and my legs begging me to find a bench and sit down already.

It took me three hours to do what was probably a little more than five miles.  I'm thinking I'm not cut out for hiking in the snow.  As much as I hate pavement if the weather is warm enough and I want to get outside the rest of this winter I think I'll stick to the road.

I might have work related news later on this week.  Things have been really busy, which is great, but because we've been so busy I've been working about as many hours as I did before we got our new girl.  I think we may be adding an "as needed" addition to the team, I'll give you more details later.  Wayne had a day off the other day for the first time in 24 days, most of which were double shifts.  Lots of extra money for traveling this year rolling in already, but poor Wayne is very tired.  At least he gets paid to go dragging himself through the snowy fields!