Black River State Forest - Logging Road

GPS Track File 08/04/2013

     This summer my boots saw a good deal of the Black River State Forest.  There was a three week period where my weeknights were entirely my own and the forest is only 40 minutes away.  The days in late July and early August are still long with sun-down somewhere in the neighborhood of nine-o-clock.  Logging off from work at 4:15, the backpack already ready to go, I’m out the door by 4:25 and in the woods by 5:15.  I couldn’t do that every night, but I can tell you I was quite tempted.

     In all I made my way to the forest for six different hikes.   Previous blogs have detailed two of them and in this entry I’ll cover another one.

     The first of the previous hikes was on a swampy section of snowmobile trail.  The second took a route along a two mostly paved forest roads.  It was along this second hike that I found some a logging road that looked interesting.  During that hike some other two-tracks showed promise.  These kind of routes are always curious to me.  Where do they go and for how far?

     Sunday August 4^th was cool summer day with bright sunshine and a light breeze.  I made the Wildcat trail parking lot and was ready to hike by 10:20.  The plan was to follow the Norway Pine trail to its intersection with Shale Rd.  A small bit south of that intersection the route would leave Shale Rd and follow a logging road generally north to Kling Rd.  Kling Rd, an unpaved forest road, leads back to Shale Rd, followed by the north loop of the Red Oak trail and back to the parking lot.

     Previous hikes had been very bad for flies and mosquitoes and for this hike I brought along a small mosquito tent.  I’d tried it out in the backyard and although far from ideal I thought it might just do the trick to allow me 20 minutes of rest without being eaten alive.

     The Norway Pine trail climbs to the top of two ridges right out of the gate.  These are not steep climbs but for those of us who are not well trained endurance athletes, they will elevate the heart rate.  A great deal of the forest can be described as swampy and flat, flat, flat.  However, the area surrounding the Wildcat trail system is a meandering series of ridges.  These ridges can be as much as 200ft around the surrounding terrain.  After a couple of small ups and downs the trail sticks to the top of a ridge and runs fairly flat along the top.  The trail is well maintained as it serves as groomed XC ski trail in the winter.  Some benches are set out and there are occasional views to the south available through breaks in the trees.  These views are quite nice and worth a few minutes of rest.

View from Norway Pine trail

     At 10:54 I made the intersection and the familiar pavement of Shale Rd.  Two minutes of walking south a right turn put me on the sandy logging road.  Although there is no machinery visible at this point there is clear evidence of machinery running through the road.  The first sign is that there are tire tracks in the sand that look recent.  We had rain in the last two weeks since I’d been in the forest and these tracks are not eroded at all.  The most telling sign, though, is that there are many crushed carcasses of bugs.  There is some kind of iridescent green hopping bug in the forest.   They are everywhere.  There are hundreds of them every within a pebble toss.  With every footstep they hop away or into my legs.  These critters were not here two weeks ago.  I’m expecting some cutting ahead.  But being a Sunday I’m not worried about walking into active operations.  

What bug is this?

     Speaking of bugs, the mosquitoes are not so bad, but the flies are in force.  I turned around to find a small cloud of 8 to 10 flying behind me.  So, the hat is on.  I may have to use that bug tent after all.

     The woods are very quiet today.  A little bit of birdsong, and no sound of humans.  There was one other car in the parking lot, but I’ve not seen or heard them.  The forest is the usual mix of old pine that wasn’t ever logged mixed with oak, maple, hickory and assorted ground cover.  The road does go through a very short stand of plantation pine and then back into the mixed forest.  The plantation seems out of place.  Most of them border a more substantial road than this.  I’m sure in a few years this will not be here any longer.

     There are parts of this old logging road that show signs it was paved, at least partially, a long long time ago.  Chunks of broken blacktop rise out of the sand in small stretches every so often.

     A mile into the road, at 11:23, the road forks.  Equipment is visible on the right fork.  I’m not certain which fork to take, but the fork on the right is being logged and may be a newer cut.  I decide to follow the left fork and continue heading west.  I’ll know if I’ve chosen poorly if 

A.      I run into the intersection of the old ATV and snowmobile trails

B.      This road simply does not head straight north in a couple minutes.

Along the logging road on a Sunday morning

     11:28 – I am at the intersection of the ATV and snowmobile trail.  Well, time for a break, a stretch and then I’ll head back to the fork in the road.  Interestingly, the ATV and snowmobile trails are gated off.  They would make for some good hiking without four wheeled monsters tearing them up.  Maybe another trip, eh?

     Heading north along the logging road there is a substantial amount of the forest that is being logged or about to be logged.  After 10 minutes of walking from the fork in the road there are areas on both sides of the road where activity is taking place.  This will be a very different looking forest in four weeks.

      I got a glance of the western sky at 11:46 and could see a bank of dark clouds rolling in.  The wind has died down to almost nothing.  The birds are taking a siesta and the only noise I hear is my feet and the attack of a fly who drew the short straw.  I’m hoping this doesn’t mean rain.  I left the rain jacket at home and I’m going to still be out here for a couple hours more.

     Two turkey made themselves very briefly visible trying to cross the road.  They didn’t stick around long enough for me to get a picture.  By the time I made it to their crossing they were deep in the ground cover.

     I hit the intersection of the logging road and Kling Rd at 11:55.  There is a substantial plantation of fir trees at that corner.  I’ve seen that in a couple places now; here and in Monroe County forest land.  The fir trees are planted so close together you could not walk between them.  They are an interesting choice that I don’t quite understand.  But, I went to school for computer science and not forestry management.

     This was to be my long break.  High noon was a good time to break out the PBJ sandwich, an apple, and some luke-warm ice tea.  Yum.  The road has been cleared of trees on both sides.  This yielded a nice open area with stumps to sit on.  Also a chance to catch what little breeze there was.  Also a chance to see the gray skies heading my way.  This would be tight.  I estimated that the storm was about 90 minutes away and I had about 120 minutes of hiking left. 

     I was expecting to have to break out my bug tent.  I was determined to take a good 15 to 20 minute break and give my legs, hip, and feet a proper rest.  I’d found this was critical to managing my ability to hike more than a few miles in a day.  Oddly, though, as soon as I came to a rest the flies backed off and left me alone.  I sat on a stump and ate my food, listening for the occasional bird, but otherwise just enjoying a quiet day in the woods.

Taking a break on Kling Rd

    At 12:25 it was time to head off and follow Kling Rd back to Shale Rd.  As soon as I moved off that stump, the flies multiplied.  I would turn around quickly and could see what I can only describe as a cloud behind me.  20?  30?  Can’t tell.  Apparently I need a shower.

     The hike along Kling Rd revealed several other little unpaved tracks heading into the woods.  One had a sign, the others did not.  I would have to come back and follow some of them.  The likely case is that most of them would duck in about 200yds and end.  The walk along Kling was interesting.  In addition to the several paths into the forest, the forest itself changed frequently.  A fir plantation gave way to new forest, cut maybe 3 years ago, then a marshy area.  That morphed into scrub forest around the marsh, a pine plantation about 15 years old, a clear cut area, another mixed forest of old and new trees.  

     Right at 13:00 I took a little break at the intersection of Kling and Shale.  I parked on a berm left behind by the bulldozer that created the roads.  This made a nice little seating area and, once again, I stopped and so did the flies.  The sky actually began to clear.  Whatever rainstorm was threatening decided to skirt north and skip the forest.  After a 5 minute break to take off the boots and socks to the air the feet, I was back on the road and heading for the Wildcat hiking trails.

     I met the trail at 13:20 and had only a mile and half remaining.  Along the trail I found a $5 bill.  If you can claim it I’ll take you out for a $2.50 drink.  At 13:53 I was back to the car.

     I mentioned to my wife that it seemed very trite to note the age of tire tracks and crushed bugs to determine that there was probably logging activity in a state forest on a logging road.  A most excellent deduction Watson.  Bravo and my most sincere congratulations.  Not often will one fine logging operations on a logging road.

    Then again, the interesting part is that during a hike your thoughts wander to these small things.  These things mean little outside of the context of the moment.  That is certainly one of the more endearing aspects of getting out into the woods; that your concerns revolve around tire tracks, clouds of flies, and peanut butter sandwiches.