It is shaping up to be a typical summer in Wisconsin. Temperatures have consistently registered in the upper 80's and into the 90's over the past few weeks. And, because this is Wisconsin, the heat usually comes with quite a bit of humidity and very little rain. Last Sunday, we decided to brave the weather and the great outdoors for some hiking at Devil's Lake State Park in Baraboo.
Our first stop was Parfrey's Glen, Wisconsin's very first natural area—whatever that means. The three of us hiked up a trail that weaved between vertical walls of ice age rock embedded with lime-green stones to a waterfall. Jonathan enjoyed running ahead of Jeanine and I on wooden bridges that looked like they were lifted directly out of a Japanese garden.
After our morning hike we found a spot near the lake to have a picnic lunch. Now refueled, we made the long hike to the top of the bluffs overlooking the lake. The view alone was well worth the effort. By this point, the heat index was steadily rising so we made our way down the bluff for a quick dip in the lake.
Due to an error in navigation, we continued ahead on the same trail instead of turning back. This, much longer route, led us to the opposite shore of the lake. I was now carrying a heavy weight on my shoulders (Jonathan) which made for quite the difficult decent. Jeanine took over taxi duties as we headed back along the paved shoreline path. We were all ready to dive in head first by the time we arrived at the beach. The next time the Solivas decide to brave the elements we will have to remember these two things:
- 32 lbs. can be heavier than it sounds
- Trail maps exist for a reason
