Finally.

Monday night was particularly stressful with my duties as a Caregiver. My 'patient' woke up at 1AM and I was able to get him back to bed around 3:30. I never got back to sleep. Around 4 I gave up trying to sleep and made a decision.

For my mental attitude [which would be rotten and evil without a good night's sleep], I ditched the plan of running errands. When Respite turned up, I left with my backpack and bug spray. I was going to take some serious quiet time.

Last year I hike 1,000 + miles at the Kickapoo Valley Reserve and other County Parks nearby. Imagine the change I've adjusted to. I haven't gone on a real hike since May 15th. Imagine my withdrawals from Hiking. It was as bad as I would imagine a withdrawal from a drug!

Our area has received a lot of rain. Monday, some areas received over 2 inches or more and the Kickapoo River was rising. Not much of a flood, but the river had seeped into quite a few hay fields and pastures.

I decided to take my feet to the Wintergreen Trail. It is interesting enough and short enough so I can casually hike and look around.

I always make a stop at the 'lookout' and peer down at the river below. It is easy access and only a few minutes from the Visitor Center. 

On nice weekends, this is a busy trail. I choose not to go during those times for obvious reasons.

The trails were reported as muddy and buggy, so I didn't think I'd find anyone else along the way. I was right. I had the place to myself.
And one mosquito found me in a very wet area where the trail goes through weeds and flowers that where waist high.

The shot below is near the end of the trail which stops on the top of a bluff. There is no magical view of the river, but you can watch it and listen to it between the Pines and Hemlocks.

This may be one of my favorite places to stop and just sit for a while. 

I hiked the whole trail to the dead end quickly so I could see if I could find cool and interesting fungi. Then, I took my time returning to the car, walking slowly to peer at every mushroom, interesting tree, and view of the river.

This is another shot I take every single time I hike this trail. I look for this tree that seems to point the way. 

Of course, I did take the Minime and Charlie along as well as a couple other characters. 

Here we found tiny seedlings of pines growing on an obscure part of the bluff. This is off trail so hopefully no careless hiker will trample them.

[Don't look too closely at the minifigs face...how in the heck did a real Charlie hair get stuck on the minifig's face?]

The spot we found the seedlings is right next to the rocks that are evident in the photo.

I'm going to save the cool fungi and other photos not from my cellphone on another post. This morning I am running out of time between chores and our 'date' with Steve for an adventure. 

With all the rain we've had and areas of muddy water, the fishing won't be great so we may just do a drive and a lunch day. 

Rich looks forward to these weekly outings more than anything else right now. 

The rest of that day ... and Sunday

It was a dreary cold windy morning... I traveled along the Kickapoo River and its backwater ponds. People would say it wasn't a beautiful warm spring day and maybe they would have avoided hiking. But I don't mind most weather. 

I will say I won't hike in storms. But drizzle, overcast, cold, breezy? That all works for me. I can even find interesting things to explore in poor weather.

The photo below is one of the ponds I haven't been able to get to before. I had some considerable brush busting to get down to the edge of the pond. Unfortunately, with the harsh wind, no waterfowl or even turtles were out.

The sky started breaking up when I got to the Kickapoo River. This river often turns back on itself and has been dubbed The Crooked River. Kickapoo means 'wander here and there', it fits this river perfectly. It is mostly a quiet unassuming river.

However it can become a raging river when there is heavy rain. The river often expands and floods extremely quickly because it resides in a steep valley.

Canoeing and kayaking along this river is a great past time. I would love to kayak it again.

By the time I wandered down to this spot where Camp G used to be, the sun was starting to show itself. 

This is not far from where I found a tiny skull in the grasses. Most likely a young 'possum skull. It reminds us about the hardships of life.

Back at the ponds with the sunshine out, I spotted some more ducks. I moved to a wet trail with a lot of cover on the eastern pond and got a shot of this duck. May...be a Blue Wing Teal? I'm not up on my waterfowl, but that is what I found when I looked it up.

More of these at another pond???

I stopped once more at a well hidden little pond to see if the turtles had come out to enjoy the sunshine.

They did! I was so tickled!

By now it was early afternoon and bicyclists, dog walkers, and a few teenage type humans were wandering down the blacktop path. I was standing there watching the turtles and listening to the waterfowl in the next pond over when the kids walked by and gave me a funny look.

You know, that look when they see an older person staring off at something that they can't see and they give you the roll of the eyes.

I smiled thinking maybe one day they too can slow down and just look to see what they can see.

I'd found so many cool things while just wandering slowly on my long hike.

I now know where to go back to photograph hundreds of Cinnamon Ferns...

Below is something called 'Old Man's Beard' which is actually a type of wild clematis. A plant I never knew existed. It actually is considered an invasive species and I don't know much about it. It's scientific name is Clematis vitalba.  I'll have to see if I can find these while they are blooming.

On the way back to where I parked, I took a back route around a bluff to  see the magnificent wintergreen tree root that grows horizontal along the bluff.

 

Seen from below, this looks odd and very cool.

Below the tree is a really neat fern that stays green all winter long. It is called a Rock Polypody [common name].

Along the bluff are little nooks and crannies that tell stories of eons of erosion and water.

My Lego Minifigures would fit inside those tiny tooth like features. Jason wasn't with me to tell me the why or how they were formed. But I just think of them as great little hideouts for gnomes, trolls, fairies, and spirits. 

Why not?

And that was that. I made my way back to the parking lot and past kids with their parents getting ready for an afternoon stroll now that the sun was shining.

My feet were tired, I was relaxed and happy. I was ready to go back home. The only thing that was a negative was that I was aware of all of the things I felt I was missing.

However, I also realized how lucky I was to have this time.

And now on to Sunday's fun! Digging and prepping, raking, transplanting, and picking up more gravel.

Wintergreen Trail in November

Sunday morning came and the rains had stopped. I looked at the weather and it appeared that it would be decent for most of the day.

I put some things together in my little backpack which included mini snacks for Charlie and my camera. We took off at 8am. I like to hike the Wintergreen Trail early in the day if I go on a weekend. It is a short trail that is beautiful and has many views of the Kickapoo River. The trail head is right off the parking lot to the Visitor's Center so it gets a lot of midday traffic.

I always take my time while walking this trail. I am very familiar with it. I hike it in the winter and fall because I can view the river more clearly.

I always stop at what is called the 'Look Out'. It is a bluff with a view. 

To get out on the edge takes a bit of maneuvering. It isn't the sort of thing you hop over and down onto the small ledge. Most people don't do it.
I carefully climb down to the spot where I can sit and just gaze south.

I never tire of the view in any season. Below is a shot with my feet in the frame along with the edge of the bluff.

Here is the bluff taken from across the river on a x-country ski trail. I think I took this in 2018. I was on the lower ledge where you can see snow in the photo. The river's edge below the bluff was frozen.

Charlie knows the trail by heart now. He has done it so many times. He knows that he has to sit and wait while I monkey around or pause to look at something. He also knows that I will take advantage of exploring. 

I went below the bluff on the north side. I couldn't get down next to the bluff and the river as it was too muddy and sandy. I had to stand on a little hilly formation to get this side.

I found it interesting with all the different kinds of lichen and ferns growing on it. Obviously there are geological layers showing also. I can't ID them, so I will just admire their beauty.

I can't help but photograph this odd tree formation every time we come through this part of the trail. I am afraid that one year, the tree will fall and I won't get to see it...

This August:

Over the years, I've gotten to know the best spots to look for spring flowers, the best spots to observe the river, and where unexpected rock shelters are. I look forward to seeing them in the winter as the water drips over the rock and forms an 'ice sheet' that can convert the shelter into an ice cave.

Once we hit the Wintergreen rock bluff, the path goes straight along the 'hogback'. The trail is lined on each side with pines and Hemlocks. It never ceases to stun me.

I always stop and the end of the trail and take time to sit on a log and just listen to the river and the sounds of the wind through the trees. It sighs just like I do.

Though, this Sunday we didn't get much quiet. In areas around the Reserve, it sounded like a firing range with all the different farms and at least two shooting ranges I know of that where sighting in their guns for next week's deer season.

Charlie turned himself inside out with anxiety. I had to carry him for a while as he literally shook and vibrated.

We still managed to have a great hike. We traveled only 2 1/2 miles total but took at least 2 hours to do it. There still is so much to see and observe even in November.

Yep. Not sure why there were pencils stuck in a log!

I could have spent most of the day just exploring....

And so now the new week is ongoing...

Rain rain rain...and flurries tomorrow? 
Looks like a good few days to do laundry, cleaning, dusting, washing, and a bit of crafty stuff!

Birds and roots

 I wanted to go see if any Swans, ducks, or other birds had shown up near the KVR Ponds so Charlie and I took a little trip to walk the trails around the ponds.

We saw geese. A lot of geese! 

The water in the foreground is still frozen on this pond. 

On the large pond though, the geese were lined up on the shore where the winds weren't blowing. At first glance it looked like they were turtles all lined up.

I wished that the viewing blind that the Reserve put up wasn't facing the sun. However, it is fun to sit there with binoculars and watch these characters chatter and flap their wings. After all, I felt good getting out and enjoying the sunshine. 

The ponds were a bit of a dud but that didn't matter much. We wanted the fresh air and anytime getting off the farm feels like a bit of a vacation.

We wondered around Harrison Trail and down a little known footpath that encircles one of the smaller ponds. On a good year it is really quite wet and muddy. Only a few places required some leaping from log to log and grass clump to keep from getting my feet wet.

We found cool tree roots...of course...

Now that tree grew sideways and UP!

Charlie had the best time, he chased a family of red squirrels around and around on the base of this bluff before they took off and climbed a pine tree.

Ahhhh! We did find some birds!

I found 3 little ones hiding alongside a bluff out of the wind. I didn't know that Cardinals, Bluebirds, and Sparrows hung out together.

Happy December 1st

Don't mind me if I am all over the place today---> well yesterday.... a day late and a dollar short!!!!

That is how my brain sometimes works.

This is a table with a drawer that was given to us. I think originally it would have had a washbasin on it as the sides have places to hang little towels on. It finally made sense when I pulled out this pitcher and basin and decorated it.

Next up. My weeds!
Velvet Weeds, Grasses, birch branches that have fallen, and Milkweed Pods. The ornament is one of a kind and was made for me years ago. The weeds are temporarily in a copper coal scuttle I purchased at my MIL's estate sale. The Jay Potato chip can...does anyone recall these? I do!

It holds Charlie's dog food. My brother used his antique can just like this for his cat food. Great minds and all that!

This morning I realize that I hadn't been hiking in my favorite place since....November 13th. For me, that is an eternity.

I cancelled my morning gym plans and headed out the door at 8:30. The Wilds were calling. My feet needed to go go go....

I needed to Wander and Explore.

So...
I did.

...with my little Trail Blazer in the lead...

we headed out to parts unknown and places

were no human trails exist....

It was still in the 20 degree range when we hit the trails. Frost was on most of the plants. 

The Kickapoo River had ice forming on it.

As Charlie and I stood watching the river, we saw a Kingfisher diving into the water. It was too far away for me to 'shoot' with my cellphone so we just watched. My old camera was in my backpack and the battery for it was in my pants pocket [staying warm and charged].

Charlie and I got to the bluffs and walked out on the edge [carefully--it was safe!]. We heard the squeaks of an Eagle above us and Charlie dove to get under my feet. I've always made him come to me when we hear Hawks or Eagle calls.

The eagle was in a pine above and to the slight left ... but out of sight in the above photo. We could just barely see him standing in the top of one of the dead branches. What a majestic creature.

I pulled Charlie into my lap and sat with my back against a pine. We watched for a long time. Charlie shook and leaned against me hard. Eventually the Eagle flapped and took off. The sound of its wings was really cool to hear. I've never been that close to an Eagle before.

To young folks seeing an Eagle is no big deal. To me, it is a huge deal. In the 1970's the Eagle had only about 400 breeding pairs in the United States??? Yeah. It IS a huge BIG deal for me to see one while casually hiking.

We moved on and did some more exploring and wandering. 

We scrambled down the bluff and walked along the base. These pines are so incredible. Look at their wild root systems! The roots grow UP and along the bluff wall.

Isn't Mother Nature something cool?

Charlie was nervous when I stopped to exam some rock formations. 

I didn't get any good shots of the multitude of Lichen on these rocks, but I was fascinated with the intricate formations that nearly looked as if they had been carved by the Ansasazi. Well, IF they were super miniature!

I'd mentioned to someone that I was going to go search to see if I could find some 'ice' formations on the rocks. They said I'd never find them. 

Huh. 

👇

We headed back out on the paved trail to see if one of the ponds had ice on it yet.

The little pond did. The ice even had Ice Stars on it.

A light north west wind picked up and I headed back towards the car. 

We stopped at Campsite E and decided to sit out of the wind for a bit and munch on some pretzels.

Selfie:

December was starting off just fine in our book.