A Walk at Rutherford Refuge

Things are going well here and we are staying busy. One of these days I'll have some quilt finishes. In the meantime, I'll share a post that I forgot to post at the end of July. 

One morning, in late July, we decided  to walk in a relatively new Conservation Area which is very close to us. Rutherford Refuge was dedicated in 2021.

This is what we saw as we pulled into the parking area.

The trail was just to the right as we pulled in and it was nicely mowed one.

We found a few wildflowers.

We could see clear Creek Creek and later would cross it.

I love the way this weed had feelers attached to other weeds.

  

The walk was up and down hills but also level in some spots. We were glad we wore hiking boots.

Our first visit was short; next time we will explore more.   We look forward to a pretty hike in the fall.

A Beautiful Day for a Hike

We decided that we would visit the Swiss Valley Nature Preserve and Nature Center near Peosta, Iowa, today. Ray was anxious to find some wildflowers to photograph and I wanted to just spent some time outside.

We stopped at the Nature Center to get a map. That's also where we saw two busloads of 3rd graders on a field trip. We could hear the happy sounds of children once in a while but this preserve was plenty big enough for all of us!

We decided to hike the Mature Forest Trail and never met another person the entire loop! The trails were well groomed.

Look at that gorgeous blue sky.

The trail followed Catfish Creek for a while. It is stocked with trout and the fisherman we met as we were leaving had caught and released quite a few trout.

We found steps,

bridges,

and a variety of wildflowers.

I enjoy seeing the new leaves on the trees against a blue sky.

 We found fungi on this tree.

This was the only swinging bridge we crossed. I'm not a fan of swinging bridges.

We went down these steps and then climbed them later.

We hiked a short distance on the Woodland Ecology Trail looking for bluebells. We found some mixed in with a few dandelions.

We also found a few more wildflowers.

We enjoyed a picnic on our hike and also Blizzards at DQ on our way home. It was wonderful to spend part of this beautiful day outside.

After we got home, a friend stopped with some shiitake mushrooms and purple asparagus. The mushrooms are huge! That is a 6" saucer in the photo with the largest and the smallest mushrooms. Tomorrow we'll enjoy sautéed mushrooms and roasted asparagus. I already have a few trays in the  dehydrator so we'll enjoy our mushrooms for a long time.

Update on Ray:

First, thank you for the concern and prayers offered on his behalf. We were at the University of Wisconsin hospital last week and met with an oncologist that only deals with prostate cancer and recurring prostate cancer. Treatment (hormone injections and IMRT, an advanced type of radiation therapy) will begin soon. Both Ray and I really like the oncologist and are happy with the plan he has set forth. Ray has also agreed to be in a clinical trial and we'll find out soon if he is in the control or the test group. There will be many trips to Madison and maybe some overnight stays in the next few months AND the prognosis is really good. Ray is doing okay but is more tired. We are very flexible with what we set out to do each day which seems to be working well.

50 Years and more

We have been married 50 years! I'm not sure where the time has gone but the calendar says 50 years, 1/2 century, so it must be true!

Saturday was our anniversary. Even though the day wasn't what we planned, it was almost perfect. We talked with DS1 early. (The kink in our day was that he and his family couldn't be here). DS2 and DDIL2  planned most of our day including dinner and letting our village know what was happening. It was delightful to spend time with them and their children after all of these months. And we were able to see friends and family as they drove by to honk (thanks to DS2 and DDIL2).

We were supposed to have a Rootbeer Tasting at Easter time. We decided to have it Saturday. The grandsons pretty much ran the show and it was fun. 

There is new life in the soil for every man. 

There is healing in the trees for tired minds 

and for our overburdened spirits, 

there is strength in the hills, 

if only we will lift up our eyes. 

Remember that nature is your great restorer.

- Calvin Coolidge

This morning we decided to go for a hike. It was a delight to put on my boots.

First stop was Horseshoe Mound Preserve. There were only 2 cars there when we arrived. It was easy to social distance on this a gorgeous day.

My favorite photographer

Our other stop was Casper Bluff Land and Water Reserve. There was only 1 car there when we arrived.

The mighty Mississippi on a beautiful day.

It's been a great weekend. We both feel blessed.

Pyramid Lake Area and Old Fort Point Hike

"Keep close to Nature's heart...
and break clear away once in awhile, 
and climb a mountain...or spend a week in the woods.
Wash your spirit clean."
    ~John Muir

It was 35 degrees this morning and overcast so we began our day with breakfast in front of the fireplace with the TV news. 

Our current rental is VERY nice. We have no complaints! We also have a second bedroom if anyone wants to visit and a game room. We are partially below ground but have lots of light. When we come in, we only go down 4 steps. Here is our living room - notice the windows.

Today we headed towards Pyramid Lake. Our first stop was Patricia Lake. When we first got there, the reflections were great.

I think some elk were there before us.

This group of four photos shows one of the ranges left to right.

Ray was thoroughly enjoying himself.

I sat on this bench for awhile

with this view. Wow!

We went to Pyramid Beach on Pyramid Lake. 

There was lots of sand.

We headed to the other side of Pyramid Lake on Pyramid Lake Road. This is Pyramid Mountain.

When we got to the other side, we crossed the bridge to the island.

The scenery was awesome.

After taking the above shot, I zoomed in and it took 6 photos to cover the same area.

Ray was still loving the reflections.

I was too.

We left the area and went to find lunch. The restaurant at Pyramid Lake only serves breakfast and dinner so we had a picnic. Yesterday's lunch also involved a closed restaurant so today we brought a picnic in case it was needed. We dined at a picnic table on Pyramid Beach.

After lunch we decided to hike near Patricia Lake. We missed the turn to the parking lot but eventually were able to turn around and find it. We had to hike from the lot to the trailhead. I had my pack and bear spray. Our hosts gave us bear spray which was very nice.

When we finally got to the trailhead, the trail was closed as a Fire Hazard Reduction. We're not sure if it is because the area is so dry and/or there are lots of pines affected by the pine beetle. Anyway we hoofed it back to the car.

We headed to Old Fort Point on the other side of Jasper. It's a popular spot so Ray suggested I leave the bear spray. Good idea! We thought we were going on a 4 km walk/hike. Our walk turned into a climb pretty fast and we went up and up and up and just when we thought we could see the top, we went up more. We started with a FEW flights of steps and then went up rocks and gravel and once in a while grass. The views were amazing! That is Pyramid Mountain and the water is the Athabasca River.

Near the top of this climb, Anna and Dillon caught up with us. They are from Edmonton, AB. They were talking to us as we kept ascending.

Doesn't that look like you'll soon be at the top? Ha!

Shortly before we got to this area, a girl hiking the other way said she had heard and then seen a bear up ahead of us. A bear? We don't have the bear spray. Oh NO! I do have a whistle It's a Junior Park Ranger Whistle and it works well! Dillon and Anna had some bells. We had a discussion and decided to continue. 

Dillon and Anna were ahead of us and all of a sudden turned and came back. They had heard something and were quite sure it was a bear. Another discussion. I might have mentioned I really did not want to go down some of those slopes we had climbed. We again decided to go forward.

Dillon and Anna

We knew there was safety in numbers - you appear much larger to the bear. So we went on, visiting and making noise the entire way. Anna is a school photographer and Dillon is doing an internship as a heavy equipment operator. He had lots of questions - he rarely visits with someone from the states. It was fun, a bit strange, and quite refreshing to be hiking with 20-somethings. As we neared the end of our trip down, we saw some fresh bear scat. So yes there is a bear moving around there somewhere. As much as we wanted to see a bear, none of us wanted to meet one on the trail. 

We did meet a few deer. This is the last one we saw. 

So today we climbed a mountain, 

we met some interesting people-

Anna and Dillon, the couple from Germany staying at the hostel, 

the ladies from Hong Kong and Toronto and others,

we saw the sun, 

we washed our spirits clean, 

and we will ALWAYS take the bear spray from now on.