At first I thought a hummock was a type of tree so in my imagination a hummocky trail was one surrounded by a bunch of very specific types of trees. Granted this wasn’t something I put much thought into and I certainly didn’t research.
Now that I’ve experienced numerous hummocky trails I finally looked up the definition and I can tell you that it has nothing to do with trees.
If you ask me for the definition of hummock, I’d say “another f-ing hill.” If you ask Merriam-Webster, it’s “a small knoll or mound; a rounded knoll.”
In learning the definition of a hummock, I also tried to find out how they were created. This was like trying to learn a foreign language.
“Glacial hummocks in Wisconsin are stagnant-ice features composed of melt-out till, meltwater-stream sediment, and flow till.”
Huh?
I did learn that hummocks are generally less than 50 feet high and when mapping out a hike the small hills seem innocuous. It’s just a few baby hills, how hard can it be?
However, experience has taught me that a few miles down the trail, they can be taunting and menacing for a shorty like me. My knees begin creaking and my toes ache. Even the downhills are distressing because I know once I get to the bottom, I’m just going to have to hike upward again.
The cumulative elevation gain at the end of a few miles can be over 1,000 feet. That’s the same elevation gain of hiking to the top of both the East and West Bluffs at Devil’s Lake State Park.
Here’s an elevation guide to the last hummocky trail I hiked.
 |
| Underdown Segment - Ice Age Trail |
When I returned home from this hike my sock was red. Apparently hiking down all those “little hills” created enough friction on my toes to remove my skin.
As I’ve been focusing my hikes in Northern Wisconsin, I’ve cringed at the trail descriptions:
“…the segment continues southward through rolling, hummocky glacial topography in a mix of hardwood forest.”
“This segment traverses dramatic high-relief hummocky terrain with numerous scenic kettle lakes.”
“…experience a dramatic high-relief hummocky topography through a mix of conifers and hardwoods…”
“Glacial debris remnants in the form of hummocks separate deep kettles.”
I suspect they use the word hummocky to try to fool people like me who didn’t know what it meant.
I guess it’s a good thing I’m not writing the trail descriptions: “Glacial debris remnants in the form of multiple f-ing hills separate deep kettles…”
