Nine Springs E-Way

Despite having been to the E-way multiple times, after reading the passage about the hike in 60 Hikes Within 60 Miles of Madison, I decided to check it out again. It seems the author was able to find places to explore previously unnoticed by me.  Since this is such a flat hike, except for one hill on the first loop, I decided to make this a trail run.  Good thing too, because any slow down caused a swarm of bugs to find me within 20 seconds! The E-way is partially wetlands and the ground is often damp in areas of the trail.  I love that this space is available almost right behind a mall and just a couple miles from the beltline highway.  Not only that, but the trail is right next to the Capital City State bike trail.  So, I rode my bike to the trailhead.  Whew!  This was a workout.

It was another one of those days with amazing clouds in the sky.  It was also pretty hot and humid which also made the mosquitoes even more voracious!  I found on the first loop which is a short jaunt to a hill with a lovely view of the area, that next time I could try exploring the area via kayak.  A water trail sign and a boat put in were available right there along Spring Creek.

Prairie from the hill with a view of the clouds and the wetlands beyond the prairie.

There's a lot of great prairie space here and it is getting closer to peak viewing time for prairies, so it was lovely.  I found an apple tree and with my mouth watering for the sour taste of a green apple, I decided to pick one and eat it as I walked to the top of the hill.  When I was a kid, there was a small orchard just past our backyard and I have always loved the sourness of early apples.

I begin my trail run at the base of the hill just in time for the shady, damp beginning of the trail.  The shade comes from trees on the right while the prairie and the creek remain on my left.  A slight decline makes my feet work hard to avoid a sprained ankle.  Once the trail crosses over the creek, it is all sun!  This area is still wetland and I can hear all kinds of birds chattering around me.

I cross yet another bridge and find a paved trail here as part of the Capital City bike trail which was not here before in my previous experiences.  Now, I am headed into a residential area and a park which is part soccer fields, part play equipment and part wood chipped trails through wooded space surrounding the creek.  I get thrown off track here as there are many choices and some things are new since the author's description was written, but I figure things out and am back out to what looks familiar in the e-way - a stand of corn.  The corn is higher than I am tall and I always find this disconcerting and amazing at the same time.  Not that I do not walk around things that are taller than me, happens all the time.  But, in this case, it is all that there is.  A corn field has no space for anything but corn.  There is the sound and the smell of corn stalks everywhere.

Walking up to the corn field - beautiful sky beyond!

This is a pretty short part of the trail which then goes up to the Capital City bike trail where I meet several bicyclists talking about their lunch plans.  Soon, I am doubling back along the creek path I took earlier.  I have to admit that I am getting tired and occasionally try to stop to walk, but the  misery of the swarm is too much and I run on.  I am thirsty and hungry, probably due to the bikers' talk of lunch plans, but it'll take some time to get back to my bike and then from there bike home.  I start hatching a plan to find an ice cream stand with water and treats along Lake Monona which is sometimes on my way home along the lake loop, if I can find it.  This fires me on.

The trail is the same I began with from here on and I make it to the end.  I no longer have the energy to cross the road and walk down the boardwalk to check out the waterfowl out in the wetlands as the author recommends.  Instead, I get on my bike and head toward that stand for some water and ice cream!  I will definitely hit this trail again as I know I can run across the street and add mileage when I am ready to run a longer distance.  But, not today.  The sun, the biking, and the trail have worn me out!

Tuckered out, thirsty and squinting in the sun, I finish my run and am ready to bike!