Baxter's Hollow

A couple of days ago I and a fellow worker decided to hike into Baxter's Hollow. It had rained in the morning but the sky was supposed to clear up in the afternoon. The skies hadn't cleared but we took a chance. As we headed out of the parking lot there were a few drops of rain. The majority of the drops were caught by the tree canopy and if we got wet, “Oh well.” Nature hiking was something new for my young companion; he thought we were going for a walk. Baxter's Hollow is a bit more like a walk as it's a black-topped road, although you seldom see cars beyond the parking lot. Again, being that it was late in the day, there was very little wildlife activity. The sounds of the creek flowing a bit faster from all of the recent rainfall and the chirping of chick-a-dee provided a pleasant back drop to our conversation. I don't know that he was particularly interested, but I stopped to point out the late season wildflowers. Near the stream I spotted the pure white tube-like flowers of a turtlehead, a first for me. Along the road the pale smooth blue aster blended with several white types. Here and there were the red grape-like seed bunches of false Solomon’s seal. Soon we spotted someone off in the distance so we held our chatter down to a low tone. During a short visit with the gentlemen we discovered the bird watcher had been in the Sauk Prairie area for a few days, although the license plate on his car indicated he had driven from Illinois. He told us that he actually lived in Washington DC. He said he wasn't having much luck birding but was enjoying the walk.

 

Soon we could hear the rushing of the water as it passed under the next bridge. Mother Nature knew that today I had my camera and she offered another chance to get a great photo of the cardinal flower (much closer than I would have had on the boat outing). Not only is the color of the bloom as red as the male cardinal but if you look close at the blooms you can see the shape of an origami bird. Its wings spread wide on each side with its head held high.

Soon we came to the gravel part of the road that leads to what years ago was called the Klondike Campground. This area is a bit more swampy; here we were greeted by the delicate orange, slipper-like flowers of orange jewelweed, accented by the pinkish-purple of ironweed. As we neared the end of the hike a pickup truck passed us and parked in the last parking area. As we approached, a couple came back down a short footpath. We struck up a conversation with them; like the earlier guy they were from Illinois but they were on a day trip. They had recently looked at old photos and came to see what was left of the campground that they and their children had enjoyed forty years ago. They were disappointed that the campground was gone but were pleased with what they found. As a child I had been here as a drive-through only visitor so their memories were very interesting. This prompted us to walk the footpath as they had. The entire area of the old campground was covered in the bright yellow spires of many types of goldenrod, including zig-zag, gray and giant goldenrod. Along the wetland edges, massive patches of Joe Pye weed created a backdrop of purple.

When we got back to the car we had spent two and a half hours in nature and never once did my young companion lose interest or get out his cell phone. He agreed to go to Ferry Bluff so I may have awoken the naturalist in him.

The river trip

The rest of the story from August 8th:

After our hike in the Spring Green Preserve we decided to catch lunch at one of the many artisan restaurants Spring Green has to offer. Being that it was Sunday afternoon my buddy had no plans and offered to take us for a boat trip on the river. My companion and I had no hesitance in saying yes. We put the boat in at the Highway 14 landing. The weekend was coming to an end so most of the boat traffic was that of people leaving the river. Bowie the river dog was along. We first headed upriver to check on an eagle nest. By this time of year the nest is empty and this year’s chicks are the size of their parents. They haven’t been abandoned but have been taught how to survive on their own. It's believed that two more bald eagle juveniles have been added to the population from this site. This excursion took us under the Spring Green Railroad bridge and our driver/guide pointed out the huge rusted gear on the middle pier. This once turned that section of tracks to allow the riverboats through on their way upriver. I'm lucky enough to live on the banks of the Lower Wisconsin River. I've been told that the riverboats once reached as far as Prairie du Sac. What a site that would have been to watch one of them go by!
From here we passed under the highway bridge headed downriver. We had talked to a couple with young children at the boat landing; they, like us, were heading out for an afternoon adventure. My buddy had told them about a very large dead tree that was hung up on a sandbar. We spotted them there and decided to join them. This sandbar like all sandbars on the river is always in motion so if you don't already have your life vest on, now is the time to do so. We had pulled the boat in on the deeper, downriver end of the sandbar. Bowie was the first to disembark. My buddy and I decided to venture across the sand to the tree, while the slightly less adventurous passenger and Bowie explored the sandbar. Many of you may have seen this now gray skeleton of a once massive tree (I believe it to be a cottonwood) on Facebook. It's been used as a great photo opportunity. Young and old have been pictured perched on its barkless back.

From here we continued on downriver. Soon we arrived at a stream named Mill Creek. On a previous boat trip the water level was too low to navigate up to Tower Hill State Park, so this was a first for me. I was amazed at the abundance of the brilliant red cardinal flower now in full bloom along the shore. The other side of the creek was lined by a sandstone bluff; at one time the Wisconsin River flowed through here and cut away the stone face. This action exposed the many layers that had been created over millions of years and remained untouched to become this park in the Driftless Area of the Midwest. This cutting action removed the softer sandstone leaving behind pillars with hard stone caps, giving the appearance of mushrooms. A short distance downriver the Frank Lloyd Wright Visitor’s Center is visible through the trees. On the way back upriver an adult bald eagle flew overhead and was later spotted perched in a tree as if waiting for us to pass by.

We surely were blessed by Mother Nature with a beautiful day, and I, by the company of good friends.
In the excitement I left my camera behind so the photos were taken by Timm Zumm.

Spring Green Preserve

Finally!!! The weather man said there should be a break in the heat on Sunday, August 8th. Earlier in the summer there had been reports of sightings of Blue Grosbeaks at the Spring Green Preserve. A friend had sent an email about it and said she'd like to check it out. After a couple of phone calls we were set to meet a buddy at his house early in the morning. I'd been hiking a couple times a little later in the day and found that all of the wildlife had the wisdom (unlike me) to lay low during the mid-day heat. I had my passenger in the car at a little after 8 am and we were headed down River Road. Off in the distance the fog rising off Honey Creek and the Wisconsin River shrouded Ferry Bluff. It reminded me of one fall morning that Operation Migration flew by with the young Whooping Cranes on the way to their first winter in Florida. We encountered very little traffic on Highway 60 so it made for a pleasant ride taking in the roadside wildflowers and the sight of the glistening white chest of a hawk looking for breakfast. We soon pulled off of the highway on to Jones Road where we were greeted with a pasture filled with Sandhill Cranes and Canada geese. In no time at all we had joined our friend and began our adventure.

 

The Preserve borders his property so today that would be our entry point. We had barely started down the path when he said to watch out for the Prickly Pear cactus. It grows in many places of southern Wisconsin but it's particularly abundant in this Preserve.The first thing one is greeted by at the Preserve is the massive face of the bluff. This grass-covered feature has some rock outcroppings along its ridge and can be seen from miles away in the river valley. This reminded me of our local Ferry Bluff. Earlier in the season the remains of last year’s native grasses would be filled with birds migrating to their nesting grounds. By now most of the local nesting is done so some birds have moved on. Mother Nature offered patches of colorful blooms now but the yellows are dominant at this this time. I find the seed heads of native grasses interesting and they are easy to identify by this time of year. There were the usual Bluestems, Switch grass and Indian grass. There were also many in abundance that I don't often see. Soon my eye caught the delicate Prairie Dropseed waving in the breeze, the already-brown spikes of June grass, and the seed heads of the Side-oats running along one side of its stem.

Next we entered an oak barren. Here, along the path, were several types of native goldenrod each with their distinctive blooms. I can name most of these, unlike the many different native sunflowers.

My nature mentor (local author Jean Clausen) would say, “It’s one of the DYF's, darn yellow flowers,” so I don't feel bad about my lack of knowledge. The path then led to the hardwood forest. Here we again had to watch our step as the poison ivy was just waiting to say “Hi!” I pointed out a large patch of ripe blackberries; almost before I could say another word my buddy had gathered a handful of the black morsels to share. Now the dirt path was a bit more of a challenge. Soon we reached the ridge and on this clear day we could see for miles across the Wisconsin River Valley. At this point the trail had become a grass-covered road bed that was abandoned years ago. We walked out to one of the rock ledges where my companion announced that the small pit on the right was the remains of a volcano crater. That’s one of his ploys – “If you don't know something, I can tell you anything.” The truth behind the pit was that an early settler had come here to get flat sandstones for foundations. 

 

New purchases have increased the size of the Preserve so the road now took us to an old gravel pit. I found this an amazing feature. The pit had been dug out, leaving the outer edges intact. From below the ridge you'd never know it was there. Had we continued on, we would have reached a small parking area off Highway 23. Our time was running out so we headed back to my friend’s home. This hike was conducive for walking and talking so we spent much of the trip catching up on what was new in our lives.

The sand prairie of this Preserve is the home to many rare species of insects, plants, reptiles and a large population of pocket gophers. Since becoming a State Nature Conservancy area in 1971 the sand dune area has been known as the “Wisconsin Desert.” Most hikers would access this trail from the parking lot off Jones Road. Sorry---no dogs allowed. To my surprise we had another adventure that day, which will be told in the next entry. Oh ya!--- no Blue Grosbeaks. Maybe next year.