A good and quiet day

 The bike rack that attaches to the hitch came in very handy when Mr. Charlie wanted to run about and sniff for good marking places. 

This trail has a sign: Dogs Must Be Leashed.

He was attached to the car as I assembled his cruiser and got everything together for our ride.

Yesterday was an adventure day. 

I'd spent Wednesday doing errands and taking care of 'stuff'.  

I'd had lunch with my MIL's cousin and was introduced as The Widow of Richard. I almost corrected her and said 'wife' but realized Widow was correct.

It gave me a pause for a moment.

My good neighbor Justin [a bike expert! He likes to build bikes!] came over and helped me assemble and learn how to use my bike rack. 

Thursday  seemed perfect to go try everything out. 

The temperature was 40 degrees F when we hit the trail. Coldish weather bicycling is new to me, so I layered just enough to feel a bit cool while putting our gear together. There was a 5 mph wind and the sun was shining. 

We took off and saw one runner and one other bicyclist. This is not a super popular trail in cooler weather. However, it is maintained by the county and is FREE to use. It is an old railroad bed so it is flatish and not hard to cycle.

My copilot seemed quite happy in his trailer. We did stop a few times to have a dog treat and a small walk so he could sniff and pee on things.

Parked:

Thing is, we enjoyed it so much we went further than I'd been before.

My eventual goal is to reach the WI River Slough and petal into the State Natural Area to observe birds and wildlife. The round trip would be around 20 miles, but very doable. I think going by bicycle is an extremely cool way to get around and visit areas along the Pine River and the Wisconsin River.

The little blue-green line is some of what my GPS recorded. The trail ends at Lone Rock. One of these times I will ride all the way there and buy lunch. It just seems to be a fun thing for me to do.

IF we don't have a lot of snow this winter, I will be able to cycle this trail often.

The State Bike Trails cost $25 per year from January 1st to January 1st. I may purchase a pass to go on the State Trails this coming Spring, but not at the end of October. 

I have the mode, the means, and the time to explore by bike. I can go further than a hike and see more wildlife and land.

Today I saw a flock of bluebirds flitting about and flying in front of me. In one of the pastures I passed, several Sandhill Cranes were strutting about. The Tamarack Trees were turning yellow. 

It was cool yet refreshing. Pictured are stops along the Pine River. The colors are still pretty even though most trees are barren.

When I got home, I found that the new and smaller table had been delivered. It is an Ikea sort of table, a put together thing. It is going to replace the huge round table that Rich inherited from his great grandmother. 

That old table was partially broken. Parts of it were falling apart. It was also huge and cumbersome to get around. 

While in place, there was very little room for anyone to sit around the table. The top was no longer in good shape.

I dismantled it and was surprised to find dry rot under the top. I guess it was time for it to go.

Below were the parts for putting the new table together. 

I've always wanted a 'gate leg' table. 

Or a table that had fold down sides to open up the little eating area.

The top and the fold downs

are photo'd below.

It wasn't hard to assemble and I like the extra room it gives me in the small eating area we have.

I was very surprised at how easy it was to assemble and how sturdy it feels.

The table has two leaves that fold down or up depending on your guests. Since it is mostly just myself and Charlie, I decided to go with things this way. 

I'll be putting a slightly larger rug under the table. The floor under the chairs is a concrete slab which can feel cold in the winter.

I'm pleased.

The old table was too large for the area and too hard to move around. Now it feels more open and agreeable.

Charlie's chair is on the lower right side. He does have his own chair that he likes to sit on when I am at the table.

I figured it was a good day. We traveled and explored, we constructed, and we modified our living space.

All is good.

Halloween is today. No plans for anything as we are so remote. I will be working in the pastures if it doesn't rain and if it does...well, there is always organizing and more purging to be done inside.

These shots below were photos I worked on for Halloween Themes for this year.

Have a great day! These will be my trick or treaters!

A Challenge

All my adult life I've been into challenges that would include endurance.

In college, I was on the first ever Cross Country team that school had. I tried out and got a spot on the team. Back then you couldn't buy women's running shoes. I was wearing canvas deck shoes for my try out.
I eventually got a pair of boys size 6 leather Adidas. They were heavy, and ugly but they were running shoes.

In my 20's I enjoyed 5 and 10K's. I tried a half marathon 13.1 miles, but didn't enjoy it much. I think I was trying too hard and the temperatures at that race were surprisingly hot.

I turned to bicycling in my 30's. I could bike to work, I could bike on the trails close by. Eventually, my sister and I did a 48 hour trip on our bikes. We traveled 140 miles in two days. We crossed off another adventure.

For a while I didn't do anything in the distance arena until I moved to where I currently live. I met a lady who did Endurance Riding on her Arab. I joined her on my mule named Badger. He loved it. We rode 25 mile rides. We never 'won' anything. It wasn't a 'race'. It was all about getting from point A to B with an animal in excellent shape.

When I lost Badger, I took up casual hiking. Nothing intense, nothing tough, and mostly just walking along the woods and county parks with my dog looking for scenery.

In January of 2018 I decided to try the Kickapoo Valley Trail Challenge. Hikers could get a list of all the trails at the Reserve and hike each one, marking them off. The Challenge was to finish all 68+ miles in one year. That got sidetracked but I finally accomplished that goal in 2022. It involved many short hikes but I learned all of the trails in the 8,900 acre Reserve. 

Since then, I've done fun hiking. When I go with Charlie we just move along at his pace. I stop often to look at things and just dawdle along if I feel like it.

I did a route that is used for the Tromp and Chomp when I turned 65. I enjoyed that long distance hike so much, that I do it every year to celebrate my birthday now.

I recently saw a cool challenge called the Mammoth March Wisconsin ~ It offers a hike challenge of 20 or 30 miles in one day.  It is a registered event and you get goodies for doing it. However, it is 3 hours away from where I live and I'd need coverage at home.

The state of Wisconsin also has the Ice Age Trail. That is something I'd love to do...at least portions of it. Unfortunately I can't spend that kind of time away from home. I'd be travelling all over the state to do segments.

When I visited my son, his wife, and Rory, we hiked part of the Ice Age Trail. Those guys are doing  monthly hiking challenges on the Ice Age Trail.  Of course, that got me thinking.

Why not set up an unofficial challenge for myself? Why not see if I can match that 20 miler? Is it even possible for an old 'fart' to do that?

So I sat down and got my map of KVR out, marked the trails out with mileage from their information and created what I thought was a 10 mile loop.

I figured that on the rough terrain, Charlie and I usually do about 25 to 30 minutes a mile. In my estimate, that would take me 4 hours give or take.

Our usual long hikes together are at least 6 miles. I figured 10 would be a cool goal. IF I could do 6, I could do 10, if I could do 10 I could shoot for 15. Well, you see the pattern, right?

I misjudged the mileage or the GPS did. No matter. Below is a screen capture of my Saturday hike.

 I did not take Charlie. I wanted to hike steady without all the breaks that we take together. Plus I didn't want to carry him as I usually do. 

I thought this would be a good indicator of my abilities. 

Things I learned. I could walk/hike hard for over 3 hours. I picked the right shoes for it too. My Trail Runners provided my feet with better support than my hiking boots. My backpack sucks. SUCKS. Really sucks. [It is a cheap backpack from Wally world]. 

I can hike fast! For a few of the miles, I maintained 15 minute miles!

The average time overall that included 3 stops to talk to people who asked me questions -- and pee breaks [yes, that happens!] was doing

18 minutes a mile.

I routed my hike so that the first 8 miles were the rough stuff. The up and down hills, over rocks, roots, and stumps stuff. The last 2.5 miles was along a paved bike/walking trail.

My body appreciated that.

I told hubby that my feet got tender at 8 miles. At 9 I wondered about my sanity. At 9.5 they stopped hurting. No, they didn't go numb. They just stopped hurting. At 10 miles I thought, okay...I should be finished.

I wasn't. I had nearly another mile and a half to get to my car. But I felt energized and confident and quite frankly, a bit full of myself.

I did a Thing! I did a self Challenge!

And, I was not sore on Sunday morning!

Some pictures. I didn't take too many.

Kickapoo River Bridge 15

Mile 5 looking out across the Valley from 
Hanson Rock Trail.

Mile 9 looking back at Hanson Rock trail from the valley!

The pink arrow below shows you where I was on the Ridge.

Just cool trails near Hanson Rock Ridge.

And....mini me....

Happy Trails!