Perrot State Park

Not pronounced Parrot...but think of the French Perroooo....

I could hardly believe it.
I had a full day to myself.
No one to answer to but Charlie.
I'd planned on a day of doing some exploring.  What I didn't want to have to say is...
I'll be back by 'such and such' a time.

I packed myself a lunch and some apples. Packed 3 bottles of water and a small Gatorade.'

I figured I knew how to get there, it couldn't be hard at all as Highway 35 went nearly right to it.
Well. I got that sort of wrong. I did take a wrong turn but after a little 'whoops, mistake' and a turn around. I got it right.

I headed to the trails...

Terrain trail difficult at times....

Well, I like trails like that. It tends to be less crowded.
I decided to try going to the Perrot's Peak first.

This part of the trail was a bit rough and not groomed like the other more popular trails. I could see that there was on going work in a few sections. 

I liked it though, it reminded me of the trails in our woods.

I only know that I started at about the same elevation as the river and ended up about 450 feet above it when I stood on the rock out crop.

 This is looking southwest down on the Mississippi River

This was looking North a bit to my next climb, Brady's Bluff. This would be the back side of the bluff.

And then a look down to the spot I was standing on.

My thought at this time was that it would be fun to sit here on a nice fall afternoon or morning and take in the colors of the forest below. A sunset view would be incredible from here also.
Since it isn't an easy hike up this trail, it wouldn't be crowded.

Even a foggy morning would be neat.

I stayed a bit before moving on, to catch a breather and some air movement. My little thermometer was reading about 86 degrees and it was humid.

The trail coming off the peak was much nicer but quite long. I dropped back to the valley floor and followed a hiking/cross country ski trail that was flat and wide. I opened my strides and covered ground quickly.

Covering ground quickly was important here. The bugs were out in full force. I passed by some older people that were walking slowly swatting and sweating. I said hello with a big grin on my face.

I think they picked up their pace when they saw the crazy ol' lady with baggy hiking pants, a backpack, with purple and teal colored streaks in her hair, hiking like she'd just stolen something!

When I got back to the junction I could have chosen to walk out to where my Subaru was parked and then head up to the short trail, or take this trail which was longer and take the short trail down from Brady's Bluff and walk back to the car on the road.

I decided to take the longer trail up.

I'm glad I did, it was mostly shady and fascinating as the Conservation Corps had done such a neat job of making a trail.

I found a bench that may have been about halfway up the bluff and was still in the shade so I stopped for a snack and a selfie...
I may look miserable, but actually I felt great.

Stairs and railing to the goat prairie...
I saw no goats.

The heat was on in the Goat Prairie and I paused only slightly to catch my breath and look at the wild flowers.
On the second Goat Prairie I did take a 3 shot hand held panoramic of the river.

Note the haze. Some of the haze I heard an expert weatherman say was due to the heat. Plants give off moisture to keep cool and that creates a blue haze. I wondered if the rest of the haze was humidity and smoke from the wildfires.

I made it to the shelter and set up my camera [which really was not co-operating well] to try some infrared shots.

It isn't perfectly clear as I was shooting sort of blind. The light was so bright and I was trying to avoid the people climbing up to the shelter.
I popped a few shots off and then sat down in the shelter in the shade to finish my water.

A young couple came into the shelter after the other folks had left. I told them not to sit on the other side of the shelter as we had company peeking out from the cracks in the logs.

Yes I used a long lens. It could have been a rattle snake, although I am no snake expert.
From what I understand these snakes do inhabit the bluffs of the Mississippi but aren't often seen as they are very shy.

I talked with the young couple a bit and they handed me a bottle of water as they saw me putting away two empties. I was grateful. Even if I took the short way down, I had a long walk on the park road to get back to the Subaru.

Here is the view that everyone hikes up for. Trempeleau Mountain. I was more impressed by the boardwalk/trail that was built for the short trail.

Would I go back? Yes.

I hit the park road and power walked back to the Subaru. I grabbed out my sandwhich and a Gatorade and sat at a picnic table and had a picnic and thought about my
Big
Adventure.

What a great day.

No Time to catch up!

Well, let's say that it has been busy around here...

And that should catch us up to today....

Gone Fishing

We do a daily morning list nearly every day to set out two things that should be accomplished.

This is to assist with Rich's Aphasia and mild Apraxia. He has had some difficulty processing new things. We found out that spoken language is harder for him to recall than things that are visual.

So to help with the memory issues we have been making our morning list each morning with our coffee.

The list can be super simple.
Mow yard
Move hoses
or
Do Speech Therapy Homework
Move water tank

Yesterday we thought about the list and I started getting some things together. Rich looked up and said.
"Fishing. I'd like to go fishing."
Then he went on to say that the fish are probably not biting, or it won't be any good or there may be crowds.
But I got the hint and said, "Fishing would be awesome. Let's go fishing."

I headed out the door and did chores while he got the fishing poles together and arranged his little tackle box.

Off we went. He wanted to go to the place where he and Daryl had gone a few weeks ago. That is all he has been talking about for a while now.
I knew where Blackhawk Park was, but insisted on asking him which way did we need to go?

He gave me directions.
I really wanted to go to a place just south of Ferryville below the lock and dam. However, Blackhawk it was.

The little fish were biting but no big ones. The waters had receeded in the park leaving some brown stained shorelines along with gnarly trees. All neat things to get your fishing hook snagged in.

The snags made for an interesting composition with a long exposure at least. I sort of cheated. I love fishing, but love photos of water too.

I took out my Infrared filter and attached it to the camera.

Things look so much more interesting in the bright sunlight with an IR filter.

The fish weren't biting here either. So we drove left Blackhawk.

Rich said we should have brought snacks and said he was hungry. I suggested we drive over to The Bright Spot in DeSoto and have lunch.
As luck would have it, fish dinner was on special. So we had our fish dinner anyway!

We drove past the Veteran's Park in DeSoto, and then checked out the landings on Hwy 82. The wind was gusting by then and so we decided to call it a day and head home.

The day was not a bust. We'd enjoyed each others company, went out to lunch, and scoped out places to fish.

It was a good day.
We'd gone fishing.

And I got a few IR shots that turned out pretty nifty.

Gone Fishing

We took off around noon after a snack and after I let some mules into the 'new' forest pasture.

It has been a few weeks since I promised Rich that we would go fishing. One project after another has kept me hopping since the start of May.

So we packed up our things and headed out to the river.
We didn't get even a nibble.

But the time was worth it.
This little fellow kept swimming near us and poking his head up to keep an eye on us.
I think he/she was a small snapping turtle.

To There and Back

Since Lily was here and the good neighbors thought that it would be fun to hike and have a picnic yesterday, we thought we'd go to Wyalusing State Park and have some fun.

I've read nothing but rave reviews about the park and what nice trails they had. This was especially true because our neighbors have three children. Ages 7, 5, and not quite 3 years old.

We packed a lunch and headed to the park.
When we got out of the van we were inundated with mosquitoes.

I got out the natural 'skeeter' bug juice and liberally applied it to everyone. We then started off along the Bluff trail to look at the incredible scenic outlooks.

Lily took some of the best shots hands down. I lent her my FinePixFujiFilm camera and she worked wonders with it.
This is a zoom of the train crossing the confluence of the Wisconsin River and the Mississippi River.

The scenery was incredible. We went to another outlook and of course took more photos.

We explored the Treasure Cave and survived the incredibly steep stairs and decided to continue to explore.

We ended up taking what we thought would be a trail that circled back and did a nice little loop.

Being an adventurous bunch, we went on despite the annoying mosquitoes.

As we went down off from the bluffs we crossed back and forth over wash outs from the heavy rains that this area about 60 miles south of our homes. We'd had perhaps an inch and a half.
I think I recall this area getting about 4 inches.

We went on bravely.

Pretty soon it became evident that we had taken the low trail. The trail that ran along backwater and a fairly swampy area.
At this point we just quit taking photos. 

It became a matter of survival and not being consumed by 'skeeters' who attacked us in hordes.

Everyone was a trooper.
Lauren got ahead of us with the older crew and Justin and I walked with Logan. The plan was to keep everyone moving as fast as possible.
I must say that Logan was a real little hero. He trucked along at a pace I never thought a little one could go. When he started wearing out Dad picked him up and carried him.

We were on the Immigrant Trail which ran along a flooded area that was thick with backwater. Eventually we became separated as Lauren and the older kids walked faster.

The toughest part was the Old Wagon Trail. The trail had a steep incline to get back to the parking area.

But we made it. We all survived. When we got back together we immediately voted to get out of the park, come back after the first frost, or when it wasn't so wet, and enjoy some of the other trails.

We hiked approximately 5.2 miles.

Would we do it again? Oh yes!

We drove north past Prairie Du Chien and pulled off at a boat landing and stopped for a picnic.

NO Bugs!
And the river was beautiful as well as the clouds.

We stopped at Gordon's Bay Rd. across from Falling Rock Bar on Highway 35.

And then we had a wonderful picnic.

And all was good.

Lily rode Fred last night and after we get back from doing the Kickapoo today, we'll ride again.Lily

Midnight Musings

3:30 AM

The river runs slowly and silently under the ice I'm looking over. It is a powerful river, the Mississippi.
There is open waters further down from where I stand. Last year it too was frozen over and we could watch the deer walk from island to island across the snow covered ice.

The lights from behind me make the frost that is floating in the air look like diamonds. Although the 'diamonds' seem to have a fairy like quality of their own. They float and dance, covering the ground, the trees, the fence, and even the ugly weeds low on the bank of the river.

The air is cold and crisp and I breath it in and listen.
There are no sounds except the sigh of the light wind which will chill you to the bones if you stand too long in it. The wind is damp carrying moisture from the 'Big Muddy'.

I feel pretty darned good for 3ish in the morning.

I am in awe of the river. It is powerful, it is unassuming, and it is indifferent to people. It provides people for recreation and it can be the source of destruction.

Come sunrise ice fisherman will walk through the morning mists under pink pastel skies to their fishing holes.

I will watch the skies above the bluffs for that first hint of day.
Sunrise is at 7:04 on the ridge.

For now I am happy watching the 'diamond fairies' dance in the air. I turn away from where I am standing and continue to walk.
The river is on my mind.