Anderson Japanese Garden in Rockford

My daughter came home from college for a few weeks and we were looking for something new to do together that wasn't too far from home. We thought about going to the Illinois Holocaust Museum in Skokie, but I decided we needed something a little more upbeat on such a beautiful day.

I knew there had to be gardens in the area that we haven't been to and discovered there were two in Rockford, Illinois, which is a little over an hour drive away from us. Anderson Japanese Gardens gave exactly what it advertised, a place for reflection, serenity and renewal. There were a lot of little corners with benches where you could feel as if you had the place to yourself, but my favorite part was the koi that were in every pool of water along the path.

The path twisted and turned, and while there weren't as a large a variety of plants in this garden as what I am used to, there were a lot of interesting statues, stones, and buildings that made it feel as if you were in a different world.

 

The highlight of the garden is a sweet little waterfall toward the end of the path. The pictures in the map pamphlet they gave to us showed this waterfall in the different seasons, and I'm looking forward to coming back again to see this lovely little garden in the fall and to visiting the Klehm Arboretum next time I'm in town, too! It was a very relaxing way to spend an hour with my daughter before she heads back to Eau Claire in June. My next adventure will be helping her move...including driving the UHaul truck myself and camping for the night in my new tent cot! It should be a lot easier to maneuver and set up than a big fifth wheel!

Two New Wisconsin Trails in One Week

This week I got to check out two new trails. The White River State Trail is mostly used by snow mobiles and bicycles, but my neighbor Margie and I checked it out on foot earlier this week after first stopping at Gooseberries in Burlington. They have great produce and bakery items and you can always count on them for something new and different to try. This time I picked up some locally made honey roasted peanut butter along with a fresh chicken pot pie.

There wasn't alot of wildflower activity along this trail, but I could tell it would make a great bike ride so I'll have to get back here with my bike soon. Rocket was blooming though, and it was a gorgeous day for a walk.

This 12-mile trail follows a former rail corridor as it travels between Elkhorn and Burlington, passing by numerous bridges, scenic vistas, quaint towns, farmlands, and wetlands. We walked about 1.5 miles in and then turned around. The section by the Burlington trailhead that we were on is bordered by a few farms and a beautiful wetland area. We could hear some Canada geese, but mostly it was songbirds in the trees that kept us company.

 

The second trail I hit this week was at Beulah Bog in East Troy, which has been designated a state natural area. From the WI DNR website:  

Beulah Bog lies in a series of four kettle holes and features an undisturbed bog with many unusual plants more typical of northern bogs. Classical stages of ecological succession are exhibited in the bog including: a shallow bog lake dominated by watershield with white and yellow water-lilies and extensive floating mud flats; an advancing, quaking sedge and sphagnum mat between 25 and 50 feet wide; northern wet forest of tamarack and bog shrubs and; a wet open moat surrounding the main bog, dominated by wild calla and cat-tails. Undisturbed bogs in this area are rare and the site supports a number of regionally rare plants with more northern affinities including dense cotton grass, large and small cranberry, and small bladderwort. The site harbors at least six species of insectivorous plants and the state-threatened plant, kitten tails (Bessya bullii), is also found here. The bog lake provides habitat for several dragonfly species and other invertebrates.

When my son, Cory, suggested a Mother's Day hike as his gift to me, I was one happy Mama!

Wobbly trail

The trail starts off as a dirt path and then there is a sudden turn downward to the boardwalk. Cory brought his camera along also, so the both of us spent a lot of time crouched down looking for things to shoot. He was particularly good at spotting frogs, and for some reason I was on fire with the insects for a change!  The boardwalk was wide at first, but then quickly narrowed down to a rickety path that had extra boards thrown on top because some of the trail had become submerged.

wild calla lily in bloom with small frog underneath

  We forged ahead carefully, but a little water wasn't going to keep us out. My internet research had revealed that there were pitcher plants in the area, so I wasn't leaving without seeing them!

 

We had to jump around a bit on the sphagnum area, but wet shoes and socks were a small price to pay, in my opinion. The boardwalk ended at the bog "lake" and after discerning that there really wasn't much more to see we turned around and headed back.

 I'll have to come back to this bog when fall comes around. There are supposed to be cranberry and blueberry plants here and bogs turn such pretty colors in the fall.  Hope you enjoy the insects as much as I did! Happy Mothers Day to all the moms out there!

green tiger beetle

grasshopper

High Cliff State Park

As promised, I'm posting today about our trip to High Cliff State Park in April, 2010. Wayne had broken his tibia and fibula slipping on ice in our driveway in February, and had been pretty much housebound ever since. We hadn't bought our fifth wheel yet, so, we took out my parents' Laredo for a 4 day weekend.  Since Wayne was incapacitated, waste management was up to me.

  We were surprised when we got there at how large and well spaced the sites were. The campground has 112 sites, 32 with electric, and many amenities including a shower building.  High Cliff is located along the shore of Lake Winnebago, and also atop the Niagara Escarpment. The Niagara Escarpment, often called "the ledge," was formed by the settling and hardening of limy ooze at the bottom of the Silurian Sea, which covered much of Wisconsin nearly 400 million years ago. It stretches from New York through Illinois.

Most of the land in the park used to belong to a limestone company and some remnants of the kiln operation still remain. The State of Wisconsin took ownership when Western Lime closed in 1956.


 

Wayne was content sitting at the picnic table with a beer, watching the squirrels and woodpeckers at work, but I hit the trails as much as I could. The trail system there is incredibly good, though I did get a little turned around on the outer horse trails when I went for a run on our last morning there.  The easiest trail is the Red Bird trail which circles the campground area and travels along the top of the escarpment. It was especially beautiful at sunset and as I mentioned in my last post this is the first place that I saw may apple growing below the trees.

There is also a stairway that takes you to trails going down the escarpment.  I saw lots of dragonflies and even a few chipmunks on this trail which eventually winds its way down to the lime kiln area.

I also saw quite a few turkey vultures, even coming upon one in the middle of the trail getting ready to take advantage of a raccoon carcass. Once he saw me he took off but he and his buddies didn't go far, just circled above me relentlessly until I left them to it. This is a really great campground, and I hope we get back to it sometime soon so that Wayne can explore it with me...and so I can bring a lens to capture those turkey vultures!

Wayne's pant leg is cut off to accommodate his walking cast he was still using

Big Foot Beach State Park

I've made it a goal this year to get to as many Wisconsin State Parks as possible. We've been to quite a few already, but there are probably just as many that we haven't seen since we are so fortunate to have such a large state park system.  I decided to start by checking out the one that is practically in our back yard that I have never even driven through.

photo courtesy of Friends of Big Foot Beach State Park

Big Foot Beach doesn't look like much when you drive by, which is why I've never gone in. It has a four foot high chain link fence separating its boundary from the road that runs alongside the shore of Lake Geneva, away from the downtown tourist area. Immediately inside is a fishing pond with a couple of bridges spanning it, and the treeline behind this pond blocks any further view of the park. I didn't even know until I went on the WI DNR website that they have a campground inside. I took a quick drive around the loop, and it looks like an older design for smaller campers. Most of the sites do not have electric and seem to be geared more towards tent camping. The park also has ample day use areas for volleyball and picnicking. What makes the park worth a stop though is their trail system.  For a smaller park it is a nice one, with trails that intersect each other and display quite a variety of forest and wildflowers. There is also a lot of bird activity here, including some birdhouses in the more open areas that attract birds, as well as bat houses.

At one of the trail intersections I saw a smattering of these blooms on some short trees growing. If someone knows what these are, please let me know! I did some searching on the internet but couldn't figure it out. I've never seen these around here before, and trees are definitely not my forte.

I was pleased to discover we have trillium here in Wisconsin too! I knew we had Jack-in-the-pulpit since I first came to know this plant through a gardener friend of mine some years ago.

While looking for plants on the trail I occasionally stopped and pulled the annoyingly plentiful garlic mustard, leaving piles of it behind me on the trail as I went along. Much better than a trail of breadcrumbs if I needed to find my way back to the parking lot! It came out easily since everything was soaking wet from last night's rain. During a break from all that pulling I found a rotting branch with some great orange fungus growing on it. You don't see that kind of color around here normally. 

The may apple was in bloom, which I got so excited about that I laid down in the mud with only my tripod cover to kneel on to take some photos. I only recently found out the name of this plant and that it even bloomed at all! I first noticed these plants at High Cliff State Park up by Appleton when we camped there two years ago. I'll post about our visit to that park in my next blog entry.

I'm not the only one interested in the may apple

 We've had a lot of rain the last few days and by the time I was done squishing my way along the trails I was pretty wet and muddy. When I got home I got rid of the evidence as quickly as possible so I didn't get a lecture from Wayne before he headed off to work the mid-day shift today. Those non-photographers just don't understand the lengths we photographers will go to get a shot!

Spring in Volo Bog

Eager for a hike after working 4 days in a row, I headed out to Volo Bog. I was there about six weeks ago during the strange warm-up that the midwest experienced and thought that I had seen what the bog looked like in spring, but I was wrong!

Volo Bog has a visitor's center with a perennial garden, benches and bird feeders.  The bulletin board had up a notice about guided bird walks on Saturdays and Sundays at 11 and 1, so if you're in the area stop on in!  Some of the perennials are up and blooming already, including this plant that I've never seen before.

After passing the visitor's center it's just a short stroll down to the interpretive trail that is a floating boardwalk through the bog. When I was there on Sunday I spent some time watching two pairs of Canada geese who were hanging out by the boardwalk and also watching this Great Egret fishing for lunch.

While the interpretive trail is nice, after watching the birds for a little while I opted for the 3 mile long loop hike instead. It was full of blooming bushes and there are birdhouses set up along the trail so visitors can glimpse them easily. I saw 14 varieties of birds, without binoculars and without trying! It seems I missed a lot of the spring wildflowers, or else there just aren't that many here.

I went off trail a little bit to see if I could find some jack-in-the-pulpit or other plants common to wet areas, but all I found was this darling little fern....and my first muskrat of the year!

Back on the trail, I heard movement in the bushes and spied this fat robin, then a few minutes later found this unusual fungus growing on the top of branch. It's great to come back to a place you've been before and still discover new things!

Since I was here six weeks ago they've done a lot of work clearing brush, burning, and creating a new observation deck. A large portion of the bog wasn't visible before along the trail because of the heavy brush growing there, but now it's all cleared out and it felt like I was someplace I'd never been before. I also stopped at the observation blind but there weren't any waterfowl in that area today. If you visit, make sure to watch out for coyotes - they've been spotted hanging out there according to signage. They've marked their territory and the blind is a little smelly! I also saw rabbit fur and coyote scat on the trail, but don't let that keep you away, Volo Bog is the best outdoor recreation area I've seen in Illinois!