Another adventure vacation began with the chance to see one of the biggest steam trains of twentieth century history. The Union Pacific recently restored this behemoth, known as Big Boy and built in 1941, and sent it on tour across the Midwest to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the completion of the Transcontinental Railway.
This adventure reminded me of my childhood home, a block from the tracks in Prairie du Chien. Every year or so we would be visited by a steam engine. You could hear its distinctive whistle miles away.
Folks were lined up along the tracks an hour in advance. We settled in at a small park in downtown Humbird, population 266.
After a long wait we soon heard the distinctive whistle, and then there it was, Engine 4014.
We followed a rolling traffic jam of cars and trucks to the next town, Merrillan, where the 4014 was scheduled to stop for 45 minutes. A large crowd had gathered.
People were getting their pictures taken next to the huge engine.
And it’s huge. It has 16 drive wheels, eight on each side, in groups of four.
As I’ve traveled the rails I’ve noticed Amish fellow travelers on every trip. And Amish farmers were gathered to look at the train and talk with the train folks.
After a full hour the train built up a head of steam, blew the whistle, and chugged on out of Merrillan.
I didn’t shoot video, but if you’d like a little more of a taste of watching this train go by, this video was shot in Lombard IL a few days later. I like the lady in the ponytail who gives a jump for joy after she’s done recording her own video or photo. Click on this link: https://www.facebook.com/1167721492/videos/10219675620378863/UzpfSTEwMDAwMTM5NTYxMzE3NDoyMzg2MjAyODExNDM2MjE2/
As the train faded into the distance, it was time to move on to more excitement: Timm’s Hill is the highest natural point in Wisconsin at 1,951 feet above sea level.
You can see many miles from the top of the tower at Timm’s Hill.
Before we got to Timm’s Hill we stopped at The High Ground, a veterans memorial park just west of Neillsville for a first-time visit. The art works here memorialize a lot of sacrifices, honoring veterans and their families.
There are memorials to a number of conflicts, including the conflicts in the Middle East of recent years.
We were intrigued by the Military Working Dog Tribute.
My brother Dick is one of my favorite veterans. After his military service he opened a restaurant (a gastropub actually) called the Aqualand Ale House, in Boulder Junction, Wisconsin. This was our destination for the day.
The dining room is beautiful. And much busier than this most of the time we were there.
We got a tour of the kitchen.
Pizzas are cooked in less than five minutes. The two different pizzas I had, on two different days, were delicious.
Dick and his wife Sue offered us their cabin for the night.
The cabin is rustic and cozy.
Not a lot of room but enough for a comfortable overnight stay for two. The couch sleeps as well as the bed.
One regret, we should have spent more time sitting on the rocking chairs on the deck.
Our objective on Day Two was to ride the Bearskin Trail, a 37-mile round trip from Minocqua to just north of Tomahawk. This trail is not paved, like some of the other trails in the area, and requires a state trail pass. But I think it’s the most scenic of the local trails. Everyone we saw (and the trail was quite busy) was so friendly.
Much of the trail is through shady woodlands.
The trail travels along Bearskin Creek and we passed lakes and marshes.
There are a number trestles and historical markers along the Bearskin Trail. The marker at this location said that during the rail era, an engine and several cars toppled into this march. They brought a crane to lift them out and it too toppled into the marsh. They’re still there.
After our trail ride we set off in search of the headwaters of the Wisconsin River, and found it just south of the Wisconsin border. The river here is a lot narrower than what I’m used to at the other end, where it empties into the Mississippi near my home town.
We talked with some scouts who had just canoed the first section of the river. It was not very much fun, too many portages from downed trees and the like.
One marker is along highway 45/32, the one on the right is at the actual location of the headwaters.
It is somewhat disappointing that you cannot easily walk across the headwaters of the Wisconsin, as you can at the headwaters of the Mississippi, but this is where it starts.
The Wisconsin River flows out of this lake, Lac Vieux Desert.
On our trip south back towards home we crossed the Wisconsin River several more times, but this is the only place where the Wisconsin River flows through culverts.
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