Hiking Rib Mountain State Park

 

View from the Top

Day 1 (4/26/22)

After a year of not blogging I decided I wanted to try to get back into it. On Tuesday we had to deliver some art work to the Center for the Visual Arts in Wausau. We decided it would be a good opportunity to get some hiking time in. Rib Mountain is a granite peak “monadnock” that sticks out from the otherwise level landscape. Its stunning granite formations make for a great place to take in some scenic views while hiking. When we arrived Tuesday evening it was unseasonably cold and windy. We still took the opportunity to climb the observation tower, do some recon and plan our hike for Wednesday. Although still cool, Wednesday brought on the sun and it was beautiful. After walking around downtown Wausau waiting to deliver art we headed out to the park. Because of the granite formations the trails at Rib Mountain can be somewhat precarious. There are very few even surfaces so one needs to be careful not turn an ankle. The scenery however is wonderful ranging from distant vistas, fern covered slopes to towering rock formations. The ski hill in the park only closed a week ago so there was still snow on the trails. In spite of our planning we overlapped a few trails but ended up achieving our main objective which was to hike out to the abandoned quarry. Even though it ended up being short of 4 miles it was equivalent to climbing 38 flights of stairs so all in all it was a good workout.

From the Tower

From the top of the Tower

Snow Covered Runs

Treacherous Trails 

First Green

Steep trail

More Snow

Early Ferns

At the Quarry