To the edge of the Northwoods

Last Saturday was another fairly nice day for this time of year, meaning partly sunny and low 50s, so we decided to take a drive in the northwesterly direction- an area that I have really not explored yet. Scott gets to travel all over Wisconsin for work, so he has experienced most of the different terrain plenty of times even though he can't usually partake in the touristy stuff.  The Northwoods (a.k.a., Up Nort, the 'h' is silent) is generally the term used to describe north central Wisconsin- few people, lots of pine trees and lakes, expansive National Forests (the Chequamegon-Nicolet NF, good luck saying that one! SHE wah meh gon-NICK o lay), and some different wildlife (including wolves!).  It supposedly looks a lot like the UP of Michigan just to the north.

We drove an hour to the Village of Crivitz, self-described as the "Gateway to the North."  All outdoor outings should be accompanied by a sample of adult beverages, so we made a stop in town for wine tasting at the Falling Waters Winery, so named because of the tour of 14 "waterfalls" in Marinette County.  The wines were very good and spanned the gamut from dry to sweet, so everyone was happy.  I place "waterfalls" in quotations because they are very small waterfalls by mountainous standards, but I am willing to give flatlanders their waterfalls.  We have not seen any of them, but will make a point to do so next time we are in the area.  The photos in the tourist information look nice (see some here), but I'm sure the waterfalls are quite busy in the summertime.

After wine tasting, we drove 20 minutes further northwest to visit Governor Thompson State Park. The park was just established around 15 years ago, so it is fairly new as far as parks go. The park office and restroom facilities were brand new buildings, and the campground also appeared to be fairly new. The park provides water access to Caldron Falls Reservoir (a dammed section of the Peshtigo River), several boat-in campsites, three loops of car campground, and a trail system of fire roads.  We hiked around 6.5 miles on both the Otter Trail overlooking Woods Lake and the Thunder Mountain Trail that lead to several rock outcroppings and Huber Lake, which is surrounded by private camps.  And there actually is a Thunder Mountain, which is kind of mountainous!  Everything was very dry since this is the middle of fire season right now, and all the pine needles make for crackly walking.  Basically, conditions are ripe for fire since there are no leaves on the trees yet, lots of dry vegetation around (although we had snowpack for the most of the winter, it was gone early), and moderate to high winds desiccating the leaf litter quickly.  Things should green up soon since we've had some decent rain of late.

Otter Trail 

Beach at Woods Lake 

See it out there beyond Huber Lake?

We did not see anyone else on the trails until we were leaving- pretty quiet!  The campground has come up in my searches for reservable campsites before, so perhaps we will check it out for camping sometime.  Now we are in the rush between the arrival of spring and the start of mosquito season when outdoor recreation gets a little more challenging.  No wolves or other wildlife to speak of, other than a curious red squirrel that was not very red.

“I only went out for a walk and finally concluded to stay out till sundown, for going out, I found, was really going in.” -John Muir

Spring has sprung

Spring took its time arriving this year.  We had a spring blizzard in late March a few days before Easter, but despite the significant snowfall, it melted quickly and was gone within a week.  We finally broke 50 degrees in mid-April, and then 2 days later we got a taste of summer when temperatures soared up to near 80 for two days! Honestly, it was too hot, too soon....but it made for a good return to biking for the season. Since then we have leveled back out in the 50s. Hoping for leaves and flowers soon.

March 24th Blizzard- they send a front loader in to move our big snows!

Last Sunday, we loaded up the bikes and headed northeast about 25 minutes to the Luxemburg trailhead of the Ahnapee State Trail (pronounced ANN a pee). We have biked other sections other the trail including the main section from Sturgeon Bay to Algoma, which is a segment of the Ice Age National Scenic Trail. There are a number of trail segments between other communities in the area, so we planned to go from Luxemburg to beyond Casco.

It was in the upper 70s and sunny for the whole ride. A lot of the Ahnapee is open and exposed as is rolls through farmland and pasture, but there is area good mix of forest and creeks to keep things interesting. We did around 21 miles round trip through Casco Junction and the Village of Casco. We are also saw some equestrians out on the trail, the wind farm in Kewaunee County, deer, and lots of birds.

 April 17th 21-miler on the Ahnapee

 Feed mill in Casco- Ahnapee Trail is to the right

Trail reclaimed from the snowmobilers/skiiers for the next 6 months!

On April 16th (the day before), we completed our annual 3.2 miles in remembrance of 32 lives lost at Virginia Tech on the 9 year anniversary. We walked with Teddy on a bike trail to Pamperin Park. Teddy also decided that summer came on too fast and was happy for the return of spring again.

It was nice to finally get in some time outdoors last weekend, nearly 25 miles in honor of our Hokie angels.  We will neVer forgeT.

Those who contemplate the beauty of the earth find reserves of strength that will endure as long as life lasts. There is something infinitely healing in the repeated refrains of nature -- the assurance that dawn comes after night, and spring after winter.  -Rachel Carson