Ice Age Trail, Kettle-Moraine Parnell Tower Area, Friday June 24, 2011

 

 

Details & Weather:  Started hiking at 7:30 a.m., finished at 12:15 p.m., but that includes about .5 hour for drying out feet & some brunch.  Weather was 58 degrees when started, up to high 60's or low 70's when finished.  Very overcast day, some drizzling throughout the morning.  Very wet hike due to walking through tall grass, completely soaked through pants, got into my Gortex boots and socks.  I need to find out what's wrong with my boots.  They are one of the top 5 pairs of boots for fit that I've ever owned, so want to keep them going for as long as possible...  Hiked for 5.5 miles from Greenbush Group Campsite parking lot to the trail intersection at Scenic Drive.

Wildlife:  Blackbirds, Red wing Black Birds, Tweety birds, Swallows, Robins, Doves, pair of Sandhill Cranes, heard a Blue Jay - reminds me of my backyard in Paris, TX whenever I hear one in the morning like that, Yellow Birds (name TBD still), Red Squirrels, Chipmunks, a Doe by the power lines, and then a Doe (or 2?) with 2 fawns in the pine forest - they were close enough I could see the spots on the fawns - neat.

Dangers & other notes: Slipping because it was so wet - did a big slip once but came down in slow motion sort of, makes you think especially when you're out there by yourself, Poison Ivy - lots of it, Mosquito's trying to suck the life out of you, a couple of horseflies but my Mosquito net hat blocked them, trench foot.  Note to self not to ever spray bug spray on the Mosquito net hat - don't like inhaling it & tasting it when it gets on the mesh, Ravioli is delicious, don't slip anymore, bring a dry pair of shoes, keep bringing extra socks for sure (that saved me today), keep the map dry, bring a long sleeve shirt - the jacket is working fine but sooner or later it will get too hot for it.

It was a very nice hike, had the whole trail again to myself again. Saw 2 other cars in the parking lots and some people biking, but there was not another person out on the trail - very peaceful.

IAT, Greenbush, WI, Friday June 17, 2011

Everything is green

Great Wisconsin Birding and Nature Trail too

  Hello!

 Wade House

Details & Weather:  High's in the mid-70's and sunny.  Started hiking at 11:40 a.m. and went for 3.2 miles and biked back for about 3.2 miles. I'm up in the area where my friend and I hunt for morel mushrooms.  Felt a little off after the first leg so decided to stop after that.  Was a nice hike north of the Greenbush Group Campsite to the Plank Road parking lot.  On the way back on my bike, stopped at the little store (garage really) in Greenbush to get some snacks and a bottle of Sprecher Root Beer (my fav) thinking that might help but it didn't, so done for the day. Had the trail to myself again, only people I saw was when I gave some directions to a family with a Yellow Lab on their way to the trail from the parking lot.

Wildlife:  In the deep woods so I heard lots of birds but didn't see them, saw a gopher/ground hog (?) up in a tree (I need to verify what it was).  Thought to  myself that I should know the names of a lot more of the trees and plants I'm walking by, especially after living up here so long.  Not to mention the name of whatever that animal was up in the tree.

Ice Age Trail, Sat. June 11, 2011, Around Elkhart Lake & Glenbeulah

 Hillside of flowers

 LaBudde Creek

 Trail Bridge at LaBudde Creek area

Details and Weather:  Cool, wet day.  51 in the morning and got up to about 61.  Rainy when I started hiking, then stopped around 8:00.  Began at 7:01 a.m., finished at 12:35 p.m. Hiked 8.5 miles and rode the bike a little further than that due to the route back on the final segment to the Plank Road Trail parking lot. Corn is 4-6" tall. Mosquitoes are starting to come out so need to prepare next time. Need to bring food next time to stop getting gouged buying sandwiches.

Wildlife:  Blackbirds; Red Wing Blackbirds, Robins, Tweety Birds, Crows, Swallows, a pair of Cardinals, Turkeys crossing the road and then others in a field, heard a woodpecker & a rooster, Yellow Birds (Name TBD), a Dove, Chipmunks, Squirrel, a Black Squirrel, Mouse (D), Cows, some Border Collie Mixes, German Shepherd, 2 White Husky type dogs, another Paris Hilton Dog! (Saw it twice today out on walks), some sort of Poodle mix, some sort of black Terrier mix who followed and barked at me for about .25 mile when I was on my bike, a big nice and very old Basset Hound that said hi to me, the lady said "He goes where he wants to...", some Golden Retrievers and a Golden Retriever Mix, and a Black Lab.

Noteworthy:  Finding the LaBudde Creek segment of the trail, must have walked and biked by the north entrance of it without noticing it either time; hiking south of Glenbeulah and being on the actual trail-trail was good.

Ice Age Trail, north of Elkhart Lake, WI June 4, 2011

 Heading to Kettle Moraine area

 Sheboygan River

Details & Weather: High was 78 degrees already in the morning, getting up into the upper 80's later on. Started hiking at 7:25 a.m. I'm in bike mode again! Worked like a charm. Finished around 11:00 a.m. Hiked 7.5 Ice Age Trail miles!, biked 7.5 miles for self-shuttling.

Wildlife:  Geese, Red Wing Blackbirds, Doves, Tweety Birds, Swallows, Robins, Blackbirds, Yellow Bird (TBD), Cardinal, Crows, Horses, Belgian Horses, Chipmunks, Shetland Ponies, a Black Lab & Yellow Lab together.

Noteworthy: Very nice part of the hike. Shuttling with a bike is a must, not sure why I didn't start this sooner (probably because I didn't have the bike....) Stopped and got a double brat at a church brat fry in Elkhart Lake. It's a very nice town, I think it's the first time I've been through there.

Ice Age Trail north of Elkhart Lake, WI June 3, 2011

Horses along the way

Awestruck at level of resourcefulness, or painful to look at?

Details & Weather: Started hiking at 7:54 a.m., had to wait for a thunderstorm to pass by. Felt a little off so didn't go for very long, ended at 10:20 a.m. Went for 7.5 Fl Abo Dude miles.

Wildlife: Blackbirds, Red Wing Blackbirds, Tweety Birds, Swallows, Robins, pair of Mallards, Turkey Vulture, Cats, lots of Horses, Collie mix, a Doe and Fawn walking & running across a big field.

Noteworthy: I like getting into Kettle Moraine country, much more to see.