Walk the Dogs

These two really do have fun together. Dixie is the velcro dog which I find pretty funny. She generally will run a small distance to smell good smells and then she is instantly back to check me by touching my hands or knee with her large nose.

Charlie finds her to be a great playmate. And eventually she will give in to his puppyish behavior and wrestle with him.

Charlie takes the tumble, but rolls and gets right back up.

And Sweet Dixie doesn't seem to mind at all.

We headed down to the middle of the creek. I thought that I didn't dress warm enough as I was chilled. So I figured a fast hike would warm me up.

I wanted to grab a few quick shots of the creek. With the skies so dull I could quickly set up a long exposure quickly.

I was looking for ice fingers which I was able to find fairly quickly. These past few days we have broken records for cold temperatures and it shows in the creek.

There was a challenge though in having a little dog who wanted to sit on the very same rock I had my tripod on and a very big DOG that thought any time I squatted down ... she should SIT in my lap.

Here Dixie comes on the lope, leaving Charlie to a good smell. I steadied my camera and stood up just as Dixie poked that huge nose into my face. Oh for the love of a hound.

I set up another shot and fended off the dogs, then put everything away except the pocket camera.

Charlie was unfazed by the ice on his coat. He kept chasing Dixie and they kept playing. I checked to make sure he was warm enough. No...no shivering at all. He wiggled and ran after his Big Gal Pal.

I'd have to take another day this week between appointments and errands to take a solo walk to the creek to find more ice formations.

I sure do love winter and hunting for these little unique formations.

I may have to get out early tomorrow morning to hunt some more up we've had a small record cold spell and it looks like it may break tomorrow afternoon.

Come Saturday I won't be able to take the dogs for a walk for a few days.

It is opening weekend for the 9 day Deer Gun Season.
I am conflicted over these 9 days. Probably because on the one side of my property is many acres of land that is 'invaded' by weekend warriors who dress in orange and look for the BIG Monster Buck. They sometimes lose their sensibilities.
After opening weekend, the landowner disappears and the squatting brother will let anyone hunt who brings him beer.

I am always grateful on the last day when the sun sets and gun season is over.

The dogs and I can walk freely about without being mistaken for deer.

All by myself

The world is about to go crazy.
I don't mean the 'world' news, I mean my private little corner of the world that involves my mother in law, sister in law, and husband.
MIL is going to come home from the Nursing Home Rehab today.
I anticipate some major changes of the daily routine yet again.

So on Sunday I decided to grab a some time by myself. I needed to stay pretty local even though I wanted to go back to Duck Egg. So I chose to go to the Double J Bridge. In September of 2016 we had a major storm with flash flooding. The Black Bottom Creek [that is the name all the old timers still call it] gathered the run off from the ridges and dry runs and it rushed down the long valley towards the Kickapoo River.
The JJ Bridge was over run with trees, trunks, parts of buildings, and the overwhelming power of rushing raging waters. The support beams are missing and exposed, there is a huge hole between the road and the bridge itself.
One more flash flood like that and I imagine the other bridges will be condemned.

Bridge JJ this fall:

And then on Sunday from the other side:

With such a dry winter and spring [so far] the water level has really decreased along this Trout Stream. There is no money in the budget as of yet for the township and the county to fix this bridge properly.

All of the bridges along 'Black Bottom' have been compromised, but JJ has been closed now since September 23, 2016. 

However, one can park nearby this bridge and fish for trout in the deep pools. I park and walk along the creek to look for pretty photos.

It was very cold Sunday morning so I was able to find some ice 'fingers' that develop from the stream water splashing upwards on to sticks and branches that are along the stream.

I really find them quite fascinating.

To get the two shots above, I did stand in the water. I wore knee high boots and the swift water came to just about my calves.

There is something very soothing about listening to the rushing water. 

I found a rock to sit on and just decided to enjoy the solitude for a bit.

Sticks, rocks, water. They make a tremendous soothing sound.

This was a long exposure of sorts.
I like long exposures. I like very long ones and shorter ones, depending on how I want to present something.
The shot above is 1.3 seconds. Just enough to give a feeling of the rushing water, yet not make it too smooth.

Then there is the 40 second exposure which makes takes on a different sort of character.
The water is smoothed out with patterns of white where the water splashes over rocks.
I look at the two and think I like the shorter exposure in this instance.

I did these two shots for fun. This one above is taken at 1/30th of a second. The rocks are nice and sharp. There is a sense of water flow.

Same shot, 1/3rd of a second. It changes the whole feel of the shot.
I feel this one shows a better sense of movement.

And...I leave you with a shot from the top of the bridge in 2010.

The stream has changed a lot since then.

I don't know how things are going to go from here on out but I will do as I always try to do.
Enjoy a bit of time by myself doing what I love.
Walking stream beds,
Walking the dogs,
Hiking,
or riding mules.

Even a small amount of time doing those things can make me feel recharged and ready to take on the world.
Well.
Sort of.

The Night Hikers

Message: "Hey can we go on a night hike?"

It was from my Kenosha Crew. They were coming to visit Rich and I for the weekend.
I typed back: "Yes, of course!"

I had told them how fun it had been to use headlamps and challenge the wooded trials and the creek in the dark.

Years ago my husband and I had redtick hounds and we hunted raccoon at night. I'd always enjoyed our adventures in the dark and rediscovered how fun it actually is to explore trails in the dark.
Things just don't appear the same in the daylight.

After they arrived Friday evening, we gathered up headlamps and flashlights and headed out the door. We headed through the gates and into the cattle's summer pasture.

Photo: Daryl Clausen

We climbed down the steep bank and into the creek bottom. 

Creek Leaping at night is always more fun than in the day time.

During the day one can see exactly where the rocks are to use as stepping stones.

Photo: Daryl Clausen

We got to the ice wall fairly quickly.

The ice wall is way cooler at night...what can I say?

Here the wall was lit up by sticking a headlamp behind the ice.

Day view of approximately the same place.

Friday night's adventure was incredible. The Kenosha Crew loved it.

We used different colored lights in our flashlights to light the ice up from the backside. The kids climbed the ice wall in the dark and slid down it.

Daryl Clausen took this incredible shot of us exploring the ice wall from my Zen rock pile.

We moved on down the creek. We tromped through the snow and headed for the snowmobile crossing. I knew there would be some neat ice formations there.

Amanda and Daryl are rock hounds and they kept finding rocks with Drusy quartz in them. I've learned over the 20 some years of living in this area that even during the most casual walk in the creek or woods in this area, one will always find an interesting rock to pick up.

When we got to the 'Crossing' there were "oohs and ahhhs" as we admired the ice formations that clung to the grasses and roots where the stream had been tamed by the snowmobile club and directed through a culvert.

Photo by Daryl Clausen

Everyone gathered and admired the beautiful ice formations. My cell phone camera didn't do the 'Crossing' any justice what so ever...

But Daryl caught some beauties with his cell phone:

Photo credits to Daryl Clausen

We headed back with the kids and climbed a steep hill to cross the Merry Meadow.
The new snowfall that we'd had earlier this week was wet and heavy. It was frozen and made for difficult walking. If we'd all had snowshoes or had skis, it would have been an easier walk.

Everyone was tired but excited about going exploring the next day to the Ice Cave and the Lost or Secret Valley.

The Kenosha Crew had been hooked by Night Hiking. They definitely wanted to do it again.