Another One from the Bucket List

I have a list of places around the state and country that I think would be interesting to see.  Some of them I know I will never get to, but should I ever be in the area would see if I could see, if it worked out that way.  Others are places I'd really like to see, enough that I would go out of my way to see if an opportunity presented itself.  Or even make an opportunity in the right circumstances. A place called Devil's Staircase in Rock County, Wisconsin is one of those places.  I learned about it a couple of years ago and decided I would have to get there one of these years. 

The other day we were going to see Erdbeere, which, depending on how we go, can take us pretty close.  Its on the west side of Janesville, only a few miles from the interstate.  Our plan was to get out fairly early in the morning, which would mean we ought to have time to stop.  The trail itself is only about a 1/2 mile long.  How long can that take?  Drive a few miles, hike half a mile, and then head back to the interstate and be on our way.  So we decided to stop.

So on our way to Erdbeere's house we actually did stop, found the park, found a parking space, and walked the several yards to the beginning of the trail.  But we had gotten away later than planned so it was later in the day than planned when we got to the beginning of the trail.  We took this picture and then decided that our odds of doing the trail and still getting to Erdbeere's house in time for dinner, which we had promised to do, were too slim.  So we took the picture and then went back to the car and got on our way to Erdbeere's.  Disappointing to be that close, but there was a little boy we didn't want to disappoint.  Actually, that turned out to be for the best.

On our way home we decided to give it another try.  We had coordinated our departure from Erdbeere's house with nap time, which got us out early enough that we decided we had time to stop and try again.  So we made our way back to the park, parked in the exact same parking space, and walked over to the trail again.

Like real tourists, we started right in with the pictures.

At the beginning of the trail off into the trees there is this sign which says the Devil's Staircase is half a mile along the trail.  That is at the bottom of a set of stairs that a lot of people think is the actual staircase.  But it is not.  These stairs are some steps originally built in the 30's by the CCC (the Civilian Conservation Corp, a public works relief program that began operation in 1933 as part of the "New Deal" to put people to work during the Great Depression).  The stairs have been maintained as part of the county park system since then.

Anyway, we took a couple of pictures at the bottom of the stairs and then headed up to get started on the trail.

At the top of the stairs the trail looked pretty nice.  At that point it looked level and well marked.  This is actually part of the Great Ice Age Trail that wanders for 1,200 miles through the state, along where the leading edge of the big glacier that used to cover half the state used to be.  The  Ice Age trail meanders into the park, along the trail we were taking, and then goes on its way beyond.

So we set off back into the woods.  After climbing the steps, the trail runs along the Rock River, part way up a bluff.  Out though the trees, you could see the river a ways down the bluff.

But on the other side of the trail were more cliffs as the bluff went on up higher to the top of the bluff.

Not ancient, but we saw some rock carvings along the way.  Sometimes people are such vandals.

As we continued farther and farther back into the woods we noticed the trail was becoming more and more narrow and less worn.  Apparently this was a trail that a lot of people started but didn't continue with.

But we kept going.  The tree cover was so dense that it was shielding us from the heat.  The temperature the day of our hike was around 88.  Not real terrible, but warm nonetheless.  Especially since it was a little bit muggy and humid, too.  Surprisingly, the mosquitos weren't all that bad back in there, in the shade.

The trail was relatively straight but it had a lot of climbs and drops in it.  So up and down we went, deeper and deeper into the trees.

Other than the ups and downs, it was still staying quite a ways above the river.  But the trees were so thick we still hadn't had a good view of the water.

At one point, for a little ways, the trail looked like it was cut out of the side of the bluff, it got pretty narrow, and had the remnants of a guardrail along it, though I don't think I would ever trust that guardrail to stop a fall.  For much of its length that cable "rail" was missing, just the posts sticking up out of the rock edge of the trial.

Then it got wider again and the trial got a little better.

Still high above the river.

Then we came to a staircase.  And I use that term generously here.  These were more or less flat rocks stacked in succession, so as to form something similar to stairs that would help in continuing.  Perhaps more work of the CCC.  We actually weren't sure, when we first came upon them, that they really were where the trail went because there was also something that looked like a trail leading up the other direction and along the bluff.  But in the end we decided to go down them and, sure enough, there was a marker at the bottom showing that this really was the trail.

So we kept going.

Then came more rocks steps.

One thing I've learned about the Ice Age Trail is that is it designed for hiking, not biking.

And pretty soon we were down by the water.

There was actually a little space where the trees opened up and you could see the river pretty good.

There were some benches there so we took a break.  And wondered who in the world went to all the effort it must have taken to pack the benches back in to make this nice little resting place.

Then we went on.

The next steps we came to started going back up the hillside, away from the river.

And just after that we came to what must have been the actual Devil's Staircase, a stretch of natural rocks coming down a incline from the top of the hill to the river.  Maybe this was a water drainage route in times of heavy rain, or spring run off.  At any rate, it looked like the main attraction and was about the right distance from the sign we had seen at the beginning of the trail. 

The stairs on the trail actually crossed this natural staircase.  At the top of these stairs the trail came out into the back end of a golf course.  From there the trial passed along the edge of the golf course to a small parking area marking the beginning of this segment of the Ice Age Trail.  Whoever brought in the benches must have come from this direction because it would have been much closer and lots easier.

We checked around where the trail came to the golf course to make sure that was pretty much the end and then turned around to head back to the park and the car.

Back down the stairs.

Back along the trail to the second set of stairs, and up above the river.

I have noticed that once you've been somewhere, going back always seems to go faster.  I have always figured this is because it is now familiar to you.  So we hiked back, passing various landmarks we'd seen on our way in and pretty soon we were at the top of the stairs at the beginning of the trail.  Since we had taken a picture on our way in we took another on the way out, kind of before (on the right, with the walking sticks) and after (on the left, with the tripod) pictures.  To all appearances, I seem to have weathered the hike pretty well.  Not bad for a decrepit, old guy.

And it turned out to be a good thing we didn't actually try it on our first stop.  It was only a half mile but that's in and another half mile back out.  Not a big deal to a lot of people but a challenge for me.  And there were enough points where the trail got rugged enough that it took us a while, took me a while.  Especially since I'm slow on my feet anyway, even under the best of conditions.

The drive out of the park was a pretty drive, too.  It was a nice little park on the river.

As we drove back to the main road we were enjoying seeing the wildlife when we came across one particular fellow, head down, hard at work.  He must have been as cautious of us as we were of him.  We made a little bit of noise hoping he'd look up but he just scurried off into the underbrush.  Nevertheless, he convinced us it was time to leave.  So we did and checked this place off on our bucket list!  Yay!