Location: Madison, WI
Miles Hiked Today: 8.5
Weather: Variable Cloudiness, Warm
So it is unlikely that I am going to reach my June hiking goal. Sure, it's possible that I could pull off 14.5 miles tomorrow, or even pull off a last second hike on Monday to accomplish it. However, the prospects are pretty slim. Because I had two weeks with poor hiking totals, it forced an unrealistic expectation for this weekend. Thus, my highest total for a day this year (8.5) comes up looking like a failure.
It wasn't for lack of planning. I had one hike in the morning at Cuba Marsh in Lake County, IL of 3.5 miles. Later on, I hit 3 miles on an out and back along the Ice Age Trail near the Kettle Moraine State Forest South Unit Headquarters. I had another 5 mile segment planned along the Ice Age Trail, but then the clouds started getting darker. It hadn't started raining, but the clouds were clearly there.
Now, look, I know that when I'm out on the Appalachian Trail (or any trail, for that matter), and a storm brews up, I need to be able to deal with it. However, climbing up onto a isolated bluff with prairies and open spaces all over it as storms may develop is not training. It's taking an unnecessary risk. So instead, I made a compromise and decided to hike along the sidewalks near my hotel. It wasn't the full five miles (my feet wouldn't have allowed it), but I did recoup some of the mileage lost.
I don't think it ever ended up raining here near my hotel. Perhaps it didn't rain at some of the places I considered hiking this afternoon/evening either. But when those big dark clouds start building I don't really want to roll the dice. Perhaps tomorrow will be another great day for hiking.
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