Tuesday, March 2, 2010

Ice-Age Trail -Brooklyn State Wildlife Area Segment

I've had a few consecutive stressful weeks at work that culminated in having to go back into work after taking a Friday afternoon off. I figured the best way to get ahead of things was to take the following Monday (Feb 15th off.) We were scheduled for a C-Section for our baby girl on Thursday, Feb 18th so I figured why not?
I got up early and went to play basketball at the Y. I had one house project I needed to finish as well (insulate our laundry room) so pretty soon after getting back from the Y, I took a couple hours and knocked that out. The rest of the day was mine! I considered working on Bioshock 2 (which I finished a day later anyways) but instead Chili and I went hiking! We decided to hike the Brooklyn Wildlife Segment of the Ice Age Trail. I made it my goal to hike the whole Dane County portion of the trail in 2010 so what better way than to knock out the southern most point and part of Green County too! We got to the trail head and headed out around 10:30am, quickly passing the only person I ran into all day. We made quick work down to Hughes Rd for an out and back. Then we went back up through the woods and marshes of the state wildlife area. The birds were out in full force and there were lots of classic XC ski tracks but my new hiking shoes (Oakley Nail) had no issues all day! I was still going strong when we crossed Highway D to go up into the highlands area. I got to the top and across the highlands when I could no longer find the trail. The highlands are supposed to be a loop but we went to the farthest point and headed back. By this time I was starting to fade (as was Chili) and everything was a repeat so the sense of adventure wasn't as great. The sense of accomplishment (and the fact we had to get back to the car to go home) however was more than enough to keep me going. It also started to snow some really big flakes, it was a perfect winter wonderland! I turned my ankle a bit about a mile and a quarter from the lot but at this point we were moving pretty well so I kept rocking it! The last third of a mile was downhill so that helped and by 1:30 I was back at the parking lot, my car was all alone, here are the stats. I was tuckered out. Even Chili was tired, and those who know him know he's never tired and never lays down in the car, this photo taken 30 seconds after returning to the car!

Only one thing could help me recover from a hike like this, a burrito. I opted for Taqueria Quadelajara this time as for $5 you get a cheese covered behemoth!
It was the single biggest burrito I've ever seen (besides a place trying to make an intentionally huge burrito) and it was delicious. They make their burritos pretty bland, almost like a cheesesteak with veggies and pico, so not really mexican but just all around awesome!
So Chili and I have probably 13 miles of Dane County Ice Age Trail under our belt in February. I have a couple more sections of my radar, perhaps later this week. The most important part was how good it felt for the soul. My pooch and I getting fresh air and exercise in the woods for a few hours, avoiding the stresses of work and life for a morning/afternoon and mentally preparing for the birth of our child on Thursday made this day perfect!