Gobsmacked...Astounded....

After the Saturday's storms blew through, it had cooled off. So I took Charlie for a walk along the gravel road. I decided to duck down one of the logger's skidder lanes. Talk about mud and slick walking, it made icy conditions seem easy.

I was curious as to how much they were taking from my favorite steep hillside. This was the place I hiked every day for nearly 30 years. I called it my happy place.

Photo from last fall.

Below...the Dry Run.

This was taken last year during peak fall colors.

The spring snow melt and waters from the ridge run down 

this crooked dry run. The roots of the trees
hold back the soil and rocks.

And..

now... [not exactly the same spot, but this is near the dry run]. I'll have to wait until winter to get a good look at what remains. 

[Panos with the cell phone]

Do the owners of this land even know what this looks like? Does the guy -- Glen who leases this forest for bow hunting know what has transpired?

Does anyone have any idea what the heavy rains will do to this fragile soil on the hillsides? By the time I'd slogged down to this spot, the heat and humidity had returned. I was literally gobsmacked, astounded, and totally blown away by the destruction.

[Yeah, I thought of some words that shouldn't be posted on a family friendly blog too...]

I'd heard the one logger sawing all week... and trees thundering as they hit the ground. 

I was hot, sweaty, muddy, and shocked. I slogged back up through the slippery mud. I wanted to cry.

As I walked past the piles of logs to be picked up, I reminded myself that this was not my land even if  I knew this land better than those whose names were on the deeds. 

No more will I be able to find my landmark trees or sit on my favorite outcropping of rocks and enjoy the deep forest.

And to think that they may end up doing this to the nearly 1 square mile of land with two valleys in it.

Hubby reminded me once more that it was none of my business.

I am in deep mourning for the land I love.

I suppose, in defense of the owners of the estate, they probably need the $$$$ for property taxes or some such thing. The cropland has been left untouched.

Ok. Enough about that.

I feel personally affronted by the destruction and reckless use of logging. As someone else suggested to me. "You know, people often log their land before they decide to sell it."

In my mind, the land is worth so much more with careful management of the forest. 

I swear. I heard the forest weeping...

To be continued....

Just stuffss

 They started on the woods to the east of me....

I know the absentee landowners needed $$$ for their taxes. They've leased out the land in sections for hunting and farming. Apparently it doesn't pay enough.

Sigh.

This was one of my walking trails... 
I guess I won't freak out because it IS not my land.
They need the money.
The understory will grow back in.

But damn, it looks ugly.

These are the tops of the magnificent oak trees they cut down. The tops are left where they land and the oak logs are taken.

I know all of this, it has been years since I've seen another section of this land logged. 

The stump of one of my favorite oaks. The sunlight pours into the forest now with these grand old oaks cut down.

However, my creative thinking says this would be a perfect dystopian backdrop for some of my toys.

Right? What better place to show off the damage to the earth.

This logging is not for forest health. It is for cash and quick money.

My neighbor who is a 'forester' goes around our county and helps people manage their forests for a healthy forest.

His biggest concern was the logging company taking oak trees in the spring.

Oak wilt is a huge concern and spreads with this activity in the warmer weather. He wished they'd done this work in the winter.

I calmly explained to him that the owners are not stewards of the land. They only want money for leasing and money for profit [I think]. Someone pointed out that a lot of land owners log off their forest before selling the land.

Uffdah. 

The dynamic of the forest will be changed. It is not my land but I know it so well from walking it for 29 years. Last summer......

How it will change remains to be seen. 

Things change and we have to adapt.

Lil' Bear looks at the stump and at the forest....

~~~~~ 

I had meant to show off some birds we've seen in the past few days. But this was on my mind.

I wonder how it will affect the two families of the Pileated Woodpeckers in this forest. This was one of them visiting just the other day. Chipping at the deer skull on the tree for some calcium perhaps?

Just some stuff.

I've been stacking up the miles in hiking without even thinking about it. I do hit the 'walk' button on the smart watch and go on my merry way hiking around here or along groomed trails.

I checked my stats and was really surprised by them. If I hike 27 more miles by the 31st, I will have hiked 1,000 miles in one year.

Well damn. That is a lot of miles! I mean I could have walked the nearly the whole WI Ice Age Trail in this year. I did not hike every day and skipped those hot/humid days and of course many below zero days that had dangerous wind chills.

So that is something interesting.

Cool things found when hiking the other day.

The boulder below is probably a ton or so in weight. It stands about 4 feet tall. According to my geologist friend it is a huge fossil from 470 million years ago. A Stromatolite fossil. You can read about them here at Stromatolites at the UW site. These were algae mounds that grew before multicellular organisms.

In the next dry run ravine over, I found this curious root system holding on to the side of the steep bank. The tree is an old oak which has survived many flash floods in this spot. I just find that the root system is simply amazing.

Nature sure can surprise one.

My Geologist friend came out on Monday to explore a formation I've known about for nearly 30 years.

I'd told him about a 'hole' in the field that was a rock like entrance. He wanted to go see it and maybe go down into it.

Finally Rich and Jason got to meet and it actually went very well. Jason is a chatterbox and will pick up any gaps in a lagging conversation.
They discussed the history of the area, rocks, sinkholes, caves, rock shelters, lay of the land, and whatnot. Jason was inquiring about the land around us and Rich was enjoying the company.

Jason wanted to see the 'hole'. And. He wanted to go down it.

Nope. Not my cup of tea. Hubby had a hound dog go down that hole years ago and spend a long time getting the dog out. The amount of scat around the hole said 'Disgusting Gross Poo' to me. I avoid the hole, it gives me the creeps.

After Jason climbed down in, the dogs and I chilled out in the warm sun.
Charlie was more nervous than Felix and Piper. He really adores our friend, the treat man!

Sleepy Hairy Dogs
Happy in the  Warm Sun

What did my friend find? He found a 40 to 60 foot 'room' with a ceiling of 2-4 feet tall. It was full of wet mud, and bottles that looked like liquor bottles that had been set there. Most of the items were not broken. He commented that there were hundreds of bottles and jars.

To him it seemed that at one point people used to come down and drink in the 'cave' perhaps. I do know that the previous owner had said that they had a ladder to go in and out of the cave when they were quite young.

That was over 70+ years ago.

Since then the hole has had tires, a window, and even barbed wire tossed down into it. Last year, it was covered in a brush pile to mark it so those working the field wouldn't drive into the hole.

The look on his face when he came back up was priceless. He was incredibly happy.

And...the dogs were happy to see him, despite the fact he was covered in mud.

We hiked through the forest so he could see the Grumpy Face Rock and then headed back to the house so we could share with Rich what he'd discovered.

The huge tract of land next door has a fairly interesting history. There was a Speak-Easy on the land during prohibition. It was located in such a way that anyone visiting there had to walk nearly a mile through the woods to visit it.

The original settler that acquired most of the land was a migrant from Norway. He changed his name when he came to the US as he was 'wanted' back home for something. He built a huge farm, purchased a local bride, and had two boys and a girl.  During the Depression, he paid back taxes on farms around him and extended his farm land. 

There are many local stories about the original owner. He was considered ruthless.

When the milk man drove his team of horses there to pick up the milk, he'd bring the owner two large jugs of liquor once a week. It was rumored that the husband and wife were not the 'cleanest' folks around. They allowed chickens and other animals to wander in and out of the house.

The land is now in the hands of the third generation. The farmland is rented out, the forest is leased to some hunters, and starting soon a logging company will be coming in to harvest trees.

What an interesting start to the week.

Piper and I.
Photo by Jason.
She is sitting on top of the huge fossil in that
first photo.