Because It's There

I vowed to hike to the highpoint of Whitefish Bay and I’m proud to announce that against tremendous odds, I succeeded in reaching the summit!  It took great planning, cooperative weather, a supportive team and amazing courage.

After several seconds of charting the best course, the expedition began at the base camp near Saint Monica School.  The base camp is where I had spent the night before (as well as most of the previous seven years).  After sleeping in and enjoying a hearty breakfast to make sure I was well prepared for the adventure, I set off from the bottom of the “Santa Monica Escarpment” climbing northwards toward my goal. 

The journey began smoothly as I trudged methodically past Richards School along the deceptively flat path.  I noticed the school featured a newish playground set with a pretend Milwaukee Admirals ticket office. I suspect Admirals owner and Whitefish Bay resident Harris Turer may have made a donation that made the new playground possible. Good community service and good marketing, too.

Next milepost on the trek was Sturgeon Interiors. I paused there to reflect on months ago that was thankfully repaired by the sturgeon’s surgeon. Moving northward I paused in silent prayer while facing Our Savior Evangelical Lutheran Church across the street. I’m not Lutheran, but on a solo journey with the risks I was undertaking, I thought it would be unwise to take any chances.

Moving beyond Monrovia Avenue and Devon Street (is it pronounced "de-VON" or "DEV-in"?) it was up, up and away on the steep slope across from the western route of Santa Monica Avenue along the “Jewish Community Center Ridge”.  Whitefish Bay is listed officially as 650’ (198 meters) above sea level.  Its neighbor to the north, Fox Point, borders the high point of Whitefish Bay at School Road and Lake Drive at 672 feet above sea level.  I reckoned that by Devon Street I had reached 660 feet and was nearing the halfway mark of my climb.  I chose to take the eastern path of this climb, because it provided a slightly shorter route to the peak and a closer view of the historic 19th century abodes. 

Apparently, this part of the Santa Monica Escarpment has been occupied by hardy climbers for more than a century. Details of many of these homes are described in the Whitefish Bay Architectural Historic Inventory. Their web site is a great place to learn about the history of Whitefish Bay and with its corresponding buttons in the sidewalk, provides landmarks for future expeditions in this Tree City USA community. One of the dwellings I passed is on the AHI Inventory for its architectural uniqueness more than its age. The Fred and Mary Zindler Residence which was built in 1936 as one of General Electric’s new “All-Electric” model homes.  It is marked by a Reddy Kilowatt Weathervane. 

Arriving at the top of Whitefish Bay’s portion of the Santa Monica Escarpment meant the hardest part of the climb was over. I had reached the School Road Plateau and now needed to gather my thoughts in this rarified air. As Horace Greeley didn’t say, it was time to “Go East, Old Man!”.

The final push to scale the summit was a gentle upward slope for almost two full city blocks….well actually in greater Milwaukee, the east-west blocks are shorter than the north-south blocks, so it wasn’t quite the distance of two traditional “city blocks”. Nevertheless, arriving at the intersection of School and Lake atop the Village of Whitefish Bay was quite the accomplishment. I was greeted by a well preserved Studebaker. Seemed to me the driver was cheating, though, by using a motorized vehicle to reach the summit. At least he was driving one that was more than half a century old. If it was anything like my first car, which was also a 1950s car from a manufacturer that no longer exists (1958 Edsel), the Studebaker may have had as good a chance as me of breaking down on its journey. 

After celebrating for a few moments with a faux corn dog I began the descent and proceeded back to the comfort of my base camp knowing it was mission accomplished.

I'm hoping I may have earned a spot in next year's Whitefish Bay 4th of July parade...perhaps even behind the giant wheely guy.