Ice Age Trail - Green Bush Segment

06:55     Greenbush Picnic area.   Sun just coming up.  Getting bike and pack ready.  Clear skies, 44degrees.  Plenty of color on the trees through the dim dawn light.  One car in the lot.

07:39     6 mile bike completed.  Very easy and quick ride.  Lots of up and downs, but very very easy ride.  Best bike ride in years.  The ride went along the Kettle Moraine Scenic drive through Greenbush, then picked up County A.  Crossed HWY 23 and stayed on A through Glenbuelah.  Just north of Glenbuelah there is an Ice Age trail parking lot.  Treated to a pleasant dawn sunlight through colorful treelines.

07:48     Bike is stowed and hike begins

08:07     Trail is wide and well maintained, but is full of rocks and roots.  The rocks are rounded through years of erosion and traffic.  The trail is covered in leaves.  All of them are damp from recent rain and my boots are not well suited for slippery surfaces.  Hiking this part of the trail requires care.

08:15     Crossing HWY S, a narrow pea gravel highway cutting through the forest.

08:34     Crossing Ridge Rd.  A good view of the sky to the West shows the clouds and rain that is to come.

09:00     Crossed HWY 23.  Last section of the trail went through an old jackpine forest.  Couple of horse trails crossing through the area.  Jackpine were mostly bare up to their tall tops.  The combination of dead pine, gray clouds was a stark difference from the start of the trail where the sun trickled through yellow and red leaves with the multi-colored forest floor reflecting the early morning light.

09:15     last half mile along paved bike trail.  Trail now goes back into the woods.  Clouds are getting thicker and thicker.  About halfway to the picnic area.

09:30     Intersection to Old Wade House trail.  Noted that the geography of this part of the Kettle Moraine is more striking than the southern unit.  The eskers are taller and narrower.  The kettles are deeper, longer, and steeper.

09:50     HWY A

10:22     Crossing Kettle Moraine Drive right by the Group Camp.  Blister is starting due to bad inserts on the boots.  Starting to get some tired feet and legs.  Break time coming soon.

10:40     Picnic Area.  Take a 25 minute break at the car.

     Parking lot is very full and has a lot of activity.  People coming and going.  Talked with one guy putting the last minute touches on his dog before the pheasant hunting opener the next morning.

     The clouds have settled in and the temperature has dropped a few degrees. 

11:05     Back on the trail.

11:30     Halfway!!  Large intersection of ski trails and hiking trails in prairie.  Where is the trail??  Did some bushwhacking and found the trail again.

11:50     Crossed HWY 67.  2.5 miles to the next shelter.  Then 4.5 miles back to the car.  7.0 miles to go!

11:55     Passed the 9 mile marker.  4 hours 16 minutes minus 25 minute break.  Very pretty fall colors in this area.

12:18     Mile 10.  Forest floor is completely covered in a blanket of yellow and brown.  The trail is rocky and most of those are covered by this fallen vegetation.  The going is a little slow.  The sky has become much darker.  The contrast of the bright yellow on the trees and on the forest floor against the dark grey leaves my vision a little disoriented.

12:38     Parnell Shelter. 

12:48     Parnell Trail.  Left the Ice Age Trail.  Starting to sprinkle.

13:00     On the tower trail.  Dozens of middle school kids are at the tower, so I parked on a bench to take a break.  Rain is increasing.  The plan is to take the Tower Trail up to a run of power lines.  At that point the trail nearly intersects with a horse trail, which will then intersect with the IAT.  Looks like the shortest route back.

13:20     Finished a break and walking past the fire tower.  I’ll save the tower for another day.  Feet are just about dead.  Walking on two-by-fours. 

13:55     At the horse trail.  Need a short break.  Just about out of gas.  About a half mile to the IAT.  Only needed about 20 yards of bushwhack to get to the horse trail.

14:08     On the IAT again.  Maybe 2 miles left?

14:19     Back at the 9 mile mark.  1.5 miles left.

15:07     DONE!   16.5 miles.  The last two miles were really tough.  Legs and feet had nothing left.

A spectacular fall day and a gem of a trail segment.