Quiet long hike with doggies

Thursday

It was a ... day...

Instead of going right away in the morning like I do on some days I hike, I waited until later in the day to the Kickapoo Valley Reserve. 

I used my 'hiking' vest to carry the essentials. Water and doggy snacks. I wasn't going to take Charlie, but the look he gave me was so pathetic, I did anyway. 

I ended up carrying Charlie for nearly half of our hike. I've done that before when it was too warm for him. Short legs put him close to the ground and the reflective heat coming off the ground makes him hot.

He was either too warm or just being a Dachshund who decided he wasn't going to work very hard. 

I should have left him at home. But in the end, they both enjoyed the adventures so much. After all, I wasn't trying to set a record, but just move along.

It was just one of those afternoons that were meant to enjoy the surrounding forest. I was so happy I did go. The Trillium were all over the place. 

I stopped a lot to just enjoy the sights and sounds. At other times, we marched right along. At one point, I dropped Charlie's light line and he simply ran ahead as if he were a pup. I had to trot with Hannah to keep up.

I found so many patches of  Dwarf Ginseng. I often forget what it looks like and have to use Google Lens to ID it.

There were patches of invasive Garlic mustard that I picked and put in a plastic bag to turn into the Reserve at the end of our hike. [I have used young garlic mustard as seasoning and it is good, maybe next year I'll dehydrate some and crush it for seasoning]

I have a hard time destroying Dame's Rocket. It is just too pretty. 

That tiny black blob on the trail is Charlie. I got tired of carrying him or trying to drag him along. He followed at his own pace through the pine forest. During the ground bird nesting season, I do keep him close and use his beeper collar to keep him from seeking out nests.

He sure does have the stubbornness his Dachshund and Pekinese parents. He does things *His Way*. I love it.

This beautiful trail is one of the most hiked ones on the Reserve ... well, hiked, equine riding, and bike riding that is.

Here is the Kickapoo River which has gone down in its water level since our last hike through here on April 27th.

When we finally reached that last leg of our hike on Old 131, Charlie perked up and set the pace. We stopped here at this pond to watch Canada Geese and Goslings swimming. We saw what I think was a Beaver peeking at us before it disappeared into a mound of sticks in the opposite pond.

If anyone is wondering why I have beeper collars on the dogs, it is in case I drop their leash and they decide to chase through the underbrush. I can beep them back to me. It is a safety measure for them. I lost Charlie in my forest for an hour when he was a pup. 

I trained him long time ago [and Hannah now] to come when beeped. It is never a punishment.

Oh and if you haven't guessed it by now. I think my life is ruled by my dogs and mules. Dogs and mules don't lie to you or BS you. They are honest as the day is long.

And ... they are without a doubt always thinking that their purpose in life is to be my friends.

--------

Miles hiked: 9.84
Time? Not an issue, but nearly 4 hrs with lots of breaks

Gear: Merrill running/hiking Janii shoes [not as good as my other ones, but no sore feet]

Temperatures averaged 75 F

Steps? Most steps in a day according to Garmin. Huh: 28,622

[that must include my chores, checking fences, sunrise walk, and whatever else I did during the day]

How did I feel? Uffdah. Well, my low back hurt from carrying Charlie a lot. Iced later.

Hannah: full of energy all of the way
Charlie: was himself, *don't rush me!*
 

Do you wannah?

Do you want to go for a hike?

The reaction.

Immediate.

YES!

It is nice to know that sometimes I can just pick up and go. The scrappers have been absent. I think they just want a few more things and hopefully I am done with trying to guess their schedules.

I'd spent the weekend with Siera and making a campfire ring out in the woods, along with a place to put a tent. I hauled dirt for my washtub flower 'pots' and seeded other small areas.

The yard needed mowing sort of. But since I had the rider back it could wait until I was ready to do it.

I checked the times for travel to Wildcat Mountain with the big detour and was surprised that the detour would add lots of miles and time. I compared it to Wyalusing and found that the time would be equal even if it was 10 more miles of travel one way.

I have not yet hiked at Wyalusing in the spring pre-skeeter season, so I jumped at my chance.

I started down the Immigration Trail which led to the backwaters of the Wisconsin River and saw the sign that said the trail by the river was temporarily closed due to the flood. However the river had receded and I saw a bird photographer further down the trail looking around.

I ended up turning at the sign that said 'Bluff Trail'. The Bluff Trail that comes off the Immigration Trail is steep and difficult with rocks that are like stairs but also about knee high. With two rambunctious dogs on leashes, it was a bit tricky.

There are no pictures of the treacherous spots. I concentrated on footing.

We made the steep climb out of the valley. Miss Garmin said it was about 900 feet of climbing over a mile. But the view from the Bluff Trail was really quite beautiful.

We could see the river below and catch glimpses of Turkey Vultures, Eagles, and Red Tail Hawks.

I found lots of cool looking rocks and bluffs. 

We were actually below a bluff on this trail.

There was a little footbridge over a rock slide that I stopped at to give the dogs a drink of water and a break for me.

They are looking up towards the bluff top where we could hear birds and someone mowing in the campground up on top of the bluff.

There are hazards to having a dog or two along. Sometimes when you find something really cool, you squat down to take a shot of a wild flower...and....

But, I persisted.

Here is a flower that I have never seen in the wild before. A shooting star!

Imagine my surprise to find that this section of the trail was literally lined with them below the cold bluff rocks. I'm not saying a few here and there, but thousands of them.

We finally got to the steps I'd heard about tales about. Steep steps made out of wood up the side of the bluff.

...and doggy entanglement....

The steps were built by the CCC eons ago and still hold up. I doubt most people could walk up this slope without the stairs in place. In the winter, this trail is closed off due to it being steep and the one side having a drop off.

At the top of these stairs was a whole in the rocks that we could fit through. The trail goes beyond the rocks but the stairs built to descend were too steep for us to negotiate safely with leashes and happy bouncy dogs.

The dogs would have been happy to attempt them and I would have, but I'd have had to let the dogs loose to do it. 

I decided ... not this day.

We opted instead for climbing to the top of the bluff and finding one of the lookouts.

I did promise myself to come back without dogs, or maybe bring just one for the ease of investigating more cool plants and an easier hike ... this experience was like herding cats on a steep trail. Eventually we will get this down to a science and the dogs will be on a split lead requiring only one hand. 

But with every adventure, Hannah learns more and so do I.

Until next time...

I thought about the double dog thing and recall having a leash when I trained hound dogs that let me have two dogs clipped to the leash.

I looked that item up and ordered one, guaranteed not to tangle.

Well, there you go!

Maybe there will  be less entanglement and more fun next time!

We finished strong with 4 tough miles under our belt [leashes].  I think the most satisfying feeling was that I wasn't tired at all. 

Annual hike Gone to the Dogs....

I met Jason and his dog Piper last year on New Year's Eve. We hiked together for the first time during the Kickapoo Winter Festival in 2022. We hiked together a couple of time sense then. Saturday we met up again to hike at the Weister Creek ice cave trail.

Jason had adopted Felix just weeks ago. There is a lot of unknown about Felix as he is an older dog who supposedly lived on the streets. 

Felix is in the red coat. Charlie is trying to help Jason do something or get in his car.

Here Piper is running back towards us on the trail. Piper wears a coat and also has Paw Balm on her feet to help protect her feet.

She seems to have boundless energy.

Both of Jason's dogs are adopted rescues and he absolutely adores his dogs. Charlie adores Jason too because he has the greatest dog treats.

Jason explained that he wanted to see how Felix would do on a hike that was a bit longer than 30 minutes. He planned on taking his dogs with him to Superior next month to visit the Ice Caves along the lake.

Charlie didn't wear his coat, I'm still trying to find something that will allow his tiny legs free movement when negotiating deeper snow and jumping logs. However, the weather didn't bother him one bit.

His orange reflective vest is great for visibility as long as we are on a groomed trail.

Photo by Jason:

Piper, chillin' out:

We got to the Ice Caves fairly quickly.

Piper lead the way and then waited for us.

Ahhhh hah!

We can see who the dogs prefer!

Felix inside the ice cave doing his own thing.

We spent a long time exploring the ice formations and Felix started to get a bit grumpy and began to shake. We figured he was cold and decided to head off the bluff we were on.

By the time we got down into the valley, Felix was himself again and walked sedately behind me or Jason. Charlie often walked shoulder to shoulder with Felix. [Hey! A new friend for Charlie that doesn't try to roll him over like a ball!]

Piper kept bounding around us and trying to get Charlie to play. Charlie decided that Felix was more his speed. All was good in the doggy hiking world.

We met up with two large groups of people. Felix just walked by them and ignored them with no more than a sniff. Piper sat out of their reach and waited for them to pass. She is good with one or two people, but shy of crowds.

I had leashed up Charlie because he is a greeter and adores humans of all kinds. They asked if they could pet Charlie and I said sure. I let him off leash and he did his Charlie thing. He squeaked and grunted with pleasure, his tail doing wild wags.

One lady asked how did Charlie get through all this snow? Charlie showed off by jumping a log and diving through the snow to circle around her with glee.

My answer: He Loves Snow!

We got to the end of the ice formations near where the old Beaver Dam used to be. Jason climbed out on a boulder next the the very cold and very swift Weister Creek where he wanted his photo taken.

It was pretty funny that Charlie whined and fussed all the time Jason was up there. I kept him with me as I am sure the little stinker wanted to try and jump over the water to get out there.

Our hike back was rather quiet and unexciting. We talked about meeting up again this winter for another outing. I think I'll take him to an off the map place to see some bluffs and ice.

Hopefully, it will all work out. And...Felix did fine on a 2 hour hike! We didn't hike fast but kept it to his pace.

Charlie was exhausted from his outing.

Another good hike in the books for the start of 2023!

Travels with Charlie, Basil, Logan...

I was sitting having some coffee after doing chores that I decided to 'take a hike' off the farm.

On a whim I texted my neighbor to see if she was busy or not. *Would you, Logan, and Basil like to go to the KVR for a hike? It is ok if not.*

The weather was going to change again on Saturday, the forecasters had predicted a rain/snow/icy wintery mix with the possibility of up to half an inch of rain before it changed.
I figured things would be a mess over the weekend and with the temperatures starting to rise, this might be one of the last nice days to hike.

Text back *Sure we are up for it!*

I set everything up for Rich and got him up so he could have his breakfast and meds. I put his lunch in a microwave dish and he said he could warm it up.
It was a go...

I picked up my neighbor and we headed towards the Kickapoo Valley Reserve. Logan was happy in the back seat where Charlie kept alternating between his 'car' seat and sitting next to Logan.

We decided to search for an ice cave. Logan was thrilled and the trail was packed and easy to follow.

This trail is one of my favorite trails in the KVR. It is an out and back, not too difficult, yet it has a diverse change of scenery.

Dogs are allowed to be off leash on the trails except during nesting season for the birds.

Someone had fun writing in the snow along the trail.

 And then we added a note too.

Ice Cave!

It wasn't one of the huge ice caves, but Logan and the dogs were impressed and had fun smelling everything. There I am with my cat face mask on and the Skunk Hat ... of course!

The Ice formations have become rather popular to see and the Reserve ahad to post a sign to people who hike there to *Be Nice to the Ice*.  Basically they don't want you disturbing these beautiful creations. No climbing on them or breaking them. I had to give the ice a hug.
I was being Nice to the Ice!

We explored the 'cave' and then headed down and around the deep snow to the second place that generally has a huge Ice Fall.

Logan and Basil are walking on top of an ice fall that is buried under the snow. The time to photograph this 'fall' is when the snow cover is nearly gone.

Like last year:

Same place just below the formation with my friend Daryl holding Charlie.

The temperatures climbed up and I told Logan to lead the way out of the little steep area. He was game and the steep climb was on!

Back on the trail we hiked to the end of Wintergreen trail where it dead ends on a tree covered bluff.

It was time for snacks and some hot chocolate.

On the way back over one part of the trail, Logan stopped to listen to the water traveling deep under the snow and ice pack.

I took a shot of the ice below us. Amazing blue ice...

And to top things off, Logan left the next travelers with a reminder that he had been there....

Late that afternoon, Charlie slept on the couch and dreamed of more adventures along the Wintergreen Trail.

And all was good in his doggy dream world...

I imagine that Basil had to have a rest too....

Thank you Lauren and Logan for the great adventures!