The 9 - 10 Trail Deep Dive.

 

Okay, there was no diving at all. Just some more in depth exploring at one of the spots that interested me last year when Bill and I hiked this short trail.

I wanted to go and see if the field of Bluebells was blooming yet. I found them last year.

Hepatica

They were up and there were hundreds of them in several patches, but the blossoms were still closed tightly. Last year they were in full bloom by May 14th. [I checked when I got home.]

I was slightly disappointed, but took the opportunity to follow a faint trail along the river. 

I wanted to see some places I didn't have time to explore last year. The beauty of doing the trail challenge is to see all the trails and then go back and admire the parts you like best.
Since the flowers weren't showing off, I decided to enjoy the river and its bluffs in that area.

I like this bluff, it is typical of the bluffs along the river but this one is easily assessable by a deer trail in the spring and fall. One has to dodge the spikes of prickly ash, but it isn't a hard hike.

I had to take photos of it in color and in Infrared B&W because it is so stunning.
The IR B&W reads anything green or with chlorophyll as white. The rocks and water remain dark as they are not reflecting the IR spectrum back to the camera.

I made my way to the top of the bluff and enjoyed the view.

I decided to follow another steep trail off the bluff and head down into the lowlands. If I skirted the marshy area, I could stay close to the bluff and stay dry.

Below the bluff on the other side:

Video 12 seconds ~

The marshy area behind me:

25 seconds with peepers!
If you hear a tiny bell, that is Charlie who wears a cat bell with his tags.

The marshy area was chock full of Bluebell plants and Skunk Cabbage sprouting up everywhere. In the distance the geese were raising their voices. 

The other side of the bluff in color and then in IR:

Charlie and I spent most of our time exploring this spot. 

We then headed back up on the trail and finished it off.

On our way back to the parking area, we stopped and skirted another low land marshy area.

Back at Landing 10, we stopped and sat on the canoe ramp for a bit relishing the river noises.

Along the Kickapoo in IR 665nm.

And

that was

the end of our little/big adventure.

Turkey Buzzard and birds...and hike

Either I am getting used to the heat or I chose my clothing well. Wild Bill and I decided to do a short easy hike. I chose a hike along the top of the river that was shaded mostly by pines along the bluffs of the Kickapoo River.

I told Bill I was going to call him Wild Bill from now on. He said he was not wild and I said: Exactly. That is my point. 

Below ~ Wild Bill on a bluff above the Kickapoo.

From where we stopped to chill out in the shade we could see the river's winding path. It made 3 U turns that we could see from our vantage point. That is part of the reason it is called the crooked river. It is nearly 130 miles long and doubles back on itself quite often.

This was section 43 of the Trail Challenge and is only .75 miles long. Even though it is short, it is fantastic for a scenic hike if you stop and explore both campsites that accessible by water. Those would be campsite W and S. 

Field of bluebells!

The river is prone to flooding and most campsites have been moved out of those areas that could be flooded.

Charlie didn't go on this jaunt, the heat and humdity wouldn't have agreed with him. But we survived. We saw several huge areas that were filled with bluebells. Areas in the woods looked like they were a blue haze.

As I drove out of LaFarge towards home, the time and temp at the bank read 96 degrees. Whew. I don't think it was quite as bad as it was on Wednesday, but it was warm!

Late in the afternoon Charlie and I sat on the porch and enjoyed the shade and light breezes.

I noticed something odd far off on a dead tree. It was huge!

A Turkey Buzzard! Also known as Turkey Vulture and apparently it is known by other names also.

This guy/gal Vulture creature sat on this dead tree for 45 minutes and preened its feathers. It flapped its wings and twisted this way and that as it groomed itself. I had read about these carrion eating birds and found some very cool but sort of gross facts about them. However I'll let you read about yourself.

I think it was 'sunbathing' here but not sure why as the outside temps were pretty warm. 
When I worked at the power plant these birds would sit on top of the coal pile on cool mornings just like this. It was eerie to watch them as I drove by on a gate check. They'd watch you with their giant wings outstretched.

 

I think they are pretty unique birds.

As this was going on, a hen turkey decided to walk up into our driveway and give herself a dust bath.

And finally the Vulture decided to take off.

What a show Charlie and I had from our porch!

9-10 Trail and bluffing

As you can see by the 'map' of my walk with Charlie, we ambled and rambled. We took our time to explore off trail as well as explore the trail.

The 9-10 Trail has two river access campsites. I'm not sure I'd want to camp with the skeeters. However, what cooler way to find a campsite than to Kayak or Canoe to it?

Since the Kickapoo is so prone to flooding, there are warning signs at the trail head for those who hike/bike/or ride their equine in. I imagine a person could walk their tent and camping stuff into these sites much easier than trying to drag their equipment up the hills.

However coming in from the river would feel so much more remote.

Canoe or Kayak access to camp S.

The trail is fairly wide to start with and nicely forested. Charlie lead the way.
This part of the trail is basically a way of keeping equine and other trail users off the highway between Bridge 9 and 10. Thus the name, The 9-10 Trail.

We broke out into a mowed path with the woods on one side and a corn field on the other. 
Yawn.

I turned around at the end of the trail not far from the trail head of the Big Valley Trail where it meets Hwy 131. We walked back. And then I kept an eye out for an old equine trail. They are faint and hard to spot, but the deer and other critters still use these old trails.

I ducked through the underbrush and ...

there it was... no words really to describe the feeling here...

and then there were the mushrooms...

and

Charlie was rather unimpressed. 

But he tolerated me saying ... ohhhh....

ahhh

Charlie LOOK!

Unless I said 'Cookie', he was just going to sit and watch me. What a good little trail dog.

We found our way back out and I headed across the bridge to check out part of the Dutch Hollow Trail. I found an old alternate route that was no longer maintained.

Charlie and I paused to find a safe way down off the bluff.

We finally found the old trail down.

More 'shrooms...

We headed back to landing #10 and crossed the 9-10 trail off our list. However, I do want to go back once the leaves have fallen to see all the rock formations in all of their glory.

And find 

more old

trials.