Ice Age Trail, Northwest of Valders, WI, Sat. 3/19/11

I've seen gorillas (I have pictures!) and now a stockade along this trail...

Definitely

Nice area for a break

Details & Weather: The forecast was for sunny but that didn't happen out here, came out at times but for the most part was overcast. Started hiking at 7:05 a.m., finished at around 10:30 a.m. Was in the lower 40's but still a little breezy so stayed pretty covered up. Felt good for the entire hike, broke through the wall(s) a little bit. Went for 2.5 hours, 8.25 Ken miles so getting better. Ended up in Clarks Mills just north of Valders. Now I'm close enough to home for awhile that Lynn can hopefully drop me off and I can get more miles done each hike. A good day overall even if it was all road walking.

Wildlife: Blackbirds (flocks); Brownish Birds; Chickadees; Crows; Doves; Ducks (Mallards); Geese; Killdeer; Red Tailed Hawk; Robins; Sandhill Cranes; Tweety Birds; Yellow Lab; fat barking old Beagle that scared the crap out of me; Coyote; Horses.

Notables: The house with the stockade and crazy fence along the road with all of the stumps and signs, very unique. The older lady walking and picking up cans along the road who was so in the zone listening to music that she didn't see me even though I was right in front of her for a time, then she was kicking the a can along the road :) Funny. Seeing the coyote at the park was cool, really reddish coat, but it was so big I don't think it was a fox.

Ice Age Trail, West of Manitowoc, WI, Sunday 3/6/2011

St. Bernard along the way

Chilly horse

Overcast day, it was sunny back in the valley

from Feb 2011 hike - flock of wild turkeys

Details & Weather: This entry is to cover the walk in February and today. I've hit some sort of wall, not making any real progress. Back in Feb I went for 3.5 miles then didn't feel well so stopped. Today I didn't make it much further at 5.5 miles. I thought it was going to be more sunny, but it ended up being around 25 and very windy so that was not good at all. The wind got to me early on. There were also a lot of cars on Alverno and Middle Road which are a pain. The trail should go along Dutch Road instead to avoid the traffic on Middle Road, it's exactly the same distance, something for me to work on if I'm ever king of the IAT. Today started at 10:22 a.m. and ended around 12:22. When I got back to the car to self-shuttle my legs were fine but head was hurting so I punted and stopped hiking for the day. Drove by the nearby Pinecrest Historical Village but it was closed for the winter.

Wildlife: Turkeys (in Feb), Crows, Doves, Pigeons, Tweety Birds, a Seagull, a squirrel crossing the road, horses, cows, a nice St. Bernard, old Black Lab, a bouncy Black Poodle.