Fresh air Hike & Junk

*I'm going for a walk. to the Big Spring. I'll use the field road, the snow mobile trail and the cropland to get down and back. I'll stop by the big dry run on the East side of PeeWee's.*  PeeWee was the nickname of the owner of this land.

I tell this to my husband as he goes for his morning two hour-ish nap. He knows these locations as he has ridden and explored the neighbor's land we still refer to as PeeWee's.

 

Here is a photo of the Big Spring

Photo of the Big Spring last winter when 
the water still ran quicker. The warm air and water
creates incredible frost on the rocks:

I went from the Big Spring over to the East Dry Run and walked up to where the little spring flows out of the 'step rocks'.

This spot in non drought years produces a small steady stream of water that works its way through all of these rocks.

In a normal cold and wet winter it looks like this:

A person can literally walk on two to three feet of ice or even more. It fills the dry run with incredible colors of ice that vary from blue to green and in places... an orange color.
These photos were taken in 2015.

Two years of drought has changed the flow of the tiny spring. It still runs, but the temperatures have not been cold enough to create the river of blue ice like it has in years past.

Charlie is standing next to some cool roots and there is a critter path that leads up the bank from where the animals come down to drink from the tiny spring.

In years past, the river of ice has been at least 4 to 5 feet thick right at this spot. 

From here back to the top where the snowmobile trail is a 100 foot climb up to the top. The grade is steeper than 25% so it is pretty intense.

The ground was frozen enough to climb up and out to the top. Yes, I climbed it. I do it each time I visit this spot. It is easier than back tracking into the valley.

Below is a map of my walk in the terrain mode of maps. The road viewed is called Tigen and it is a dead end road.

The yellow dots are places where someone lives. The start and stop is where we live. The black dot is where the where I was standing in near the little Spring.

I include this terrain map so you can see that the hikes are not on flat ground except when I cross cropland. You can see how steep our terrain really is.

View from the top 14 seconds.

My walk on the ridge was interesting also. I've decided to do another project on Farm Junk. Why not? Old farms have cool junk that farmers dumped in their dry runs to slow erosion and get rid of old machinery and things like tires. 

Here is the first of my Junk Files. 

The Viking.

Hey, it could be advertised as a great AirBnb! 

--- Unplug! Enjoy Nature in our Viking Hut! No internet, no electricity! Experience the outdoors like a Hobo!

The open air feeling of this AirBnb is wonderful. Hear all the forest noises all night long. The unobstructed window faces east where you can watch the sun rise over the Driftless Region!

That's it folks....

Charlie and I have a lot of junk to find this winter. Can I just call it Still Life??

Last of the Ice?

What do you see? 

I had no idea what I was looking for other than fresh cold air and getting out of the cold wind on Saturday. I didn't take Charlie with me. The snow had a hard sharp crust on it in areas of the valley and I was going to walk near two coyote dens.

I followed the creek east and just spent time enjoying the tiny ice formations that I wouldn't see again until next winter.

I spotted several places were there were trout darting back and forth under the ice. They are hard to see but yes, they were there. The trout are pretty cool, they are so sensitive to any movement so in order to watch them you have to remain absolutely still.

I eventually found myself at the far eastern edge of the valley. The one with the long ravine and tiny spring in it.

I was happy that I'd put my YakTraks on!

There is no way to travel up this ravine other than climbing the ice or the boulders.

I turned and went back to the creek to follow it home.

Cool Bubbles

Is there a face in this ice?

Layered ice near the deer trail I use to climb out of the creek.

It is supposed to get into the higher 40's today with warmer temperatures all week. So this may have been my last Ice Adventure in our creek this winter. After all Spring Solstice is but 7 days away.

Those huge ice formations will hang on for a while yet, but these little beauties will disappear. 
Sad Face.

Hmmm. The ice will melt, the birds will start migrating and landing in the open water, and I could go back to KVR and enjoy some birding time!
It all balances out!

Out and About ~ Me Time

This past week has been a good one filled with ups and downs. A few warm days were wonderful. Morris was able to get out and walk with me for some nice romps. Dixie watched over her elder dog friend.

Then the weather went crazy. It was 45 degrees in the morning and pouring rain when the temperatures dropped to 15 degrees by noon and we had sleet and snow. By nightfall, the temperatures had gone to 5 degrees and the winds kicked up.

I was concerned that Mica one of our mules who seems to be effected by rapid weather changes would show signs of an upset stomach. She didn't. Other than frosty backs no animal showed adverse effects. Phew...

I knew that the rapid cool down would create some interesting views along the creek. So after the chores were done, I packed a bag and headed out. I wanted to get to the 'East' Dry Run to see if the spring had created an ice flow.
However to get there quickly I had to walk across the top of the ridge and across cropland which placed me in the cold north breezes.
The temperature was -7 with a wind chill of ... well, cold.

I am so grateful to have purchased these over the glasses goggles a few years ago, combined with a face mask, hat, hood, and scarf my face rarely gets cold even in subzero temps.
I also wore insulated coveralls over layered clothes underneath.
I know, most people would cringe at these temperatures and stay inside. Most sane people, that is. But dressed properly a person can enjoy the bitter cold.

I climbed down through the woods and was surprised and pleased to see that the spring at the top of the dry run had been busy!
As I was climbing down I heard some rather loud cracks and at first couldn't figure out what it was.
I've heard it on lakes but never on an ice flow like the one I was standing on.
The ice was popping in the cold!

In contrast, December 10th:

The spring has added at least two feet of ice in waves...

The sun was shining brilliantly onto the ice so getting a good shot of the ice flow would have to wait for an overcast day.
I sat on the ice to take some shots of the little spring.
The water comes up out of the ground and is much warmer than the air around it. I knew that this spring would be 'running' as well as the spring at the bottom of the dry run.

I packed up and hiked to the next spot. The Big Spring.

Here it comes out of a rock and clay are and flows towards the creek. This is the spot in the spring where the very first flowers appear, the marsh marigolds.
No flowers today. Just bone chilling cold. When I squatted down to take some shots of the incredible frost on the mossy rocks, I could feel the cold air caressing my face and it seemed to come right through my coveralls.

The excess moisture from the past week and then the plunging temperatures had an interesting effect on sticks, logs, and moss, a hoar frost effect.  I was really quite excited to see all the delicate frost clinging everywhere.

I should have worn my boots that would have allowed me to stand in the water and take some shots. However I didn't. So I walked down to where this spring water joined up with the creek.

To compare with December 10th....

I only took two shots before my fingers started to get cold. I opened some hand warmers and put my hunting mitten/gloves back on. It was time to head up the valley towards home.

All along the creek where grasses dangled, the frost had collected. I felt like I was walking in some sort of wonderland.

I know that each time I visit the creek, now dubbed *Awesome Creek* by the neighbor kids...it changes slightly. 

The old Mule Crossing. It changes constantly. This is the spot where we used to ride to cross the creek on the west end of the valley.

And then yesterday?

Different but similar. With the subzero temps, the ice is starting to form on the edges of the creek and extend out into the faster moving water.

December 21st 2017

January 7th:

January 11th:

 And then yesterday:

I love this place.

This morning after chores I raced out with my camera and no dogs to try and *shoot* some more hoar frost before the snow and wind change the creek again.

I was not displeased.
I told my husband that I'd only be gone for about a half hour.

Oh.
I was gone longer than that.

The camera is still in its bag warming up slowly.

When I get the winter doldrums I just go out the door and make my way to the creek.
That's what I call Me Time.

Back to the Ice Flow

Morris convinced me that it was a good day for a hike.  As long as I took him, that is.

He sort of promised not to eat really icky things.  
So I loaded up my camera back pack and we set out for the ice flow on the east side of the valley.

I put ice cleats on my boots and was happy that I did. The extra traction assisted with going up and down hills and in the areas where the snow was soft.

It was even more important to have these cleats for when we got to the ice flow.
I had decided to walk up the ravine on the ice.
Well, I was able to in a few spots, but the going was slippery even with the cleats.

A few times Morris stopped ahead of me.  Or attempted to stop.
His feet slipped even when he was standing still.

However he seemed perfectly content to be my camera assistant.

When things got too slippery for his taste, he simply climbed the side of the ravine and watched me from above.

I'm sure he thought I was an idiot.

If that dog did not have on that red collar ... I wonder if I could have found him?

However, it was worth the walk and the hike.  Thank goodness for the cleats.

The spring in the upper part of the ravine was still producing water.  The spring is in an area that sun can get to while the rest of the ravine is in the deep shade.

So water keeps running over the formed ice and building. It looks as though waves of water were instantly frozen in this shot.

And yes the colors were blue, green, and brown in the ice.  I imagine from the minerals in the soil and rocks.

Lastly, a shot of the Adventure Dog/Assistant standing in the middle of the ice flow.

My next goal is to get to the 'ice cave' not at Wildcat Mountain, but here ... in the back valley.

And Morris kept his promise.  He didn't eat anything ICKY, but he did roll in something really nasty and got an immediate bath when he got home.

I know I wrote before about Morris going on a long hike with me and then it seemed he felt bad or perhaps stiff the next day.

He suffered no ill effects whatever after this hike.  I'm pretty sure that the warm temperatures probably had a lot to do with it.

It was 40 degrees when we took this walk.