Monday, November 5, 2012

On the Ice Age Trail

Sunday afternoon being sunny, calm, and beautiful, Mr. M and I decided to walk a short stretch of the Ice Age Trail.


The Ice Age Trail, a 1000-mile footpath in Wisconsin, highlights the "landscape of remarkable beauty" sculpted by the flow of glacial ice across this area in millennia past.

Oak leaves rustle underfoot and the afternoon sun is casting warm shadows on our steps:


The path is bounded on one side by the Fox River and its marshy outliers. Entire fields of dried flowers (thistle?) stand soaking up the sun.


We pass a barkless tree with immense mushrooms, like steps or plates, growing at intervals up the trunk. This one was about 8" across...


...with a vine growing right through it. I don't know what kind of mushroom this may be - a quick internet search suggests an oyster mushroom. There are no gills under the cap, as you can see from the photo below:


(Any mycologists out there who can help?)

Where the trail is not carpeted with oak leaves, it's covered with a charming mosaic of tiny mosses, dead grass, and nut hulls (and a dandelion defying the frosts):


More dried blossoms:


A shadow shot with lacy birch over warm fall-tinted fields....


A bit of glacial info for the curious rambler...


...explaining how the hills in this area, called drumlins, were shaped by the repeated flow of glaciers through the state.

Don't you love to stand at the base of a tall tree and look up, up, up, at the sky between the branches?


Our shadows fall on a clump of red-twig dogwood, and Mr. M waves to the camera:


I never can resist a shot of dried goldenrod:


The trail goes on for miles, but Mr. M's stamina runs out rather quickly; time to retrace our steps.

Over a little footbridge...


...between the fields of summer gone...


...under marker trees...


...through deep drifts of leaves...


...past sumac-trimmed river beds edged with hazy red...


...and up to the road where our car is parked, and Mr. M waits for me to finish taking pictures. :)


Just a few more shots, Mr. M. I have to snap the glassy river, like a mirror winding through forest and field. To the south, dim and blue and shaded by overhanging trees:


To the north, scalloped and bearing lacy trim of bare tree and glowing brush:


On the way home, we pass a pond covered with resting geese. Most of them have their heads tucked under their wings and are already settled in for a good night's sleep:


No troublesome clock-changing for trees and birds, just sunrise and sunset and the turn of the seasons. A good way to live.

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28 comments:

  1. Oh what a gorgeous, gorgeous place to be able to walk! A protected Ice Age Trail. How lucky you are.

    And what a perfect place for Photo Ops! Oh wow! Oh wow! Oh wow! Can't select every one of them, but Oh wow. And you got a cool mushroom growing out of a tree, I see. :-)

    Again, how lucky you citizens of your State are, to have this protected walk.

    "Auntie"

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    1. Thanks, Auntie. The sections of this trail are maintained by private landowners, not the state - which I think makes it even nicer. :)

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  2. What a wonderful walk you and Mr. M went on! I enjoyed all the shots, but especially the last but one water shot with gorgeous tree reflection!
    Have a beautiful week, Sue!

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    1. Thank you, Sandra! That was my favourite shot too. :)

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  3. I, too, could live like the birds and do without the time changes! But what a glorious walk, and what a remarkable experience to be able to share it with the one you love. I especially love the dried flowers; I found a REAL LIVE flower over the weekend, after three snows and several hard freezes! Sometimes the power of life to cling through the most bitter circumstances just blows me away!

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    1. What a precious find - and inspiring too. Thanks, Deb. :)

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  4. I loved this walk. "between the fields of summer gone"..what lovely words.

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  5. Now that is a walk I'd love to go on. And wow your pictures are amazing. As always.

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  6. Beautiful landscape. We live in a landscape shaped by the glaciers, too. :-) And isn't it astounding that these mushrooms seem to be soft but are hard as bones. Have a nice day.

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    1. Thank you, Regula. Your glaciers were much more vigorous than ours, I think - you got mountains and we got very low hills. :)

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  7. I don't like autumn but these pictures almost changed my mind :)

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    1. Having grown up in Southern California where autumn was just a word on a calendar, I do enjoy the autumn here.

      Thanks so much for commenting! :)

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  8. It looks cold, glorious, but cold. What a beautiful walk, I can just imagine walking along that path with the whippets milling about me.

    Loving the colour palette in the landscape just now and you've captured that perfectly Sue :D

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    1. Thanks, Annie - in fact I thought of you while editing the photos. "These are just the colours Annie likes," I said to myself on some of them. :)

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  9. What a lovely walk - I love looking up into tree canopies too. It is looking so very wintry with you now. Juliex

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    1. Thanks Julie! From one tree canopy-lover to another. :)

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  10. How nice to walk with your honeyman. :-) Photos are awesome!

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    1. Yes, very nice - usually I walk alone (which sounds like a rather cheesy song title). :)

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  11. lovely snaps, Mrs. Micawber. Autumn is very beautiful at your place. I liked the river's mirror surface...it is magnificent. yes, I also like to stand under the tall tree...i like pine trees.have a great day and keep warm, it seems like it has become quiet cold there.

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    1. Not as cold as it will be in January and February.... :)

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  12. I think that I would LOVE to take a nice hike through the ice age trail. It looks very tranquil and beautiful. Taking nature walks are my favorite pastime, though I haven't taken one in awhile. Your photographs were beautiful! :)

    Nice blog too! :)

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    1. Thanks so much - I love your user name, by the way. :)

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  13. So, so beautiful, Sue. Thank you for sharing it with us.

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  14. Sue your pics are just stunning. I just love all the shades of brown with splashes of blue, red and green. So much beauty I think I would have to be dragged back to the car to get me to leave.......
    Beautiful pics of the river and reflections with it's perfectly smooth surface . Were you tempted to throw a pebble in and create a few ripples?

    Claire :}

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    1. Never thought of that! I was standing on a bridge, so there weren't any pebbles within reach. Just as well, because then I'd have to try to get photos of the ripples....

      :)

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