Wintergreen Trail

The last time I was on the Wintergreen Trail was January 14th of this year.

I met up with Aurora and we went to explore it in all of its Fall Splendor. We hiked it on the 20th. When I look back on our last fall hike together, I discovered had been on the 19th of October last year! Wow!

Talk about just about making it the same time two years in a row.

Looking back again, I noted that Charlie and I hiked the Wintergreen Trail on October 30th of 2021. In fact, it must be one of my favorite spots to go to since I can look back and see that I hiked this trail on the average of 3 to 4 times a year in the past.

This trail is fantastic in all seasons. The only time I have not hiked it, is when the trillium is blooming in the spring alongside the trail. 

In damp warm weather, the trail area shows off with amazing fungi/mushroom finds along with ravenous skeeters. In the winter, there are ice formations if you know how to look for them.

In the fall? It is just amazing with the leaves coming down on the trail and the dense pines along the bluffs.

The morning light filtering through the trees was magical on the trail. 

I really just love the yellows that the maples drop. They make the forest floor glow for a few days until the leaves dry up.

In places where the leaves where really thick, Charlie had to wade through them. He didn't seem to mind as he was really on the look out for Chipmunks and Squirrels. 

There is one spot to always stop at and take a deep breath. It is an small bluff that overlooks the Kickapoo River. Every single time I take this trail I take a photo of it. Over the years, the trees have changed due to floods, but two seem to preserver on the banks despite the river's attempts to move them.

This is this boxelder seems to shrug off the river's efforts to send it downstream. There is the other one just south of it that holds fast too.

I've climbed out to the lower rock in all seasons just to sit and enjoy the view. I rarely go on the weekend as this is a pretty popular trail. I like to have this spot all to myself. Aren't I selfish?

The last leg of the Wintergreen Trail is on a bluff that is covered in pines and smells absolutely wonderful.

The walk is worth it. 

Shadows! Here Aurora and I stopped to gaze down the dry/wet runs to where ice formations form in the winter time.

Then we headed out to take on the last leg of the trail.

At the end of the bluff, I usually sit on the rocks and pretend the view is part of my own forest kingdom. Of course it isn't, but hey, I like to pretend.

Of course, I couldn't resist taking out some of my friends I'd brought along for their moment in the golden sunlight.

And here is a photo grabbed from a Wikimedia site.

I labeled it.
The photo was taken circa 1979:

The pink arrow points to the end of the bluff where the Wintergreen Trail ends. The dam tower still stands to this day. 

Since 1979, the river has slightly changed its route but the pines and forest around the bluff that was scraped clean of vegetation has grown back. 

I've walked around the tower and I've stood on top of the dam to take photos of the sun coming up and the night sky.

No matter how often I walk this trail and no matter who I walk it with, I am still left with a sense of wonder in any season.

And maybe I'm just a little bit happy that the dam project was never completed.

Hiking with Aurora

I was pretty excited to be able to hike with Aurora again. This time I'd get to meet THE Tank!

This was a view of fog along the river bottom on my drive to KVR. This spot is considered a small backwater for the Kickapoo River. The highway twists and turns along this river with multiple bridges to cross. 

During floods most locals know which back roads to use to get around the low lying areas that have water across the highway.

I brought my crappy little IR camera with me just for fun along with my pocket camera. 

We hiked out of Willow Camp and headed down towards Old 131. I hadn't taken this particular route since last winter with Bill. It is a great hike to stay out of the winter winds.

Tank [in infrared]! 

One of the most entertaining labs I've ever encountered! 

And yes, he adores sticks. To see him in person was so much fun.

Tank was Mr. Playful and seemed to carry a smile on his dog face no matter what the situation he is in. I hate to admit it, but he made me miss my days with my big dogs. I just wanted to get down and hug the heck out of him.

The best part was having two vehicles so we could park in one spot and hike to another spot without having to do loops. Here is a screen shot from an app on my 'stupid' phone called map my walk. It works pretty decently and for a free app, it isn't too bad.

This is one of my favorite spots to stop and just take in. 

This spot I call. The Ponds.

There are actually two sets of ponds. This is on the west side of the trail.

First shot is in Infrared, 

second done with my pocket camera.

I tried so hard to get a good shot of the neat old oak on the edge of the pond, but it didn't really turn out very well. 

Here is the Quiet Kickapoo. It is a very deceiving river. It is mostly very shallow and slow. Except where it isn't. Two years ago two women had to be 'water' rescued not far from here when they got tangled up in a log jam.

The Kickapoo will trick you. With a few inches of rain it can become a raging river that covers roads. The Reserve was supposed to be a site where they would build a dam to stop the river from flooding those places south.

It never went through and we now have all these beautiful acres of land to explore. 50+ miles of trails to hike. I have two trails left to do before I've walked all of them. 

Most all of KVR's trails are well maintained, not something that was done when I rode mules on it in the 1990's. Back then the land was a free for all with local kids and their 4 wheel Monster Trucks and winches. Parties were held down near old Campsite G with a rope off the bluff to swing out and drop into the river.

I recall the Rainbow People overtaking the place one year and riding through a camp of drunk, high, and naked people ... some of them covered in Kickapoo Mud.

KVR has an interesting history. 

Now it is quite tame and well kept. 

We saw some pheasant hunters. I had to chuckle. The one dog we saw was hugely fat and obviously still hunting with his master. Both master and dog were aged, but still out there. 

I have no clue as how pheasant hunting even works. I had a coach at CrossFit who hunted with his lab/pheasant dog and he posted photos, but other than that? No clue.

KVR shares the land with hunters. In fact every county park allows hunting on its lands. It is a huge attraction for tourism and locals which is good for our local towns and B&B's.

Me? I used to hunt raccoon with hounds at night. I always thought that hunting the trickster at night was more fun. Those days are over of course. But I still pause if I hear a hound baying in October.

Whoops...that was way off track.

Our hike ended with about 4 miles of walking and looking around. We stopped at this last pond which is another one of my favorites because of the reflections it has to offer.

When it isn't wet [rarely], there is a trail that goes right around the edge of this pond. I was able to grab a few shots of Canada Geese nesting on one of those clumps of grass this spring.

Here is the same pond in the middle of summer but at sunrise with a lot of fog!

I guess I never will tire of visiting this place. 

It changes its looks with the weather and seasons.

January 1st I get to map out my plan of getting all of the trails hiked and turn in my paperwork for the Trail Challenge.

I have only two trails left to explore that I haven't done before. So I think I'll be well prepared for the challenge.

It is always more fun when I can share it with someone else. 

I hope we can do this together again. 

I Got This Deal!

Many years ago I worked in an office and often I would be working on files when an old fella would walk in with his son who was in High School.

Sev couldn't read or write, he was one of those old timers that grew up on a farm and probably left school to stay and work on the family farm. I was a captive audience when he came in as I was stuck behind a desk and had to stay there and answer the phone for the Chiropractor I worked for.

Sev rarely washed up either. He'd lost all of his teeth at some point in his life. He'd bring in his son Sy and they'd sit and wait for doc to have an opening. They usually smelled of oil, gas, and diesel with a faint under odor of sweat. The lines in the father's hands were always dark from grime or grease I think.
However, he was a rather pleasant fellow and had some of the most unbelievable stories ever.
These stories were not made up.

"I got me a good deal," he told me one day when he and Sy came in.
"Oh yeah? What's that?" I kept typing and would glance up at him as he leaned on the counter.
"Well the landlord was gonna sell our farm we was rentin'. We only rent the house yah see, he got the land. But the well it's bad and it don't pass. Says it has oil in it." Sev paused and smiled his toothless smile.
"So there ain't no workin' septic neither."

I stopped typing and listened, giving him my full attention.
"Oh?" I asked.

"Yep so the landlord he asks if me and The Boy want the place for our own! And I tell him sure! But I can't afford no mortgage and bank payments as...we are on ..." Sev waved a hand in the air ... "You know government help."

I wait.

"So the landlord he says he'll sell me the place with the acre on it if I pay him in payments I can afford."
Sev stood back and put his hands in his pockets. "So I am buyin' the place for a thousand dollars in payments. And that's a good deal!"

"What do you do for water then if the well is bad?" I asked.

"Oh we just use it to flush the toilet. I'm using the cistern when it gets water in it for things like dishes when it rains. The septic just leaks out on the corner down by the junk pile where we have cars for parts."  Sev smiled with his toothless grin. "Once in a while we git enough water in the cistern for Sy's half brother to come up with the kids and they get a bath!"

Sev's wife had passed away a few years ago. So it was just him and his son Sy. His wife's son from a previous marriage The Half Brother, had moved a trailer onto their land with extension cords to the bigger house that had electricity.

Sev was tickled pink that he was now going to become a home owner. I mulled the situation over a bit and didn't want to burst his bubble. He'd own a condemned well and septic. No doubt that the house should be condemned also.

He and his son were so happy to finally 'own' their own place.

I actually drove by the place that year. There it was a dilapidated house with a trailer parked down the hill from it. Dead vehicles of the same make and general model were in parts here and there. Neat piles of stacked wood were near the house. Some windows were covered with plastic, some with boards.
There were kids toys spread out around the yard and a broken 4 wheeler.

Last year I went down the same road. The house is gone as are the vehicles. Looks like a bulldozer came through and rearranged the land so it could become part of a crop field.

So I wonder what ever happened to Sev and his son Sy.
I don't think Sev ever thought he was really poor. He'd grown up dirt poor and his family had their farm taken by the Government in the 1960's. Sev said taken the Government says purchased. This was for the La Farge Dam Project that never happened.  Well, the project was stopped in 1975.

The area is now known as the Kickapoo Valley Reserve. I'm grateful to be able to use this land but never forget the history and heartache behind it.

As I will never forget Sev and his wild and crazy stories.