Break On Through To The Other Side

Posted on December 19, 2012 by paulmozina

Morning view of the Springs.

I can’t believe we got the Lost Trail opened up before the big snow came! Lindsay really got after it last Sunday and showed me what was possible. With that inspiration, I finished opening up the cut-off trail today. Here are a few before pics.

And After…

This temporary bridge will be replaced with something nicer next year. You can see a bit of the Marl factory.

Speaking of “Marl”, a man who really inspires me is Marlin Johnson, retired Biology Teacher at the University of Wisconsin, Waukesha and current Manager of the UW-Waukesha Field Station. He recently shared two books with me: The Tibby Line – Dousman Marlboro & Southern and The Ponds of the Scuppernong, both by Robert Duerwachter (Win Press Publishing win9133@frontiernet.net). The former documents the history of the rail line used to haul Marl from the Scuppernong Springs’ “pits” to Dousman and the Marl industry in general. I’ll post some highlights soon.

Here is another shakey video tour of the Lost Trail. You’ll have to supply your own spooky music.

It looks like this Saturday, December 22, will be a perfect day to start burning brush piles! “Come on baby light my fire”.

See you at the Springs!

Lost on a Lost Trail

Posted on December 16, 2012 by paulmozina

We got rained out yesterday and that was great. Today, well rested and sharpened, Lindsay and I started cutting Buckthorn at the Eastern junction of the Lost Trail (first described here, with more details here). It took a few minutes to locate the route that DNR Trail Boss Don Dane flagged for us back in August.

I began clearing the trail junction while Lindsay worked reopening the trail. Here are a few before and after shots of the trail junction. This is the view into the Lost Trail.

The view West along the loop trail leading to the parking lot.

The view East on the loop trail heading towards the Old Hotel and Saw Mill.

The view North towards the cranberry bog.

And after…

By the time I finished this, Lindsay had progressed way down the trail. I joined him and we continued on to within less than 100 yards of the Marl Pits. We are planning to finish opening up this cutoff trail on Wednesday the 19th. You can see how far we got marked in White below. There is still a lot of brush to cut between the trail and the river so we’ll be working in this area for a while.

Here is a video tour of the Lost Trail. Note, at the beginning of the cutoff trail that we did not attempt to cut all the little Prickly Ash with our chain saws. I’ll get this on Wednesday with a brush cutter and then we’ll hit them with a foliar spray in the Spring when the re-sprout.

I forgot to mention in the last post that we saw 5-6 good sized Brook Trout lingering at a little bend in the river by signpost #10. This is one of their favorite spots to hang out but we haven’t seen them there for a while. The sunlight was perfect and we got a real good look. I also saw one later in the Emerald Spring.

On the North Side

Posted on December 13, 2012 by paulmozina

We started a new chapter in the Scuppernong River Nature Trail restoration effort today as we began cutting the Buckthorn on the North side of the River. The area is scratched out in white on the map below. Our goal is to reopen The Lost Trail that bisects the loop trail, which I highlighted in white below. We want to clear the area between the trail and the River.

Mark Mamerow, who was assigned as my “buddy” almost 25 years ago when I started working at Northwestern Mutual, is still keeping an eye on me. He piled brush all day and made a great contribution. Rich Csavoy did some piling and cutting as well. And last, but not least, Pati came out to help pile brush and clear the “Sawmill Springs”.

Mark cleaned up the area by the bridge over the River at the Hotel Springs.

And After…

My before pictures on the North side of the River did not turn out, but here are a couple.

And after…

Lindsay and I have noticed a Spring just North of signpost #12 so we’ll call it the “Sawmill Springs”. We began clearing this one out today.

And after…

This still needs a bit of work.

We noticed this permit posted on the bridge over the Scuppernong River at signpost #5. This is where the Water Flow Gauges will be installed.

In case you were wondering, the algae bloom we reported at the Hotel Springs has completed disappeared.

Mark, Pati and I enjoyed the sunset from the Indian Campground.

Respect the Land

Posted on December 1, 2012 by paulmozina

Today Rich and I continued cutting and piling on the hilltop where we left off last time. During a break we discussed our mutual respect and admiration for the Native Americans, who nurtured the land and understood it’s mysteries. When considering their impact on the earth, they planned ahead 7 generations.

Pati Holman and Jim Brown joined us in the afternoon and we got a lot done. Thanks!

Here are a few before shots.

And after…

Later, our friend Andrea Goetzinger paid her first visit to the Springs. She’ll be back for sure!

One of the reasons we are cutting the phragmites and cattails along the river is to take a close look at the land and identify where springs are flowing. We recently found a new one by the bridge over the river near the Hotel Springs (see Map). I took a few minutes at the end of the day today to open this one up. I’ll get some better pictures next time. There are a couple of really nice springs here.

It’s flowing freely now and there is a little waterfall that makes a pleasing gurgle.

There are more springs in this area yet to be revealed…

I hope to see you out at the Scuppernong Springs!

All for one, one for all!

Posted on November 30, 2012 by paulmozina

… the Three BrushCuteers cried as they fired up their chainsaws. Rich, Lindsay and I took the battle to the enemy today and many a stout and formidable foe was slain, dismembered and piled. The battle ground was the hilltop/sand dune just above the Hillside and Hidden Springs (see Map), where we have been working recently.

Rich Csavoy attacked a patch of Black Locust.

And it’s clear who got the better of this fight!

Porthos, aka Lindsay Knudsvig, beat back a frontal assault of Buckthorn and Black Locust while defending the High Ground.

When it was over, you could not cross the battlefield without stepping on a corpse of the invasive enemy.

Meanwhile, Paul ambushed a small army of Buckthorn attempting to sneak up on Lindsay’s blind side.

They never new what hit them.

Anne Korman, Assistant Superintendent of the Southern Unit of the Kettle Moraine State Forest, stopped by to enjoy the Springs and offer support and encouragement. Thanks!

This Saturday, December 1rst, The Three BrushCuteers plan to return to the field of battle in the same location. Hope to see you at the Springs!

Brush Piling by the Scuppernong Spring

Posted on November 4, 2012 by paulmozina

Lindsay and I piled the brush that I cut back on October 21rst by the Scuppernong Spring today. I added the Google Earth Map below to the Maps and Brochures page on this site. The imagery is old, predating all of the cutting I did right along Hwy 67 some 9 years ago, but it is still useful. Can you find the Scuppernong Spring?

Here are some before images.

We had lots of visitors today and got a chance to explain what we are doing and refer people to this site. Just as our strength was giving out, Anne Sylvan arrived to help us finish the last piles. Thanks Anne!

We made around 20 piles. We’ll have to wait for an East wind and good snow cover to burn them.

Morning Has Broken

Posted on October 28, 2012 by paulmozina

Don’t tell anyone, I still have my Cat Stevens records.

The Springs were beautiful this morning.

There is a very nice sand dune hilltop just West of the Hillside Spring covered with some large Oak, Hickory and Cherry trees. The last time we worked Lindsay pointed out how cool this hilltop would look, especially a prominently featured huge Red Oak, if we cleared the brush and I took up his suggestion today. The area in question is marked in white on the map below.

After enjoying the beautiful sunrise, I whacked some Buckthorn and Black Locust to highlight this prominent sand dune hilltop. We are going to cut as much as we can until November and then focus on piling everything to prepare for burning this Winter (if we get some snow!). Here are some before shots taken from the top of the hill.

And looking up at the hilltop from the trail.

And after… the next two shots are looking up at the hilltop from the trail.

And views from the hilltop.

Thanks again to the Kettle Moraine History Association for covering all of our equipment expenses!

Buckthorn Cut At The Scuppernong Spring

Posted on October 22, 2012 by paulmozina

The Scuppernong Spring is where the Scuppernong River starts. It is set in a bowl near the base of a long moraine. There are huge Red and White Oak and Hickory and Cherry trees along the slopes. Approximately 9 years ago I cut the Buckthorn along this slope from Hotel Spring, South, almost all the way to the Scuppernong Spring and yesterday I resumed this effort on the slopes around the Scuppernong Spring. Pati came out later to help pile brush and bring my camera/phone, which I had forgotten. So, no before pictures this time. There are still a few trees to cut and lots of piling to do. Below is a map with the work area marked in white and some pictures taken after the cutting was done. In case you were not aware, you can click on any of the images below to see the picture in full size.

Scuppernong River Walk

Posted on October 19, 2012 by paulmozina

One of our favorite stretches of the Scuppernong Springs Nature Trail is along the River from the Scuppernong Springs to the Hotel Springs. To the East is a steep slope covered by Oak Savannah. To the West the views of the River and Wetlands were obstructed by a lot of brush including Buckthorn, Honeysuckle, Willow, Aspen and the witch’s brooms from charred stumps of Cherry and Red Oak. The area in question is marked in white on the map below.

On Wednesday, October 17th I spent the day working in area between signposts #7 and #8 above. Here are some before pictures.

After a little effort with a brush cutter and chain saw…

I still had a little energy left so I put on my chest waders and grabbed my shovel. There were a couple of places by the Emerald Spring, where the observation deck is, where the River was spilling over its banks. On his last visit with us, Ron Kurowski suggested we get some bio-logs from the DNR to shore up the banks and keep the River in a narrower channel. I contacted Ben Heussner and found out there were no more bio-logs at the moment, so I decided to just try a low tech solution for now. Here are some views of the areas in question before I started and after.

And two blisters later…

On Thursday, October 18th, Lindsay joined me and we worked on the area just North of where I had left off on the 17th and made it all the way up to the boardwalk leading to the Emerald Spring. In addition to the brush mentioned earlier, we cut a huge patch of Phragmites. Here are some before shots.

And after…

Here is a view of the work area from the bridge over the Scuppernong River down by the Hotel Springs.

We still have some brush piling to do but the views into the Wetlands along the River are much improved.

Brush clearing along the river

Posted on September 3, 2012 by paulmozina

I’m revisiting a couple of areas that I worked on last year. On the first pass through these areas along the river, I focused on Buckthorn and left a lot of brush including Willows and Dogwoods and a lot of scruffy, half-burned, Cherry trees and spindly Aspens that have fallen over without the Buckthorn there to prop them up. The areas in question are highlighted below.

Trail boss Don Dane and retired DNR naturalist Ron Kurowski both recommended cutting these woody plants to clear the way for the natural Fen and Wet Meadow plant communities. This will also improve the views from the bridges at the Marl Pits #4 and on the Scuppernong River at #5 above on the map as well as reveal clear views of the Marl Pit bridge and Scuppernong River from the Scenic Overlook on the Indian Campground.

Here is view from the Scenic Overlook looking in the direction of the Marl Pit bridge. The brush in question is just to the right of the two big Red Oak trees in the center of the picture.

Here is view from the bridge over the Scuppernong River at signpost #5. The brush is on the left in the shadows.

And here is the view from the Marl Pit bridge. The brush appears above the cattails and below the large trees.

That was harder than I thought it would be. After 10+ hours cutting in a Willow thicket, I was about ready to throw my chain saw at it. It was hot today (9/3), and I was pouring sweat from the minute I fired up the chain saw. Here are the after pictures, first from the scenic overlook. It’s hard to see in this picture but you can now see the river flowing underneath the Marl Pit bridge.