Ice Age Trail Thru-Hike: Days 3-4

On day three, I think it is ok to say I think I made a mistake. I was not prepared to be alone, no human contact outside of the occasional (sometimes rather frequent) Facebook messages from my mom. I started the day hiking in 2, sometimes 3, inches of wet snow. I was not happy about it.

I did have a little trail magic before I left Cafe Wren and then I was alone. In the snow all morning. I don't even know for sure when the snow was basically all gone because I was lost in a perpetual downward spiral of self loathing. You think I'm being overly dramatic? You try hiking for 9 plus hours a day for three days of bad weather in a row away from everything that makes you comfortable and on next to no sleep with no one there to give you a hug. I spent much of the day wondering why I had thought it was a good idea and then scolding myself for being a fool, an idiot and several other more colorful things. I do remember seeing an otter, and more signs of bear. And to save you the whole long story I eventually made it to my campsite at least an hour later than I thought it should have taken, set up my still wet tent and cried on the phone to my mom.

I didn't really sleep that night either. Day four dawned bright and a balmy 28 degrees on my thermometer. Remember how my tent was wet the night before? Well now it was wet and frozen and I couldn't feel my toes because all three pairs of my socks were also wet the night before so I couldn't wear any to bed. I had hot chocolate and ramen soup for breakfast just to get feeling back into my limbs.

Some combination of meeting a guy from the Ice Age Trail Alliance, talking to my mom, sending messages to a friend and maybe the hot chocolate and ramen soup for breakfast made some kind of difference, but I still didn't get moving until 8:00 and that was still slow going. I only did half my miles because my feet rebelled and I had to call for assistance. So I stayed with the chapter coordinator, had a shower, talked a lot, did a painting, rested my feet and got to sleep in a bed. And lucky for me, I missed sleeping in the rain.

I also saw four baby bear cubs from across a marshy area.