Fall Hikes

This is the time of year that hiking becomes problematic on Wisconsin’s public lands.  It used to be that Wisconsin’s deer season started the week before Thanksgiving and ended the weekend after Thanksgiving.  Now, with all of the special hunts to reduce deer populations and chronic wasting disease, the chances of running into a hunter in mid-October through Christmas have greatly increased. When hunters with loaded weapons appear on the trails, it’s time for me to take my walks elsewhere.

Ice Age Trail: Cannery to Twin Pines

On Monday of this week, Callie and I hiked the Ice Age Trail segment from the Lodi Cannery to Twin Pines without any incident whatsoever.  It’s a beautiful time of year to hike: fall colors, comfortable temps, reduced mosquitoes, and fewer people on the trails, especially on weekdays.   We hiked Slack’s Hill on Tuesday and enjoyed similar conditions. On Wednesday, we went back to the Cannery segment.  Things had changed, and it wasn’t even deer hunters.

First, I should say that I don’t have any moral issues with hunters harvesting game within the rules.  I don’t hunt, but I’ve eaten game many times and helped to butcher farm  animals also.  Meat doesn’t come from a foam package covered with plastic wrap.  It comes from a living animal. Unfortunately, there are a lot of hunters that don’t play by the rules or are otherwise inconsiderate. 

Additionally, some of the rules make hunting a little bit more like gathering.
It was obvious when we came out on top of the hill that state-raised pheasants were just  released.  A couple of birds came across the trail right in front of us.  There was no great surprise when we saw a bird hunter ahead of us. 

Unfortunately, he was hunting right on the hiking trail with two unleashed dogs.  In Wisconsin, it’s illegal to hunt within 100 yards of the Ice Age Trail, but there’s little enforcement.  I suppose I could have made a citizen’s arrest or told him that he was breaking the law, but he had a loaded gun.  So there’s that.

The hunter’s back was to us.  He was trudging along with his gun without any idea that we were coming up behind him.  I stopped about 100 feet away (Callie on leash), and waited for him to notice us and leash his dogs.  My plan was to go around and past him, continuing our hike. As you might expect, his dogs were the ones to eventually notice us.  They both started running at Callie.  The hunter didn’t move but started swearing at the top of his lungs.  When one of the dogs got within 20 feet, I picked up Callie (who wanted to “kill, kill, kill”, despite the other dogs being twice her size).

I yelled, “Go home,” The dogs looked at me questioningly.  I yelled “Go home” again,  and they turned around.  When the dogs made their way back to the hunter, he made no effort to leash his dogs, but continued to walk slowly down the middle of the Ice Age Trail, gun on his shoulder.  I turned around and headed home.  It was time to leave that public property until after Christmas. Hiker-friendly laws aren’t much good when ignored by hunters.

 

 Devil’s Lake State Park

On Thursday, Julia took the morning off and we got up very early to take the ferry across the Wisconsin River.

The sun was just starting to come up when we started up the east cliff trail. There was no one else on the trail, except for a lone photographer snapping photos of the sun hitting the west cliffs.  The lake was so beautiful.  We then hiked up and down the west cliff trail.

 

Playing with Wood

Between hikes, I’ve been making progress with the firewood pile.  I identified several fallen trees in my woods to cut up.  Because I live on a hill, the rounds get thrown down the hill, loaded into my truck and taken to the processing area.  Here, the wood is hand split with a maul and then stacked.
This year’s wood is stacked on pallets in my pole barn (5 full cords).  Next year’s wood is off to the left in the photo.  I need to get to work on the spaces on the right.  Split hardwood benefits from two or three years of aging in stacks to get the moisture levels down below 20%, which is optimal for wood stoves.  Typically, I heat with wood full time from October to April.  The furnace only goes on if we’re out of town overnight.

Changing of the Seasons

Summer came to a rapid close in south-central Wisconsin.  We literally moved from air conditioning season to heating season.  I’ve been building at least one fire each day to take the chill off since arriving back at home.

I’ve moved back into my Wisconsin routine.  I try to hike at least five miles each day.  Hunting season is rapidly approaching, so I’m taking advantage of the window and hiking all of the nearby Ice Age segments.

Closer to home, the deer are starting to move–nearly to our back door.

Brewedjourney.com

There will be some changes to Brewed Journey.  The introductory rate for my web hosting service is ending in February. Because this is clearly a hobby blog for personal enjoyment, there doesn’t seem to be a good reason to pay a significantly higher rate.   The plan is to move the blog over to Blogger (free).  It should be a tedious but seamless move for the old posts. The layout will necessarily change, but I don’t think it will be for the worse. I look forward to trying something new.

Running for the (Wisconsin) Border

Just when I started enjoying the weather, things took a turn for the worse.  You may recall me basking in the 70’s in southern Illinois.  That didn’t last long.  Callie and I enjoyed an overnight stay at Beaver Dam State Park and then headed north to Springfield.

My first thought in staying at the Illinois State Fairgrounds in Springfield was that we were going to chart a path home through the best campgrounds that central Illinois and northern Illinois had to offer.  To be honest, nothing was exciting me.  We spent some time walking around Springfield, which hangs its tourism hat on Abe Lincoln.  I drank a new beer, Stag, which tastes a lot like Pabst.  That’s not a bad thing on a hot day for $1.50 at a bar.

Then the reality of being only five hours from home, and the weather abruptly changing to freeze warnings, lead to the decision to cut the trip short and head home.  On the day that I arrived back to Wisconsin, there were freeze warnings.  That afternoon, we winterized the Brew Hut and called it the end of the 2019 season.

It seems strange going from sweltering to freezing in such a short time.  But there it is…

Future Plans

What’s next?  I’ll be home for awhile.  The firewood for this next season is ready, but the firewood for the season after that needs to be harvested and processed.  The (adult)  kids will be coming home in coming weekends, and then there will be a big gathering here for Thanksgiving.

As far as the Brew Hut goes, the old Scamp trailer will hibernate for the winter.  We’ve taken her west, south and east now. Which trip did I like best?  West, south and then east.  All of the trips were good ones, but the free camping out west and the dryer climate fits my camping style better.  There were also fewer mosquitoes.

At this point in time, I’m not sure where the next trip will take us, but I’ll have a long winter to figure that out.

Shawnee National Forest: Oak Point Campground

The weather finally broke for me.  Nearly perfect temperatures in the 70’s during the day and 50’s at night.  I settled in for a couple of days at the Oak Point Campground, which I used as a base to explore other areas and for its own sake.

The campground sites were well-spaced.  The cost was $20/night including electric, dump station, on-site water, and no artificial light at night.  There is a trail leading around Glendale Lake, which Callie and I both enjoyed.  Hot showers were available, and firewood was cheap.

I’ve always been hard on Illinois.  Part of it goes back to the Packers-Bears rivalry, which interests me much less than it did at one time.  Part of it is the ugliness of the Illinois interstates and much of the Chicago area.  After spending a couple of days in the Shawnee National Forest, I began to really enjoy myself and the terrain.  It wouldn’t be the worst place to live—Southern Illinois.

People may not know that orange trees grow here, kinda sorta.  This is the only place where I’ve seen Osage oranges–also known as the hedge apple.

These fruits are literally as big as softballs.  Osage oranges are not fit for human consumption, although they aren’t really poisonous either.

Fortunately, they grow on short thorny trees that don’t grow above trailers like hickory trees do.  The firewood is incredibly full of BTU’s–even more than oak or hickory.  Great for wood stoves, if you could split the wood.

Besides reforming my views about Illinois, I’ve always been working to reform my diet.  Julia has gone all in on eating almost entirely vegetables with very little red meat.  I haven’t gone that far, but I am limiting my red meat intake by eating smaller portions and less often.

Here’s my take on a healthier diet:

You’ll notice that the vegetables outnumber the small steak, and some of the vegetables have green elements.  Specifically, the jalepeno peppers.  The rest is onion and potato.  This reformed diet thing is a work in progress.

Another Day, Another Winery

Next, we drove from eastern Kentucky to western Kentucky, stopping at Carriage House Vineyards, a Harvest Host location. On the road, I called for permission to stay that night.  No one answered the phone, so I left a message.  Within an hour, I got a call back from David, the owner.

“Actually, we’re on vacation from the winery,” David said.  “But you can still stay on the property.  Do you need electricity?”

With the temperature at 95 degrees, the answer was “Absolutely, if you have it.”  Harvest Hosts properties do not normally have electrical hookups, but David had a 30 amp outlet installed on an outbuilding for that purpose.  I was very grateful.

I went to the tasting room during the late afternoon and sampled six wines (free tasting).  I liked all of the wines except for one and purchased a green apple/grape wine and a maple dessert wine.

There was only one other visitor during my entire stay.  The employee went home at 6 p.m, and then I had the place to myself.  This turned out to be a very relaxing stay.  Callie and I took walks up the long gravel driveway.  When the sun went down, it cooled to about 60.  The air conditioning was off.  The skies were dark (no artificial light on the grounds).  I slept well.

Daniel Boone National Forest: Grove Campground

After three nights of delightful weather in the Virginia mountains, I was ready to continue my journey west.  I crossed back and forth between Virginia and Tennessee until I settled in southeastern Kentucky.

The weather had changed from mid 70’s for highs to low 90’s for highs.  By the time I arrived at Daniel Boone National Forest near Corbin, Kentucky, I was ready to plug into some air conditioning.  The Grove Campground has multiple loops and two different campgrounds.  One is called the Drive-in campground, where campers drive in and set up.  The other one is the Boat-in campground, which is not accessible by vehicle.

The drive-in campground is past season.  There were only a few trailers when i arrived.  Rates are discounted, and reservations aren’t being accepted. The header photo shows the large hickory nuts that have been falling on my trailer, both in Virginia and Kentucky.

After setting up for one night (leaving the Brew Hut hooked up to the truck), Callie and I hiked down a path recommended by the campground host.  We walked down the Closed C loop to the dumpster, and then hiked past the “road closed sign.” From that point, the asphalt turned to gravel and then to dirt. Eventually, we reached the Boat-in Campground, which it turns out is accessible by foot.

After hiking back up the trail, we continued to walk each of the campground loops.  Before you know it, Callie and I had our 12,000 steps in for the day, despite a full driving day.  Dinner tonight was burgers and cold beer.  Later, I went over and sat with an older couple with a Casita who had traveled tens of thousands of miles during their three years of ownership.

They keep a home in Florida but are no strangers to adventure on the road.. After we solved many of the world’s problems and philosophical issues, I headed off to bed.  A cold sweet tea sounded better than a beer, so that was my nightcap.

Grayson Highlands State Park

I hiked through Grayson Highlands during my Appalachian thru-hike in 1996, but I didn’t camp here for a very good reason.  The Appalachian Trail back then was 2159 miles.  The blue blaze trail to the state park was 0.66 miles.  

My hiking partners and I had some rules during the thru-hike.  We would walk 0.2 or 0.3 if we needed water or a shelter, but I tried to keep extra miles at a minimum.  If there was a cold six pack of beer or a hamburger and fries at the other end of the 0.66, there would be no question.  But the blue blaze trail leads only to a gravel overnight parking lot.

With the Brew Hut and Nissan truck, I am no longer constrained by those rules.  I parked in the ugly little gravel overnight parking lot and started hiking up the mountain where it  joins the Appalachian Trail. Within a quarter of a mile, I saw something that I never saw on my thru-hike: one of the the famous Grayson Highlands wild ponies right on the trail walking towards us.

For once, Callie was quiet and still.  Eventually, the pony got too close (they bite and kick), so we wandered to the left.  It wandered to the right.
Soon, we climbed to the intersection of the spur trail and the A.T.  Just like on Roan Mountain, the ridges are grass and shrubs.  The views are stunning.

Callie and I continued southbound into the Mount Rodgers Wilderness.  We peaked out at around 5200′ in elevation.  The climb was in direct sun and without wind;  Callie was hot.  I shared some of my water bottle with her, but it was time to head back.  A breeze picked up for the mostly downhill hike. We met some other hikers who were southbound and stopped to chat with one guy who wanted a photo of Callie for his daughter.

On the way down the spur trail, there were more ponies.

Hickory Ridge Campground

The campsites at Hickory Ridge are wooded.  I haven’t seen any hickory nuts, but the leaves are falling, and so are the acorns.  When one hits the top of the Scamp, it is startling.  Something that sounded like a larger hickory nut falling several hundred yards just hit the roof, but I couldn’t find the evidence.

Back to the Fairgrounds

The North Carolina State Fairgrounds in Raleigh has been a very convenient place for Julia to arrive and depart from.  It’s only about twenty minutes from the airport and offers full hookups for $30/night.

Showers and bathroom are a bit of an issue.  Almost everyone here is self-contained.  We are too, but showering takes some effort in the Brew Hut with the small wet bath. Camp-ground showers are always appreciated, especially from Julia’s perceptive.

On my first visit, I talked to the security guard about potential showering opportunities. He told me that there were some off-site showers, but I never did find them.  On my second visit, however, I got clearer directions.  The bathroom and showers are at the H6 gate.  Drive up towards the first horse barn on the right.  There’s a bathroom on the far side of the building.  There’s a door inside the bathroom leading to three shower stalls.

I’m pretty sure these are for the horse people, but there was only one other guy taking a shower there during the entire time that I was there shaving, etc.  One caveat:  don’t do what I did and park to close to the horse barn.  When I came out, the truck was parked in by a long horse trailer.  I managed to get out with the help of some spotters.  But it took a lot of wriggling back and forth.  Julia was worried because she needed to be dropped off at the airport, and I was late.

Visit with Friends

We  combined our second stay with an opportunity to visit with one of Julia’s graduate school classmates who lives in nearby Chapel Hill.  Jane and Julia spent an afternoon sightseeing, and then the husbands joined in at dinner time at Kitchen.

A good time was had by all.  After dinner, we picked up some pie and spent time at the residence, meeting their teenage daughter and the family’s crazy but friendly dogs. Callie would not have been amused.

I stayed at the Fairgrounds two more nights in order to get some errands done.  I’m not sure how long I’ll take on the return trip, but the plan is to make a couple of multiple day stops in Virginia and Kentucky.  The rest of the way will depend on the weather, which has been hot, humid and dry.  That’s going to head the other direction at some point in October.

It’s been so hot that Callie and I get up to take our long walk before and during sunrise when the temps are the coolest.