Little Devil's Tower, Custer State Park 2009

 Little Devil's Tower trail in Custer State Park is the best hike that Wayne and I have been on so far. When we were in Custer State Park in 2009 it was recommended to us by the cashier at the gift shop when we told her we were looking for a hike that would give us a view of the Cathedral Spires. She told us it was a "fairly easy" hike and the best view of the spires so we breezed right by the information on the board at the trailhead and started walking. The first 1/2 mile meandered through some trees alongside a nice brook with a very gradual incline. I thought, hey, no problem! This is great! But after that first half mile you take the #4 trail to the left and things change drastically with  the trail becoming so steep and so rocky that we were slowed down quite a bit. However, we were undeterred, thinking this had to be temporary, because the trail was supposed to be "fairly easy", right?




 

 It did level out a bit, and we came to this big crack between the rocks. I stopped to catch my breath and take a few pictures and thought the worst was behind us and we'd be seeing those spires at any moment. I was struggling to breathe because I was dealing with some as yet undiagnosed allergy-related asthma. This trip opened my eyes and when we got home I went to the doctor and now am the proud owner of an inhaler!  During our hike we noticed that park officials had set out pheromone traps in an effort to stop the spread of the pine beetle.  There were piles of cut down trees everywhere that the beetles had been lured to. Check to make sure this trail is open before heading out, because apparently they closed it after we left to continue their campaign against this pest.

 But after passing through the crevice...the steep climb began again, and we followed the blue diamonds or paint on the trees and kept going up, and up, and up! We were starting to get a little worried because the sky was clouding up and we didn't want to be on that trail if it started to rain, but we pushed on!




Until finally we came around a bend and saw something that looked vaguely peak-like! But we still weren't done, so we made that final push and with quivering legs we clambered up to the top of Little Devil's Tower, still following blue paint, this time right on the rock itself.

It was worth the 1.5 mile climb, most of it nearly vertical. We had only passed one other couple during our hike and we had the top of the world all to ourselves. We spent a good 1/2 hour just resting and enjoying the views which included not only the Cathedral Spires but everything you could see for miles in every direction. I only wish the light had been better in order to capture how absolutely gorgeous it was up there!

 

We were up so high that a tour helicopter came up right alongside us and we all waved to each other. This helicopter I got the picture of came later and didn't come right by us but went straight to the Cathedral Spires instead. I thought it was a pretty neat shot with the rain clouds though. We didn't get an opportunity to hike this trail again when we were at Custer briefly last year, but if we ever get over there again I'm definitely going to head up with my camera gear at a better time of day and get some photos! Anybody in the area should make this hike a priority, it's moderately strenuous, but only 3 miles round trip and worth every step!

Woodland Dunes Nature Center

Woodland Dunes Nature Center is located in Two Rivers, Wisconsin, and is where I stopped to hike on Monday while exploring the Two Rivers and Manitowoc area.  I started my explorations on the Willow Trail heading toward the river, but after about a mile in I had to turn around and jog back to the car for some insect repellent. Mosquitoes! After applying I checked out their beautiful butterfly garden and on the advice of a volunteer headed back down the same trail again only this time I veered off to Todd's Pond and the Goldenrod Loop that encircled it. Destination...dragonflies! 

 

It's hard to remember to pay close attention to where you're walking while you're stalking dragonflies with your camera....I walked into two spider webs across the trail and brushed against a plant full of angry ants that bit as well.  Luckily I had my hat on or I would've gotten a face full of spider web!

When I tired of being attacked by the local miniature wildlife I exited the Willow Trail and made my way over to the Cattail Trail. The Cattail Trail had sedge meadows, shrub swamp, cattail marsh and alder thicket habitats all accessed by a lovely boardwalk. I stopped at David's Pond near the entrance to watch the dragonflies and frogs while cooling off in the shade.  After I got home I discovered there are a few more trails on the property that aren't accessed directly from the visitor center parking lot.  I'd also like to try the Willow Trail again, maybe in the fall when the mosquitoes have died down because I didn't quite make it all the way down to the West Twin River. It's always good to leave with something to look forward to on a return visit.

Two Rivers and Manitowoc

While at Point Beach I took some time to explore Two Rivers and Manitowoc a little bit. I drove into Manitowoc looking for their Trek bicycle shop and picked up a basket and a rearview mirror for my bike. Across the street was a store called Natural Market, so I stopped in to see if there was any food I could pick up for lunch but the only food on hand was candy bars. Couldn't resist that! I asked for suggestions for lunch, but the ladies behind the counter didn't seem to understand my request for a "healthy" lunch and suggested the local buffet. A customer came to my rescue and told me how to get to a place called "Wrap it Up".
I followed the one way streets of downtown Manitowoc to the location but the business was closed. Foiled again! While downtown I took a moment to stretch my legs and walked into their county courthouse building, whose dome I had seen from the lakefront.


I also stopped into the Lincoln Park Zoo while driving around Manitowoc. I've been in some small zoos in my travels, but this one was definitely the smallest. There was only a handful of exhibits and the only animal out and visible was the timber wolf. He was very curious and followed me around behind the fence. It was a bit unnerving to see a canine who should've been wild act like a common housedog waiting for you to pet it. The zoo did have a lot of local wildlife, however. There were feed pans of grain left out under the bushes and birds, rabbits and squirrels were having a party and didn't seem bothered by my presence at all.  One squirrel was especially acrobatic climbing up the timber wolf enclosure and jumping from tree to tree with her prize in her mouth. She seemed to be interested in me as well.

As you can see in this photo, Manitowoc's Lake Michigan lakefront in the background is pretty grim. When I drove along their lakefront I couldn't even figure out how to get to their small lighthouse in the maze of industrial ugliness that included a wastewater treatment plant and what looked like a coal plant. Nothing like Kenosha, which isn't much to look at it in general but has a nice lakefront area that also winds through beautiful historical neighborhoods. The bike trail pictured with the flowers is the Mariner's Trail which starts where the Rawley Point Recreational Trail ends in Two Rivers and goes into Manitowoc. Mostly it is just pavement with a four land highway on one side and the lake on the other, but they have these nice little gardens spaced out in between. There are also a couple of sculptures on the trail like the ones pictured below.

As I mentioned in my last post, trying to find something to eat was difficult. I stopped into a store called the Honey Pot which was across from the Mariner's Trail in Two Rivers and had such a nice cup of coffee there on Monday morning that I went back again on Tuesday as well. The very small selection of muffins and scones did not look bakery made so I got a chocolatey treat instead and had my snack outside. The owner was very nice and if we camp out here again I will definitely be back.

I ended up getting a tuna sub from Cousins after stopping at 5 restaurants in Two Rivers trying to find something to eat on Monday. I ate half and tried to save the other half for later but it got warm and I was afraid to end up with food poisoning so it was another night of pretzels and candy for dinner. Thank goodness I had brought some of  Laurie's breakfast cookies with me that I took out of my freezer before I left and had for breakfast every morning. If not for those I just might have starved to death on this trip!



Total miles hiked on Monday were 8 and I rode 12 miles on my bike also. In my next post I'll tell you about my hiking experience at Woodland Dunes Nature Center in Two Rivers which turned out to be a wonderful place to stop on my trip.

Laughed my Dam ass off!

While reading the latest post on Letters of Note's blog, I laughed my dam ass off. Thought my fellow nature lovers would like a reason to laugh too... enjoy!

I got a picture of a beaver on a trip to a COE campground in Illinois along the Mississippi River a few years ago. It was a thrilling experience to be suddenly so close to nature's most industrious rodent! When we saw each other as I passed close by him on the deserted trail we both froze and every time one of us moved the other stopped moving again. Who was more afraid, I wonder? I didn't know, and still don't, if beavers can get aggressive if they feel threatened by a human's presence. There really wasn't much of anywhere for him to go to escape me at that moment, so eventually I moved on and left him in peace.

Point Beach State Forest

The weather finally cooled down a bit here in Wisconsin...for a few days, anyway. So, I packed up the car and drove up to Point Beach State Forest in Two Rivers for my next new state park adventure.

Dune beach at Point Beach State Forest

Point Beach State Forest is a beautiful little spot just north of Manitowoc. It took me almost 3 hours to get there, but it was well worth the drive. There is a U.S. Coast Guard lighthouse on site that was just beautiful with a little early morning light on my Monday morning walk on the beach. It arrived at Point Beach in 1893 and had been part of the French exhibition at the Chicago World's Fair. A light was needed because 26 ships were stranded on the point before it was erected, including the steamship Vernon that took down 36 crewmen and passengers with it in 1887. There was only one survivor and he never fully recovered so the cause of the sinking is a mystery. Point Beach consists of 5.5 miles of undeveloped shoreline and sand dunes which result from the wind and wave action that constantly changes the landform.

 

The park itself has more than 2,900 acres of forest and beach, 127 family campsites, two indoor group cabins and an outdoor group campsite.  There are numerous picnic areas with tables, grills, water, concession stand, playgrounds and restrooms. I camped in the tent loop which had a narrow winding road that campers would not be able to fit on, but there were plenty of areas with nice electric sites suitable for our fifth wheel that I noted for a future visit with Wayne.

Reading "Water for Elephants" on my Kindle after a busy afternoon hiking and biking.

Specialized plants with long roots help stabilize the dunes

Point Beach also has 11 miles of hiking/skiing trails and a self guided half mile nature trail. The trails were mosquito infested due to the marshy "swales" that exist between the ridges that the trails follow. Bring your insect repellant! Whenever I forgot to put mine on I got bit every time I stood still! It was mosquito-free down near the beach due to the sandiness and the breeze off the lake though.

Ice Age trail

Point Beach also contains a segment of the Ice Age trail, which I couldn't resist exploring. I did about 2 miles which ran right alongside the dunes area by the beach.

The best trail through the forest was the crushed limestone 5 mile section of the Rawley Point Recreational Trail which started at the lodge area at the beach and connects the forest with the city of Two Rivers. I turned around once it left the forest since I had seen the scenery on the rest of it because it runs alongside the road into the park. The trail mostly follows the ridges through the pine and hemlock forest but also crossed through this slightly dune-like area in the middle that was wide open and full of milkweed and other interesting plants.

Rawley Point Recreational Trail

And, boy, was there plenty of milkweed to be had around here! Healthy looking, too, unlike the plants south of Sheboygan right now. The butterflies were loving the milkweed and all the other blooming plants that were planted outside the nature center at the lodge on the beach

I ate breakfast before I left Sunday morning and packed myself a sandwich for lunch, but needed something for dinner after hiking for 2 miles and biking for 15 miles all afternoon. I dropped into Pick N Save, and the best I could do was a roll and a fruit cup to go with my leftover pretzels, tomatoes and cucumbers. Being a vegetarian can be challenging without a fridge or stove, let me tell ya! Topped it off with a diet Snapple and a couple of dark chocolate Doves and called it a day!

Our Farming Experience

In 2000 we moved into a 4 bedroom farmhouse on 4.5 acres in southeastern Wisconsin. We wanted to get out of Kenosha and into a more rural setting, and I was dying to try my hand at raising sheep.  When I used to go visit my family in Newfoundland one of my favorite things to do was to go out to my grandad's barn with him. He had the occasional cow, some chickens, and a handful of sheep. Our little farm came complete with barn cats, but that was the only thing living in the 2 barns we had.  It didn't take us long to fill them up with sheep, then chickens, an occasional cow and once even some turkeys. The calves had a nasty habit of dying before they'd even reach a year old, so we gave up on those after the third time that happened. The turkeys turned out to be aggressive and after they were butchered we didn't repeat that experience. But the sheep and the chickens were a joy to have around.

 We started out with just a couple of Targhee sheep, and we were so excited when our first lamb was born! We never did figure out where to get rid of our wool after shearing and after a few years we ended up composting the wool pile for lack of any better ideas. We tried to wash the wool once, and that was quite the messy disaster! The mama ewe in the picture above was named Nellie and whenever I came out of the house she'd run right up to the fence and start baa-ing to me so I'd come give her some of the greener grass from the other side of the fence. Those sheep were so spoiled! We did the lamb tails and hooves ourselves, but paid someone to come in to shear the sheep. Those girls are a lot heavier and harder to handle than they look! As a matter of fact, lifting one of our year-old lambs into the truck was how Wayne first ruptured the disc in his back that eventually needed surgery.

It didn't take long for the chickens to join our family, and I loved sitting down with the catalog in the spring and ordering up an assortment. No boring white chickens for me! Well...except for a few like the one in the picture below. They were adopted from a neighboring farm, and she never hung out with the rest of the chickens. Very antisocial, but a good little layer who decided she liked cat food better than chicken feed. Since she didn't stay in the barn I had to roam the property searching for her nest, and whenever I discovered it she's up and move to a new place again.

Those chickens just wandered all over the property eating up our bugs and grass during the day, and we sold the excess eggs to the guys Wayne worked with. Who's going to say no to fresh eggs from free-range chickens for the same price as regular eggs in the store?

After 6 years on the farm we decided that as much as we loved the country life it was a very expensive hobby that we just couldn't afford anymore. So, we found homes for all the animals and put the farm on the market. We sold it quickly and moved into a small ranch home in the neighboring town right on the edge of the city limits. We still had a 1/2 acre lot, but our mortgage and the work load were much less. I still think about our days on the farm and miss carrying jugs of water out to the barn at night for the animals. There was no noise or light pollution out there, and it was very peaceful making my evening rounds and making sure everyone was safely in the barn for the night. But, I am glad not to be tied down to the responsibility of all those critters and all that property.

Two years after we moved into the house on 1/2 acre we flipped that one and moved into an even smaller lot in a little subdivision on the outskirts of Twin Lakes. We keep getting smaller and smaller, and I can't wait until we're selling this house and moving into an RV.  Wayne told me the other day that instead of retiring at 50 we're going to have to wait until he's 55 after all. Eight years sounds a lot longer than 3 years, let me tell ya! To stay positive about the change in plans I decided a few of those places I was saving until we retired would become vacations in the next few years instead. I don't think it'll happen in 2013 due to the fact that we'll probably have to make a trip to Newfoundland, but in 2014 I'm hoping we'll be heading out to Glacier National Park with a stop at Yellowstone on our way back. Who needs sheep and chickens when you've got the whole world waiting for you, right?

Midwestern Heat Wave Sought for Questioning in the Death of Pam's Adventurous Spirit

That's right. I've tried to be positive. I've tried to fight it. But I've had it! Average amount of rainfall for the month of June here is 3.80 inches...we've had .73 inches! Average high for June is 77 degrees...half the month was over 90 degrees! Now it's July 1st and I set out to go camping at New Glarus Woods State Park this morning because Wayne was at the races with his buddies and by the time I got there at 11:00 a.m. it was over 90 again!  I drove around the campground and discovered that I really need to take more time reading the details on the DNR website because they have no showers. No electric? Fine! Small sites? Fine! No running water except a spigot by the side of the road...not fine! I was still trying to be positive though, so I reserved a site for one night and drove into New Glarus to check out the sights.

My first stop on the recommendation of my daughter was the New Glarus Brewing Company. I don't drink beer, I've never liked the taste of it, but Katrina swore this was better than regular beer and maybe I just hadn't met the right beer.  The brewery tour was self-guided, which essentially meant you could walk in and wander around, but there was no signage telling you what you were looking at. I thought whatever these were that they were pretty though.

Eventually I found the tasting room (accessed from the outside but half hidden because I walked right past it three times and would have never found it if someone hadn't come out of the door!) and I paid my $3.50 to have 3 - 3 ounce samples. I told the pourer right up front that I don't drink beer, don't like beer, and asked him what he had that didn't taste like beer.  He gave me a sample of Totally Naked, which tasted like beer, then something that tasted so horrible I kept making faces until I got the next one. The last one was Belgian Red and it tasted like a cross between beer and cider, I guess would be the best way to describe it. I drank about half of it and ended my tour.  I'm sure those who like beer would enjoy stopping here, everyone else there seemed to be having a good time. Note to self...you don't like beer, don't visit a brewery again!

Notice the look of uncertainty before I take my first sip of Totally Naked

New Glarus is Wisconsin's Little Switzerland and is the start of the trailhead for the Sugar River State Trail which intersects with the Badger State Trail just a few miles further down the line. I parked at the grocery store and rode my bike into the downtown area.  Plenty of sidewalk and wide roads for riding, but I soon discovered there were no places to park your bike except along the one block on their main street. There were 2 museums in town that I would've loved to go to, but there was no place to lock up a bike. Before I discovered this annoying little detail they left out of the online brochure I did find this little bird nesting in some of the architecture of a closed-up looking downtown building.

When I discovered the only place you could lock up your bike was on the main block I parked it and walked up and down the block. A few European gift shops and a couple of restaurants is all there is to Little Switzerland, but I came for the cows...and bought a rhubarb bar, a cranberry orange scone, a lemon pocket and a raspberry linzer bar at the New Glarus Bakery. I took a bite of each one and they were all delicious, though really sweet, especially the linzer bar.

I'd be a little alarmed if I found one of these grazing in my flowerbed, especially if he was wearing a suit!

Since I couldn't get into the museums while I had my bike I went back to the car and just drove back to the state park to try to cool down in the shade for awhile. I took out my chair and tried to read my Kindle, but even in the shade the heat was oppressive and I gave up within an hour and decided just to give up and go home.

I drove through Monticello and Monroe on the way home, where they seem to have a strange obsession with turrets...and pirates.

Never seen a pizza place with a castle turret before, but the name "The Kooler" was tempting on this hot day!

If you click on the picture of the Green County courthouse in Monroe you'll see a pirate ship in the lower left corner. The 42 foot long wooden ship was built to kick off their 2012 Pirates on the Square summer promotion. There were pirate flags hanging from the storefronts and also some wooden pirate and mermaid sculptures. Don't know what it was really all about, but it was certainly different. While walking around the square I kept thinking of the town square in the movie Back to the Future since Monroe's comes complete with a courthouse and an old movie theater. My last stop was at Baumgartner's cheese shop where they claim to serve the best cheese sandwich. I'll have to take them at their word, but I did buy a wedge of smoked gouda that I'm looking forward to trying.  They also sell shirts that say "I cut the cheese at Baumgartner's" which I was tempted to buy for Wayne, but since he wasn't technically there to cut the cheese I resisted the temptation.

So that was the end to my little camping trip that never was. Here's a couple of pictures I took along the way that highlight just how dry it is out here right now. The poor cows' pasture is pathetic, all that's green around here are the trees and the corn, and the corn is starting to look really stressed which might effect the feed corn turnout this year so the cows will have poor feed in the summer and the winter! I'm going to crank up the A/C and watch Back to the Future, stay cool, Everyone!

Saving money by not having to pay to have our lawn mowed this year, but I have to water my plants deeply every night and some that I transplanted in May may not come back next year.