I was urged by a couple sources not to leave Rhinelander, WI (pop. 8,308) without checking out the town’s claim to fame as the origin of the hodag, a strange creature with features that have been compared to those of frogs, elephants, and dinosaurs.

Do you know about the hodag? Stories about the creature first began to emerge in the 1890s, when E.B. Shepard, a Rhinelander surveyor, reported that one of the creatures had been captured and killed. He explained that killing the beast required the use of dynamite, and showed its charred remains to the media. A few years later, in 1896, Mr. Shepard claimed to have captured a live hodag with the assistance of several bear wrestlers and some chloroform. He displayed the creature, which was connected to wires and would occasionally display movement, to thousands of curious folks at a county fair and in a shanty at his home. When the story about his discovery began to be more widely distributed nationwide, a group of scientists from the Smithsonian Institution announced that they would be visiting Rhinelander to inspect this unusual specimen. Their planned visit was called off, however, when Shepard admitted that his hodag was a hoax.

Even though Mr. Shepard’s hodag may have been a hoax, the legend of the hodag is very much alive in Rhinelander. I learned that there are actually many hodags situated in various places around the city. Wanting to make sure I checked out the real hodag–i.e., the authentic hoax, not a fake–I thought I should visit the largest one, which is placed in front of the Chamber of Commerce. Here it is:

To give you some perspective on the size of this creature, I took another photo with my bike in front of it, as you can see below. A sign nearby says, “RHINELANDER Live the Legend,” and attests to the status of this hodag as the world’s largest.

To provide some further perspective, I also took a photo of my bike in front of a tank next to the Rhinelander VFW.

One of the other hodags I came across is actually my favorite. It is “Vincent Van Goghdag,” located in front of a restaurant downtown.

As much as I hated to leave all those hodags behind, I had some ground to cover to get to my next overnight stop. A sizeable portion of today’s 57-mile ride, from Rhinelander to Boulder Junction, WI, was on a beautiful trail system that reminded me of portions of Minnesota’s Paul Bunyan Trail that run through the Chippewa National Forest. The only downside to using this trail is that there were a number of segments that move back and forth from the trail to a nearby road, where often there is no indication of the name of the road or where it would be reconnecting to the trail, which might be several miles away. So, once again, on several occasions I found myself not really knowing whether I was headed the right way or not, but finally made it to Boulder Junction around 7 p.m. Here is a photo showing one of the bridges on the trail, which is part of the Heart of Vilas County Bike Trail system.

When I checked in at the Boulder Bear Motor Lodge in Boulder Junction (pop. 958), I was dismayed to find that the motel has a strict prohibition on bringing bicycles to a room. This was the first time on my trip so far that I’ve encountered a restriction like this at a motel/hotel. I spoke with Mr. Patel, whose family recently purchased the motel, and he said they have this rule because someone’s bike once caused damage requiring them to replace some sheetrock.

As you can see from the sign in the photo below, “Bicycles” are at the top of the list of things you can’t bring into your room, which also include snowmobiles and boats. Really? Do people really try to bring snowmobiles and boats into motel rooms? As for pets, the sign says cats and dogs aren’t permitted, but makes no mention of all kinds of other pets that might be someone’s traveling companions–snakes, chinchillas, and pot-bellied pigs, for instance. In any event, I know I am over-thinking this, and dutifully parked my bike in a garage overnight.

The Boulder Bear Lodge is next door to a restaurant, the Guides Inn, where I had a great dinner complete with a Wisconsin supper club staple, the relish tray. This definitely took my mind off getting lost on some trails and not being able to sleep in the same room as my bike.

Tomorrow I will bike to Hurley, WI, which is just across the border from Ironwood, MI, at the western edge of the Michigan’s upper peninsula. I find it interesting that Michigan’s U.P. borders more than 200 miles across the northern part of the State of Wisconsin and is only connected to the lower peninsula of Michigan by a bridge. From Hurley, I will head west toward Duluth/Superior across the northern part of Wisconsin.