He said...

"Why don't you take a day off?"

My husband was sitting in front of the TV while I was looking out the window at the mules I'd just got back in from feeding.
Charlie was buried in blankets on the couch.

"What a good idea!" I answered. "I'm going to the Ice Caves, do you mind?"

I got that look that sort of said he DID mind. Then I asked if he wished to come along. He gave me another look.
I then asked if he wanted me to stay home and watch him watch TV?

He shrugged and replied, "You are going to go anyway."

That was sort of a snub I guess. So I thought about it for a bit. I didn't want to make him feel bad. But he was able to get up and move around if his brain would let him, but I think his brain won't at this time. I ask him to go places with me and have lunch and he decides he'd rather sit at home. Socialization is very important for him. Yet he avoids it like the plague.

"Yes, you are right. I am going anyway because I cannot sit around all day." I am honest with him and he knows I hike or walk every single day when not shoveling or doing chores.

So I packed my backpack with my usual gear and headed out.

I'm so glad I did.

I enjoyed a beautiful hike exploring the Ice Formations near Wiester Creek in the Kickapoo Valley Reserve.
Saturday the Reserve had a paid guided tour  and the folks that had walked made a nicely packed trail which made the hike much easier.

View from above the first 'ice caves'.

Inside the 'caves'.

The footing was a bit tricky, but I'd planned ahead with my YakTraks so it wasn't too bad.

The second ice formations. Inside and outside.

It was eerie listening to the water drip from the rocks through the ice formations.

I continued on towards a good view of Wiester Creek and the tiny bluff where more ice formed.

I noted that the guided tour ended there and circled back, but I knew about the old equine trail that went up and over those ice formations to another one that is usually not seen by anyone.

My hike ended at the Orange Ice.

Charlie and I had come to this same spot on the 4th of January and it had changed!

I headed home after talking with a group of people in the parking area that were headed out. They'd asked if the hike was worth it.

"Oh yes."

And it was.

Three hours to myself was very helpful. I felt refreshed.

All was quiet when I got home.
Rich was taking his usual nap.


He complained of not feeling well after supper and went to bed.
I worked on the gnarly tree and the Fairy House project until I felt ready to go to bed.

Let's see what Monday will bring us.

Ice Hunting part II

After breakfast, we packed our backpacks and made sure that Rich was comfortable. He said he was going to lay down and nap.

So the Gang and I + Dogs, headed towards the Kickapoo Valley Reserve. KVR had their annual Winterfest going on and we went past the building and headed out to the area that I'd explored in mid December just days before Rich's hospitalization.

Those who run the reserve have put up some signs that would help a person locate the 'Ice Caves', but if you are a person that understands how our peculiar landscape works, you'd have no trouble finding the ones that are popular and the ones that others usually don't know about.

We wore ice cleats or Yak Traks. With all the snow melt and rain we'd had earlier this week any trails would be ice packed. Extra traction really does help.

We took Scout and Charlie and they had a blast. I was amazed at how athletic Charlie really is with those short stubby legs of his.

Here is a pano shot much like one I did in December. Except there is Daryl in the middle-right of the photo for perspective.

When walking up on this place you become literally stunned by how large it is and how incredible it is.
I stood with my friends and asked them if our eyes were deceiving us like I felt it had last month.

Doesn't it look like there are floating islands of trees? I thought it was just how things looked in the camera.
But we all agreed, it was bizarre and beautiful.

We came in above the second formation. The 'caves' are large enough to stand in. The warm winter and the recent rains have melted the old ice and the recent cold snap is freezing the water that is coming through the rocks.
In the above shot, there is Daryl again to the right and to the left is Charlie...or is it Scout? I can't tell!

Well this should give you some sort of idea what it was like. In a really cold winter, this would be a wall of ice of multiple colors from all the minerals in the land and rocks.

Charlie is inspecting a cascade of ice that has fallen in the last warm up.

Below...just other cool shots.

In this area, we stopped and ate some snacks and the hot chocolate I carried in the tiny thermos was so delicious.

We traveled along the ridge top and then descended into the valley next to the creek. This was not a creek like the one in our little valley. This was a proper creek.

We stood looking around and then noticed the ice on the sandy 'bluff' of the creek.

The colors were amazing and you could see where the water had been higher during the first part of the week.

I picked up Charlie as I was afraid that he'd get out on the thin ice along the edge of the creek.
My friend Amanda snapped a shot of us.
I love this photo!

Further down the creek we spotted some odd colored ice.

I called it 'Sherbert Ice' ....really, it looked orange!

To get a proper shot of this ice, we'd have had to walk around back to the parking lot and then follow another long trail to get across the creek to see this.
It really would have been worth it.

But we headed back to the vehicle and headed home, so we could rest and eat supper.

After dark we planned on a night hike with head lamps.

I didn't get many good shots, I didn't dress warm enough for some reason. However watching the clouds and the stars above was worth the bit of chill I had.

There is nothing that beats a night hike with friends....
Here are a couple of shots... and how we set up.

My shot didn't turn out very well for this experiment. In fact it sort of came out quite ugly. However I did nab a shot of the ice wall in our creek. You can see the water slowly seeping over the ice that is already there. I had my friends use their headlamps to light up the area.

And then there is the utter failure of a shot of the creek just using a crescent moon.

All was not lost however.

I loved discovering the Orange Ice.

And in one of the ice caves I found an intriguing ice shape.

I'll leave you with my favorite shot of the weekend.

Ice Sculpture: