Manitowoc County Lakeshore

The weather report called for an especially nice last weekend in October (déjà vu to the last weekend in September, but we'll take it!).  Highs near 60 degrees, sunny, and lows only in the mid-40s at night.  Some friends have been asking how the weather is here in Wisconsin- so far, aside from a few cold and rainy periods during the last couple of weeks, the weather has been mild and comfortable.  No hard freezes yet (I still have a potted geranium on the patio which is very much alive), and not one flurry of snow.  You will read about it when it does snow!

We booked a campsite at Point Beach State Forest, so we could be close to Lake Michigan and get in some more biking and hiking in that area.  We camped among the ancient inland dunes and almost had the tent camping area to ourselves since camp trailers were located in another section of the campground.

On Friday evening, we set up camp and took a ride a few miles south along the Lake into Manitowoc (pronounced MAN EH TOE WOK) to check out a microbrewery called Courthouse Pub for dinner.  Of course, we had the typical Friday night fare in Wisconsin- fish fry dinner (lightly breaded perch or walleye filets, coleslaw [switching back to the Northern vernacular], rye bread, and some form of potato [i.e., baked, fries, salad]).  Even though I have never been crazy about fish or seafood, the perch fish fry is really good every once in awhile- and Scott loves it so much he would probably eat it every Wednesday and Friday night.

On Saturday, we biked the Rawley Point Bike Trail again into Two Rivers and back (12 mi round trip), which was the flatlanders' mountain bike route we had completed in reverse early in September.  The trail was not very crowded for a nice day, but things were slow going at times since a boy scout group was doing trail maintenance in several spots.  After returning to the campsite for lunch, we hiked a good portion of the Point Beach segment of the Ice Age National Scenic Trail within the State Forest and found a secret beach well away from the campground area.  Scott introduced me to mountain pies for dinner- including pepperoni pizza pies for the main course and apple pies for dessert.  So good!

On Sunday, we packed up camp and drove back into Two Rivers.  From there, we biked the Mariners Trail to Manitowoc (11 mi round trip), which is a paved multi-use trail right along Lake Michigan.  In Manitowoc, we saw the SS Badger car ferry arriving at the dock from Ludington, Michigan, found the lighthouse (which we stopped at briefly on the return trip), and visited the Wisconsin Maritime Museum.  The museum did not disappoint- it focused on ship and boat building and the fishing industry in the Lake, both of which are a big part of the local history.  Interestingly enough, Manitowoc Shipbuilding Company built 28 submarines for use in WWII, and we were able to tour the USS Cobia submarine on site (not built in Manitowoc, but acquired and restored for the museum).  After the return bike ride, we grabbed some excellent sandwiches at the Gull's Nest Lounge inside the Lighthouse Inn before the 45 min drive back to Green Bay.

 

 S.S. Badger Lake Michigan car ferry arriving in Manitowoc from Ludington, Michigan

 USS Cobia WWII Submarine

 Manitowoc Light

Bonus:  Sunrise on Point Beach overlooking Lake Michigan was awesome.

 

“A lake is a landscape's most beautiful and expressive feature. It is Earth's eye; looking into which the beholder measures the depth of his own nature.”- Henry David Thoreau (Walden)

A lighthouse, a brewery, and a state park

Grassy Island Lighthouse Tour (located at the Green Bay Yachting Club)

The Grassy Island Range Lights were built in 1872 on a small island about 1 mile from the City of Green Bay to aid ship navigation as they entered port.  They would have been located a few hundred feet apart to allow entering ships to light up the two range lights upon arrival.  When the lighthouses were about to be torn down due to disrepair in the 1960s, the Green Bay Yachting Club relocated the lights to their marina on the mainland.  A group of Yachting Club members restored the lights and have maintained them ever since.  They are normally not open to the public (the Fresnel lenses are replicas, so they are ornamental and not operational), so the Yachting Club open house was the best time to check them out.  Plus, it's pretty cool to say one was hanging out at the Yachting Club.

Grassy Point rear range light (slightly taller than the front range)

Stillmank Brewery

We have been spending a lot of time outdoors over the last few weeks and (surprisingly) still haven't visited all the microbreweries in Green Bay, especially since many taproom have very limited hours.  We had a chance to visit Stillmank, a new brewery, for a tasting and an impromptu tour when we joined what appeared to be some kind of club gathering (homebrew organization?).  The brewmaster has been producing the infamous Wisco Disco for several years down in Milwaukee, but just opened Stillmank and began production in Green Bay in April.  The beer was good and the tour was really interesting- he actually elects to can instead of bottle beer- not due to the expense (he claims it's actually cheaper to bottle), but rather the desire for an airtight seal, longer shelf life, and cleaner taste.  The brewmaster, a WI native, sources nearly all of his ingredients and packaging materials from Wisconsin.

 

High Cliff State Park

High Cliff has been on our to-do list since it's pretty close by (about 30 mi away) and on Lake Winnebago.  Lake Winnebago is an "inland" glacial lake (i.e., not one of the Great Lakes), but is in fact the largest lake contained within a single US state (about 30 miles long by 10 miles wide) and visible from space.  Winnebago is the name given to a Native American tribe (they call themselves the Ho-Chunk) that historically inhabited the area, meaning "people of the filthy water"- apparently associated with the fishy smell during summer.  Lake Winnebago drains into the Fox River, which is one of the few rivers in the world that flows north (another: our New River in Virginia), into Green Bay.

The Niagara Escarpment (the same rock formation creating Niagara Falls in New York) runs west through the Great Lakes Region to High Cliff State Park.  The escarpment (a.k.a. "the ledge") is visible from the interstate and has elicited a few exclamations from our vehicles of:  "Cool, mountains!  Well, sort of..."  Historically, the park itself was a rock quarry owned and operated by Western Lime and Cement Company and was later turned over to the State of Wisconsin.  In addition to the quarry, remnants of the lime kiln operation, last used in 1956, remain visible on the site.

 Scaling "the ledge"

 Remnants of the Western Lime and Cement Company operation

High Cliff is unique in that it also contains a series of burial mounds built by the nomadic tribes inhabiting the region 1,000-1,500 years ago.  The mounds, carefully constructed in the spring after thaw, were formed into the likenesses of revered animals (e.g., panther, bison) and sited on cliffs overlooking water, making High Cliff a prime location which may have been used for this purpose for hundreds of years.

A panther mound behind and to the left of the sign

We hiked portions of the Lime Kiln Trail, Red Bird Trail (named after the Chief of the Winnebago), Indian Mound Trail, and the Butterfly Pond Trail.  We also climbed to the top of another viewing tower to overlook the north end of Lake Winnebago and the Cities of Oshkosh, Neenah, Appleton, Menasha, and Kaukauna off in the distance to the north and west.  With the leaves pretty close to peak and the temperature in the upper 50s, it was a nice afternoon to be outside.

View from the tower- north end of Lake Winnebago

Chain O' Lakes

The weather was expected to be in the mid-upper 50s (seasonal), so we made a last-minute decision to go camping for just Saturday night.  Scott heard about the Chain O' Lakes region from a co-worker, which is located about 1 hour southeast of Green Bay, near the town of Waupaca (pronounced WAW PACK AH).  The area has 22 connected lakes that are very popular for canoeing and kayaking since you can navigate the whole "chain" of lakes without needing to portage.  We were a little late for the high boating season, but decided to camp at Hartman Creek State Park for a night and do some hiking.  First stop was Red Mill Country Gift Shop for a view of the covered bridge and Chapel in the Woods.

We had no problem getting a perfect walk-up site at Hartman Creek State Park right on Allen Lake (just west of the official Chain O' Lakes) among the pines with a beautiful view of the fall color and the lake.  We spent Saturday afternoon hiking around some of the lakes in the park and then enjoying the view and cooking dinner (turkey dogs and baked potatoes) on the fire.  It got down into the 30s at night, but not quite freezing.  I never sleep that well while camping because I am always half-listening to the night sounds.  This time, my insomnia paid off- at least one barred owl and at least two great-horned owls near our campsite!  The next morning, we hiked a segment of the Ice Age Trail that lies within the park.  The day warmed up nicely and the leaves were definitely close to peak.  After packing up the campsite, we took one more short hike further east on the Chain O' Lakes at Pope Lake Natural Area.  Then, we were off via Appleton on the return trip for a stop at the Appleton Beer Factory for brews and dinner.

 

 

Fun fact: In case Chain O' Lakes reminded you of another similarly named place....Land O' Lakes is a real town in northern Wisconsin.  Mind blown.

Mountain lion(s) sighted in WI

This just in- a mountain lion (aka cougar, catamount, puma, Nittany Lion) was photographed on a trail camera (and confirmed by the Department of Natural Resources) in two separate incidents in Lincoln and Marinette Counties over the summer (check out the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel article for details).  Given the relatively short distance and timeline, these two images could have been of the same individual.  Although mountain lions have not maintained a breeding population in Wisconsin since the early 1900s, it is not unusual for young males to disperse the 800+ miles from the healthy population of cats in the Black Hills in western South Dakota.  The sighting location up in Marinette County is only about 40-50 mi north of Green Bay...

Here, kitty kitty!

Avani the cougar at Bay Beach Wildlife Sanctuary, Green Bay

Nittany Lion in its native habitat

Keeper of the fire

Last weekend was our first cold weekend (daytime highs in the 40s) combined with on-and-off rain.  By Sunday, the rain had let up, so we were looking to get out and were deciding on a state park to visit for a hike.  We ended up back up on lower Door County, near Sturgeon Bay.  To keep up with the lighthouse theme, we stopped by the Sturgeon Bay Ship Canal Light and the North Pierhead Light.  Both are located on active US Coast Guard property with no public access, so the visit consisted of a quick look at the lighthouses from the public pier and a view of the shipping canal.  The wind chill was really cooking on Lake Michigan so we didn't stay long. 

North Pierhead Light (red brick!)

Ship Canal Light (canal entrance to the left)

We then visited Potawatomi State Park (pronounced POT AH WAT OH ME) back on the bayside- the locals' state park as we learned in the camp store.  Definitely a lot less fanfare than Peninsula where we camped recently!  We had a nice, quiet hike on a section of the Ice Age National Scenic Trail, which concluded at the eastern terminus and another 75 ft. viewing tower for some scenic views of Green Bay (gotta climb towers instead of mountains here in WI).  The Ice Age Trail is a 1,000 mile trail through Wisconsin traversing glacial history running from Door County over to St. Croix Falls in northwestern WI (see a map here). Despite the clouds and the slight breeze, it was a nice walk in the woods and the bayside was definitely warmer and less windy than the lakeshore.  We saw some red-breasted mergansers, kingfishers, double-crested cormorants, and a hairy woodpecker.  We also learned that there is some public hunting access at the park for deer season and the campground is open year-round.  The park was very quiet- a stark contrast from our camping adventure in 70 degree weather just about one week ago. 

View from the tower

Bayshore along the Ice Age Trail

Potowatomi is the name of a Native American tribe that historically inhabited eastern Wisconsin.  The tribe called themselves "BO-DE-WAD-ME" which means "keeper of the fire."  Unfortunately, the term was mispronounced and eventually written as Potawatomi.  In addition to the state park, Potawatomi is the name of a ritzy casino in Milwaukee.