Highpoint #31: Wisconsin

The Highest Point in Wisconsin!

After a full day of driving to the highpoints in Ohio and Indiana, my wife and I decided to call it a night in Lafayette, IN.  The next day we continued onward to Wisconsin for another highpoint. 

Our route took us through Madison, which was a charming city.  We were treated to a man walking out on the middle of a lake (a testimony to the temperature) and really great fried cheese curds.  North of Madison, the interstate eventually turned over to a state road, and then everything got a bit rural.  There was some uncertainty about how well the roads were going to hold up as we pushed deeper and deeper into the Wisconsin hinterland.  Leaving the small hamlet of Tomahawk, WI, we held our breath for the next 20+ miles of nothing but snow-lined road, hoping the turn-off to the highpoint would be passable by car. 

The county road turn-off was only partly passable.  We tried following an adjacent road through some rolling hills out past Timm’s Lake, but that only took us farther away from the highpoint visible in the distance.  With completely snow-covered roads, I was a bit afraid of encountering an icy section, which would not spell well with all of the rolling terrain.  Fortunately, we never slid, and we never got stuck.  Realizing our error, we doubled back to the intersection with the county road and parked. 

I figured I would just have to hike in from where I was, since I would not be able to get any closer by car.  So what is almost a drive-up in the summer was a full on snow hike in the winter.  This was going to be fun!

A Cross-Country Skier Made My Day a Little Bit Easier!

I considered donning snowshoes, but I was actually in luck.  The snow, while high enough for snowshoes, hadn’t drifted and it was nicely packed down in the middle by a cross-country skier who must have recently passed through the area.  I decided to just follow the path on foot.

A Very Useful Sign for Getting My Bearings

Walking over a couple of hills, I came upon a sign that indicated that I was on the “High Point Ski Trail”.  There was a small hand-drawn illustration showing three different routes.  This was the clearest indication that I was on the right path, literally.  I kept following the path until it eventually intersected with a snow-covered road.  I knew from the illustration, that I would likely to need to follow this new road, lest I continue on the trail I was on and loop back around.  Sure enough, I quickly saw the trailhead for the highpoint in the distance. 

Finally! The Trailhead for Timm's Hill.  

There was a pretty large, covered picnic area, space for a good-sized parking lot, and a visitor’s register.  I signed in and once again took my bearings.  To the left there was a sign indicating that the Timm’s Hill Observation Tower was a mere 300 yards away by trail.  

Pretty Close Now.  

The Trail to the Summit

All (slightly) up hill of course and in the snow, but again, I was lucky enough to encounter ski tracks leading the way up. 

A Really Peaceful Walk!

Bench Along the Way

It was a pretty easy jaunt along some switchbacks that eventually led to a clearing.  I had climbed Timm’s Hill!  Before me was the observation tower.  

Observation Tower at the Summit

I made my way up to it and encountered the Highpointer’s mailbox at the base of the steps (see top photo).  I signed the summit register inside of it, and made my way up the steps.  Carefully.  The steps had quite a bit of snow on them and had some icy sections.  

The Steps Could Use a Little Grooming

I made it to the top, though, and had great views all around.  There were plenty of trees, lots of snow, and everything just looked frigid.  

View from the Top of the Observation Tower.

Detail of the Adjacent Radio Tower

The view straight down was a touch harrowing -- cool!

The View Looking Down

I descended the observation tower and made my way over to the adjacent tower.  There was nothing particularly special about this tower, except for the fact that it sits upon the true highpoint of Wisconsin.  Walking onto its base, there was a small concrete column, which had the USGS benchmark marker on top of it.  I took a vanity shot and officially tallied my 31^st highpoint – yay!

Summit Marker Beneath the Radio Tower

Vanity Shot at the Summit Marker

I walked around the area some more, took one last photo of myself in front of the observation tower, and made my way back down to the trailhead.  

Vanity Shot in front of the Summit Tower

Once again, it was a race against the sun.  I had a headlamp on just in case, but I was able to make pretty good time heading all the way back to the car, just beating the sunset once again.  Onward to Minnesota!