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. 

Waking up early

 

I haven't always been an early riser, but now I am. It is frustrating to have your eyeballs blast open while it is still dark outside and your body tells you "Get UP"!

I even try for a few moments to lull myself back to sleep. But it doesn't come.

So I decided to make good use of my early wake up time. I made some decafe coffee [yeah, decafe...but I am used to it now] and decided to go watch the sunrise over the ponds at Kickapoo Valley Reserve. 

The skies were brilliantly clear and beautiful with stars twinkling merrily.

Yeah.

Until I got into the river valley, that is.

Then.

Fog.

Dense fog.

But that was fine too. Not what I planned but not unexpected for this area especially near the Kickapoo River. 

I parked by the dam site and got out to look up. I guess I wasn't going to see a brilliant sunrise with the colors and clouds reflecting off the ponds as planned. It was murky and dark. I thought about getting back in the 'Ru and driving to another spot where I could climb a bluff. But tossed that aside.

After all, the dense fog was a challenge. What could I do with it?

The first thing I wanted to try was to catch the 'essence' of the predawn morning with a photo of Bridge 18. I had to use my headlamp to light up the bridge. But with a timed exposure, it didn't look very dark!

This is one of the things with fog, it throws the camera sensors into a frenzy of confusion. After an 8 second exposure it looked as if I'd just taken it on a cloudy day.

I tried a shot of the river but it looked weirdly bluish and strange. This was a 77 second shot.

I was tickled with the outcome though, because it was so strange looking and at least you could see how thick the fog was.

I walked down to the ponds and the fog got even more intense. 

In one photography class I'd taken, I was criticized for not planning far enough ahead. I was told that I should never depend on serendipity for a good photo. But here I was just having a fun time playing in the fog when I hadn't meant to.

I couldn't help myself but to be enchanted by the terrible conditions. So I thought Minimalism! How could I do that?

Easy, Nature was showing me how to do it. 
I didn't achieve true Minimalism though until I shot the middle of the pond like this:

Full version of the same scene:

I spent some time waiting to see if the sun would penetrate the fog. 

It felt weird to be this close to the Visitor Center and not see another soul. However it was still before 6AM, so I guess I was the weird one.

So I walked around the other little ponds to see if I could come up with something interesting. The western pond that has the blind in it was totally obscured by river fog. 

Eventually the fog started to brighten up and I decided to head home.

Parting shot of Bridge 18:

I didn't get out of fog until I got home. I had to leave the river valley. 

So I think .... hmmm, next time get up on the bluff and look down on the fog and gaze at the sky!

I was home before hubby woke up and all was good.

Whew. 

Guess I'll go to bed early again tonight!

Travels with Charlie

Today was one of those days when I didn't have to run someone to an appointment, mow, fix something, or go anywhere. I decided to ask Rich if I could just take Charlie and head out to the Kickapoo Valley Reserve.

He said he didn't care, he'd sleep anyway.

Sunday would be a 'get hay' day and unload the truck too. That is if I can handle that job again.

So without a guilty conscience, I packed a lunch and Charlie's crate into the 'Ru. I laid a towel out on the front seat for on the way back.
I grabbed two bottles of water.
Charlie made an inspection before we left.

Charlie doesn't really 'like' riding in the car much. He still gets car sick. Unless I hold him so he feels comfortable and can look out the window, it seems he gets car sick.

Off we went. Charlie made some gruesome noises in his crate about half way there. I pulled over to check and he'd just been sick. He then laid on the other side of his crate and gave me a dirty look.

We parked and headed across the parking lot and didn't get perhaps 10 feet before a little girl asked her mom if she could see Charlie. Charlie whined and wagged and even peed a bit he was so happy.
I was stopped 3 more times before we got out of the parking lot and onto the trail.
By now Charlie just was wagging and greeting everyone who asked to pet him.

Charlie was over his car sickness and ready to hike.

It was hot in the valley. We both quickly felt a bit overwhelmed by the heat. On the ridge there had been a nice breeze.

So I took Charlie where I knew we could cool off. Bridge 18 in KVR is covered and makes for a nice spot to rest.

Our picnic spot. Charlie had some water and some treats. I ate a sandwich.

The Kickapoo flowed under us, the breezes flowed through the bridge. And we were happy campers.

We finally cooled off and then headed back towards the ponds where we decided to turn around. It was getting hot again and I am not sure how a Pekinese X mini doxxie would handle the heat. Charlie was panting. I knelt in a spot of shade and gave him water for about the 3rd time on our hike.
He lapped it up and then tried to drink out of my water bottle.

His attention was taken by two young ladies walking towards us. I waited in the shade for them to pass.
Charlie stole the show again.

Charlie is loved I guess. I just sat back and beamed. It is nice to have such a well behaved young dog. His temperament and size make him very approachable.

It happened that the girls were also going back the way we were going so I asked if they minded if Charlie and I walked with them.

An adorable dog is an ice breaker indeed. We chatted and walked back to the  parking lot. I gave the girls some other places to visit and hike while they were visiting our area. They thanked me and Charlie and I left for our next stop.
The trail above the little known ice caves.

I think that only local folks know about this parking spot. Most any vehicle can get in and out. Of course, I was driving the 'Ru so... no problem.

We set off for the deep woods.

Charlie was a trooper, he was tired and walked slowly, so I gave him a lift.

We looked down on the ice caves which of course don't have ice in them this time of year. If you didn't know they were below you ... you'd never see them.

[Ice cave from last February...there is a hollow behind the ice.]

We got to the bluff and I had to really keep an eye on Charlie. He isn't as nimble as Morris was and I was afraid he'd try and go over the side of the rock to explore.

He did get stuck in that crack in front of him.

The view is never disappointing from this bluff.

We then stopped for another water break and I set up the Teddy Bear for some photos.

And this happened...

Charlie is always willing to help make trying to photograph this particular Bear very difficult.
I had to catch the bear so he wouldn't roll off the steep bluff.

Of course I figured this would happen. The middle photo was actually what I was looking for!

We headed back to the car. Charlie was tired and I carried him most of the way. Those short little legs aren't made for hard hiking in the heat.
I set him in the passenger seat and took this photo after we got to LaFarge.

He looks miserable doesn't he?

By the next stop sign, he was sacked out enjoying the a/c on the Subraru.

It took him only a few minutes to get back to himself when we got home.
I'm going to have to ask the vet if there is something I can give him for these jaunts we go on. He is a pleasure to have along.

And I'm going to invest in a booster seat. I think that will help a lot.

Charlie was fawned over by everyone he met. I'll bet I could have been dressed in a clown suit and no one would have noticed.

We had a great afternoon.
I'm looking forward to more short jaunts with Charlie.