Bike & beer

One of the things that I both like and dislike about fall in Wisconsin is the sense of urgency.  You just don't know when the weather is going to turn (usually it's earlier than I want), and that means every nice weather weekend in fall has to be respected and used wisely.  A nice Sunday rolled around in late October and it was hard to resist getting outside for a potentially last hurrah.

We decided on a bike ride to a winery and brewery on the Fox River State Recreational Trail.  The trip would involve a 16 mile round trip with Ledgestone Vineyards and the newer Gnarly Cedar Brewing Company at the same location as our turnaround point.  We set off from the DePere dam on the Fox River and headed south to Greenleaf.  Most of the leaves were already down from the trees and the first section of the trail is partially urban, but it was a nice ride with moderate temperatures, ample sun, and not too much trail traffic.  We reached our destination and enjoyed some beers while watching a very hyper golden retriever play in the yard with his human friend.   It was even nice enough to sit outside and enjoy our beers!  After our break it was time to hit the trail for the return trip north.  An enjoyable afternoon of some pretty decent exercise (flat trails = constant peddling), some nature time, and a new brewery.

As it turns out, we've had the wettest September on record, the snowiest October on record, the snowiest Halloween on record, the wettest year on record, and the snowiest start to winter in 124 years.  Looks like a fun (interesting?) winter on the way!

Beautiful day at Ledgestone Vineyards!

The namesake of Ledgestone Vineyards is the Ledge- a geologic formation of dolomite rock that almost looks like a little mountain if you squint really hard!

And here's the neighborhood park less than 48 hours later on October 29!

An evening with the cranes

I signed up for an evening program at Navarino Nature Center, about 40 minutes west of Green Bay, to see the sandhill cranes congregate at the end of the day in early October. We arrived at the nature center barely in time right at 6 PM and the group hurried out to the trailhead overlooking Pikes Peak flowage. There were many cranes calling when we arrived- they tend to congregate in larger groups this time of year to prepare to move south when conditions warrant. We saw a later stage of migration a few years ago down on the Wisconsin River with Aldo Leopold Foundation. 

We walked about half of a mile up a ridge trail to an observation deck. Our guide was the director of the center who shared lots of details about the nature center upcoming events, the wildlife area, and the cranes. At dusk, many of the cranes flew right over our heads to find a spot in the flowage for the night. There were up to a couple of thousand cranes, along with lots of geese and mallards in the wetlands. It was a nice evening to just watch it get dark and enjoy the sounds of the marsh. As it was finally getting dark, we walked the trail back to the vehicles and were on our way back to the old grind.