JB the Explorer’s Fall Classic

Posted on November 5, 2013 by paulmozina

Today Jon Bradely, aka JBtheExplorer, makes another guest appearance. Check out these interesting and beautiful pictures from his recent adventure (Nov. 3) at The Springs.

I went today expecting the Autumn colors to be over and wildlife to be gone or dormant. It was a pleasant surprise to see quite a bit of color still there. The trail was also loaded with snakes today, 10 that I remember. Most of them were Garter Snakes however I also found two Red-Bellied Snakes. The first one (first 2 images) was found at the sand prairie and only about 3.5″ long. The second one was found at signpost 10 and was roughly 6″ long. In 2009 found a Red-Bellied Snake on the trail but didn’t know what kind it was at the time and it slipped away before I could see its belly. This time I made sure to photograph it!

The Garter Snakes I found were mostly along the Marl Pits. Admittedly I don’t know how to tell different types of Garters apart however the stripes below the eye of the Garter in the first picture look like the Plains Garter Snakes I see quite a bit where I live. If it is a Plains, its the first one I’ve seen at the trail.

Red-Bellied Snake.

Finally, I have some scenery shots I took at various spots along the trail.

Marl Pit bridge view.

The bird house Jon put up this past summer. (ed. note I Haven’t seen any tenants yet!)

Cloud gazing. (ed. note, if you love clouds, check out the pics on this incredible site!)

The Big Spring and the steps leading up the trail from it. (ed. note, this location is begging for an extended time exposure shot ala Toby Gant)

The view from the deck leading to the Emerald Spring.

The old Hotel/Cheese Factory/Sawmill site.

Ruins on the cut-off trail. (ed. note, in a recent post I speculated that these ruins were part of the marl pit factory because of a long concrete structure with a rectangular hole in it. Pati said it looked like a chimney that had simply fallen over. hmmm… applying Occam’s razor, I’d have to agree with Pati.)

The make-shift bridge connecting the cut-off trail to the main loop trail at the marl pit factory.

Near signpost #2.

I was lucky enough to visit The Springs four times this year and can’t wait to return next spring!

(ed. note Thanks Jon! Pati and I were at The Springs on Nov. 3 too. Maybe next time we can coordinate and meet there.)

See you at The Springs!

The Calls of the Kettle Moraine Coyotes

Posted on November 4, 2013 by paulmozina

I spent the past week (Oct 27 – Nov 3) at My Shangri-La working at The Springs and enjoying living out-of-doors. There isn’t any real wilderness in these parts but the calls of the local coyotes do evoke wild feelings. Almost every night they made outbursts of yelps, whines, howls and cries; a vocabulary that put the domesticated dogs at the nearby Skydance Kennels to shame (ruff, ruff… ruff, ruff, ruff… ruff, ruff, ruff, ruff etc…). It’s hard to describe the sounds coyotes make, calling them is an art form, and I listened with fascination imagining what they might be communicating to each other.

Pati helped me setup camp on Sunday, staying for wine and dinner as we listened to the Packer game on the radio by the fire. It doesn’t get much better than that! Men playing with balls; the circus that compliments our bread.

Monday morning I got after it cutting all the buckthorn and thinning ironwood and basswood in the area between camp sites 335 and 334 and in the area between site 334 and the pond and wetlands (please substitute Tamarack when I say Larch Pine).

On Tuesday I returned to the area just north of the old barn site to cut buckthorn along the trail to show off the mighty oaks and open the views into the cranberry bog.

Here are before and after videos and pics.

Back at camp hundreds, maybe thousands, of migrating birds filled the air with songs.

Rain was forecast ahead and I wondered when I’d see the sun again.

The clouds rolled in on Wednesday and I got in a full day of brush piling on the northeast side of the trail between signposts #2 and #1 and back further towards the parking lot.

Thursday the rain came and I sharpened my chains under a picnic shelter by Ottawa Lake. Later I delivered the rest of the oak, cherry and hickory I cut to open the views west from the sand prairie to a friend here in Milwaukee, who has a wood burning stove. I’ve certainly wasted a lot of potential firewood in the hundreds of brush piles we’ve burned, but I didn’t want to see this high quality wood go to waste (I’m using it in my campfires as well).

Friday I was back at it again cutting buckthorn on the northeast side of the trail from signpost #2 to #1 and beyond towards the parking lot. I got this view of the finished work on Sunday morning Nov. 3.

I still had some ya yas to get out and on Saturday I went back to the area just north of the old barn site shown on the map above to continue clearing the understory beneath some righteous oaks. Here are some views from north to south along the trail before I got started.

I got this video showing the results of Saturday’s labors on Sunday morning.

Pati came out to enjoy the day and help me pack up. Here are some parting shots of the great fall scenery at The Springs.

The morning view from campsite 334.

Marl pit bridge perspective.

On the cut-off trail.

The edge of the cranberry bog, where I worked on Tuesday and Saturday.

The beautiful Emerald Spring.

The hotel spring area.

The south end of the trail.

The sand prairie.

Scuppernong River views.

I was amazed to see these two railroad ties near signpost #2 that I had reported missing a while back. Did the thieves return them? Have they been laying here all this time without me noticing? Now all we need to do is lift them back into place.

There is an unmaintained trail along the east shore of Ottawa Lake that leads to the north end of the property where springs north of Hwy 67 flow into a little pond and eventually into the lake. Here are some views of where this stream merges into the wetlands. You can see campsites 334 and 335 in the second shot.

Late afternoon Tamaracks, which I thought were Larch Pines, as seen from site 334.

Ottawa Lake sunset.

See you at The Springs!

Wisconsin DNR Appreciates Volunteers

Posted on October 27, 2013 by paulmozina

Everything the government has it takes from the people. Try not paying taxes and you’ll soon feel the coercive hand of government in the form of a badge and gun.

Government is an association of men who do violence to the rest of us.

Leo Tolstoy

In what realm besides government do we pay for services at the point of a gun? Worst of all, these “services” including imperialist war mongering, obscenely corrupt cronyism, and zero accountability. I think voluntarism is the way to achieve a peaceful society. If we can each become the monarch, or ruler, of our own lives, respecting other’s rights and obeying Natural Law, then we can evolve into an anarchistic, stateless society, of people freely choosing to associate for the common good.

Yeah, but there are some truly evil people out there and we need government to protect us from them, right? So let’s draw “leaders” from this population, which includes power hungry psychopaths, and give them rights that none of us have (to tax us, to murder with drones, to force us to purchase health care, etc…) empowering them and their agents to govern, i.e. control, us with badges, guns, black robes and prisons; the tools of coercion and violence.

I was very interested to hear Paul Sandgren, Superintendent of the Southern Unit of the Kettle Moraine State Forest, describing the funding constraints they currently operate under and the role that volunteer contributions make in the maintenance of the properties that the Wisconsin DNR is responsible for.

Paul spoke yesterday at a luncheon held at the D. J. Mackie picnic area organized by Melanie Kapinos and Amanda Prange to thank the many people who have contributed to the maintenance of the hiking, biking, horse riding and snowmobile trails, and land stewardship in general, in the southern unit of the state forest.

How much money would the government need to take from us to fully fund all of work that needs to be done? Can we trust government to prioritize the allocation of dollars to rehabilitating and protecting the land and the environment? I don’t think so, hence my commitment to volunteer my time and energy and I encourage you to do the same.

Earlier in the day, I was joined by Jim Davee, Tara Fignar and Anne Moretti and we piled brush along the main trail in what was previously The Buckthorn Tunnel.

I really appreciated their companionship and hard work! Check out the results.

Pati joined me for the luncheon and then we returned to The Springs to spend a glorious afternoon digging out spotted knapweed at the sand prairie. We’ll be sowing the seeds that Don, Amanda and company collected here in the near future.

The Fall scenery at The Springs is spectacular!

Pati and I enjoyed another sunset and, afterwards, we strolled through the Ottawa Lake campground checking out the fantastic Halloween displays at the campsites. We had never seen so many exquisitely carved pumpkins and I’ll be sure to bring my camera along next year. If you are a Halloween fan, don’t miss the annual celebration at Ottawa Lake.

See you at The Springs!

A Stolen Face

Posted on October 25, 2013 by paulmozina

I wonder at the boundaries between what’s yours, mine and ours and who owns things that are found.

I’ve been hoping to find on arrowhead on the sand prairie. John Hrobar gave me a tang from a broken arrowhead that he found near the Indian Spring. I have it on the windowsill above the kitchen sink and it gives me pleasure when I notice it. In the Heart of a Seed, at the end of the last video of the post, I showed this really cool stove door that I found at the ruins of one of the marl pit factory buildings…

… and I speculated about how long it would remain there. I thought it was interesting and wanted others to see it, but it’s already been found and taken. Or, was it stolen? How is an arrowhead different from a stove door and when does private pleasure trump public?

I combined private and public pleasure at The Springs yesterday continuing the effort to creating something beautiful, that cannot be stolen, by piling the buckthorn I cut recently. I really enjoy working in the woods and all the feedback I’ve gotten so far has been positive; a win-win situation.

Here is video taken shortly after I got started.

And the results…

From there I went to the sand prairie to dig spotted knapweed and I ran into the ecology class from the University of Wisconsin, Whitewater. I get easily carried away and tend to talk way too fast, but they listened patiently as I described the work we are doing at The Springs and they had some good questions. I should have gotten a picture!

A crisp Fall afternoon.

Indian Spring Sunset.

The view from the sand prairie dune.

I’ll be at My Shangri-La all next week.

See you at The Springs!

Sand Prairie Gardening

Posted on October 14, 2013 by paulmozina

It was a flawless fall day for a fool’s errand at The Springs

and I was delighted to share it with Tara Fignar and Jim DaVee, who usually volunteer with the DNR or Ice Age Trail, and Pati.

Are we fools for attempting to dig the spotted knapweed out of the Sand Prairie? In any case, it was comforting and thoroughly enjoyable to spend a sunny Sunday morning digging in the sand with friendly people who share my love for gardening and vision of what could be. We made great progress in the area by the spur trail to the Indian Spring, which is now primed for seed sowing.

In the afternoon we headed over to the north east section of the loop trail where I recently did some cutting to pile brush. Tara and Jim were both eager to return and work with us, or independently, either way that is fantastic! I got in a few licks with the brush cutter laying down some half burnt, re-sprouting buckthorn and cherry skeletons that were spoiling the views.

And after…

There were a lot of hikers at The Springs, the most I’ve ever seen, and I think this is due to the great publicity we are getting from all of our DNR friends at the Southern Unit of the Kettle Moraine State Forest.

Another Scuppernong Sunset

See you at The Springs!

In the heart of a seed

Posted on October 13, 2013 by paulmozina

The Little Plant

In the heart of a seed,
Buried deep so deep,
A tiny plant
Lay fast asleep.
“Wake,” said the sunshine,
“And creep to the light.”
“Wake,” said the voice
Of the raindrops bright.
The little plant heard
And it rose to see,
What the wonderful,
Outside world might be.

Way back on September 21, I participated with Jared Urban, Ginny Coburn, Zach Kastern, Rob “the seed man” Baller, and other nature lovers collecting native plant seeds at the Bald Bluff State Natural Area. Rob is a botanist/ecologist and current vice president of the Prairie Bluff Chapter of The Prairie Enthusiasts with many years experience studying native plants including managing all phases of seed harvesting at Applied Ecological Services, Inc., where he worked for many years. It was very enlightening to seek “the heart of a seed” with him. His scientific approach to ascertaining the viability of seeds in the field prior to collecting them made a lot of sense.

Simple tools like a small tray with edges, a magnifying glass and field guides are helpful. Rob’s approach for every “candidate” plant species was to take a seed sample, peel off the “paper” layers and identify the seed kernels. Only then, using sight and touching with fingers, tongue and teeth, could one judge whether or not the heart of the seed was fully formed and gauge its viability. Years of experience help too. He explained that often the first 10% of a plant’s seed output is not viable and only by peeling back the layers and closely examining the contents could one be sure it was worth the effort. That was a fun day and I learned a lot listening to Jared and Rob. Check out Rob’s new book: The Human Center; why Americans don’t have one; essays on instinct, human scale, and near-equality!

Last Tuesday, October 8, I took advantage of another absolutely gorgeous early fall day to get in some licks at The Springs.

Views from the marl pit bridge.

My mission was to cut the carpet of buckthorn seedlings and resprouts that had emerged on both sides of the newly opened cut-off trail. I discussed this with DNR trail boss Don Dane on a recent walking tour and, now that we are going organic, he suggested I take the brush cutter and mow the seedlings and resprouts, some of which were already over 6′ tall. It may be 2-3 years before we burn the Scuppernong Springs Nature Trail again and by then it might prove difficult to get a fire to run through the emerging brush if we don’t keep it down.

This is what I’m talking about.

I’m OK with repeating this effort on a yearly basis pending the next scheduled fire. Cutting the brush will accumulate fuel and give other plants, like the many oak seedlings I found, a chance to get some sunlight. I was able to cut approximately 1/2 of the cut-off trail in a day.

There is an interesting ruin, which I suspect is part of the marl pit operation, alongside the cut-off trail at the red X on the map below.

Here is a close-up look.

Check out the cut-off trail ruins on your next visit!

The sun is setting far enough south on the horizon now to watch it disappear from the sand prairie.

See you at The Springs!

The Buckthorn Tunnel

Posted on October 9, 2013 by paulmozina

In The Buckthorn Metaphor I equate fighting buckthorn with fighting for the truth. A bit of a stretch maybe, but here is another buckthorn metaphor. Remember the last time you were entangled in a complex emotional conflict with at least one other person? How did you get there and what is the path to resolution? It’s kind of like being lost in a buckthorn tunnel: one minute your just walking down the trail and the next thing you know, the buckthorn has grown so thick that it envelops you.

The first hundred yards of the Scuppernong Springs Nature Trail taken in the counter clock-wise direction could only be described as a Buckthorn Tunnel. Using towering aspen clones for support, the buckthorn had grown tall and lush on both sides of the trail literally forming a tunnel. During my recent camping adventure at Ottawa Lake I got the chance to shed light at the end of the buckthorn tunnel with my chainsaw. And, via the power of podcasts, I got some useful tools for resolving interpersonal conflict from my friends at Tragedy and Hope that I want to try to integrate.

One is Marshall Rosenberg‘s idea of Non-Violent Communication, which is explained in relation to critical thinking in this excellent article by Darrell Becker. The other is Edward Di Bono’s The Six Thinking Hats, which is a fantastic way to think in parallel and cover all the bases when trying to resolve an issue. Listen to Di Bono enlightening lecture.

I began ripping down the buckthorn tunnel at The Springs near signpost #1.

At the end of the day…

After years of walking through this deeply shaded tunnel of buckthorn, my eyes were eagerly awaiting the views of the landscape and open skies. I was able to get after it two more times before folding my tent. The next time out I cut the east side of the trail.

And here is how it looked afterwards.

Then I cut the west side of the trail.

And after…

I cut heaps of buckthorn that is now waiting to be piled and burned. Opening up views of the landscape and letting the sun shine in is exciting and I deeply appreciate every minute I spend at The Springs. At a much smaller scale I dug out spotted knapweed on the sand prairie in anticipation of sowing the seeds that Amanda Prange, Don Dane and their helpers have been collecting nearby. Since visiting the sand prairie a 1/2 mile east of forest headquarters along the Ice Age Trail and the pasque flower preserve sand prairie just north of Piper Road alongside the horse trail, I know better now what “success” looks like.

Gentian near the boardwalk leading to the Emerald Spring

Ottawa Lake site #335 Sunset reprise.

See you at The Springs!

Spring Break

Posted on September 18, 2013 by paulmozina

Thanks again for following my exploits at The Springs!

I’m going camping near The Springs — back online in a couple weeks. I’ll definitely be mixing a little work with pleasure and hopefully, will have some good stories to tell when I get back.

I’m under assault again from borrelia burgdorferi, and his bacterial buddy, ehrlichia. They definitely have a monthly cycle. I could barely get out of bed yesterday, but I’m feeling much better now. I’m hoping that fresh air and water, and lots of rest, exercise and good organic vegetarian food will get me back on track. Nevertheless, I have tons of medical tests to review with my doctor when I get back in town — it ain’t over yet.

See you at The Springs!

Landscape Gardening the Scuppernong Trail

Posted on September 15, 2013 by paulmozina

I want to reveal the natural beauty of the landscape at the Scuppernong Springs and hope to inspire a peaceful and harmonious mental state in all who pass thru. By cutting down curtains of buckthorn and cattail, I’m deepening the field of vision creating unique perspectives, both narrow and broad, that showcase the lay of the land. Water percolates through the undulating glacial moraines to the east, springing forth in the valley at the headwaters of the Scuppernong River, and flows west into the prairie. The Springs are a unique, “world class”, convergence of topographies and ecosystems.

Saturday, September 14, was a beautiful day to be out in the Kettle Moraine (hmmm, are those chemtrails?)

Amanda Prange and Melanie Kapinos have organized volunteer workdays in the Southern Unit of the Kettle Moraine State Forest that include a wide variety of activities. Here is the latest schedule:

I joined the seed gathering party at Paradise Springs and we started collecting in the prairie just west of the Gotten cabin, which is astonishingly beautiful! Amanda informed me that there are two sand prairies, one a half mile from forest headquarters and another off Piper Road, that are almost ready for seed collecting and I’m going to check these places out next week. Below, Amanda explains what seeds to gather and how to do it.

Before joining the seed gathering, I stopped at The Springs and visited the location shown in blue below, to collect, and dispose of, all the american burnweed seed heads that were just beginning to release.

I must confess, that I lacked the patience and skill required to harvest seeds from the prairie that day and didn’t stay long. I was chomp’in at the bit to return to the area marked above to cut buckthorn and open up the views down to the river valley from this stretch of the trail. Here is what it looked like before I started.

And after…

It was a busy day at the Springs and I really enjoyed meeting Kevin and Rachael, first time visitors, at the marl pit bridge.

On my customary evening stroll my path converged with a family including two beautiful and interested young people, and they warmed my heart. Later, back at the marl pit bridge I ran into Michael and Karen, who live nearby and subscribe to this post, and we had an excellent time talking and trying to photograph sphinx moths in the fading light. I encouraged them to do a guest post!

Check out Michael’s sphinx moth pictures!

See you at The Springs!

The Tibby Line

Posted on September 12, 2013 by paulmozina

Storms clouded the skies and my mind as I arrived early September 11th at The Springs.

I was reminded of the fact that, although September 11, 2001 was a bright, sunny, day in the city, hurricane Erin, a category 3 hurricane, passed by just offshore as the towers disintegrated.

There is a lot we know — or choose not to know — about what really happened on 9/11. Don Rumsfeld explained the conundrum: “There are known knowns. These are things we know that we know. There are known unknowns. That is to say, there are things that we know we don’t know. But there are also unknown unknowns. There are things we don’t know we don’t know.” Now juxtapose that with the words of the philosopher Soren Kierkegaard: “There are two ways to be fooled. One is to believe what isn’t true; the other is to refuse to believe what is true.” So long as the majority of people choose to remain ignorant, i.e. to not ask who, what, where and when, examine the facts and remove the contradictions, regarding the events of September 11, 2001, the crime of the century, we will continue down the path of endless war that we are on.

I found solace for my breaking heart and worried mind at The Springs yesterday. My first stop was the drainage ditch along the trail near signpost #1 in which a curtain of cattails had risen up to obstruct the view into the Scuppernong Prairie.

And after…

White turtlehead is a new plant for me (thanks for the ID John).

Water Smartweed (Polygonum amphibium). I found it in the meadow in front of signpost #1. Thanks to Amanda Prange for identifying it!

This great plains ladies-tresses is near the marl pit bridge.

On my way to the marl pit area I noticed that someone had made off with two of the original rails from the Dousman Marlboro & Southern railroad at signpost #2. Robert Duerwachter, the author of THE PONDS OF THE SCUPPERNONG, also wrote a fine history of this railroad called The Tibby Line, which you can find at the bookstore at the Southern Unit of the Kettle Moraine State Forest headquarters. John Hrobar noticed last week that one of the rails had been loosened and he suggested that I try to secure it before it got stolen. Sorry John. You can sum up all of Natural Law in one statement: Do Not Steal!

The area between the gaging station bridge #5 and the marl pit bridge #4 is another meadow that is being invaded by cattails, phragmities, purple loosestrife and reed canarygrass. Here is a look before I got after it with the hedge cutter.

And after…

Then I went to a cranberry bog along the cutoff trail to finish piling some buckthorn that I cut last spring. My to-do list is clear now and I’m looking forward to getting back to Buckthorn Alley. I had a little time at the end of the day to dig spotted knapweed on the sand prairie.

Relaxing at the marl pit bridge.