Great Hike!

Earlier this spring, two different people recommended a hiking spot, but we didn't have a chance to check it out until yesterday. They were right - it was fantastic! 

Since we were expecting a cooler sunny, day with highs in the sixties, we thought it was time for a longer hike. Lower humidity and a bit of breeze meant that the bug weren't bad, and we were comfortable in long pants and long sleeves. We drove about an hour and a half up to Black River Harbor, in the Ottawa National Forest. Trail map: https://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/fseprd530082.pdf

We decided to park at the harbor and hike up the river, have our picnic lunch, and then hike back. On our road trips last fall, we bought an Interagency Annual Pass, and it covers National Forests as well as National Parks, so we didn't have to pay the parking fee! First, we walked down to see the harbor and the beach. There is a CCC/WPA-constructed pedestrian suspension bridge that crosses the river and leads to the beach - a sign indicates a two-person limit on the bridge, and it sways as you cross it!

The harbor is protected by stone jetties, and we hiked out onto one of them to see the views. It has been a while since we've scrambled on big boulders like that! There is a hiking trail along the north side of the river that we will have to explore another day. We crossed back over the bridge to the south side and headed up through the parking area to reach the North Country Trail.

This part of the hike was steadily up hill, with a few steep climbs. We got off-trail early on when we missed a blue blaze and had to backtrack a bit. Our first stop was Rainbow Falls, where there were steps down to a viewing platform (and some other visitors complaining about having to climb the steps on the way back up!)

After Rainbow Falls, the trail crosses Route 513 and loops around some private property. This meant we skipped the next waterfall along the river, with the intent to see it on our way back to the car. This section of the trail included some grassy areas as well as forested areas, and it crossed back across Route 513 to Gorge Falls (the first viewing platform is closed, but the second is available and lovely) and Potawatomi Falls. Again, lots of steps up and down to the viewing platforms!

The path from Potawatomi Falls to the waterfall farthest from the harbor, Great Conglomerate Falls, wound along the river, with lots of ups and downs and a few places where the paths were blocked by fallen trees. In one case, the tree with the blue blaze was the one that had fallen! However, we made it, and it was worth it! 

We headed back down the path to Potawatomi Falls, where we had seen the nicest bench, to stop and have our picnic: cheese sandwiches on Bryan's rye bread and some trail mix. We also overhead a memorable line from a child hiking with a family: "Mom, there is NOTHING fun about this waterfall!" Poor kiddo! I bet Mom was thinking something like, "Well, it WOULD be fun for me if I didn't have to drag you along!"

Mindful that we had already walked five miles and not wanting to overextend ourselves, we headed out to the road and walked the short stretch to the waterfall we had missed, Sandstone Falls. This one had large, slanted, awkward steps down to the water's edge. We enjoyed a rest break on a rock overlooking the waterfall and spotted a strawberry plant growing in a crevice in the rock. Was this native, or a remnant of someone's long-ago lunch?

We climbed back up to the path, then hiked back to the road and down to Rainbow Falls again to hop onto the trail back to the harbor. The entire hike took us about three and a half hours, and the Apple watch indicates that it was 7.88 miles. 

If you want to come visit us, we'd love to do this hike again, with two cars! It would be nice to be able to park at point A or B on the map and hike all the way to the harbor without having to do the hike in reverse.  If you don't feel like a long hike, there is a parking area for each waterfall, with a walk of a quarter to a half-mile from the parking lot, although there are still stairs to get to every viewing spot.

Nature pictures!

Winter was so quiet up here. With the warmer days have come the sounds of … yes, tourists, but also nature! I've been snapping pictures when I can. Time to share!

Let's start tame. Deer are our constant companions. The neighbors told us that the next house over used to feed them regularly. We've seen up to three at a time wander through our yard. We even scared a little spotted fawn out of the pushes behind the garage a week ago. That one was too quick to photograph, so I only have the one above, wondering why I'm staring, to share.

Low-light pictures are tough … but this moth has a winspan of six inches or more! I searched for common moths of Wisconsin, and got over 400 hits, so I haven't yet identified the exact variety. This one first showed up late at night while Amanda was up reading. She thought it was a bat before she got a good look. It makes a ton of noise trying to get through our front window to reach our lamps.

The WI DNR has many webpages dedicated to informing the public that this is not an Asian Longhorned Beetle. It is a White Spotted Sawyer. It eats old dead pine trees. Hopefully the old dead pine trees nailed to the outside of my house are coated in enough paint to be unappetizing!

Finally, the one our neighbors have been telling us about since February. They had seen, and plugged, holes burrowed into their hillside, but never the actual animal. Well, today, about ten seconds after watching a chipmunk alert and skitter off the driveway, across the road comes this beautiful fox. The chipmunk must have run into the wood pile, because the fox spent several minutes investigating.

… which gives me an excuse to post one project picture: the new shelter into which I need to move that wood pile. This design is based on free plans you can download from the EPA. It goes up pretty quick, when the heat and the flies will let you get to it!