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!

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.

Down by the River

Posted on December 8, 2012 by paulmozina

You never know who you’ll run into at the Springs. This morning Kris Hinrichs, the outgoing director of the Lakefront Marathon, was taking pictures for her Project 365. We had a nice visit and compared notes on what was ailing our bodies. I searched high and low on the various Project 365 websites and Facebook but could not find her photos. Kris, if see this, please put a link to your Project 365 photo gallery in a comment to this post.

I took these pics on the way to get some drinking water for the day from the Scuppernong Spring.

The Hillside Springs.

Rich Csavoy and Lindsay Knudsvig joined me and our agenda was to re-pile the phragmites that our religious friends piled back in July so that it would burn better and to finish piling all the brush along the river trail.

These phragmites piles are too spread out and would be hard to start when covered with snow. This area is by the Hidden Springs.

And after…

The observation deck area by the Emerald Springs.

We almost finished piling all of the brush along the river trail.

Thanks Rich and Lindsay! I hope to have an “about” Rich page added to the site soon.

After the work was done, Lindsay and I took some time to enjoy Mother Nature and we scouted out some areas where we plan to open up additional Springs.

Be on my side,
I’ll be on your side

See you at the Springs!

Waiting for the Snow

Posted on December 6, 2012 by paulmozina

It looks like we will break the record for consecutive days without snow, 279, this Saturday. I miss the snow so much, I had to go to the March 2012 archives just to get a little fix.

Our DNR friends Amanda and Anne suggested to the Kettle Moraine Natural History Association that they give Lindsay and I a gift to show their appreciation for our efforts. I paid a visit to Forest Headquarters this morning to pick up our Kettle Moraine State Forest tote bags loaded with goodies. Thanks!

Amanda is preparing seeds for us to sow at the Springs.

I got a chance to catch up with Paul Sandgren, DNR Superintendent for the Kettle Moraine State Forest. Paul and Ron Kurowski gave me the go ahead to resume working at the Springs back in May, 2011 and I can’t thank them enough.

After my visit to Forest Headquarters, I returned to the Springs and continued piling brush that we cut on the hilltop just above of the Hillside Springs.

And after…

Here is another perspective.

I didn’t see a soul out there today, had the place all to myself.

I’ll be waiting for you to come along at the Springs.

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!