Fortunately, it was a cloudy morning, so the lack of shade wasn’t an issue.

Springfield Hill, straight ahead!

The sun came out for a few minutes as I reached the end of the bike trail, and the bridge came into view.

A local road parallels the highway. I took it to reach the bridge but to get to the bridge I had to wade through chest-high Queen Anne’s lace and other wild flora. The bridge was obviously constructed as part of Ice Age Trail planning but the particular landowners in this area apparently haven’t got with the program yet. The Ice Age Trail does not currently cross the highway at this point.

So I walked across the bridge and then had to bike on down the other side of Springfield Hill to reach this section of the trail.

This section is currently a 1.6 mile loop that isn’t very helpful to those who are walking the whole length of the trail. For those, like me, who are out for the scenery, it takes less than an hour to traverse.

When I saw deer tracks in the trail, I thought that I might see more wildlife.

Sure enough, minutes later, two raccoons went scurrying off ahead of me. This one thinks I can’t see him because he can’t see me.

Later this hawk was keeping an eye on me. Interestingly, both on the ride out and the ride back, I heard and saw more hawks.

Further “wild” life: berries. Just a little late in the season though. Mental note, come back at the beginning of July next year, instead of the end of the month.

One other wild life note, mosquitos. Thus, I didn’t spend much time enjoying the view from this bench.

What looked like a pioneer log cabin was hiding in the brush near the end of the trail.

But according to this sign, it was probably not a human habitation.

The path skirted a pond.

And then it began to rain. Fortunately, it was just a light shower that didn’t last long. It was nice to finally take the opportunity to bike the highway 12 bike path, but this was not one of the better days along the Ice Age Trail.