4th Annual Ice Hike~ Parfrey's Glen

Well, it was that time of year again. The Annual Ice Hike.

It started a few years ago when my friends took me to Parfrey's Glen just outside of Devil's Lake State Park near Baraboo.

Last year I drove in a rain/snow/sleet event to get to our annual "Ice Hike". This year? Well, I followed the events of a snow event that dropped about 4 or 5 inches of snow on my travel route. It made the drive a bit more interesting, but it wasn't too bad.

We went to Parfrey's Glen as our first stop in hopes of seeing Skillet Creek running over the rocks or some magnificent ice formations.

Well that wasn't to exactly 'be'.

As I slugged through the roughened snow trail, I thought how nice it would have been to have my snow shoes on.

This area never really is disappointing and it is always in a state of change with the weather. In places the creek was solid with snow covering the ice. I could hear the water running underneath us.

We probably shouldn't have come to the Glen so late in the day. But there we were, making our way upstream to the water falls.

However I thought it would be a good idea...

well, that didn't really pan out. 

I should have known how quickly it gets dark in these areas. After all, when I am at home I know it gets dark quickly in the deep valleys.

Things get quite tricky after you leave the "maintained" trail. 

It became obvious to me that my snow shoes although very handy for part of the trail would have been a real pain in the rocky boulders.

We reached the water falls at the end of the trail and did some exploring. It was obvious that the day light was fading fast.

The light in the gorge was fading but above us it was still sunny and bright.

We didn't want to have to scramble over the icy and snowy boulders in the dark so we headed back.

But not until we had some fun of course...

The danger of having another photographer around is that they will 

get that shot of you...that you don't want shown to the world.

Aren't those gloves just precious? 

And then, with the light fading, we headed back to the Subaru.

Oh yes. Waterproof boots are a great idea on this hike.

Saturday was going to be a busy day. We were going to see how many of the State Natural Areas we could explore.
We had one place in particular that we wanted to check out.

Weddings

Well the big day arrived. Daryl and I left the house at 6:30 AM and grabbed some KwikTrip breakfast. We knew we were in for a long day.
We'd discussed strategies for shooting the wedding.

We'd gone over the list of 'must have shots' by the bride the night before. We both had our lists.
We went over indoor strategy and out door bright sunlight shooting...it was going to be a challenge for sure. A wedding photographer's nightmare can be bright sunlight and deep shadows on faces.

Daryl likes shooting landscapes and water. Well we both love 'water' shots and macros of anything we can find to 'shoot'. Bugs and spiders or fungi and flowers. It is a fascinating world of little things out there.

But this day was going to be his first time at a wedding.  During our ride we sort of talked about things and tried to envision obstacles we'd run into. It was nice to have someone to bounce ideas off from.

I have a love/hate relationship with wedding photography. I love it while I am doing it and obsess about the photos I'm taking and worry about it so much that I really sort of hate it.


Because if you have ever been involved in a wedding you know that nothing really goes as planned. And if you try to follow a rigid list you will end up tied in knots.

Fun things do happen. We had come early so that Daryl could meet the family and they could get comfortable around him.
I've known the father of the bride for 9 years. We worked together until about 5 weeks ago.

We started with all of the shots we could of the Venue and the bride getting ready.  We had some fun with the children that were going to be in the wedding party.

Daryl was so patient and good with the kids. 
There was the moment when the bride got upset over something and I followed her outside. 
We talked and I reminded her that this day was hers, that she and her husband to be were the main focal point of the day.
That no one would recall what someone else in the wedding party may or may not do.

In the end, those who came to the wedding ceremony would only recall one thing. How beautiful she looked walking down the isle to meet the groom.

I knew that once the wedding ceremony started that the best laid plans would fly out the window and it was going to be a 'shoot' hard, shoot fast, shoot like crazy. Run around in the heat and dodge people to get that shot.

Duck and weave. 
Wedding photographers have the hardest jobs. They dodge well wishers and cell phone photographers as well as anyone else with a camera.

I once did a wedding where I turned the camera on the audience.
There were about 7 people milling through the audience with long lenses and various types of DSLR's. 

A word about having a second photographer. This is a godsend. I choose Daryl because he is from a different generation [nice way of saying that he is young enough to be one of my own kids..and that I am an old codger...] and he has a different perspective on things than I do.

He comes up with unique ideas that I would not have thought of.

Daryl stacked two long folding tables together and then took all the table clothes we could find and we made a make shift 'studio' for the shots of the dresses and the rings.
The following is a merged shot of the veil and the rings...both of these shots also done by my partner.

I should have moved the tables when I took a shot of the bride and used the table clothes for an appropriate back round...however. Best laid plans and all of that...

The room was busy and everyone was rushing around. I grabbed some more shots.
However...

She was pleased with the edited version.

I had told Daryl that he would most likely get done with the wedding and decide he would never ever do another one. And then after he had forgotten the pressures of the day and how tired we were at the end of it all, well he may think about doing it again.


And of course we couldn't help ourselves but include something fun.

Did everything go perfect? Oh gosh I don't know. I do know that I enjoyed every second of the hours we put in. I had a great partner. That made all of the difference in the world.

Would we do it again? Oh yes, I think so.

Know how to work the cute face ~ By Morris

Once again the lady of the house started packing up her bags. I sat next to her suitcase and stared intently at her.
It had been so long since I'd gone on a trip that I wasn't sure She even remembered how to take me along anymore.

He put me in the crate while She loaded up the car. I cried and acted pitiful as could be. I was devastated. All my cuteness had not worked.
She was leaving once again without me.

Then He picked up my crate with me in it and carried it outside to the car. I went into the back seat of the Subaru and I was beyond excited. I dug around in my crate and shook like crazy. I even whined.
Adventure time!

Our Big Adventure started the next day. I started the day tired out. My buddy Scout and I had played late in the yard after I got there. I hadn't slept most of the trip either because I had been so excited for the car ride.

Scout is a youngster who is full of energy. He had this deal about sticks and water. I was not impressed, however I did watch him with a certain sense of jealousy.

We stopped for a sit down at this place on the big lake beach. I climbed up into Her lap and tucked my head into Her arm for a nap.
Oh.
We were not done hiking!

She picked me up and commented on my sleepy looking face. I gave Her my Bedroom Eyes look.

Silly Scout kept leaping about full of energy.

Not me. She put me down and immediately the nice girl called D'manda picked me up.

With all that she was carrying, she sweetly picked me up and gave me a lift. I liked her a LOT.
I was quite impressed at how she could cross a log with that backpack and carry me at the same time.

Isn't she wonderful?

We rested on a bridge for a while before heading back to their car to have lunch. I gave everyone googly eyes and got some crusts of bread.
When you get to be an old dog you really know how to work a people's emotions.
On the drive to our next destination, I promptly went to sleep.

We stopped at another place and off we went. I felt pretty good after that short nap.

But then I started 'the sleepy tired out' look again.

And...

Even the Daryl Guy picked me up and gave me a lift.
I didn't mind it at all until my pal came by and then I made an effort to get into her arms.

I really dig her.
I think my cute face and small size impresses people.
And Scout?

Alas, he was Scout...ever the entertainer...

I was quite sad on the day we had to leave our friend's place. I'd had so much fun. Well, except for the evil nasty scary black cat that lives in Scout's house.
She swatted me on the head and after that I avoided her like the plague.
However I did teach her one good lesson.

Jack Russells will eat cat food.
We headed towards home and She stopped at yet another hiking place.
And guess what?
Yep, you guessed it. I asked to be picked up and....she obliged.

However it was for a self portrait to mark the end of our Big Adventure.

I slept the rest of the way home.

Really...
I really do know how to work that Cute Face to my advantage....

Could you resist all this grey faced cuteness?
I think not.

Road Trip? Can we go again soon?

Into the Lost Valley

After exploring the Ice Cave we headed down into the valley that the 'dry' run empties out into.

The owners of this land call it the Lost Valley. We call it the Back Valley as it as furthest back.
I like to think of it as my 'Secret Valley'. There was a time when the cattle lived on this land.
At that time there were cattle trails that made riding through the back valley fairly easy.
Hiking was always an issue.
The creek used to twist back and forth like a snake gone crazy. Some of the crossings were wide and some were very deep. It was a great place to take a young mule to get them used to water.

Several major floods have changed that. The last ravage was in September 2015. The creek is fairly straight now and in places very wide.
I still love making it a destination. It is a hard hike but worth every step.

Here is one of the places that Creek Leaping becomes a real skill to have.

When we got to the 'Lost Valley' we all sort of separated and explored on our own. Daryl went his way with his camera and tripod.
The girls investigated tracks they found with Amanda.

I tried to take some Ice Finger shots.
I have no idea why I started calling them Ice Fingers. But that is what they look like!

The hike back towards home was not as exciting as the hike out.
We climbed out of the valley in what seemed like a never ending upward haul.

We followed the snowmobile in a westerly direction to get to the back of my property. Then straight down into another steep valley.

I think Evie looked at our 'ridge' road that so easy this morning, looked as if it went on forever...and groaned.

I think we were all tired.
There was a faint burning sensation in my legs. We had all pressed on pretty hard through the snow which had made the walking a bit harder.

The only ones who seemed not to be bothered was Morris and Scout. They trotted ahead towards home.

As we dropped back down towards the house we met Rich who was standing next to the back of his truck.
He'd done the evening chores and welcomed us home with, "Gee! I was getting afraid that you guys weren't coming back?"

Wet and tired the crew went into the house and discarded their wet clothes. Daryl had to put the finishing touches on the pot roast he'd been cooking all day.

The girls announced that they probably wouldn't be up for the scheduled night hike.

We got ready for supper.
And prepared for our next outing.

Would there be ice?

We got going in pretty good time on Saturday morning. The girls wanted to do chores so Daryl and the girls stayed to help Rich while I ran with Amanda to town to get a few items from the store.

By the time we got back the girls had not only done chores but had also been sledding.
The snow was in perfect condition for sledding at high rates of speed until bail out time when they came up to the electric fence.

The morning talk was regarding the ice cave. Would there be a formation? I certainly hoped so. Which route would we take? I explained that we'd take the snowmobile trail route. I thought it might be easier if we went east along the creek and then up and over the cropland to drop down into the next valley.

We had to make a quick stop at the ice wall.  Some young lady had to give her mom and this old mom a slight OMG moment. I think I resisted yelling "BE careful!"

However, what kid can pass up a good scary slide down a wall of ice into a creek, right?

It is very rare that I have someone along that will take photos. Generally it is just Morris and myself taking a hike. However I must thank Daryl Clausen from the bottom of my heart for taking these shots and sharing them with me. Even better, allowing me to use them in this blog.

Here we are hiking in The First Valley.

I got caught having a conversation with Morris. He felt pretty sure that I was carrying a treat in one of my pockets and that he should pose for me.

And apparently this is what my backside looks like while carrying Mr. Morris.
He tapped me on the leg a few times and asked for a lift.

Daryl was able to capture some incredible shots of a doe that was grazing in the corn field. Every once in a while he'd hurry on ahead and I'd see him pointing his Olympus at us. Actually, he is one photographer that doesn't make me cringe at the thought of me in a photo of his. I don't like being on the other side of the lens generally but he seems to make me look pretty decent.

Long walk. Long talk.
We stopped for a breather and to chat about something.
Daryl captured Amanda and I.

We crossed the ridge and started down into the next valley on an old logging trail.

And then...
We were not disappointed.

Daryl and his girls swiftly descended into the ravine to thoroughly explore the magic of the ice cave. However the cave had been occupied recently by raccoon or 'possum recently. There was scat on the sandy floor of the ledge.

The girls explored the shelf behind the ice.

And Grace got this shot after she climbed out.

No, the Ice Cave did not disappoint.

Scout and Morris kept everyone in line by following us and keeping a close eye on us.

Morris took it upon himself to show Scout the best nasty things in the woods to eat. Good ol' Morris. Always willing to corrupt a new friend.

Last word about the 'Ice Cave'.
I highly doubt that any of the family owners even realize this Ice formation is back there. They don't hike, they don't hike in the winter, and they rarely visit the property at all except once in a while briefly during the summer months.

I told this to Daryl and Amanda as we started climbing down the ravine into The Lost Valley.

The Lost Valley and The Second Night Hike...
to be continued....