Watching weed munching goats

 Twice a year for the last few year 1000 Islands Nature Center brings in goats to help control the invasion species such as buckthorn within the nature preserve. This is a great idea. The goats are hungry and someone doesn't have to keep cutting it down. The goats are only there for about a week in June and another week at the end of September/October. Due to timing, I keep missing them. This year I had a few opportunities to see them. 

I casually mention this to the hubby and he said we could go on Sunday. I was also looking to go on Thursday after we came back from St. Louis. The hubby doesn't like nature or goats for that matter. I am not sure why he wanted to go but hey I didn't have to drive myself to Kaukauna, I'm not going to complain too much.

Even though it was rainy earlier in the morning by the time we got to 1000 Islands the rain stopped but it was still overcast. This helped keep the people away. There were only a handful of other people checking out the goats.

The goats are enclosed and they have handlers that kind of direct them where to nibble. Because they were busy working, they stayed away from visitors. It was nice just watching them and not having to worry about them eating my clothes. There was plenty of buckthorn for them to munch on.

Since the hubby has never really been to 1000 Islands before, we walked the boardwalk for a little bit. It was a nice fall day for a short walk in the woods. The water was way down. 

I'm glad I saw the goats. If you have time next time there are in town, check them out and enjoy some nature. 1000 Islands Facebook Page usually alerts you to when the goats are coming.

Moonlight Hiking

Every winter I say I am going to go a moonlight hike and every winter the weather is too cold, the hubby is has a basketball game I want to see, or I have one excuse or another. This year, the weather looked favorable and I didn’t mind missing basketball so I called and reversed my spot for the hike at 1000 Islands.

The weather was just right for a night hike except that it was partly cloudy. You could still see the snow moon at times so it wasn’t completely dark. However, the temperatures have been above freezing for several days this past week so there was a lack of snow for snowshoeing. I was disappointed by the lack of snow since I’ve not been able to use my snowshoes at all this winter yet.

About 20 people joined me for the hike including one guy from work and his wife. Besides being a moonlight hike, it was an educational experience as well. We stopped a few times to learn about night animals in winter and winter sounds. At one point our guide stopped by the river and was going to do a night vision experiment but she gave us the option of going on ahead which I did.

The worse part of the hike was the condition of the trail and boardwalks. Because of the warm weather, the snow melted and refroze causing the paths to be icy. I struggled up my favorite part of the trail because of the icy incline. Between walking off the trail in the snow and dirt and using the fencing as a safety rail, I made it to the look out. Instead of trying to kill myself on the way down, I opted to follow the road back to Nature Center. I wasn’t the only one.

Hopefully the weather and schedules work out in the future because this is one hike I would like to go on again especially in snowshoes. It is fun and educational, free family event. I got me outside and enjoying nature when I would have normally been parked on the couch watching a movie. Next time I will wear boots though.

A Mini Lesson in Maple Syrup Making

With the hubby gone all day today, I wanted to do something and I didn't know what. I really didn't want to go to New Dublin nor did I want to do something by myself. Tara texted me asking if I wanted to go to a craft show. While I was searching for more information about the craft show, I stumbled upon several maple syrup hike/pancake breakfasts. The one at 1000 Islands Environmental Center in Kaukauna offered a free hike and was even on way to the craft show. I made the suggestion and Tara agreed.

It turns it out it was a self-guided hike.

When we got to 1000 Oaks, we headed for the sugar shack where they were making "maple syrup". It turns out that the maple syrup season was very short this year and they only harvested 1/3 of what they normally do. To demonstrate the process, they were boiling water instead of maple sap. They explained how to make maple syrup from the sap. It was very smoky in the sugar house and we didn't stay very long.

A short ways down the path from the sugar shack was another lesson in making maple syrup. This technically was the first step in the process. They showed us how to tap a tree for sap. It was quite easy. You take a hand drill, drill a hole 2-3 inches deep (or to the yellow on the drill), tap in the spigot, and hang a milk gallon on the spigot. I tapped my first maple tree. Too bad the sap season was over. Maybe next year, we'll tap Tara's maple tree.

Tapping a Maple Tree

We continued our hike through 1000 Islands. We did not find anymore maple syrup lessons but did enjoy a few ducks and geese along the raging Fox River.

I was disappointed that the maple syrup hike was just 2 stops and we really didn't learn much or see much of the process. I did enjoy tapping a tree. I have a feeling the mild winter and early spring played a role in the maple syrup process and if the trees were still producing sap, we would have had a more in depth experience. Next year, maybe we can see the whole maple syrup process.