Cold and Ice. I like ice.

I waited for a 'warmer' day to go hiking and check out the Ice Falls and the Rock Shelter on Wintergreen Trail. I thought I dressed properly. 

Thought being the word of the day.

The worst part was my mitten - gloves. I chose the very wrong ones. I thought the polar fleece ones would be plenty warm. They are thin and work in most of the weather but apparently not in temperatures in the low teens with a slight breeze. I should have worn my little cheap thin gloves and my hand made mittens with the double palm.

Lesson learned. I balled up my hands inside the mitten gloves and stuck them inside my jacket pockets in an effort to warm them up.

Charlie and I went on regardless of the cold fingers. I was smart enough to add a scarf to the contents of my backpack so I could use that to protect my face from the breeze off the river. I generally pack a spare pair of gloves or mittens too. Ach. Lesson learned.

We made it without any trouble to the place where there is a Rock Shelter that turns into an Ice Cave by February. I wanted to see how the warm weather, fog, and rain, affected the building of the ice. Was it all gone? Was it there?

It was there and it surprised me. The Rock Shelter itself is huge. The ice was long and but I couldn't get a good shot of it.

Here is a shot from 2019 that a friend took of me hugging the ice.

The cooler parts are not the rock shelter itself, but the area that it drains down into. 

There are actually 2 areas of Ice Falls in this one spot. Water drains constantly from across the ridge and flows over this area and out to the river.

Here is a wide view from the bottom. 

This view is stunning. I don't think many people get to see this because the climb down is pretty intense. The Shelter I was pictured in .. is in the top right of this photo. So it is quite a distance that the water flows.

To the left is an ice falls. To me, it is one of the prettiest ice formations I've ever seen.

I always climb down to view it in the winter. I just can't help myself.

Along the trail there are a few other interesting places to see ice. This one is a bit treacherous if you are not paying attention and try to walk over it when snow covers it.

We made it to the end of the long bluff and got a shot of the river below us. In many places it was frozen over. However the river is dangerous when iced over because the water is flowing underneath it.

We made the trip safely despite getting a bit chilled along the way. I did end up using the scarf to keep my chin and face warm while walking back into the slight breeze. It was nice to get in the car and turn on the seat heater.

I'll be back to all the places I can get to as many times as possible throughout this winter.

Drifting in the Driftless

 I thought it was cool to come up with that: Drifting in the Driftless.

Because that is exactly what we did together. I had a goal in mind, but I abandoned that goal and just decided to drift back and forth like the tiny stream that meandered through this narrow valley. 

The stream is not indicated on the map so it must come from various springs along the way. The valley is no more than 50 yards wide at its widest spot. The north facing hillside is steep with many 'dry' runs and rock shelters.
The south facing side is nothing but bluffs dotted with caves that I did not explore [this time].

Charlie and I followed the valley from the west end to the east end where it ended at the new highway that was built in the 1970's. 

Photo of the Kickapoo River
taken with the Infrared Camera.

The ice 'slide' in IR.

Rock Shelter with ice, IR.

I made a series of very short video clips and stuck them together to form a little view of what it was like. The video of course doesn't do it justice but perhaps one can get the sense of just how narrow and secluded this area was. 

I'm keeping the location to myself as I am pretty sure there are some rare plant species that thrive in this micro climate that is so unusual. 

So in the first part of the video you will see a familiar spot of the Kickapoo River. It was frozen over but the grinding noise was the ice moving and trying to make passage through the river. It unnerved Charlie enough so he started to whine.

The rest is with no sound because I don't think anyone would enjoy listening to the mic noises.

The video is 1:44 seconds. To see and understand just how narrow and wild looking this place was...I had to do it as clips.

Hope it is worth your time.

I was going to go back today but needed and eyeball rest. I'll be going back on Wednesday to visit the hogback above the caves. At least that is the plan.

Happy Drifting

Peregrinating

and Maundering about....