Autumn at Parfrey's Glen

 

Wisconsin gets limited days of glorious weather days, but we had one this past week during which we took full advantage.  First, there was a ferry ride across the Wisconsin River to get to our destination.

Even though it was a weekday, the local kids had no school on Friday, so the small parking lot was full of families who had the same idea.  Fortunately, one car was leaving and left us a spot. We were quickly on the trail.

While we still have peak color at home, many of the leaves have already fallen at Parfrey’s Glen, which has its one special microclimate, where supporting plants and animals are usually found only in northern Wisconsin.

The trail follows a small stream. Storms have wiped out much of the original boardwalk, so the last half if the trail requires a bit of rock hopping through the stream. 

Eventually, the sandstone cliffs close into a narrow ravine.

At the end, there’s a small waterfall and pool.

After returning to the truck, we continued our date night with pizza and beer at Tumbled Rocks Brewery in Baraboo. While the beer and food were good, the pour was a short one and in a 12 ounce glass. Shrinkification does not encourage repeat business!

 

Finally, we followed the former president's recommendation for early voting.  Unfortunately, for him, he did not benefit from our early vote. There's a wolf at America's door of democracy.

 

It encourages me that some Republicans are taking notice, but will it be enough?

 

More Winter Scenes

Our early winter continues.  I traded my snowshoes for my medium-duty Dahner hiking boots.  The snow wasn’t deep enough for snowshoes. The hiking boots provided extra support for the hidden rocks and stumps lurking under the snow.

Gibraltar Rock was a winter wonderland.  No prior footsteps or paw prints in the snow meant that Callie and I found the solitude that we were looking for.



We chose the Upland Trail out of the Steinke Basin parking lot.  Trail conditions alternated between icy and windy out of the sun to soggy and warm in the sun.  We didn’t see anyone else hiking all morning

Later in the week, we celebrated Julia’s transition to half-time status at work.  On Thursday, we headed to Devil’s Lake State Park for a hike.  The ferry generally stays open into December, until the river and/or the boat becomes to icy.  The hydraulic ramps were icing up on this morning, causing delays. 

After the hike, we stopped in at the newly-opened Tumbled Rocks Brewery and Kitchen near the north entrance to the park.  The food and beer were both good.  We will return.

On Friday night, we received an unexpected call from the Campus Police Department at Justin’s college.  Almost exactly a year from the date that he broke his leg from a fall, he fell out of his wheelchair again.  Another ambulance ride, another hospital visit.  Thankfully, this time he didn’t break anything. He’s sore but still at school.