By this time we are getting a little more comfortable with our “Splorin’tine” and felt we could travel a little bit further from home. Black River State Forest is only about an hour away and we felt this was still “within our home community” as we could easily make it there and back without the need for any stops.
Once again, we were in for a treat!!!! During his planning, Mike found that they have 24 miles of hiking available — we could spend more than one day hiking here! The plan for today was to take on some of the “difficult” trails. This is another place that we have been passed tons of times as I-94 runs right by the park. “Difficult” trails really couldn’t be that difficult, could they? (ominous foreshadowing music plays softly in the background).
We arrived nice and early — around 8AM — we were the first car in the parking lot! YAY!!! The plan was to head out on the Norway Pine Trail, go around the Wildcat trail, and make our way back to the car via the Red Oak Trail. This should be about 7 miles — not a big deal. We were ready….
We started on the Norway Pine Trail and **immediately** began a steep climb. As we’ve said before, we are not afraid of hills — well, we are no longer afraid of hills. Way back in our early days of Splorin,’ Tammy used to have some choice words as she made her way to the top — now we both just buckle down and climb and “enjoy” our increased heart rates and shortness of breath. We recover very quickly now — all we need is a short stretch of level ground after a climb to get right again (more quiet ominous foreshadowing music).
The immediate climb gave us some very beautiful views of the surrounding area. Driving past here (which Mike does every week on his way to Illinois – when we are not in the middle of a pandemic) you have NO IDEA that you would have these types of views from less than 2 miles off the freeway.
We kept going along the trail. Thankfully we stopped to catch our breaths and take those pictures because it would be about the only time we would not be gong up or down hills throughout the day. It was like hiking along a roller coaster track, there were previous few level portions. But it was amazing scenery.
We found a very nice back country campsite at the very top of one of the hills — it would be incredible to camp there with nothing around you for miles and views that were killer!!
The trails were in great shape. They were all very wide and easily followed — there was no worry about getting lost out here. They were wide since they were cross-country ski trails. I would love to talk to someone who has skied these trails as we think it would be almost impossible with all the hills.
The Wildcat trail lived up to its name — it was wild!! We cannot wait to get back here again to enjoy it at a different time of year — maybe both Summer and Fall. Mike would love to try snowshoeing the Wildcat trail, but Tammy thinks maybe not… 😉
As we got back closer to the car we knew were were almost done when we finally saw it…
…the one place where the trail was flat!!!
We made our way back home trying to find a way that we would be able to hike the Millston Sand Barrens State Natural Area. Unfortunately we could not find a easy way to access the land — Mike will keep working on that one….
Tammy was really missing #supperclubsaturday this week so she requested we get dressed up (in real clothes and even a little makeup) and go get our dinner from Connell’s 12 Club to bring home. We had a nice conversation with the server and explained splorin’ and Supper Club Saturday. Yes, we are a little geeky but it was a nice conversation nonetheless. It wasn’t exactly the same as sitting at a table and having a “date” , but it was better than nothing.
Splorin' Saturday 