Tag: nature

  • morning walk 03/08/2025

    morning walk 03/08/2025

    I knew if I wanted to take a hike through the UW-Madison arboretum, I would have to get there before the sun had been up long enough to melt the ground and turn every trail into a slippery quagmire of muck, which was already starting to happen by the time I left at 10:00 this Read.

  • IAT Blackhawk segment

    IAT Blackhawk segment

    It was a good day to hike the IAT Blackhawk segment, so that’s what I did. The skies were clear and sunny but the temps were very cold — 20 F when I arrived, 28 F when I departed — so I had to dress up in many layers, and even then I was pretty Read.

  • IAT Cross Plains segment (again)

    IAT Cross Plains segment (again)

    Went for a little hike this afternoon on the Cross Plains segment of the Ice Age Trail. Today was a relatively warm day with temps in the high 30s, which was good and bad. Good, because it was easy for me to keep warm. Bad, because the trail, which had previously been frozen solid, was Read.

  • IAT Whitewater Lake segment

    IAT Whitewater Lake segment

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    This was a very pleasant afternoon walk in the woods. Moderately easy, but still a satisfying hike over gently hilly terrain. I parked my van in the lot on Clover Valley Road and walked as far as Esterly Road, 2.8 miles, before turning back. I would have liked to go as far as Highway 12 Read.

  • IAT Devil’s Lake segment

    IAT Devil’s Lake segment

    I drove up to Sauk County to walk the Devil’s Lake segment of the Ice Age Trail. This is the continuation of the Sauk Point segment that I hiked on 10/14/2024 right up to County Highway 113, which is where I started hiking today. I intended to walk only as far as the IAT campground Read.

  • The Porcupine Mountains

    The Porcupine Mountains

    I’m back home from a three-day hiking trip to the Porcupine Mountains in the upper peninsula of Michigan. I left Madison last Sunday morning, hiked the back country Monday and Tuesday, and returned home this afternoon. I didn’t camp in the back country. Looking back now, I kind of regret not doing that, but this Read.

  • IAT – Sauk Point

    IAT – Sauk Point

    I took the day off from work today, so I drove up past Sauk City to walk the Sauk Point segment of the Ice Age Trail as far as Highway 113. One-way that’s 4.2 miles, but I had to walk it out and back to return to my van, so a total of 8.4 miles. Read.

  • IAT Brooklyn segment

    IAT Brooklyn segment

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    I walked the Brooklyn segment of the Ice Age Trail from the north end to the south and back to the north end, about 6 miles in two and a half hours. I’m feeling pretty well-chuffed about going that far in less time than the 3.7 mile hike I made yesterday, both with a 20-pound Read.

  • East Star Lake 9-15-2024 — 9-18-2024

    East Star Lake 9-15-2024 — 9-18-2024

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    I drove up to Star Lake on Sunday, September 15th. I left home a little after nine o’clock in the morning and arrived at the East Star Lake State Park at quarter past one in the afternoon. I had booked a site at West Star Lake State Park, on the other side of the lake, Read.

  • North Trout Lake State Park 9-2-2024 — 9-4-2024

    North Trout Lake State Park 9-2-2024 — 9-4-2024

    Back today from a three-night campout at the North Trout Lake campground in the North Highlands — American Legion State Forest. I originally scheduled for just two nights, Tuesday and Wednesday, but I got some camping gear in the mail that I couldn’t wait to try out: a hammock, fly, and quilts, and a lightweight Read.

photo of the author and the author's best friend