Seg #19 Green Bay Green Leaf/Fox River Trl (Hilbert-Pulaski, WI)

Start

Hilbert, WI

N   44.16894W-88.15981

N-S miles27.5 mi*

End

Green Bay, WI

N  44.56466,W-88.06475

Trl lgth30.3mi Ride 47.9mi

Ride hrs 4.9

AVS 9.8

MXS 13.5

KCAL 3645

Temp 82

El 808

After a good night’s sleep and a carbo loaded breakfast at the Country Suites, we saddled up and headed north to the southern trailhead of the Green Bay-Greenleaf/Fox River Trails. The nearest town to the trail is Hilbert, WI. It was after 10 a.m. before I got on the trail.

This trail is a Rail to Trail route meaning gradual elevation change, an average of 6% slope and tree canopies from over a hundred years of growth. I like Rail Trails because the trees provide a wind break, shade and wildlife.  

Native Americans followed by
French explorers, used this
route long before railroads

The Fox River Trail corridor has a rich history, beginning with the Native Americans who used footpaths to travel between their villages located along the Fox River. The early French explorers, missionaries, and traders built their posts and missions along these trails. As the area was settled, livestock and other goods were brought to market using these pathways. Later, a military road was built along portions of the corridor linking Green Bay to Milwaukee. In the 1860’s the Milwaukee and Superior Railway acquired the present corridor and began planning for rail service. In 1873, the Milwaukee and Northern Railway Company purchased the corridor and the first trains began making regular runs between the Green Bay and Milwaukee markets. Trains would continue to run on the corridor for the next 116 years as ownership passed from one railroad to another. In 1989, regular rail service was discontinued, signaling the end of one era, and the beginning of another with the development of the Fox River Trail. After riding two hours, I met Connie for lunch at the Scray Cheese Company, Depere, Wisconsin. There are numerous similarities between this company and the Kolona Cheese Factory just down the road from where we live in Coralville, Iowa. The Kolona factory has a better viewing area to watch the workers make all kinds of cheeses. Scray’s 1926 start precedes Kolona by twenty years. Kolona has a dense population of Amish and Mennonites so guess who built the plant?


Connie smiling with the Scray Cow.

This preceded the "no smile, no

fun" part of the day.

We had a lunch of string cheese and summer sausage---mmm good! Probably it was too good and caused me to forget my gloves in the restroom.  Good thing was I noticed I left them only a couple miles away. Connie drove me back Scray’s and I ran into the men’s room to recover my gloves. I was focused on not allowing my clips touch the nice wood floor so I didn’t bother to look around. I had no reason to look around once I recovered my gloves---no that is not correct! I headed down the trail and Connie drove ahead to Pulaski, the end point for my ride. Unfortunately when Connie went to buy to by a Diary Queen cone, she realized she had left her purse at Scray’s under the table where we ate our lunch. She called me but I had ridden into Green Bay about ten miles north of Depere so she could drive back quicker than I could ride back. In retrospect I should have called Scray’s to confirm the purse was still there and then both of us would go back for the purse before they closed. Since the GPS Momma, Dixie, had directed her to Pulaski, I thought she could get her back to Scray’s using Dixie. Dixie was in a bad mood I guess, spilling out wrong turns. As it was, poor Connie got thoroughly lost and spent hours trying to find Scray’s and recover her purse and then had problems finding her way back to Pulaski. Both Dixie and I were in the doghouse when Connie finally rolled into our meeting point in Pulaski. I hope I haven’t lost my driver, but it doesn’t look good.

Fox River North trailhead in Green Bay. This

river snatched a former neighbor, Michael

Philbin a couple of winters ago. I thought of

him as I rode up the trail.

Riding along the Fox River caused me to pause and reflect on a tragedy that occurred here in the winter of 2012. A former neighbor directly across the street, Michael Philbin, was partying with friends and somehow became separated from his buddies. He decided to cross the ice covered Fox River in the dark. The river was not frozen enough to allow safe crossing and he slipped away to his death. I played some one-on-one basketball and golf with him and his brother Matt. Their dad Joe is now head coach for the Miami Dolphins. Joe’s prophetic words ring true now and forever. "Michael was alone when this incident occurred. For us as a family this has been the most difficult thing to deal with. Had he been with someone this would have been avoided. The message is clear: practice moderation in the consumption of alcohol, avoid illegal drugs, and if someone appears to be in need of assistance, help them so that this situation doesn’t occur again".

The Fox River Trail ends in Green Bay leaving a large gap before connecting to the Mountain Bay Trail in Howard, WI. I was able to ride 4 to 5 miles on city streets, avoiding highways and roads where speed limit matched or exceeded 45 mph. That is the whole idea of my Border to Border ride, safer trails versus car and truck roads and highways. I beat Connie to Pulaski, so I rode around a town dominated by a Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary Catholic Church. As one might assume, Pulaski was settled by Polish immigrants settled this area of Wisconsin in the 1800’s. Pulaski is also the name of the fire fighting tool I used in the Forest Service. Maybe that is why I am drawn to the name and the town. The axe is named after Ed Pulaski, famous for taking action to save the lives of a crew of 45 firefighters during the disastrous August 1910 wildfires in Idaho. From a group of 35 families, the town today has a population of over five and a half thousand and the church has expanded to a building that measures 198 feet by 74 feet. The twin towers rise to a height of 135 feet. This is quite a sight for being ‘off the beaten path”.

I was mesmerized by this church when riding through Pulaski, Wisconsin. The design suggests Polish influences and that is just what it is---a Polish Church---reminds me of Krakow.





I was mesmerized by this church when riding through Pulaski, Wisconsin. The design suggests Polish influences and that is just what it is---a Polish Church---reminds me of churches we saw in Krakow. The Village of Pulaski was named after Count Casimer Pulaski, the great freedom fighter of Europe and America. Pulaski fought the Russians in his native Poland from 1770 to 1772. He later fought with General George Washington at Brandywine. Pulaski found an independent cavalry corps (Pulaski Legion). For this reason, he became known as the Father of the American Cavalry.