Lessons Learned

Taking time to reflect upon lessons learned from nature and my dogs this year as we spend and have spent a lot of time outdoors.

As I know my dogs are getting older, I really wanted to take this year to spend more time with them while they are able to still go hiking and camping.  I've really learned a lot from not only them this year so far, but also from the places I've taken them.

They've taught me to really relax and take time to enjoy the sights and smells of everything around you.  Though I may not have rolled in disgusting things like they do when they get a good scent, but really learned not only to see fall, but smell fall and all the other seasons.  It makes you appreciate what nature does every day and every year.

Illinois Canyon, Starved Rock State Park

All year I've been taking my time hiking with them, letting them run off lead a little more and really just letting them go and sniff what they want.  I've learned that as I just let the dogs be dogs and not rush everything, I've learned to be calmer myself, laugh a little more and just relax.  

Jasmine and Wailea relaxing after a day of hiking

I've learned to appreciate the little things in life, like watching a butterfly spending time on a flower trying to get the sweet nectar, or watching a bug crawl up my tent poles.  Spending time with them has allowed me to reflect upon what's important in life.  And no, it's not making a million dollars (although winning a million dollars in the lottery would be good), it's more about finding and taking all the time you can to relax and do what you enjoy.  Because we all know, once the weekend or vacation is over - it's back to the hustle of work and office life which is not relaxing for anyone.

Thankfully the year is not over and there is more exploring to do, more weekends to relax and more vacation time yet to be used.  And if I'm lucky - next year the dogs will be in good health and we can continue on doing this for yet another year.

Memorial Day to Labor Day - A Summer of Camping

As Labor Day weekend winds down, I reflect on what I've done this spring and summer and what I'm looking to do this fall. 

Spring kicked off with my first weekend of camping back in late April.  Since that time til Labor Day weekend, I've camped 8 weekends in WI and taken two trips out west to backpack in Canyonlands National Park in Utah and in the Wind River Range in Wyoming.  If I count all the nights sleeping in a tent since April that equals 33 nights.  Wow more than one month sleeping outside.  Good thing my Thermarest and Cat's Meow sleeping bag are comfortable.

So - where did I all go so far this year?  About half of the time I spent in various Wisconsin State Parks.  That $25 annual sticker sure came in handy (as it usually does).  Here's the list and some of my favorite pictures so far.

• Ottawa Lake Campground in Southern Kettle Moraine State Forest (April 2011).  Don't recommend staying here.  There's a dog kennel on the end of the lake.  Didn't realize how loud a dog kennel really was until I stayed here.  So glad I have friends/family who can watch dogs at home versus having to put them in a kennel.

View of Ottawa Lake at night, April 2011

• Newport State Park (Memorial Day Weekend)  This is a backpacker's park on the tip of Door County.  Awesome and private campsites along Lake Michigan. 

Jasmine and Wailea enjoying the trails at Newport State Park (May 2011)

• Long Lake Campground in Northern Kettle Moraine State Forest (June and July 2011).  I like this campground - 800 loop has nice campsites and the walk in sites are far enough from the road and other sites you'll have privacy. 

Butterfly on the Ice Age Trail - Northern Kettle Moraine State Forest (June 2011)

• Governor Dodge State Park - (June 2011) Wow - this is a nice park.  SW Wisconsin is in part of the area known as the Driftless Area of Wisconsin.  Lots of hills, a waterfall and a canyon.  (Also stopped at Tower Hill State Park on this trip - hoping to camp here before year end yet)

View along Lost Canyon Trail at Governor Dodge (June 2011)

• Bluemound State Park - (July 2011)  - Not far from Governor Dodge another nice area.  Small campground.  I do have to admit I did like Governor Dodge State Park better. 

Mist burning off the stream at the bottom of the trail (July 2011)

• Whitewater Lake Campground in Southern Kettle Moraine State Forest.  (August 2011)  Another nice little campground at the southern end of the forest.  Nice place to kick off a hike on the Ice Age Trail.

View of Whitewater / Rice Lakes from the Ice Age Trail (August 2011)

• Devil's Lake State Park - (September 2011).  Nice park, but do not recommend going their during season (probably Memorial Day to Labor Day).  All my other camping trips there have been in early spring or late fall - much quieter and nicer at that time.  This trip also included side trips to 3 other state parks in the region (Natural Bridge State Park, Mirror Lake State Park and Rocky Arbor State Park)

Natural Bridge State Park (September 2011)

And for longer stays in my tent were two vacations which took me out west:

• Moab, UT area.  Camping in Moab for a few nights while mountain biking and climbing.  Then a 3-night backpacking trip into the Needles District of Canyonlands National Park.  What a beautiful park. 
• This trip also included a visits to a few other National Parks - Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park (really cool!  You must hike to the bottom of the canyon) and Arches National Park (went to visit the Klondike's Bluff area of the park since I've only seen it while mountain biking just outside the park.  This was my 3rd trip to Arches)

Black Canyon of the Gunnison.  Yes, I hiked down there. (May 2011)

• Wyoming - Backpacked for 4 nights/5 days into the Wind River Range hitting Backpacker Magazine's "Secret Trail" into the Alpine Lakes Region.  It was secret.  Saw 6 people in 5 days.  Great trip.
• After backpacking here on the way back to Washington State hiked in Teton National Park up to Death Canyon and went to see Yellowstone National Park since we were there (would like to go back to Yellowstone and do a backpacking trip - away from the crowds).

Wind River Range at the pass.  Typical vacation weather for me - rain, snow and cold. 
And wondering if trail falls of a cliff on the other side of the snow field?

And to think it's only the beginning of September.  There's still time to do a lot of camping this year.  Guess I better start planning.

Why I Love Winter

With the extreme temperatures this week in the upper midwest I remember why I love winter.  This "feels like" 100+ degrees in Milwaukee, WI is crazy.  Today (Thursday, July 21, 2011) is day 4 and will still be cranking out the heat.

Reasons to love winter:

• Comfortability -  not feeling miserable in the heat
• Layering - add layers of clothing to warm up
• Hot chocolate
• Sleep - it's much easier to sleep in the winter than in the extreme heat
• Snow - big fluffy snow
• Icicles - and the reflections from the sun
• Fleece
• Going outside without sweating

Just a few of the reasons - but right now I'm wishing it was winter and not a hot / sweaty 84 degrees at 6:30 am.  That only means it's going to get worse as the day goes on.

Heat - go away, let winter come this way!

Unglaciated Wisconsin - The Driftless Area

This year I've been doing a lot of exploring and hiking around the southern half of Wisconsin.  I've become most facinated with the SW corner of the state and the landscape.  This area, known as The Driftless area, has lots of rolling hills and streams thanks to being missed by the glacier's that rolled through this area thousands of years ago. 

The more I explore and drive around the back roads in this section of Wisconsin, the more I don't feel like I'm really in Wisconsin. 

This weekend I did some hiking at Bluemound State Park, Governor Dodge State Park and the Ferry Bluff State Natural Area.  All great hikes with great views and surprisingly - not a lot of people. 

With the rain that came in Friday night, the trails at Bluemound State Park were peopleless on Saturday morning.  This left the beauty of an overnight rainfall right where it was when I hiked the trails.  Upon entering the bottom of Pleasant Valley, I followed the stream and saw the mist still lingering.  It was beautiful because just at that time, the sun also started to peep through the clouds and the trees.

Stream at the bottom of Pleasure Valley

Later that day I took my dogs and drove over to Governor Dodge State Park so we could hike the full 3 mile loop of the Lost Canyon Trail.  We had done part of this a few weeks back when we walked down to view Stephen's Falls.  Because it was afternoon and the sun had already come out, there were a few people on this trail, but still for the beauty of this trail, it remained mostly peopleless.  At the bottom of the canyon there were many stream crossings.  The walls of the canyon are full of rock and trees.  Sitting down here you feel no pressure to move fast and can take the time to find artwork in the rocks.

Rock wall - almost looks like the profile of a face

Sunday after doing a little more hiking at Bluemounds State Park - I ventured off to find Ferry Bluff State Natural Area near Sauk City, WI.  I had heard that this area lead to great views overlooking the Wisconsin River and the Driftless Area.  It sure did - even with the oppressive heat (mid-90's & humid), the hike up to the top was worth it. 

Wisconsin River from atop Ferry Bluff

All in all, not a bad weekend visiting the Driftless Area of Wisconsin.  Now to plan to visit some of the unglaciated areas of Wisconsin and see what else I can find. 

Beauty in the City - Milwaukee River Trails (West Bluff)

One of the greatest things about where I live in Milwaukee is we have the Milwaukee River running one block from my house.  And the fact that the urban sprawl of condos that started in downtown Milwaukee will not be allowed to continue its northward movement up the river.  Thus, leaving my area of the river fully natural and forested. 

Milwaukee River's West Bluff Trails

It's great because I can always find peace and tranquility when I need it right behind my house.  And with all the natural surroundings, on some days you may even catch a glimpse of a deer in the early morning hours.  As Ralph Waldo Emerson put it "Adopt the pace of nature: her secret is patience."  This is one of the places I can go and adopt the pace of nature even within the city. 

Natural Tree Arch

I am so glad I found this little pocket of Riverwest to live in and how people have worked hard to keep this area natural.  I think we all need to find places like this - so go find your place of beauty, peace and tranquility and enjoy it.

An Uneventful 4th of July

Hope everyone had a great 4th of July.  As I imagined, it was quiet hiking the Ice Age Trail.  But as usual, hiking with two dogs in the woods is always interesting. 

Jasmine and Wailea exploring the Ice Age Trail

Jasmine decided Saturday was a good day to go squirrel hunting since the squirrels were relatively active and noisy as we walked along the trail. 

Not only did they find many squirrels, but also the biggest mud puddle on the trail.  Wailea must have thought it was pretty cool so she decided to lay down in it.  Of course it was the one time Saturday we saw another human on the trail and I had to grab them out of the mud puddle.  Next thing I knew I was coated in the mud.  Yuck.

Sunday saw a few more people on the trail, but still no one til we had done almost 6 miles of trail. 

Hiked IAT:

Saturday - from Butler Lake north

Sunday - from Mauthe Lake north

Up next - not sure yet.  But I'm sure it will be interesting with two dogs. 

2011's Half Over

Hard to believe 2011 is now officially half over.  Where did the time go? 

Since the year is half over, it's only fitting that I take the dogs hiking for the weekend.  Jasmine and Wailea love the freedom of the woods and open trails.  It's great to be able to give them the freedom to roam and explore when and where I can.  I know it makes them happy and makes me feel good at night to know I've done something for my dogs that not a lot of other dogs get to do.  They are spoiled, but well worth spoiling.

Jasmine and Wailea hiking at Newport State Park, Door County, WI

This weekend they'll be lucky enough to be able to hike on the Ice Age Trail again.  One of my favorite places to hike.  Even though this will be a busy weekend at the lakes and parks - the Ice Age Trail will remain fairly quiet and uneventful as the crowds of people will be elsewhere.  I'll still be able to hear the birds chirp, see the squirrels run and who knows maybe catch a glimpse of a deer drinking at one of the streams. 

Thankfully we live in a country where we have the freedom to do all this.

Happy 4th of July everyone. 



Summer of Mini Vacations

Summer has finally started in WI, but the summer of mini vacations started before summer.  This year I have decided to take full advantage of the weekends and make them mini vacations.  Wisconsin has a lot of State Parks and Forests and I've decided to take advantage of them.  I'm attempting to visit as many as I can for the weekend and try not to hit the same one twice. 

So far this year I've hit up for camping, backpacking and/or hiking:

• Newport State Park (backpacking and hiking)
• Northern Kettle Moraine (camping and hiking)
• Southern Kettle Moraine (camping and hiking)
• Bluemound State Park (hiking only)
• Governor Dodge State Park (camping and hiking)
• Tower Hill State Park (hiking only)

and a trip to Northern Wisconsin to visit the parents.  That was exciting since there was a bear family that kept visiting their yard. 

For the remainder of the summer / fall so far planned are visits to Black River and Devils Lake State Parks.  The rest are still under consideration and planning. 

And then this fall may make a second trip down to the Moab, UT region if time and vacation permits and this time take the dogs (November - it will be cooler).

So what are you doing this summer?  I'm looking forward to my summer of mini vacations.

Newport State Park



Stephen's Falls, Governor Dodge State Park

Bear family visiting my parents place in Northern WI. (Mom and 3 cubs in the background)

So whatever you do this summer - make sure you have fun and enjoy it.  While winter may be my favorite season of the year - I also like to make the most of the cooler summer days.

Living in Wisconsin is an Adventure

I'm starting to think the next ice age is coming.  Now that I've got my mind set to spring and warmer weather and getting out with the dogs to go camping, hiking and climbing - winter seems to have made a return to Wisconsin.  In the last couple of days we've seen snow, rain, sleet, and as a coworker put it "slush" falling from the sky. 

My poor little rogue daffodil that I saw poking through the ground back at the beginning of March, never amounted to anything but green leaves.  I'm pretty convinced that the ice cold weather and the snow we've had since then froze the poor little thing this year.  Now most of the summer plants are partially above ground and getting a dusting of snow and rain that will probably freeze over night.  Hopefully they'll all survive so eventually I'll have a colorful array of flowers.

I guess the one good thing about this crazy Wisconsin weather - the Fox Valley (Appleton / Green Bay area) is forecasted to get 8 - 10 inches of snow.  If nothing else, I may be able to pull my new snowshoes I bought at the end of the season out and head north to try them out. 

Yes, living in Wisconsin is an adventure and right now Mother Nature is playing a practical joke on us.  I say Bring on the Ice Age.

Renewal

Spring is always a time when we feel a sense of renewal.  After a long winter and little daylight or sun - longer days and the fresh look of spring plants making their way above ground makes us feel refreshed and new again. 

Longer days and more sunlight start to make us feel warm even when the thermometer still says it's in the upper 30's.  We break out the garden tools and start to ponder what to plant in our gardens this summer.  Visiting family and friends, taking vacations and having barbeques sound like a good excuse to break away from cleaning and/or working.   Soon a sense of excitement, the sound of laughter and music will fill the streets. 

After a few months of hibernating, working on my house, I know I'm looking forward to this.  How about you?  What are you looking forward to this summer?  Share your thoughts.

Spring Already?

Time for spring?  Maybe? 

Today I saw my first signs of spring in Milwaukee.  I found some plants peeking through the ground along the side of my house (on March 7) - seems a little early for that, but guess not.

It seems really weird since over the weekend I took the dogs hiking in Northern Kettle Moraine in the snow.  And then two days later there are spring plants.  I really have to wonder if the poor daffodil popped through the ground early.  It does sit under my dryer vent and along the side of the house that receives all the sun. 

But since I saw my first sign of spring - my thoughts are now changing from snow to what I can do in spring.  Time to bring back out the tent, sleeping bag, hiking boots, etc (although they never really were put away for the winter).  I'm ready to take the dogs on weekend getaways to the great outdoors.  Take a trip back to Utah and Colorado to visit some national parks, do some rock climbing, mountain biking and hiking.  And plan a trip out to the Northwest to do some backpacking in the mountains.  Ok, let spring come but as I already know, this is Wisconsin and winter will not give up easily.  I'm sure we'll see more snow yet. 

Yes, it's time for renewal and rejuvenation as we see all things new again.  Let spring come, turn the world green and enjoy the sunshine.

More Snow, More Snow, More Snow

Just when you think spring is on the way, well - guess again.  After the great blizzard of 2011 back on Groundhog's Day (which by the way was cancelled in Milwaukee) I think a lot of people thought we were done.  The weather warmed up and within two weeks we had temps in the 50's and could again see the grass in our yards. 

With only snow drifts and piles left - here we are again.  Starting last Sunday we had about 6 inches of snow in my neighborhood (nice, heavy wet snow).  Late that afternoon the sleet hit, then the rain, then the sleet and overnight another 4 inches or so of snow.  Now we have a day off (of snow that is) and tomorrow we'll get hit with more sleet and then snow with more snow on the way for the weekend.

I know I hear many people who wish this would go away and that spring would be on its way, but not me.  I love the snow - give me more, more and more snow.  What that really means is the hot, dog days of summer are still a ways off.  Like I've probably said before - Winter is the Best Season.  Why do I think that?

• No mosquitos
• No fighting for camp sites and no crowds
• You can add on layers in the winter, you can only take off so many in the summer
• Snow is beautiful and inspires creativity
• Winter hiking is the best
• do I need to go on?

If you can't imagine it - here's a few pictures of reasons why winter is the best season, enjoy.  And until next time, bring on the snow.



Peace and quiet - no one else in the woods.



Creativity = Using old leaves, twigs and plants to provide your snowman a mouth, eyes and even hair.



You can get the beach all to yourself - now crowds



Ice Climbing - Starting 2011 Off with a Bang

2011 is starting to look like a good year for outdoor experiences.  And it's a year where I'm promising myself to explore and adventure more than I did last year.  To start the year off right and create an experience doing something I've never done before, I went Ice Climbing. 

Ice Climbing
This is something I've always seen pictures of and thought that it would probably be a pretty amazing thing to try out.  So for 2011, I decided it was time to do it.  A friend and I went up to The Ice Pit near Green Bay, WI for the 2nd annual Ice Pit Festival.  (Yes, there is Ice Climbing in Wisconsin - who would have thought)  It was a weekend of frigid temperatures, but we didn't let that stop us.  We packed enough clothes and gear to last us for a week and we only were there for the day. 

Once there - we layered up and went and borrowed Ice Climbing gear from the wonderful guys who were there working the festival.  Thanks to their knowledge - we walked away with everything we needed to hit the wall of ice.

What we didn't expect were the lines.  After hanging around for a few hours we finally got to the front of the line.  Now remember - I had never done this before and neither had my friend, we learned from YouTube Videos how to Ice Climb.  The girl in the video made it look easy.  Thankfully we had plenty of time to watch the people in front of us as well and realized it may not be as easy as the girl in the video made it look. 

So off to the wall of ice I go (yeah, I got to go first).  After sitting in frigid temperatures for hours in the shade, once I started Ice Climbing, I realized this is quite a work out.  After a few feet you'll be swinging that ice axe and starting to sweat.  After a few more feet (these walls were 60 or so feet high) and with your arms constantly swinging above your head to get the ice axe to stick - your hands will start to get cold and freeze from all the blood draining out of them. 

Getting Read to Climb



Starting the Climb




Climbing

 But don't get me wrong - I'm not complaining.  The ice climbing experience was awesome and I'll do it again when I get the chance.  It has a lot of the same techniques as rock climbing which I love to do, but in a whole new format.  I love winter and the outdoors, so this will just be an extension of the things I can now do in the great outdoors in winter. 

Anyone want to ice climb? 

Nature Unfurled

To see nature unfurl almost everything in its power at me while on vacation is amazing.  In the last week, while on vacation I think I ran into almost everything possible.  But no matter what mother nature tried to throw at me, I either dodged it or just plowed through it.

Snowstorms:
I managed to hit the backend of the big snowstorm that basically paralyzed some of the east coast while driving to Florida.  The only real snow I hit on the entire ride down was while driving through Tennessee, who happened to have more snow that we did in Milwaukee.  Even Atlanta, who saw a white Christmas for the first time in centuries, had as much snow as Milwaukee did.




View from rest area on I-24 in Tennessee


Bitter Cold Comes to Florida
Yes, I brought the cold with me to Florida.  When I arrived in FL it was in the low 30's at night.  By the time I got up in the morning Daytona Beach was tying it's record lows.  It was 27 degrees when I woke up and took the dogs for a walk in the morning.  Nothing like the feeling of being in the sunshine state with the bitter cold.  Funny thing was I received my eNewsletter from TripAdvisor.com while I was there with the subject line of Top 10 Warm Weather escapes and #8 on the list was Orlando, FL.  Ha ha, how wrong they were that day.  But of course, on the day I left, it would get back up to the 60's. 

Severe Storms and Tornados
So next stop on the trip was to the Ozarks of Arkansas.  My first night was to stay at the Redding Campground near Cass, Arkansas along the Mulberry River. 

Mulberry River from Redding Campground

What a gorgeous little campground, even in the dead of winter.   Surprisingly, I was not alone in the campground - one other couple had their tent set up as well.  I knew upon arrival that scattered storms were supposed to pop up over night.  But with no source to the outside world, I had no idea of the changes coming.  Thankfully the other couple had some source to the outside world.  At 9:30 that evening they stopped by me to let me know the scattered storm forecast turned into severe storms heading our way and that since we were in a flash flood zone at this campground they were bailing.  After a bit of debating, I as well, tore the tent and all back down and packed it in.  I figured if I did need to abandon the campground that with 2 dogs in tow, it would be hard to pack quickly and get in the car to head out on the evacuation route.

So back to Ozark, Arkansas we headed.  The storms came in and upon awaking the next morning, turned on the news to see tornados were touching down just northwest of where I was.  And as I went to check out of the hotel the storms hit Ozark.  Thankfully by this time it was just heavy rain and winds with no tornados. 

With all the heavy rains, I decided to take the dogs hiking in an elevated area that day instead of back down by the campground on the Ozark Trail.  We headed up to Mount Magazine State Park instead and dealt with the rain up there.  Even in the rain - this is a pretty park with the highest peak in the state of Arkansas.  Definitely would recommend it and would love to go back and see this in the fall.  I bet the view is amazing as the leaves change colors.

Jasmine and Wailea hiking the North Rim Trail

Unfortunately because of the tornados I did end up cutting this vacation short one day since I was going to head out to another state park just sw of Fayetteville, Arkansas - but that would have been just east of Cincinnati Arkansas, so probably saw a little of the destruction from the tornado. 

Overall even with all the crazy weather - I'd do the whole vacation over again.  Love the fact that we could hike in Mount Magazine State Park and never see another sole.  It was like the dogs and I had the park to ourselves.  That was awesome. 

So go ahead nature unfurl your crazy weather on me.  I will take it and one up you by ignoring the weather and enjoying nature in every shape and format you can throw at me.  Yes, I may be crazy - but why not.  I will only live once and want to enjoy every minute of being outside that I can.