Fall Comes Early to Wisconsin

During the last couple of days, I've been able to see my breath when I take Callie out for her early morning ritual at 6 a.m. Our apple trees had a good year,and we collected seven gallons of unpasteurized cider. 

This will be the last year of cider-making.  Julia called her step-brother to come get the cider press, as we plan to be downsized elsewhere this time next year.

We recently entertained daughter Allie for a week. One day we went to the Boneyard, which is a combination dog park and tavern. This dog took a liking to Julia--whether she liked it or not.

I think one of Allie’s favorite parts of her visit was a road trip to Amish country. 

We also managed a short hike.

Tomorrow, we head west.  We will begin by stopping off at my Mom's in Iowa. 

Driftless Area

Much of southwestern Wisconsin is known as the driftless area:  where the glaciers never covered the land in ice.  It's characterized by steep bluffs and deep river valleys. The Kickapoo River runs through here.  

Kickapoo is an Algonquin name for "one who goes there, then here."  Sixty miles as the bird flies from its source to its mouth, the Kickapoo zig zags 126 miles.  The Kickapoo watershed is nearly half a million acres. 

Recently, Julia and I set off for Wildcat Mountain State Park between the small towns of Hillsboro and Ontario.  We elected to ignore Google Map's fastest route in favor of county highways and town roads that took us through Amish country and beautiful scenery.  

On a weekday, we were the only vehicle in the state park's parking lot.  Trail conditions required some caution with snow and ice on the north-facing slopes and mud on the south-facing slopes. The views on top of Wildcat Mountain (a Wisconsin hill/bluff) and the brisk wind made us feel alive. 

Callie is catching drops from the melting icicles.

After finishing up our hike on the Old Settlers Trail, we drove to the Hillsboro Brewing Company for pizza and beer. 

The pizza was good, inexpensive and was big enough for leftovers on a second day.  As I was sipping my "Joe Beer", a no-nonsense porter with no added flavoring, I spied an interesting sign over by the cashier.

 

 

Of course, I had to ask.  Apparently, the new canning equipment wasn't filling all of the cans full of beer.  Some had as little as six ounces in a can, while others nearly 10 or 11 ounces.  The shorted cans couldn't be sold with the regular labels.  Hmmm, at $12/case, we were pretty excited to bring home a case of "no label" stout.

Sweet Wanderings

As winter closes in, we made a few local trips to make life sweeter.  The first stop was to Cross Plains at Enchanted Valley Christmas Tree farm to select our favorite type of Christmas tree:  white pine.  

Callie approves

We've always liked the long needles of white pines.  A native Wisconsin tree, white pines seem to have fallen out of fashion at Christmas tree farms.  Everyone wants balsams or Frasier firs.  We planned to cut down our tree, but the small grove of white pines at the farm was not open to the public so we settled for a pre-cut.

On the way home, we stopped at a driveway honey store in Sauk City.  We like to buy local honey, but this isn't the best time of year to find it.  Someone was advertising their driveway store on Facebook marketplace.  

We were skeptical but our skepticism vanished upon pulling up at a small ranch house with a glass case of different sizes of honey.  There was a metal box with a slot for "honor system" money deposits. We picked up a couple of two pound containers, deposited our $20 and were on our way.

Julia and I continue to make our sunrise hikes at Gibraltar Rock at least twice per week.  After yesterday's hike, I made arrangements for a maple syrup bulk buy in Hillsboro, Wisconsin.  Again, Facebook marketplace provided the name of a non-traditional supplier.  

Hillsboro is in southwestern Wisconsin and a little more than an hour drive.  The maple syrup farmer did not have a retail location, so we agreed to meet in the parking lot of the Hillsboro Brewing Company.  

It was a typical pandemic transaction. The seller and I were both masked up and exchanged cash for 7 bottles of maple syrup. Grade A maple syrup is light in color and has a viscosity more similar to commercial pancake syrup.  It's the only type of maple syrup that most people know.

 

Grade B syrup is produced later in the season.  It's thicker, darker and has a stronger flavor.  It's what we prefer.  This maple syrup is unlabeled and ungraded.  It has a dark, rich color.  The Amish from around Hillsborough get between $15 and $20 per quart.  For seven bottles, the price was $12/quart.  I'll be sharing this purchase with our friends Dean and Dana.

After my parking lot transaction, I headed to Wildcat Mountain State Park and hiked the Old Settlers Trail.  Callie was happy about getting in a second hike that day.  

A horseshoe bend in the Kickapoo

I only saw three other hikers on a beautiful weekday that hit 50 degrees.  With those warm temperatures, the steep trail was turning from frozen to slick. Leaf and pine needle cover made the slick parts difficult to see. Not a problem on the uphills, but I had several spectacular saves going downhill where I managed to perform acrobatic moves to catch my balance while sliding downhill on mud.

Unfortunately, my fourth attempt at a save resulted in a hard fall. I was covered in mud on my entire left side from my knee to my shoulder.  I also managed to tweak my right knee, which made the finish of the hike less pleasant.  Still, it was a good day in the woods.  I treated myself to a chocolate malt from Culvers on the way home.

Wildcat Mountain State Park

We spent three nights recently at Wildcat Mountain State Park in the driftless region of southwestern Wisconsin near the small town of Ontario.  While the glaciers barreled through much of Wisconsin leaving many rounded land forms and lakes, the driftless region features deeply carved river valleys. The Kickapoo River meanders back and forth for 126 miles, nearly meeting itself at times, before entering the Wisconsin River.

We live fairly close to Devil’s Lake State Park, which has more visitors than many national parks.  In the summer, that park is filled with crowds of tourists.  Campgrounds book up quickly, beginning 11 months in advance.  We were looking for a different experience without having to drive more than two hours, and we found that at Wildcat Mountain State Park.  The campground had about half a dozen sites with electric hookups, a bunch more rustic sites without hookups, and more walk-in tent sites.  For all campers, there were flush toilets, hot showers, picnic tables, campfire rings, and a dump station.  We had no trouble getting reservations a few weeks ahead of time, and some non-electric sites were still vacant for those showing up on Saturday night.  We rarely encountered hikers on the trails and never felt crowded.

The longest trail in the park is Old Settler’s Trail (2.5 miles).  It rises up and down steep valleys and crosses several streams.  Hemlock Trail is shorter but climbs to the top of Mount Pisgah ( a big hill).  Most of the Hemlock Trail is in a state-protected natural area and doesn’t allow dogs, although we didn’t see the small sign until after we completed the hike.  Callie said that it didn’t matter because she is part dingo and not really a dog.  The last trail that we hiked in the park was the Ice Cave Trail.  In June, it features a small waterfall.  While I kicked back with a book/nap, Julia went on to kayak for two hours down the Kickapoo.

We then drove through the back-roads of Amish farms and stores, which featured freshly- picked morel mushrooms (only in season this time of year), maple syrup, baked goods, honey, and many other items.  One farm advertised fresh trout, and it turned out that the fish were so fresh, they hadn’t been caught yet.  If you could catch one, the Amish would clean the fish for you as part of the price.

We passed on the trout, but we did scoop up morel mushrooms, maple syrup, and home-made chocolate toffee.

That night we prepared our mushrooms (sauteed with a whole stick of butter), steak, and a spinach salad, washed down with Snappy IPA brewed by the Hillsborough Brewing Company.  Then we enjoyed a campfire and daylight that continued past 9:30 p.m.

On Saturday, it rained off and on, but we found time to drive to the Kickapoo Valley Reserve, which is a beautiful 8,600 acre tract of land between LaFarge and Ontario.  Because the trails were very muddy, we stayed on the paved and gravel portions of the multi-use bike, horse, and hiking trails.  We only saw two people on our hour hike.  One young man was Amish and brave enough to make a friend of Callie.

Saturday afternoon, we drove to the Hillsboro Brewing Company for nachos and tap beer.  Julia had “Treat Yo Self” (unfiltered northeastern IPA, and I had a Contented Cow (milk stout).  I loved the space, but they are moving to a bigger space with more parking.

By Saturday night, the skies had cleared, and we had another long campfire. Even at 10 p.m. the skies were not completely dark. Temp dropped into the 40’s, which made for great sleeping.  We got up early Sunday morning for breakfast and one last hike.

This is not the first time we’ve been to Wildcat Mountain, but it has been many years and far too long since the last time.  Julia liked the area and the Amish vibe so much that we had to check out the real estate listings in LaFarge.  But the good thing about the Brew Hut is that we don’t have to buy real estate or a cabin to enjoy an area.  There are many undiscovered and re-discovered gems, such as Wildcat Mountain.  Having said that, we will be back and hopefully soon.