Perrot State Park

Not pronounced Parrot...but think of the French Perroooo....

I could hardly believe it.
I had a full day to myself.
No one to answer to but Charlie.
I'd planned on a day of doing some exploring.  What I didn't want to have to say is...
I'll be back by 'such and such' a time.

I packed myself a lunch and some apples. Packed 3 bottles of water and a small Gatorade.'

I figured I knew how to get there, it couldn't be hard at all as Highway 35 went nearly right to it.
Well. I got that sort of wrong. I did take a wrong turn but after a little 'whoops, mistake' and a turn around. I got it right.

I headed to the trails...

Terrain trail difficult at times....

Well, I like trails like that. It tends to be less crowded.
I decided to try going to the Perrot's Peak first.

This part of the trail was a bit rough and not groomed like the other more popular trails. I could see that there was on going work in a few sections. 

I liked it though, it reminded me of the trails in our woods.

I only know that I started at about the same elevation as the river and ended up about 450 feet above it when I stood on the rock out crop.

 This is looking southwest down on the Mississippi River

This was looking North a bit to my next climb, Brady's Bluff. This would be the back side of the bluff.

And then a look down to the spot I was standing on.

My thought at this time was that it would be fun to sit here on a nice fall afternoon or morning and take in the colors of the forest below. A sunset view would be incredible from here also.
Since it isn't an easy hike up this trail, it wouldn't be crowded.

Even a foggy morning would be neat.

I stayed a bit before moving on, to catch a breather and some air movement. My little thermometer was reading about 86 degrees and it was humid.

The trail coming off the peak was much nicer but quite long. I dropped back to the valley floor and followed a hiking/cross country ski trail that was flat and wide. I opened my strides and covered ground quickly.

Covering ground quickly was important here. The bugs were out in full force. I passed by some older people that were walking slowly swatting and sweating. I said hello with a big grin on my face.

I think they picked up their pace when they saw the crazy ol' lady with baggy hiking pants, a backpack, with purple and teal colored streaks in her hair, hiking like she'd just stolen something!

When I got back to the junction I could have chosen to walk out to where my Subaru was parked and then head up to the short trail, or take this trail which was longer and take the short trail down from Brady's Bluff and walk back to the car on the road.

I decided to take the longer trail up.

I'm glad I did, it was mostly shady and fascinating as the Conservation Corps had done such a neat job of making a trail.

I found a bench that may have been about halfway up the bluff and was still in the shade so I stopped for a snack and a selfie...
I may look miserable, but actually I felt great.

Stairs and railing to the goat prairie...
I saw no goats.

The heat was on in the Goat Prairie and I paused only slightly to catch my breath and look at the wild flowers.
On the second Goat Prairie I did take a 3 shot hand held panoramic of the river.

Note the haze. Some of the haze I heard an expert weatherman say was due to the heat. Plants give off moisture to keep cool and that creates a blue haze. I wondered if the rest of the haze was humidity and smoke from the wildfires.

I made it to the shelter and set up my camera [which really was not co-operating well] to try some infrared shots.

It isn't perfectly clear as I was shooting sort of blind. The light was so bright and I was trying to avoid the people climbing up to the shelter.
I popped a few shots off and then sat down in the shelter in the shade to finish my water.

A young couple came into the shelter after the other folks had left. I told them not to sit on the other side of the shelter as we had company peeking out from the cracks in the logs.

Yes I used a long lens. It could have been a rattle snake, although I am no snake expert.
From what I understand these snakes do inhabit the bluffs of the Mississippi but aren't often seen as they are very shy.

I talked with the young couple a bit and they handed me a bottle of water as they saw me putting away two empties. I was grateful. Even if I took the short way down, I had a long walk on the park road to get back to the Subaru.

Here is the view that everyone hikes up for. Trempeleau Mountain. I was more impressed by the boardwalk/trail that was built for the short trail.

Would I go back? Yes.

I hit the park road and power walked back to the Subaru. I grabbed out my sandwhich and a Gatorade and sat at a picnic table and had a picnic and thought about my
Big
Adventure.

What a great day.