Foggy morning

Sometimes I wake up to heavy fog in our area. Our steep valleys often give us some incredible fog. I never liked driving to work in it at 4am or at 7am, but it is beautiful when one doesn't have to drive in it.

I took two cameras out Monday just as the sun broke the horizon. [Thank you Hannah for being the perfect alarm clock...on cue she wakes me up just as the world is getting light--> yawn!]

I headed out with the car so I could check out a few of my favorite places.

I started on the ridge and saw that the valley was full of fog.

This is one of my favorite places to stop and watch fog. All the elements are there. I've probably photographed this spot over many years in different weather. 

I decided to try and take some shots with both cameras for comparison:

Fog is one of my favorite things to go for walks in. Above is the road to the valley and below is a stream the locals call Black Bottom Creek but the maps call it Readscreek. 

It was about 6am and I stood on the bridge over the creek and took these shots. It is in the opposite direction from the shot with the tree in it.

I waited for about a half hour or so here hoping for the sun to come over the hill to the east. Impatience is my forte so I headed over to another bridge over the same creek.

I explored more shots but these are my examples. 

I find fog magical.

I love a good foggy morning in the Driftless.  I'm only moments from either the ridge or the valley.

The shot below is back on the ridge just after the sun broke through the fog.

Relaxing trip to Wyalusing

We decided to go on a hike to Wyalusing State Park. There was a fair breeze and I figured we could stick to the shaded trails up on the bluff to take advantage of the shade and the light breeze.

With all the bright greens, I thought it would be fun to limit myself to my Infrared camera and shoot IR black and white.

I did bring a filter that allowed the camera to shoot in regular light. The greens and the sunlight through the trees were stunning.

The contrasts in B&W IR are startling. The 850nm light spectrum
shows green as white which gives the whole world a different look.
This filter also shows water and skies as black, and highlights barely perceptible clouds in the sky.

These are shots from deep in the woods from the Sentinel Trail.

This trail is has some demanding areas to negotiate.

The best part of this hike was being able to sit on some rocks and just have some peace and quiet while listening to the forest around us. Charlie enjoyed the rests, Hannah wanted to keep going.

I had brought plenty of water and snacks for the dogs to keep them occupied while we just chilled out.

In these shots, one can see how Hannah compares to Charlie. She weighs the same as Charlie, but Charlie is a small compact dog that has the Dachshund build and muscular body.

Hannah is slender, long, and taller. She looks as though she was built for running.

Her terrier energy seems boundless.

When we got to the 'stairs' I had to be cautious. The dogs are supposed to stay on a leash and I used the double leash. Hannah wanted to rush down the stairs and Charlie had to take one at a time. I may have to figure out a different way to handle that next time.

The double leash worked great until Charlie got tired.

At that point, I pulled out a separate leash for Charlie so Hannah wasn't pulling him.

More stairs!  👇

Our 5 mile route took us down to the boat launch at the Mississippi River.

We spent more time relaxing at the launch and cooling off to take the hike back up to the ridge top.

Hannah was in heaven when I tossed sticks into the river. She does everything with a certain amount of pure exhilaration. 7 seconds of fun....

Charlie got warm and tired on our way back up the Long Road. I tried to stick to all the shady spots, but at one point, Charlie just sat down and looked up at me. I can't refuse my pal so we took more breaks and a few times I lifted him up and carried him.

This is the Long Road ~ 

Seriously, that is the name of this trail/road that leads to a boat launch on the river at Wyalusing State Park. I walked this last fall with Charlie and was struck by the beautiful gentle curves through the forest.

November 3, last year...
It is amazing how different times of year
and the light changes the look of places!

Our last stop was a picnic table overlooking the overlook.

We had a fun trip and were tired enough for short naps when we got home.

I was relaxed and ready for the workers to show up on Thursday and my meeting with the person who has been our Financial Consultant for 14 years. 

Perfect weather

The temperatures were insanely warm on Wednesday, so much so that I wore a spring jacket while Charlie and I took a nice long hike.
I knew the weather was going to change on Wednesday evening and be awful on Thursday, so I made the executive decision to

not do laundry
not vaccum

not dust

leave my messes alone and

go out for fresh air 

and snow.

I chose to stay on a flat and familiar trail nearby. I had considered going to one of the State Parks but I opted for the shorter drive.

In the summer this is a paved trail for bicyclists and hikers, equine are to ride off the blacktop to the side.
In the winter, the trail is groomed. No bikes allowed, but those who walk are supposed to stay off to the side so skiers can use the groomed area.

I chose not to take my snowshoes. When the temps are nearly 40 F, the snow will clump up under the snowshoes like a huge snowball. It makes snowshoeing rather unenjoyable. 

Charlie was in his element. He followed the proper trail and ran ahead stopping to stick his nose into the snow and smell for mice and other things.

We went to the bluffs where I go each year. There is no trail but one can walk below the bluffs near the river. Here again, we found damage from the August Storm that took down so many trees in the area.

The marks in the snow were made by myself and Charlie and other critters.

No human tracks were found here.

Perhaps you can see why I continue to work out at the gym. Balance and agility are things I hope to keep for quite a while yet. The color is off in the shot below, the snow I don't believe wasn't that blue! But it was chilly next to the bluff!

This is with my back to the river looking up the bluffs and hillside. After looking at the rocks and the little bits of ice we found we went up the hillside to find a log in the sun and have our lunch.

Ice. The nice kind that is pretty to look at.

We had plenty of time so I headed down to what I call Star Valley ponds and decided to see how iced over it was. 
It surely was iced over. 

Curiously though, I saw where x-county skiers had crossed the ice. 

Infrared Shot

By the time we got back to the car, I figured we'd have a really nice long hike in. The footing got a bit mushier as it warmed up.

I ran into someone I knew from the gym but hadn't seen since 2020.

He and his pheasant hunting lab were out walking and looking for some birds. 

We caught up with each others' lives and then moved on.

I kept my infrared camera out and snapped a few shots. 

Kickapoo River at bridge 15

Pine forest and shadows.

Heading back.

Follow the leader!
cell phone...

I was rather surprised that it was about 2pm when we got to the car. Charlie made himself comfortable in his car seat and we headed home.

Another fine day at the Reserve.

Today, it is wicked and wild. Who pissed of Mother 
Nature??

 

The day was sucky until....

 But it ended up being a good one.

I meet the neatest folks while hiking. Yesterday I met a very handsome young man named Jesse. Hmm. I think I better start at the beginning.

The morning was cold bright and clear as a bell. My mule dragons were snoozing in the morning sun before I did chores.

I'd forgotten to sign up for class but went anyway and forgot my gym shoes in the car. I should have seen that as a sign, but I dealt with it.

At least I'd already packed my backpack with water, snacks, and all the gear I normally take with me for safety. I'd planned on going Ice Hunting when I got home from town.

The clouds had moved in so it was another one of those very overcast days with the promise of snow in the evening hours.

I decided to bring my Infrared camera anyway. I could take shots of the first ice cave with the startling range of colors that ice has with IR.

When I got to the first site, I was so happy to see ice forming. The previous blog had a photo of me in the upper right 'cave' with Charlie 2 years ago.

[The ice shows up blue because of the way the light waves with IR reflects from it.]

I went to grab my cell phone to take a wide angle shot before climbing down to another spot for a shot with my regular camera.

My cell phone was not in the inside zipped pocket. I stopped in my tracks. WT Heck??? I cursed under my breath and I'd better backtrack and hope the heck I can find it. How the zipped pocket came undone was a mystery to me.

Since I was the first human to leave tracks, backtracking wasn't too hard. After climbing down the steep hill, I found the phone sticking up out of the snow.
Crap. Was it still working? 
Fortunately it fell so that the ports were not buried in snow. I wiped it off and stuck it in my zip pocket once more.

Oddly enough, I checked the pocket after about 50 feet more of hiking and found the zipper coming undone. Mystery solved. I moved the phone to a zip pocket on my pants. Phooey. 

I decided to skip cave site number 2 and head out to the one area of Weister Creek that never disappoints.
We followed a deer trail with Charlie charging ahead.

I wanted to see how the ice was developing on the creek itself. Even the faster flowing areas were freezing over. 

We moved on down to the area where the mini bluffs were. Each year this spot produces amazingly beautiful ice formations as water drips from the rocks to the creek.

These are two samples of shots in Infrared. The blue tinted one with the 'orange ice' is pretty much what is seen in camera.

This second one is with channel swapping. The ice and waters are blue and the foliage is pinkish. I simply reversed the colors for a different effect.

Oddly enough, Charlie knows exactly where we are headed and the route we take. He is waiting patiently for me to catch up to him.

He is also learned NOT to go onto the ice ever. He is actually a pretty wise dog.

I finally pulled my regular camera out of my backpack. [My backpack has a rubber bottom so it doesn't get wet from the snow.]

These spots never cease to wow me. This is basically an off trail adventure which is not easy to get to. Years ago there was maintenance on this 'winter trail' for paid tours in February. In the past few years, the marking of the trail and clearing of trail debris has stopped.

I don't know if it is the new management that did it or lack of workers and funds. 

I climbed over the bluff with the ice on it. There used to be a very nice old trail that we rode our mules on in the 1990's above the ice. I was surprised and dismayed to see that the storms through this year had downed so many trees. 

It was quite the effort, but we rerouted and ended up at another ice formation.

By mid February the ice here is so thick, one cannot see the rocks behind it. As the ice ages and develops more, it takes on the colors of minerals from the seepage.

Here is a shot from 5 years ago in February:

A closer look at the rocks in the creek near where I was standing. The water here rushes by and splashes onto the rocks creating little icicles.

It started to snow so I decided I'd take a quick walk back to the second site and take a peak at those ice caves. 

The climb up the hill [zig zagging because it is so steep] was 135 feet. I can say that I did not do it in a rush. By the time I got to where I could peer down into the rock formations, it had started snowing heavily.

Instead of investigating them, I thought I'd stay up on the pine ridge and just walk above the ice caves and down back towards the parking lot.

This is looking down the bluff at Weister Creek.

Eventually I came to a 'blow down' that was immense. The pine forest had been decimated. The trunks and tops were blasted in every which direction and there was no way I was climbing through it.

I decided to follow a deer trail up and around it and I connected with the West Ridge Trail. I know that means nothing to the readers here, but that meant I had a nice wide cleared trail back to the car.

We got to the car and I placed Charlie in his car seat. I was feeding him a snack and a drink of water when the Kickapoo Valley Reserve Police truck pulled up. 

What do you do when you see a 'cop' car? First thing I think of is 'Sh-t, what did I do now?'

A very tall and handsome young man stepped out and walked over smiling. "On your way out or on you way in?" He asked.

I answered and stuck my hand out to introduce myself.

His name was Jesse. When he stepped up to shake my hand I realized how short I was. If I stared straight ahead I would be looking at the handcuffs on his vest.

Ahhhh. Dark haired and handsome. What I wouldn't have given to be 30 or 40 years younger!

We chatted a while and then he gave me his card. I will say this, he is out there talking to people on the Reserve and presenting a friendly officer vibe.

Damn. So good looking too.

I waved at the snow and said that I'd better get home. 

I sighed when I got in the 'Ru to drive home. The day was kind of sucky, but it sure improved in the parking area!

Well

Hmmmm hmmm, hmmm. 

I've had an amazing week with so much taken care of! I checked off gobs of things I needed to have done here. I even built a paddock in an area for the mules in the winter to have another choice of hiding in the woods and brush. I may not let them be in there for deer gun season, but it will work out nicely if we have one of those easterly winds that come with bad ice/sleet events.

Here is a couple of leftover shots from the previous day's walk.

Friday night's sky made me feel calm and relaxed. It was stunning.

Saturday morning's drizzle ended and we had thick fog.

The neighbor's meadow developed fog that grew and changed and moved across the ground as well as rose through the trees in the valley.

Foggy mornings are amazing for Infrared Photography. So, I carried that camera with me also.

The Chrome Filter in IR turns leaves and any plant that have chlorophyll in them to a reddish hue depending on how much light they are absorbing and reflecting. The skies generally stay blue and the highlights can get very tricky.

However, a lot of trial and error can produce the results above. 

An acquaintance of mine via Flicker has lenses he uses to attach to his apple iPhone to take IR shots with it. It is a combination I think of a lens filter and perhaps an app? I don't know, but I know he prefers that over carrying his camera these days.

The things you can do these days with a cellphone camera!

Ariel came on Saturday morning and we are going to do some craft shopping. We watched some videos last night about acrylic paint pouring for Christmas Ornaments. We may try it, it sounds like a fun experiment to do. 

I like the abstract designs that pouring creates. Making a mess might be fun.

Michaels is having quite a sale on some items, so we will take the drive and do some girl shopping together along with a lunch date. Ariel is preparing supper so we'll have a nice evening doing fun stuff to celebrate her birthday.