KVR ~ Trail Challenge ~ Little Canada ~ Part One

I hiked Little Canada, The Ice Cave Trail, and the trail to campsite "I" just below Little Canada and along the Bridge 14 Trail.
I'm going to have to divide things up.

Little Canada:

I picked Sunday because the temperatures would be in the higher 20's and the winds would be light.
I didn't want to walk on the warm days. The trails would be mushy and slippery.

A light snow had come down overnight and had coated the world with a fresh blanket of white. That is, a fresh blanket of snow over the icy surfaces below the snow!

I pulled up into the small parking area on County P and put on my Yak Tracks.

Under the car, it was glazed ice, slippery even with the Tracks on.
I headed south on Old 131 trail towards the trail head for Little Canada and the Ice Cave Trail. I'd suspected that there was a Hiking Only trail that wasn't marked on my map. I'd seen it indicated on the route for the Dam Triathlon, as part of the 3 mile running course. I thought I'd keep my eyes open for it.

I suspected that it was part of the trail that ran near the bluffs above the river that we used to ride years ago. It was deemed too dangerous for foot traffic and equestrian traffic.

It soon became evident that I was the only hiker in the area. I'd seen cars parked near Mule Trail and Camp J on 131. But mine were the only tracks.
And they were the only tracks made on these trails.

The old road bed was a bit slippery so I chose to walk alongside the road in tufts of grass. This was to be the strategy for the entire hike.
I got to Bridge 15 and wanted so badly to walk along the river as I'd done last year to see what had changed.
I reminded myself that I was doing a hike.
I had a route to take.
For this trip, I had my pocket camera and my Olympus stuffed in the back pack. I used the pocket camera mostly. I was here to hike and not spend hours taking photos.

The view from Bridge 15 always makes me stop and admire it. See the ice 'shoves' on the banks? That was from our 50 degree day.

Onward.
Past Bridge 15, I found the Trail Head for Little Canada.

The Hikers Only trail was clearly marked and I knew that it should join up with the Little Canada Trail at marker #6.

The trail was rather easy and it went alongside the river through a huge stand of pines.
It was eerily quiet and sometimes a bit dark and foreboding on the trail.

I was able to find the old equine trail we used to ride about 20 years ago.

I could see the faint path of the trail still and I wondered how in the heck I was ever brave enough to ride that.
The old timers scoffed at the closing of this trail. Looking back, I applaud it.

I moved along the "Hikers Only" trail and saw a few places where I could see through to the multi use trail.

I stopped at Marker 6 and had a snack. I'd hiked for an hour and had done some back tracking and exploring. I didn't get close to the bluff. The footing was too iffy, but I used the long lens to grab a shot looking down on Camp "I" for reference later.

I don't know how people rate trails. I've read in Wisconsin Explorer the only trail they cover it the Billings Creek trail and they say it is a 4.5. I am not exactly sure what that means.

I do know that this trail can be challenging if you are not used to this sort of terrain. In areas it is wide and easy. Then it gets steep and narrow, sort of a single track horse trail. It winds back and forth and goes down to the river before climbing again to the bluffs and winding around the areas where the dry runs form ice caves in the winter.

I found marker #3 and had a moment of confusion. The trail didn't seem correct after such a narrow track. I consulted the map and then figured out that this section was also used as a snowmobile trail.
Boring...

However I did get back down to the river and took a shot towards Camp "G".

Things got a bit more interesting when I got to marker #5.
To be ...
Continued...