Scuppernong Trail at Kettle Morriane

I had RSVP’d for the Scuppernong Trail which was posted on Milwaukee Campers, Backpackers and Hikers Meetup. I had managed to drag one of my co-workers Abhijeet too, so early on Saturday morning I picked him up and we went to Susan’s place with whom we were carpooling and who was driving us there. And this is an account of my first hike here in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA.

It was a beautiful day with just a hint of chill in the air. The roads had less than the usual traffic with it being a Saturday morning, and after driving a few miles on I-94 we took the exit towards County Road E and the route became scenic. Susan and I kept talking with Abhijeet jutting in now and then. We had plugged in the coordinates and reached the trail head after a good 40 minutes’ drive. We could see a few people had arrived, Susan knew Donald and Mark and that’s how we located our group. After a round of introduction - just names – the seven of us along with two dogs started on the trail path.

We were led forward by Sung, who had organized this. We were doing the green loop, the previous day I had googled and had read somewhere that it was a 12 mile hike and I was a little apprehensive about my stamina. But then Sung or Gordon checked and they informed me that the whole loop was just a little more than 5 miles. With my imaginary fear thus assayed, and with a hearty spirit I thus started on the trail path. Abhijeet kept me company for a while, we shared stories from previous trips’. Then somewhere along the road I walked a bit with Mark, a part of it with Gordon, some parts alone. Susan walked with Don, with both of them collecting hickory nuts. The dogs Ginger and Mulligan, making us keep up the pace whenever they found anyone slackening. 

There’s something about being in the woods that appeals to all the senses. There are those various shade of green, brown and red pleasing to the eyes, the sounds of insects and birds keeping us company, the commingling breeze bringing a whiff of dirt and foliage as well as tingling our skin – stirring up memories, and let’s see now what do I attribute to taste – the parched feeling which makes that gulp of water extra sweet? The truth is I felt a sense of overwhelming satiety, also a sense of being in a weird way, because for a while I was able to let go of my existence because I blended in and became a part of it.

Komorebi: (n.) sunlight filtering through trees

That’s the image which will stay with me of that walk. And all I have are broken phrases like something fresh, something beginning, something unadulterated. I was reminiscing one of my earliest hikes which was the Rajmachi monsoon hike, and the people in it. I was thinking I had fell in love with the woods during that, or was it before that… the place I was born - Koraput – was this little hamlet surrounded by forests and hills and mountains so maybe that had moulded me. Or it’s just plain old Nature and these hikes are like going back to her.

We took a few breaks, joked about animals and people and nations and languages. Gordon took a detour along with Jackie and Ginger to start the coals for the cookout planned afterwards. We completed the green loop and joined them half an hour later, with our feet complaining but the spirit rejoicing at finishing it. Then we all pranced here and there to set up tables as if the hike instead of draining our energy had replenished it. We piled up food and beer. Susan had bought table clothes, vegetables, dip, grill, fruit, skittles, corkscrew ??; I kept saying how she had thought of everything to which she replies that at her age you think of all these. But she wasn’t alone, there was Donald with his foldable tables, water in a jug with spigot, buckets. Sung had bought all these different types beers from Chicago and Wisconsin. So, we all started on the Oktoberfest. Susan and Abhijeet cut up the veggies and set them with the dips. Kaela filled Portobello mushrooms with tomato and cheese and we put them on the grill. Gordon was already grilling bratwursts and hot dogs, remarking that he is doing all the hard work – cooking he meant. We added veggies, asparagus and Sung’s famous potatoes (which took ages to cook) to the grill. It was the good humored banter, Gordon was of course heading it joined with Mark and Susan. I guess he did his best to rattle her, so much that she made Donald sit between them. They made fun of me and Abhijeet, Susan, the dogs, the food and I was a little relieved that we didn’t take offense. Abhijeet even came up with a befitting repartee that put me at ease. They cracked jokes sparing no one and I don’t know if it was the beer or it was just their natural disposition. I guess it was that happy spirit which had kind of engulfed us that day. And in a strange way I didn’t feel excluded. It was not just that I had another Indian with me or an Asian and hence it was more of a diverse group, because there was something else that bonded all of us that crossed the barriers of race, age and nationality. The drive back with Susan was equally interesting when she said she didn’t want the gps and she wanted to drive from her memory. The day was entering its third quarter, and the cloud floating on blue skies, the country roads flanked on both sides with yellow and purple flowers, the lone farm houses and windmills all played a part in heightening the beauty of our surroundings. We reached Milwaukee around four pm and I was left with the feeling that the day couldn’t have been spent any better.

For the highlights of the trip, the striking similarity between Donald and Christopher Walken, Susan being nicknamed dirty Susan, Abhijeet being nicknamed man servant, Kaela hiking with her flip flops, Sung’s potatoes, my pronunciation of “asparagus” and my famous salsa (which was Sam’s recipe). Gordon sure was the life of it despite his nearly-offensive remarks. I like Susan’s comment later when she said “Jackie you are a saint and Gordon you are a riot.”

Does it become more pronounced when you say it again and again, and in how many different ways can I describe the harmony of that Saturday in September. I witnessed the happy carefree side of nature, human and otherwise. And it was perfect. Period.