Jerry Jolly Trail

I went outside the 60 mile zone this past week.  I traveled to the northern edge of Wisconsin and found a trail there.  I was with a companion this time, my niece, who was wary of my leading her into adventures that would, in the end, possibly make her or both of us miserable.  We had already kayaked for 2+ hours earlier in the day, so a long hike was not the plan.

Jerry Jolly trail is just south of Bayfield, WI and near a blueberry field and apple orchard.  We planned on getting some blueberries and whatever else the season might offer when we completed the hike.  Alas, it was not to be!

 

 

 

When we got to the trailhead, we checked over the map and made a plan to do just a few kilometers - maybe an hour long hike.  We hiked into a creek area - Pike's Creek.  Both of us loved this part of the hike.  There were hills, the sound of running water and a nice hard packed trail.  The rest of the trail was mostly spikey mowed grass and other plants, which was not ideal for walking. 

Pike's Creek

The bridge over the creek

It was difficult to judge where exactly we were on the trail.  There were signs with the map, but no other indicators of direction.  So, at one point when we had a choice of 3 paths, we went the wrong way.  I thought I had a great strategy.  Looking at the map, I placed my back to the area that had no trails and decided we needed to go left when it should have been right.  I forgot to do the opposite in being the mirror image of looking at the map.  Big sigggghhhhhh.  The trail went on and on and soon we realized we were on the Jolly Long trail.  Not so Jolly at this point.

Nothing to do but hike on!  The woods were surprisingly quiet.  At one point we scared up a flock of quail or pheasant.  Otherwise, there was little to indicate bird or wildlife of any sort.  We heard almost nothing.  Near the creek, however, we did see some deer tracks. 

And, speaking of deer, we both later found wood ticks crawling on our clothing.  No problem, neither had dug in.  We made sure to check ourselves over well.  While wood ticks can be a problem, they are not the disease spreading threat brought by deer ticks which are tiny.  Deer ticks spread Lyme's disease, a debilitating, painful, and oftentimes, life threatening virus.  For more information on what to look for, go to the Center for Disease Control.

We did eventually sort out our maps and our directions and found our way back to the car.  Getting back to the blueberry field, however, was less successful.  The clock said 5:04 and they closed at 5:00!  All said and done, we'd hiked 8km and it took over 2 hours. I will check out this trail in the winter for skiing or snow shoeing.