Return to Duck Egg

First, a morning walk with Charlie to enjoy the morning sunrise and colors.

Below the view at the mailbox on the ridge.

After our walk and breakfast for Rich, I proceeded to wash the siding on the north side of the house and discovered that a broom dipped in Murphy's Oil soap totally cleaned off the moldy green colors with almost no effort.

Next came the gutters once again and then a scrub of the back step which has lichen and green ick growing on it from being in the shade all year.

Then, I left Charlie to watch over Rich during his nap time.

Now this is funny! 
Rich takes a nap right after lunch. I may lay down to read for a bit and during that hour of quiet time Charlie is allowed on the bed and snuggles in and lays as still as can be.

When I left for Duck Egg, Charlie whined and cried when Rich laid down. He said he lifted Charlie up on the bed and gave him a blanket. Charlie slid under the blanket and never moved again until Rich got up from his nap.
OH, I think Charlie has HIS number! 

Our temperatures were supposed to hit 80 degrees and I figured it would be a bit too hot for Charlie to enjoy the hard hike I had planned.

Duck Egg Trail drops into a very steep valley.

The colors were incredible even with a hazy and overcast sky. I got to the valley and came around to the back of the dam.

I don't recall which year it was that where I am walking was under water. The water was to the top of the dam in front of me. It may not look like much from this vantage point, but it is.

The other side of the dam. 
I stopped at the picnic table under the oak tree not far from the horse tie rail. I ate a snack and an apple before moving on.

I headed across the foot bridge. Horses have a path alongside the bridge. The water runs rather fast and after a hard rain it does run hard enough to sweep a dog away.

I headed along the valley and over the foot bridges before taking on the trail that went back up to the ridge. It was hot in the valley and I was happy that I hadn't brought Charlie. 

I'd passed a couple heading the other way and we talked for a moment. They were headed to the old oak and picnic table for a picnic. The gent thought I was taking the steepest and hardest trail. 

I smiled and said that I had intended to do that.

The trail was steep and had a few switchbacks. I tromped on up it to the Lookout. I think all the leg work and workouts I have been doing helped tremendously. It didn't feel so hard.

See that hand? It is pointing to the Oak Tree at the bottom of the dam. The horse tie rail is next to the tree.

Isn't that quite the view?

In this photo, the green is the west end of the dam.

Here is a shot of the valley flooded so you can get an idea why the dam was put into place.

Impressive isn't it?

August 20, 2007. 

The rest of my hike was quiet but enjoyable. I walked along the ridge top prairie and back to the parking area.

MapMyHike said I'd hiked 2.47 miles and changed altitude of 429 feet. I don't know if that was 200 ft up and down? I think it was. All I know is that it was fun and I can't wait to do it again in cooler weather with Charlie.

Duck Egg. What an odd name, but cool place.

Duck Egg a County Park

 

Our county has some wonderful parks that are more like State Natural Areas.

They arise out of dam systems in our steep valleys with streams that like to flood.
The photo above is from Lower Duck Egg. There is a parking area deep in the valley next to Springville Branch of the Bad Axe River. 

Think about that name, Bad Axe. I love the images it conjures.

Anyway, the Duck Egg Dam was finished in 1990 as a flood control project. The details of understanding the Bad Axe River watershed and how the water flows is pretty complicated unless you can study the topographic maps. I won't try to explain it.

Around the dam is 700+ acres of forest and valley with horseback and hiking trails. The terrain is very steep.

I parked at the Upper Duck Egg parking area which is a rough gravel road that has quite a few dipsy-doodles in it. Note. Don't bring a low slung car to the upper lot.

Charlie and I headed from the Prairie Trail to the lookout. The plan was to just hike down to the first junction and head back up another trail called the Stagecoach Line.

We got to the lookout which has been cleaned up since my last visit there in 2011 while riding with Rich on mules.

2011 view:

And this week's view:

Well, needless to say, Charlie and I took a right long before we were supposed to take a right on the Stagecoach Line. Poo. We ended up on an old logging trail and looped around back the prairie. 
I took some photos with the infrared camera which doesn't show off the multiple colors of the foliage.

But the images are pretty neat.

I decided to just walk around the top of the ridge and admire the trees while Charlie tried to make his mark on every clump of grass he could find. I decided to review the trail maps and go back on another day.

My goal is to hike into the valley, past the dam and back up the steep hill to the ridge. I recall that the trek back uphill in 2011 was pretty tough. I know we had to let the mules take a breather on the way up.

Sounds like a good workout, right?

Well I need to feed the old guy and head out. Apples and snacks are packed, the day is windy and warm...I'll pick something up for an early supper on the way back.

Upset Tummy

The road to Duck Egg Park is twisted and bumpy. We were only about a mile from there when I heard Charlie get sick in the crate.

I couldn't stop or pull over. When descending Irish Ridge Road into the valley, there are really no shoulders to pull off on nor any room for error. It is steep and twisted with drop offs on one side and rocks on the other.

There was a big rig in the parking lot along with another Subaru. This lower lot also has room for a horse rig or two. Duck Egg has some incredible equine trails. If you like water crossings and steep hillsides, this would be the place.

Above is a map of the trails in Duck Egg. Hiking is allowed on the horse trails. Some of the trails would be extremely tough for a hiker, I've done them on mule back and the trails even gave our mules reason to pause.

After I parked, I got out Charlie's blanket and shook out the upchucked kibbles onto the ground. I attached Charlie's cord and we walked over to the Springville branch of the Bad Axe River. I just love that name. Bad Axe. It conjures up all sorts of thoughts.

Charlie was curious and I kept hold of the cord. The Bad Axe here is deep and very swift.

My intention was to walk with Charlie on his cord up the trail to the ponds.

The lower trail however is so deep in the valley that it was covered in snow. You can see by the tracks left by others that this is a popular place to walk. Charlie started to shiver and quiver so I picked him up and stuck him in my jacket.

We made it to the first foot bridge rather quickly.

I was hoping to set up the tripod and take a few interesting shots of the Bad Axe, but Charlie was a bit of a complication. I was pretty sure that he wouldn't be too curious to get into the small river, but then again, I wasn't sure.

I took a snapshot of the foot bridge and the equine crossing and moved on.

We got to the second bridge.

The waters are so clear. Even without polarized sunglasses you can see the rocks in the water.

Up and over the bridge we went to the ponds.

Charlie seemed to be doing quite well at this point so I set him down and walked into the cold wind. Charlie sniffed here and there and I had to watch him. Twice I caught him trying to wolf down old horse manure. I was pretty sure that wasn't something he should be eating.

We took a deer trail back over to the Bad Axe and I considered setting up some long exposures. I tied Charlie to a sapling to keep him out of the water while I pulled out my Nikon.

I took a few shots upstream and then downstream.

In my mind's eye, I had to try and imagine what this area would look like in a few weeks. Definitely worth a trip back without any hiking dogs.

I looked down and Charlie was trying to eat some plants. I told him no and packed up my camera.

We got back to the pond area and Charlie started acting as if he were going to retch again. I set him down and he began to eat icy snow. I offered him a drink of water from my bottle and he took some. Then he went back to eating crunchy snow and he started to quake.

Crap. I picked him up and faced the north wind that was blowing off the ponds and stuck him into my coat. Our adventure was done.

We crossed the foot bridge and got back into some shelter from the wind. Charlie retched and out came dog food and something slimy green. I poked at it with a stick.
Motion sickness and horse manure are probably not a good combination.

Charlie's puppy tummy was tight. He was miserable and I was worried.

Off we went, Charlie tucked in and me hiking hard and fast to get him back to the car.

We made it home without any more incidents. I drove carefully as to 'not' upset his tummy any more. When we got home Charlie spent most of the evening on my lap. He ate some kibbles and seemed to be doing fairly well by bed time.

This morning he is back to his mischievous self. Happy go lucky Charlie.

And it leaves me wondering if he will grow out getting motion sickness in his crate or not. It sure ruins an outing. I do know that he seems perfectly fine in a lap while traveling in a vehicle.

Perhaps there is another way of transporting him that is better for him yet safe for me as the driver.

I sure don't want Charlie crawling into my lap as I drive.

Charlie's upset tummy gave me quite a bit of worry.
I had one other dog who used to get motion sickness but she eventually grew out of it.

Next trip to Duck Egg.
It will probably be solo.

I didn't think those bridges would bring back such wistful memories, but they did...

Winds, leaves, dust, and killing frost.

This morning we had the 'killing' frost that usually is here by the first weekend in October.

Over the past two weeks we've had windy dry weather.  Everywhere we have been dealing with dust.
Driving down the gravel road is an adventure in dust.  If you wash your vehicle, it is covered again just by driving the one mile required to get to the black top road.

 The mules are enjoying the cool mornings and the cool evenings.  They have been chasing each other and playing King of The Hill.

The trees that have been protected by the wind still have their leaves, but not for long.
These are hickory trees behind the large shed.

The last big blazes of color were at the beginning of the week before the big winds hit.
This was a view from Mundsack road on my way to work Monday morning.

Today I'm going to head up to Wildcat Mountain State Park and do some hiking.

I don't expect to find great colors but I hope to be able to see the beautiful rock formations that will now be more obvious because most of the leaves are down.

Morris, and our Adventure.

Morris on top of footbridge #2

After our visit with Dr. Piper and a rabies shot [yes, his teeth do need cleaning and he has to have some medicine first...], Morris and I headed to Duck Egg Park in Vernon County WI.

We parked at the lower parking lot in the valley.  I thought we'd walk past the Duck Egg Dam and get to the other side of it and get some shots of the Bad Axe River the Springville Branch.

Alas.  It was too late in the afternoon.  By 4pm we made the dam and Morris introduced himself to some Vernon County Land and Water Conservation workers that had been working on the dam.

They were very pleasant and it seems that we were the only people plus one dog in the whole valley.  They gave me tips about getting back to where I wanted to take some photographs.

Morris is pictured on one of the foot bridges provided for hikers.  This park has a lot of hiking and equine trails.  Sidie Hollow has an easy hiking trail and some very challenging mountain bike trails.

There are more parks but I want to stick with this one for now.

The rock formations at Duck Egg are incredible.  In fact the views were so beautiful that I couldn't hike very far without stopping and taking photos.

Water under footbridge #2

Bad Axe, Springville Branch

under footbridge #3

On top of footbridge #3

The trail winds around two ponds that I found just as captivating as the Bad Axe itself.

Duck House in pond

The trail and the late afternoon light really lit up the Eastern end of the valley.

Looking slightly eastward from the second pond

As I said just before 4pm we got to the dam.

You can see it from the lookout above the valley, but to see it from the valley floor is more impressive.  Other county dams are not as huge.  

If you look very hard in the shadow on the top of the dam there is one of the Land and Water Conservation people working there.

Duck Egg Dam

I figured I'd better turn around and march back to the car, it would be after 5pm before I got back to town. To save some cooking time, I'd grab a pizza for supper.

Morris led the way, he is such a trooper.  At our 'favorite' bridge, the one I call #2, he stopped and stood for a while as if taking in everything around him.

Morris stares wistfully 

at his favorite trail.

Looking back

We probably made it in record time back to the car.

I know it will only be a matter of time before we get back to where I really wanted to get some shots.

Morris will always be up for the adventure.

Although, I must say he was a bit stiff and tired last night before we went to bed.

Morris and I do 'Duck Egg'

Duck Egg County Park is not hard to find and has two entrances.  The upper entrance on the ridge and the lower entrance in the valley.

We chose to hike the lower end of the park and see if we could get some great views of the changing colors and get some shots of the Springville Branch of the Bad Axe River.

Bad Axe River...that name is just so cool.

Anyway the drive into the valley was beautiful and very very twisted.  You need good brakes and you need to be careful!

One of the more interesting things to try and do is take good photographs with a dog on a leash.

Some folks let their dogs loose but these trails are shared with equine and I really wouldn't want Morris to spook a horse.  I know I wouldn't want to be spooked.

We walked in the valley and admired the beautiful fall colors.

As an experiment I only brought my Nikon with a 50mm lens and my new pocket camera.

I however did bring my tripod in hopes of getting a nice shot of the river flowing.

We walked out to the 'big' pond where we saw a Muskrat who was rather unconcerned about us.

Morris seemed interested in the smells on the shoreline, but I wanted to keep any encounters between Muskrat and Morris to a minimum.

My biggest fear was that Morris would decide to get into the river which was running rather hard from the 1/2" of rain we had the night before.

He proved pretty smart about that.  Stuck his nose down into the river and quickly pulled back.
After that I wasn't too afraid of losing him to the swift current.

I used my very dark ND filter and was able to set up a shot by one of the foot bridges.
I let Morris loose and he stayed near.

This view is from the horse crossing.  It was a hard shot to get as the light kept changing.

Then we found a small trail that led us to the edge of the river that was off the beaten tracks.

This was a very neat spot and I would like to return without my 'helper' to worry about.
The current was running pretty hard.

Then we set up at the second bridge to take some shots.

Note that my camera assistant is making sure no one disturbs us while we are on top of the slightly bouncy bridge.  He actually stood very still so I could take some timed exposures.

What a great dog!

Facing downstream 30 second exposure.  Edited for a bit of fun.

Facing upstream.

This is the only place I regretted not having a wider angle lens.  But I still ended up happy with this shot.
Morris stood quietly while I packed my things up and we started back down the trail towards the parking lot.

Old Dog Morris was dragging his butt by the time we made it to the Subaru.

I asked him if he thought this would be a good place for him to bring his buddy Teslin.
He really didn't answer.

When he hopped into the car .... 

...he fell immediately asleep and snored most of the way home.