Roche-a-Cri and Timm's Hill

Yesterday I took the day off of work and drove with Travalon to Roche-a-Cri State Park, a small but beautiful park featuring a magnificent giant rock. (I took photos that I hope to post tomorrow.) We had Rodney with us, and we hiked around the rock and discovered a stairway all the way up to the top. Travalon carried Rodney up the stairs, but we only made it to the lookout point halfway up, which still afforded a wonderful view. There are also petroglyphs on the rock, but they are unfortunately mostly obscured by modern graffiti. Aren’t people wonderful? We stopped at a nearby gas station afterwards to get some Gatorade, since my phone claimed we had gone up twelve flights of stairs and so we were very thirsty, and when we got back in the car, we heard Travalon’s goofy phone counting down like it does when it takes a picture. Then it snapped a picture of the inside of his pocket! He emailed it to me:

 Our actual destination was Timm’s Hill, the highest point in Wisconsin. When Travalon had suggested it for our day trip, I hadn’t realized how far north it actually is. It is kind of off the beaten path, so we drove on a “rustic road” and then onto the one-way narrow road along the side of the hill. The leaves on the trees we drove under were golden, so I said I felt like we were driving through Lothlorian, the golden forest from The Lord of the Rings, and Travalon said I had to blog about that. Timm’s Hill is a county park that includes three lakes, so after we hiked up to the top of the hill and climbed the observation tower, we followed the path down to Timm’s Lake. One of the other lakes has a café on it, but it was closed by the time we got there.

We then headed back east to hit Highway 51, and then we went south. Just as dark was falling, we reached Wausau and one of my very favorite state parks, Rib Mountain. (I was wearing a Rib Mountain hoodie.) I suggested we try to go to the top of the mountain to see the lights of Wausau below us, and tons of other people had the same idea. It was so beautiful! After all that hiking up hills and staircases, my iPhone claimed we had gone up the equivalent of 26 flights of stairs. No wonder we were so tired! We had dinner at the Hu-Hot in Wausau and then headed home. What a delightful day off! And the weather was so lovely. I wish I could get that much exercise and fresh air every day…

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