The Journey Of Two Devils And A Witch

  Baraboo, Wisconsin
Friday, August 24, 2007

I badly wanted a break. My broken arm troubled me for six long weeks and we were not able to go anywhere 'coz of our project go-live activities.
 
So last Friday afternoon, I asked my manager Madhavan (aka Maddy) whether I can take a break during the weekend. I was sure that Vinay and me won't be able to travel together 'coz only two of us were available for production support. I told Maddy that I'll go out during this weekend and Vinay can take off the next weekend. But he commented that it won't be fun if we split the group. He said both of us can go if it's just for one day.
 
I passed on this news to Sreekanth. We three (Sree, Vinay and me) started researching on nearby sight seeing places. We asked Sumit and Halidha to join us, but they had some other plans.
 
Very soon, Sree came up with an excellent hiking place - Devil's Lake. It was in Wisconsin, our neighboring state.
 
So that evening, we left early from office at around 4:30. We went home, packed everything - our tent, bags, food etc. We went to Cub Foods to get bread and other stuff. Thus by 7o'c clock, we started our hiking trip from Minneapolis.
 
The drive was very good. There were many scenic places on the way. Had Srijani been with us, she would have captured the entire drive in her Handycam or her S3IS.
 
We started feeling hungry and then we stopped at Sub Way and bought parcel.

I was getting anxious whether we would get a tent site because google map had showed the journey is about 4 hours and we had to reach at camp site before 11 PM. This time we didn't book any site in advance. When I called up, they said a few site are available and we thought we could take a chance. The camping office will be open till 11 PM. Sree assured that we'll reach there before that.
 
Anyways, we reached the campground by 10:45. One security was roaming around and when she saw us, she stopped her vehicle and asked whether we need any help. We told her that we haven't booked any site, but would like to check-in now. She said the office is closed. Then we told her that the person who attended our call had conveyed the message that it will be open till 11PM. She then took us to office. One fellow was there. He checked in his computer for the availability of sites and told that we could take the site no 34. He said we can come to the office the next day morning to make the payment. Sree told him that he will provide his ID card, but that guy said, "No need. You guys look like good people."
 
The guy took us to the tent site. Sree and Vinay set up the tent. After that we had dinner.
 
Then I removed my sling and the cast which was troubling me for the past 6 weeks. Sree was not that happy with it, 'coz as per the doctor, I had to put it for one more day.  Not only that, last week I didn't put it for two days after the quarrel with him. Anyways, I had enough. I didn't want to put it back.
 
Vinay and me wanted to play Monopoly, but Sree said he's very tired. It was already 12 by that time and then we went to sleep. I slept well till 4, but it seems both of them didn't get a good sleep.

 

I woke up after 6. Then Sree also got up. Soon after getting out of the tent, he roamed around with Vinay's SLR and took a few snaps. Then we went to the rest rooms to take bath.
 
We came back to the tent after an hour, but our hero Vinnie was still sleeping peacefully. Sree removed the cloth which covered the tent. Sunlight peeped on Vinnie's face, but he put the blanket on his face and started sleeping again. Finally, when both of us started shouting, he got up.
 
It was cold outside and I badly wanted a coffee. But the shops were not open. We packed our tent and everything and went near the office. Vinnie went to take bath, Sree was taking photographs and I was just sitting inside the car. It was very cold outside.
 
By the time Vinay came, the shops opened and we three went to get coffee. The lady at the shop gave us three full cups of coffee. We asked for cream and sugar and she handed over a few packets. Well, it seems the sugar we get here is not sweet at all. I had put around 8 packets, but my coffee was still bitter. We went back to the shop 2-3 times to get more cream and sugar, but still I didn't succeed in making a good coffee. Finally I gave up. I shared Sree's coffee, which usually happens with me. Hmm... These people should come to India and learn how to sell coffee.
 
We then had some croissants and dry fruits. That was our breakfast.
 
After half an hour, we reached Devil's Lake State Park, the road to state park was awesome and we wanted to take snaps. But it had started raining too. Still we could see people going through the hiking trails. Sree gave me his rain poncho which we had purchased during our Split Rock, Duluth hiking trip.
 
The hiking trail was too good. We had to climb lot of rocks and we could see the lake on one side. That was awesome. Sree was scolding me every now and then to be careful. He said if I break my hand again, then he won't take care of me any more. Hmm... What can I do. The rocks are too slippery 'coz of the rain and at times I nearly lost my balance. Finally I removed my rain poncho, 'coz I as feeling uncomfortable wearing it. I could manage with my jacket.
 
The first halt was at Elephant's rock. From its top, we got an excellent view of the Devil's lake.

We met one family on the way - dad, mom and their 3 year old son. The kid was very smart and he was climbing very enthusiastically. This is one thing I like about the people here. They go for such outdoor activities with their 80 year old parents or 3 year old kids. They know how to enjoy life.
 
The rain was disturbing us a lot. We couldn't take many photos too.
 
After some time, we reached the Devil's Doorway. The rock formation is in such a way that, when sun sets in the evening, it will give the feeling of a devil standing in front of a door.

Then we saw a train route sign which said "Ice Age Trail"...

I would say it wasn't really an Ice age instead it was a stone/rock age...There were lots of rocks, looks like fallen from some big mountain which were lying one over other and we had to walk thru the rocks on that rainy slippery day...

On the trail we saw a huge rock balanced on another rock. Took some snaps from there too.

Climbing down through all those split rocks was a tough task, that too in rain.

We all were thinking not to go on the same way back.. then we saw a railway track going down the hill which passes thru banks of the lake to the other side of lake where our car is parked. We decided to take that route.... Infact I was really planning for a railway trek...

We could see a couple of people doing scuba diving in the lake. Sree and me had planned for doing that long time back, but 'coz of my fracture we had to drop that plan. I felt really upset. If my hand was in good shape, even we could have joined these group of people.
 
Finally we reached near our car. We got in, dried our hair and then went to a restaurant to get some coffee. The morning story repeated there too.  We took all the sugar and cream packets and the shop owner ran out and put the board "Shop Closed. Tea/Coffee not available" :-)
 
The next point was Parfrey's Glen - a very beautiful place. It is the first state natural area in Wisconsin. The Glen's Walls are embedded with pebbles and boulders of quartzite. This quartzite is conglomerate, sometimes referred to as a "plum pudding" stone. The sandstone layers represent ancient sandy beach. There was a stream too flowing through its floor. On the way, we met some people coming back and they cautioned us that the rocks and some wooden boards on the way are too slippery. We spent some time there admiring the natural beauty and then came back.

The rain still continued and I was shivering. I said, "I think I'm done for the day", the first statement of this kind from my mouth during a trip and Sree was shocked hearing that.
 
We had planned to visit The Natural Bridge too, but we couldnt make it because it was getting dark and the rain was not even thinking of getting less. We then started our journey back.

By 9:30 we reached Minneapolis. All of us were too tired. We reached Sree's and Vinay's home, saw all the snaps and then I went back to my apartment. I just remember lying down on the sofa and very soon I went to sleep and in dreams I went back to the Devil's Lake again. But this time, there was no rain to disturb us. :-)....

An explorer,
Abhaya..