Fire In The Sky

Posted on January 1, 2013 by paulmozina

It was the coldest morning of the year and the setting moon’s light brilliantly contrasted the deep blue cloudless sky as I made my way to the Indian Springs. I’ve been meaning to get some pictures of the “Monster Spring“, as the locals used to call it, in a morning light.

The “Monster”

Here is one of the Hillside Springs.

It’s been a great year working out at the Springs and I want to thank Pati, Lindsay, Rich, Mark, John, Sue, Thomas, Chakry, Sriram, Don, Ron, Paul, Anne, Amanda and everyone else who lent a hand or showed support.

The coolest thing that happened to me this past year was my rediscovery of Philosophy thanks to my good friends at Tragedy And Hope. It’s never too late, nor too early, nor too often to study Philosophy.

Today though, we are interested in Physics.

The conditions were perfect for burning brush piles and I was able to light 34. In half of those I just poked my torch into the center of the pile instead of doing the usual chainsaw work to create a consolidated pile to ignite.

The view from the scenic overlook.

And the Marl Pit Bridge.

Here is a video of the sunset taken from the scenic overlook.

See you at the Springs!

Light My Fire

Posted on December 30, 2012 by paulmozina

My pictures don’t do justice to the beauty of the hoar frost that covered the trees this morning when I arrived at the Springs. It was cold and my fingers were freezing as I took these pics.

This was taken from the Marl Pit bridge and shows the hillside above the Indian Springs where we planned to burn.

Here is a closer look at the piles we planned to light up.

The conditions were perfect. A light but steady wind out of West and clear skies. Lindsay and Pati came out to help and enjoy the beautiful day.

Below you can see where the two forks of the Indian Springs outflow merge on their way to the Scuppernong River.

Lindsay used a leave blower to help jump start the fires when they needed a blast of air and it worked pretty darn good.

The view from the Marl Pit bridge. You can see where the channel from the Indian Springs joins the river.

We burned 22 piles today and I think we have 3-4 more day’s work to finish the piles in this area. I had to leave early so Pati and Lindsay handled the mop up operations. Thanks!

See you at the Springs!

Let Me Stand Next To Your Fire

Posted on December 26, 2012 by paulmozina

I took advantage of the East wind yesterday to burn 15 brush piles right along Hwy 67. This is the area where the barn once stood that was part of the Parker Hotel and Mann/Dousman/Parker Trout Ponds complex. THE PONDS OF THE SCUPPERNONG is a fascinating history that has deepened my appreciation for the opportunity I have to spend so much time at this wonderful place that was cherished by so many people over the years.

My plan was to burn the phragmites piles along the river first.

That proved impossible as they were thoroughly soddened. I quickly gave that up and went over to the old barn site.

I’ve been concerned about burning these piles, given their close proximity to Hwy 67, and the light, Easterly winds provided the perfect conditions.

Here is the old barn foundation.

The view from Hwy 67 is beautiful, albeit, a bit loud. I filmed from the edge of the road and then wandered down to the edge of the barn foundation shown above. You can see 15 or so brush piles between the trail and the River that we hope to burn tomorrow.

See you at the Springs!

THE PONDS OF THE SCUPPERNONG

Posted on December 22, 2012 by paulmozina

The Upper Pond, Photo by Pete Nielsen

I didn’t know what Robert Duerwachter was referring to in his book title. What ponds? I never saw, or at least I don’t remember seeing, the two trout ponds that made the Scuppernong Springs famous. If you love The Springs, you must pick up your very own copy of “THE PONDS OF THE SCUPPERNONG” at Forest Headquarters. I can’t summarize it any better than the author:

A NARRATIVE OF PEOPLE, ACHIEVEMENTS AND

LITTLE KNOWN FACTS IN THE LIVES AND TIMES

OF THOSE WHO MADE SIGNIFICANT CONTRIBUTIONS

TO THE PONDS IN THE SOUTHEAST QUARTER OF

SECTION 34 IN THE TOWN OF OTTAWA

WAUKESHA COUNTY, WISCONSIN

CHESTER M. SMITH

THE DOUSMAN FAMILY

CURTIS AND NANCY MANN

ELIPHALET S. STONE

THE PARKER FAMILY

THE PERELES FAMILY

ORIN C. BENSON

I love history and this, picture filled, page turner is the definitive history of the Scuppernong Springs.

Finally, we can start burning some brush piles. I think there might be over 300. First, a few morning views of the Scuppernong River:

Our goal was to burn all of the piles on the “inside” of the big bend in the river by the Old Hotel Site.

Rich Csavoy arrived early and we got after it.

Pati, a veteran brush pile burner, joined in the fun.

I got these pics while mopping up.

After the gear was all stowed away, I took a walk along the river and saw the biggest flock of geese I have ever seen in my life. It must have stretched out over a mile…

You gotta hear them…

It was a blessed day at the Springs and we burned 19 piles.

Happy Holidays and I Hope to see you out at the Springs!

Burning Brush Piles

Posted on June 29, 2012 by paulmozina

We didn’t have much of Winter in 2011/2012 season, but we did manage to burn 185 brush piles. Here are a few pictures from the Indian Springs location at the Scuppernong Springs Nature Trail.

Our good friend John Mesching helped us out.

Lindsay and I met in November of 2011 while taking the Basic Wildland Fire Series offerings S-130, S-190 and L-180 at the Madison Area Technical College www.madisoncollege.edu and he fell in love with the Springs the first time he came out to help me burn.

You may have noticed new brush piles along the Nature Trail. We plan to burn them this Winter.

Here is the latest, as of 11/11/12 info on Basic Wildland Fire Series offerings.

COURSE OFFERING 1 – NUMBER: 34464 / TERM 1134

COURSE LOCATION: MATC Fire Service Education Center

1750 Pearson St., Madison, WI

COURSE DATES: Saturday and Sunday, December 1 & 2, 2012 AND Friday, Saturday and Sunday, December 7 – 9, 2012; 8:00 am – 5:00 pm.

In order to complete the class you need to attend ALL of the course sessions.

————————————————————————————————————

COURSE OFFERING 2 – NUMBER: 62049 / TERM 1138

COURSE LOCATION: MATC Protective Services Center

1701 Pearson St., Madison, WI

COURSE DATES: Saturday and Sunday, February 9 & 10, 2013 AND Friday, Saturday and Sunday, February 15-17, 2013; 8:00 am – 5:00 pm.

In order to complete the class you need to attend ALL of the course sessions.

COURSE FEE: $138.15 – you will receive an invoice that needs to be paid by date indicated. You can go to myMadisoncollege account and pay on-line once you have registered. You will NOT receive a 2^nd notice.

COURE PRE-REQS: There isn’t any! – You can register on-line at http://www.madisoncollege.edu. If you need help creating your student log-in, contact the enrollment center at 608-246-6210.

Class in December will be at the Fire Center, Class in February in new protective services center.