Beeee still my beating heart!

 

It was a balmy 20-ish degree F day or a -5ish C day so my Assistant thought we should go snowshoeing at the Reserve. Last week I slugged through the snow, so I decided to use the snowshoes once more. After all, it went so well the day before.

We had parked in a lot near the maintenance shed for the Kickapoo Valley Reserve to get on the trail head.

Charlie and I were trucking along, he was fresh and bouncy and stuck to the tracks someone made while x-country skiing. I broke trail off to the side. 

I heard machinery behind us and looked back. There was a 4 wheeler coming our way. I was a bit confused. In the winter the trail we were on is part of a snowmobile trail and in the summer, they mow through the prairie grasses. However, there is no motorized vehicles allowed at all on these trails.

The 4 wheeler had tracks on it instead of wheels and as the 4 wheeled gizmo pulled up to a stop, I recognized the smile on the dude. This time he wasn't in the Police Truck nor was he in uniform. 

"Hello Jesse," I said when Charlie ran up to him and tried to jump up on the 4 wheeler to hitch a ride. "How are you today?" 

"I'm good! How are you?" He motioned to the 4 wheeler and said, "I just finished putting snow tracks on this 4 wheeler for the winter and thought I'd try them out."

For a moment I was dumbstruck. 

"Wow, that looks like a fun transformation. I'll trade you for my 17 year old 4 wheeler at home." 

He laughed. And then we both stood quietly listening to the light breeze in the trees. 

"Gosh I love that sound," he said.

"Nothing like it," I agreed. "If I could be out in this 24 hrs a day, I would."

He nodded and then gestured towards my snowshoes. "I didn't think we had deep enough snow for those yet."

"Ahhh, we do. I have over 6 inches at home and had a blast yesterday snowshoeing through my woods. I thought the ice crust and the heavy snow would be perfect for snowshoeing along the trails today."

"So it is going good then?" 

[Oh that grin and smile. AND no, I couldn't see the color of his eyes because he had some rather cool shades on and I regretted not having cool shades on myself]

"Yes it is, I'm going to take a peek at the ice caves over the hill today. I intend to cover about 4 miles of hiking. It's a good day for it. Saturday will be awful."

He nodded and we both fell silent and watched Charlie who was trying to figure out how to climb up on the 4 wheeler for a ride. I walked over and picked him up. 

"Okay then. Have a great hike, " he said and started up his snow machine. 

I waved and turned to go with Charlie under my arm. 

I heard him head back down the trail and I started grinning like an idiot. "Charlie, Charlie, was that a coincidence? It had to be. Dang, he is still quite handsome." 

I laughed out loud and thought of how I'd have told Rich about this. Rich would just laugh and remind me that HE was the absolute best-est handsome-ist man I'd ever met. And I would agree with all my heart.

I did note on the card that he'd given me last Friday that he was a Land Manager and Police Officer for the Reserve. That made sense. Still. I felt a bit girlish and atwitter. 
Maybe it was just nice that he recognized me from last week and that he thought he'd better check on that crazy -a$$ed old lady and her dog that liked to wander the Reserve in the winter.

I tossed tall dark and handsome out of my head and continued on my trek.

I walked for a mile into the woods looking for the blue tags that used to mark the 'winter trail' to The Valley of Ice. But those are no longer in existence. The previous management had markers on trees to guide people to find the ice caves aka rock shelters.

I'd been there often enough that I knew how to come through the forest right on top of cave #1. So we backtracked to the old Cedar tree and headed down the steep hill. I paused for a bit as I watched a coyote run out of the shelter and head towards the river.

I'm always mindful that I am hiking in wild animal habitat. I wasn't afraid. I just carefully picked my way down to where I could peer into Number One. This is the same cave/shelter that I met my good friend Jason the Geologist on a New Years Eve of 2021.

I didn't see any evidence of the coyote making a den in there, but there was an ice curtain forming.

I went back up to the very old equine trail above the cave and followed it around to cave #2. I peered down and decided not to climb over all the downed trees this trip. I skipped cave #3. It isn't well known and isn't on the map. 

We weren't worn out or even cold at this point so we went past the maintenance shed and hiked down to Bridge 18 which is a covered bridge over the river.

I'd wanted to get a 'snow' shot of the hand-hewn bench with the covered bridge behind it. 

It is now the cover of my blogger header.

We went up on the bridge and checked the views of the river. 

I am just a curious person. I love to watch the river as it changes through the winter months. I like to see how different the forest looks in the stark landscape compared to the lush greens of summer.

I probably take shots of this area every time I hike or bike through it.

Charlie and I found a nice dry spot out of the light breeze to sit and have snacks. He had dog treats, I had an energy bar.

The temps were dropping as we hiked back up to the ridge and to the parking area. It was a good day. 

I like ice

Not Ice Cubes, or Ice Storms, or Icy roads but natural ice formations. 

I like ice caves or actually ice formations. I like those rock shelters that have water seeping over and through them. In the winter they form exotic and beautiful ice curtains. The colors of the ice can be stunning depending on what the seepage picks up. I've seen hues of greens, blues, and yellows.

It all has to do with absorption of light and reflection of light. But I just admire it for what it is.

I'd planned on this hike for over a week so I packed my things and set off.

It is one of the winter attractions at the Kickapoo Valley Reserve. Getting to this valley is described in the brochure as "Trails into and around the ice flows are steep, slippery, and strenuous travel. Walkers are are advised to use caution as the trails are strenuous back country winter hiking."

This is true. The trails are there and sometimes even easy to follow late in the year by all the frozen foot prints in the snow. The trails are not maintained and sometimes marked with blue strips of ribbon on trees.

I hadn't done a proper exploration of the Valley of Ice last year, just a hurried walk through when I met my Geologist friend Jason and his dog Piper.

This time I wanted to take my time and explore.

So I did. I found the first ice cave after taking the trail from the maintenance building along the snowmobile trail. The 40+ degree weather had melted the packed snow into ice and the light skiff of snow and sleet we had the night before made that trail just plain treacherous. I trudged through the snow on the side of the packed trail. 

The first cave wasn't too impressive and many more large trees have fallen over the past year. Climbing through the mess wasn't my what I intended to do first thing so I followed a run off along the valley floor. 

In a way it was a happy accident because it took me far out off the trails and to where I wanted to explore last spring. 

Charlie and I crossed the backwater marsh on the eastern side of the river and gazed across towards the Valley of Ice on March 11th in the blog titled Time Out.

I ended up where the arrow is in the next photo.

I sort of rejoiced in the discovery and then turned towards the steep hillside behind me and get back to the trail.

According to the contour map of the area, I had to climb 100 feet up from the valley floor back to find the trail.

I did. And I enjoyed every bit of it. At times I sat on an old pine tree's roots and stared down into the valley and the ice covered river. 
I was feeling every second of being alive. 

I took off my coat when I reached the trail on top and carried it as I hiked along the trail back towards where the ice caves were. I did a face palm as soon as I realized that the trail would take me around the top of all these valleys and that I'd be going at least an extra mile. I secretly was glad no one else had gone with me. However, doing all of the trails last year was a real bonus. As I immediately knew where I was and how far I had to go.

In good time I found the right valley and the first of the Ice Caves. I made my way down into the run off below the cave.

It looks as though you can walk right on into it. Well, it takes some scrambling and some grit. Here is the view from where I was sitting inside on the left part of the cave.

I scrambled around to the other side. Having good insulated and water resistant pants is a good thing here. I sat inside for quite a few minutes and listened to the water dripping. It was peaceful.

View of the Ice Curtain across the front from the inside.

As the noon whistle went off in LaFarge, I was halfway back to the parking area. 

I passed up a father and son who asked me about the ice and then a couple with their dogs. A pit bull and a mini Doxxie. It seemed that a  few people were taking advantage of a nice sunny Holiday to get out and walk.

When I got to the parking area I had to laugh. It seems Subarus like to park near each other. 

I can't wait to go back and explore some more.

Valley of the Ice