The second half of our journey was a little bit tougher than the first because we were quite tired. As I mentioned in my last post, we stopped for ice cream in Williams Bay, WI which, of course, perked us up a bit. We went to Frosty Moose, which had a large selection of flavors and a very sociable owner. They also sell sandwiches, hot dogs, and nachos if you want lunch too.
After that stop, we began the last stretch of our journey, and by then, we were unsure whether we were going to get stuck in a storm because clouds started rolling in.
The most exciting thing to happen on this half of the trip (like the swamp mishap) was when we ran into a bridge with over a dozen turkey vultures on the rails and in the nearby trees. It seriously looked like something out of a horror film! Afraid to cross the bridge for fear of being attacked, Jen and I let Charlotte go first. The birds flew up into the trees then, so we continued on, gawking at the sight of so many of them in one place. Some were even on the rooves of the two nearby houses. You can see some in the trees in the photos below!
One lonely guy was sitting on a branch directly above the path eating something, and all I kept thinking was that if we walked under him, he’d attack. He dropped whatever he was chewing on, and as we walked toward him, he flew away, so luckily, we weren’t turkey vulture snacks that day!
We neared the end of our hike, barely able to walk, and Jen suggested we get Uber back, but thankfully, Charlotte pushed us through since we only had one to two hours left. I knew we couldn’t stop when we had gotten so far. I blasted some music to keep us going too. When we were in reach of our starting point, the lightning started, which sure sped us up.
Since we slowed down immensely the last few hours, the entire journey ended up taking around 11 hours, and when we reached the town of Lake Geneva, we saw a sign that informed us the trail was 26 miles instead of our anticipated 21. Five more miles is a lot when your legs and feet are burning. Jen and I were practically crawling to the car.
As soon as we got in the car, the rain started, and we were driving in a downpour and hail. We were so thankful to have made it back in time, and I was so glad that we even finished the hike. It was a great experience, and we learned a lot during it. My next post will cover the tips we have for those who plan on hiking this trail in the future, and hey, some of them might even be relevant for other hikes as well!
∴ Michelle
Wrecked Hope Travels 
Enjoyed both parts, thanks – although you caught me out, I was expecting the Swiss version of Lake Geneva, which I know quite well. This one was new on me!
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Haha whoops, should have clarified! Thanks!
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