November begins hunting season. Once a hunter, but not now, I completely agree with the practice of hunting. I understand the need for people to commune with nature by harvesting, killing. I mean no sarcasm here. That is simply what is in nearly all of us. I very much agree with the conservation benefits of hunting. A discussion I'll not have here. The downside is that almost all public land is given over to hunting from late October through mid-January. During the bow seasons I do not worry so much about being shot. Bow hunters are generally careful people who truly know how to take care of their woodlands. I do worry about spoiling their hunt by walking around scattering their game. I've had bow hunters tell me that I'm doing them a favor by making the deer leave their bed. I've yet to take that to heart. Gun hunting is a whole different story. I have been gun hunting and I know what kind of people are out there. Many are just as respectable as bow hunters, but a certain percentage have no business A. being in the woods B. carrying a weapon. Foolish, careless, and deadly dangerous. There are places to hike but they must be picked carefully. Wear orange and understand how to interpret the report of a discharge.
November is a tricky month for weather. Day-time high temps can be anywhere from 80F to 10F. Rain, snow, sleet, sun, wind are all possible and in the same day.
I like hiking in November. Good times.
Wildcat Mtn is yet another little gem in Wisconsin. Situated in the coulee country of Western Wisconsin Wildcat offers some challenging terrain. The town of Ontario lies just outside the park and boasts itself the Canoe Capital of the Kickapoo. I cannot disagree with the claim. During the Summer, canoeing the Kickapoo is big business and a whole lotta fun. The Kickapoo is a lazy, shallow river with many bends, travelling through swamps and ringed by high bluffs. I tried to get Ruth to go paddling on the Kickapoo a couple times this Summer, but she is resistant for some reason. I'm not aware of any legendary river monsters on the Kickapoo so I don't think that's it.
http://dnr.wi.gov/org/land/parks/specific/wildcat/
The highway from Ontario to the Park is a steep twisting climb. Some folks think they can far exceed the 25MPH limit and to them I say "Good Luck and don't try it when I'm on the same road!"
The plan for the hike was to park in the upper picnic area and take the Old Settler's Trail in reverse (clockwise). At the halfway point pick up the Red Loop Horse trail and take it counter-clockwise. Then, pick up the other half of the Old Settler's trail back to the upper picnic area. The total distance would be right around 8.0 miles. I planned for between 3.5 and 4.0 hours.
I made the parking lot at 08:40 and was on the trail by 08:46. The drive over saw the sky a mix of sun and clouds. Low, dark gray, menacing clouds. Temperature somewhere around 45F to 50F. As I hit the trail the sky was a very dark gray, threatening rain at any minute. The wind was gusting, probably around 15mph. A wonderfully dreary November day. I had my rain jacket packed at the top of the pack. I was pretty sure I was going to need it soon.
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| Old Settler's Trail Head |
The trail from the picnic area to the split of the trail loop is a steep downhill. That means an uphill to finish the hike.... hooray! :=P Taking a left at the split the trail rolls along a ridge for a bit before descending to the bottom of a hollow and crossing a stream. A large stand of Norway pine, planted back in 1951-52, made for some interesting backdrop. The sky was drab, dreary, menacing. The pine forest was very quiet, even the wind wasn't making much noise, but the trees... Groans and creaks that did not even sound like trees. Popping and grinding as live pine strained against holding up a dead neighbor made for a very eery path. Walking this part of the trail in the dark on Halloween would end up putting some people into therapy.
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| Bridge after Haunted Pines |
After a long, steady, rolling climb to the top of a ridge there was a side trail that dipped down the other side. The Old Settler's trail continues on up the ridge to Taylor Hollow overlook. I decided to go down the side trail for a little bit. The trail quickly makes the short descent to the bottom of the hollow and into a pine forest. Within a couple minutes in the pine forest the trail had gone from groomed, to used, to barely discernible, to where the heck am I going. Turned around and went back to the main trail. Past the overlook the trail comes to the park office, the ampitheater, and weather station.
My back and left hip had been bothering me after I woke up. Not a good back and leg day. I very much needed to drop my pack and did so at the ampitheater. Took off my quick dry sweatshirt and hung it to dry in the wind. Had some water and stretched for about 10 minutes.
There is a mowed field across the gravel road from the ampitheater. That field contains the weather station but a couple of XC ski trails cross there as does the Red Loop horse trail. Not for me, though. I had it in my head to go up the gravel road towards the group campsite and pick up the Red Loop from there. That simply brought me right back past the weather station. I waved to the Park office building as I went by. There wasn't anyone there, but it still seemed appropriate.
Right after the field the Red Loop ducks into the woods and drops down to wind along about half way down a slope. There are a few parcels of private land inside the park boundaries. At this part of the trail and just below the trail was one of those posted private lands. Be sure to stay on the trail, especially during hunting season. There is plenty of park and no need to drop down and explore that land.
The wind was very interesting. Although early November and temps well above freezing the wind simply cried out "Winter." November is such an interesting month.
Another item that needs consideration is that this is a horse trail. There are only a couple of true hiking trails in the park and the Old Settlers trail is the longest of them at 2.5 miles. If you are going to put on some more serious miles you'll need to take the horse trails. Our equine friends can produce a prodigious amount of waste product. What I mean to say is that the poop. They poop large amounts and do so frequently. Hiking on horse trails occassionally requires some agile footwork. The other thing to keep in mind is that while the riders are typically looking out for other animals, including people, the horses may not be. I've had horses get spooked when I was sure they must have seen me. I'd been talking to their riders and still the horse had no idea where I was until right next to me. Watch, listen, and give way early.
The part of the Red Loop between the park office and the junction with the Blue Trail mostly runs along the side of a bowl made by two ridges. There is section of about 200meters where the trail follows along just below the ridge where the entire top of the ridge is exposed sandstone bluffs. The trail then crosses a saddle and drops down to follow the other side of the ridge.
Another good climb comes just after the Red Loop trail passes the horse campground. I was pretty beat at that point and that climb was not the most welcome. Well, that's one of the reasons I'm out there. Push things just a little bit.
I took quite a long break up at the group campground. Despite the temp being only around 50F I took off my socks to let my feet cool down and dry. Changed socks before I left. I'd already had a short lunch break after the first climb mentioned, so no food. Didn't need it. Dried out the quick dry shirts, stretched the legs and laid down on the picnic table for about 15 minutes and close my eyes. I suppose I should have been cold, but that just didn't register.
The group campground was the end of the Red Loop for me. I followed the gravel road back to the Park Office area and picked up the last half of the Old Settler's trail.
Along the Red Loop I'd met two different groups of riders. Met the same groups twice. Stopped for about two minutes and talked with one group. The lead of the group asked me the name of this blog and for Pete's sake... I couldn't remember!!!! Bad stuff. Boy, the grin he gave me...
The lady in the group made a good comment. She said, "don't tell too much. Wildcat is our little secret." That is an issue isn't it. Another point that the lead rider made was that the trails, years ago, were very narrow and not generally maintained. In the last several years the DNR has widened the trails, put down significant amounts of gravel. The idea, apparently, is to be able to drive their 4 wheelers along the trail to make maintenance easier. I guess if we want our trails narrow and dirty we will all have to be able to put in far more volunteer time. The DNR gets stuck between a budget and a hard place. If you'd read my post on Devil's Lake State Park you'll know my dislike for paved trails. The trails at Wildcat are not paved, but for how long?
I met three couples along the last mile and half of the Old Settler's trail. One had a couple fun-loving dogs. We shared war stories on old and sick dogs. The trail, the way I was going, went down a pretty significant grade. All three groups asked me "how much farther", as they were climbing up while I was going down - Only a few minutes folks. The climb back up really wasn't very noticeable until after the junction. Then, as mentioned at the start, the climb to the upper picnic loop is a real climb, but is very short as well.
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| Old Settlers Trail below Wildcat Mtn. |
These are the little notes I took along the way to keep track of where I was and when:
08:36 - Upper picnic windy, rain threat 45F
08:42 - on the trail
08:49 - Loop junction
09:00 - groaning trees in pine forest
09:02 - bridge over creek
09:09 - trail down to pine forest (wrong way)
09:28 - trail to park office
09:30 - ampitheater, break
09:40 - break over
09:48 - Red Loop trail
09:55 - Weather station
10:06 - 200m bluff ridge
10:13 - cross saddle
10:20 - Hollow bottom; babbling stream
10:26 - other side of bottom
10:28 - Red/Green/Blue jct; break
10:36 - Off again
10:52 - top of ridge; big climb
Lunch PB sandwich, Pepsi
11:08 - off again
11:18 - Blue Loop split
11:24 - Finished another climb!
11:28 - Rock Johnson Loop junction
11:43 - Horse campground
12:00 - Group campground - big climb
Break
Sun trying to break through
12:20 - Off again
12:32 - Park Office, Old Settlers trail
13:00 - Upper Picnic
