Heading South of Casco, IAT Connecting Route, Sat. 3/27/10

Scarboro Creek South of Casco, WI
Spring is here!
Horses enjoying the weather

Heading south along the Ice Age Trail Connecting Route. Hiking the roads is not the same as along the trails, but what are you going to do. It was interesting enough though, still some sights to see and things to experience.

Details & Weather: Overcast and cool/mild, but with the wind still needed a jacket, hood and gloves. Sun came out at times. Left house at 6:58 a.m., started hiking at 8:10, finished at 13:17 - 5 hours even though because of the mini shuttle I did right near the end. 15 miles total.

Wildlife: Sand hill cranes; geese; chickadees; blackbirds; red winged black birds; pair of mallards; several killdeer; doves; black lab and Chocolate lab; pigeons; cows; horses; crows; robins; couple of golden retrievers; gulls; pileated woodpecker; old Brittany; beagle mix; old black lab that said hello plus his friends who were not as nice; collie mix; huge husky mix; raccoon (sad, he was by the interesting peoples' house); red tailed hawk; 2 back and white barn cats. Saw some turkey feathers but nothing in the fields.

Dangers: Getting run over by any one of the ~50 cars that passed me during the hike. Being bitten by that huge not friendly husky mix that must have weighed over 100 lbs.

Deliverance moment: The whole scene at the "interesting" peoples' house & property.

Kewaunee River, Ice Age Trail Connecting Route, 3/20/10

Mini Tunnel at Clyde's Hill

Kewaunee River looking North

Heading to Kewaunee, WI

Father Marquette Memorial Park

First off I need to say that it is hard to describe how MUCH easier it is to walk on a trail without it covered with snow and ice. So today the going was great. This is a really nice section of trail. Along the river the whole way. Need to come back out here with the dogs to let them run and play.

Details & Weather: Left house at 7:13, arrived Bruemmer County Park in Kewaunee at 8:33, hiking at 8:42, finished at 3:30 p.m. - 6.75 hours. Around 17 miles. Weather was cold and windy in the morning, cold, sunny and windy in the afternoon. The sun coming out was nice, but still had to wear gloves and hood almost the entire hike.

Wildlife: Crows (one flying with a stick for a nest); Geese; Mallards; Redheads; Wood ducks; some sort of cormorant looking bird; seagulls; Red Tailed hawk; blue jays; Cardinal; doves; chickadees; pileated woodpeckers; red winged blackbirds; pair of killdeer; robins; Chipmunk; Squirrels; a turkey; a Brown Trout that a fisherman had caught; horses; old mellow black lab; brown/gray tabby.

Noteworthy: The entire hike really. I would go back up there to walk that part of the trail again, very scenic and peaceful with river views the whole way. All of the ducks and geese in the river. The plaque about Father Marquette at the park in Kewaunee where he held a service back in 1674, for the U.S. that's very old history really. Eating lunch at the park with a view of Lake Michigan. Seeing the Arsenic contamination site, not good at all.

Danger & Deliverance Moment: Just walking by the Arsenic contamination site made me think hard about what in the hell were people thinking when they did that, but that site is really just one small sample of how bad it can be. Around Clyde Hill Road could hear people shooting guns/hunting about half a mile away, not so bad.

Casco, WI and heading South - 3/6/10

Kewaunee River looking upstream

My nap spot on Kewaunee R. looking downstream

Just south of Casco around 7:00 a.m.

Parked at the snowmobile parking lot in Casco Junction, went up to Casco to complete that part of the trail, then headed south to Kewaunee. A nice part of the trail, the guidebooks are right. Started getting tired from my bad night of sleep, after eating some breakfast took a siesta, it was very peaceful there by the river. Only saw one other person walking with their dog about a .5 mile ahead of me at my turn around point, I could barely see them up by some sort of tunnel before they disappeared.

Details & Weather: Left house at 5:00 a.m., started hiking at 6:20 a.m. Finished hike at 1:10 p.m., but it was only a 5 hour hike because of the siesta I took while on a break :) Weather was perfect, chilly xxxx in the morning then up to xxxxx in the afternoon, sunny, slight breeze. Warm enough for a nap in the sun by the edge of the Kewaunee River.
Wildlife: Crows; Chickadees; squirrels; a rabbit; a cardinal; Jays; pileated woodpeckers; a muskrat standing up on the side of the trail looking at me; deer; mallards; wood ducks (lots - first time I've ever seen one in the wild); geese; several turkeys (some flying when I spooked them); a old Golden Retreiver; a brownish Siberian Husky looking pooch.