Bellevue State Park

While Spruce Creek was our first camping choice, we knew that Bellevue State Park was open year-round, so Plan B was pretty solid.

The campsite was not quite as picturesque.

Last year, when we camped here, the bathrooms and showers were open which makes for a happy wife, happy life situation. 

Nope, the doors were locked. A couple of hours after setting up, a DNR truck pulled up and unlocked the doors. Life was immediately a little better.

She wasn’t sure about the showers. Warm water would be a bit of an overstatement.

Plan B

Our plans to camp on the banks of the Mississippi fell apart when we arrived at Spruce Creek County Park north of Bellevue, Iowa. The gates were locked and barricaded, despite the park’s web page declaring an opening date of April 1st. 

Bellevue is a beautiful little river town.

We stopped for Mexican food and walked up and down the sidewalks above the river.  We then drove south in search of an open campground.  

New Trail

 

Readers of my blog frequently come across hikes of Gibraltar Rock.  That's not a new trail, they say.  However, there are some improvements and extensions of Ice Age Trail in the Lodi area proposed for this year that will make for easier access.

In the Lodi Marsh, I've been told that the very wet sections going through the marsh will be re-routed around the wettest sections.

At Gibraltar Rock, a true loop will be created so that hikers won't have to go up the old road to create a loop.  A second trail segment will follow along the hillside next to Hwy J to create the loop.  

The new trail has not yet been built, and it will require some good trail design to avoid erosion on the hillside.  There already some erosion issues on the trail coming down to the west parking lot. 

The new trail is marked off, and I was able to follow it with Callie to preview it.  

 

It's going to be a nice piece of trail with views of the surrounding bluffs.

I would imagine it will be popular for the runners who currently are on the narrow shoulder of curvy Hwy V, as well as young children/seniors who have trouble going up the steep old road to the viewpoint.  No dogs on the trail-to-be-built so Callie likes it right now. 

Won't Be Long Now

 

The weather has been lousy, and it's not going to get any better in the short term.  A mix of rain and snow is predicted for the next few days.  Next week, the snow should be a memory.  Spring-like temperatures will be arriving.  And that means that the Brew Hut has been retrieved from its winter storage. We probably won't be going far with the Scamp this year.  I'm thinking that the banks of the Mississippi River would be a good start.

Colorado Trip: Buchanan Pass

 From June 2021

 

Julia's knees were aching after the hike down from Two Sisters, so the next day we chose a more moderate hike.  We drove south from Olive Ridge campground to Camp Dick via Hwy 7 and Hwy 72.  One end of the Buchanan Pass Trailhead is in Camp Dick's parking lot.  Camp Dick is another forest service campground with limited first come, first serve.  We warmed up with a walk around the campground loop.  We did not see any vacant sites.

Buchanan Pass is a 7.9 mile in and out trail with only 941 feet of elevation gain.  The trail follows Middle St. Vrain Creek and is dog-friendly.

Sunny Sunday

People who live in the Upper Midwest are often criticized for how much we talk about the weather.  Rapidly changing weather always give us something to talk about.  Most of our weather is bad, so we always have something to complain about.  When our weather is good, we have reason to celebrate.  Even naturally taciturn people can talk about the weather.

 

Yesterday morning was a wet winter wonderland on the Fern Dell segment of the Ice Age Trail on Highway J northwest of Lodi.  

The flakes were big.  The kind that you can catch in your mouth as they melt.  In the afternoon, the big snowflakes changed to a steady rain.   By late afternoon, the precipitation ended enough that I was able to split firewood.  The small pile to the lower right is what I split.  It would have been a bigger pile, but...um, I had to shower to attend a social function.

 

 

That night we met with friends for dinner to celebrate their youngest son's upcoming wedding this summer.  As we left the original location of Vintage Brewing on Whitney Way in Madison, the skies cleared to blue.  

We had an after dinner drink at Delta Beer Labs on Badger Road in Madison. The photo is a little blurry, and I got cut out of it, but it was the only evidence of our  get-together.  I've known Dave since sixth grade.  I knew bearded Chris in diapers.  His lovely fiance Kylie is a special education teacher and is from "way up north."  Ruth and Dave first met when Dave and I biked across Wisconsin from La Crosse to Milwaukee in 1988. The wedding will be at Kylie's parents' place near Lake Superior.

 

 This morning, we were greeted with sun and blue skies.  

 

 

That's Davey's farm.  He's one of the hardest working farmers that I know. In the dead of winter, he is outside with a shovel, breaking off frozen chunks of silage to feed his small herd of steers.  It's a small farm (40 acres) that he inherited from his mother, and it helps to support his retirement.  He worked many years as a gravel truck driver. 

 

If taciturn had a picture of someone next to its definition, it would be Davey.  We have very short conversations--mostly about the weather.