Duck, Dodge, Scamper and Squelch

After all the water I saw in Fort Atkinson, I was happy that I brought my new boots along with me for my next stop.  Just a few miles down the road lay Lima Bog State Natural Area, and I was determined to see what it might be hiding.  

State Natural Areas in Wisconsin are usually open to hunting, and hunters tend to lay down a faint footpath, but there usually aren't any established trails.  I parked in the small area next to a local farm, pulled on my new boots I found at The Rack last fall, and set off in search of boggy treasure.

The "trail" started out fairly easy to see, and just meandered alongside the farmer's land.  I kept my eyes, and my nose, alert for signs that a bog was nearby.
 
I left the trail for a moment to make sure I wasn't missing the secret path to the bog, but after ducking under branches and dodging all kinds of thorny undergrowth, all I found was some old farm equipment that I was fortunate not to trip over.
  

 Back  on the path it didn't take long for me to hit a pretty big obstacle in the form of a very large downed tree that looked to have been there quite a while.  Underneath the log looked like ankle twisting territory, so I scampered up on top and kept going.

It wasn't far to a cattail marsh from there, and what looked promising on the other side for the site of the bog from the type of trees growing there. It was a bit squelchy, but I kept at it until my thighs started getting tired.  Even though the water only got close to the top of my boots a couple of times, I decided to head back for the woods and just take a trip out to Beulah Bog on another day.   Now that I have boots I can tramp around to my heart's content and see what I couldn't access last time I visited. 

Peacock boots on clearance...score!

I was almost back to the car when my eyes caught sight of something small crossing the trail ahead. 

But, one can only spy on a chipmunk for so long, so I said farewell to him and to the bovine guards in the field by my car and mooo-ved on.