An Urban Hike Through Appleton

 Appleton library was offering an Urban Hike through downtown Appleton. It sound like fun. The hubby had games so even though it was ungodly hot, I decided to go. I double tripled checked this was for adults and not kids though. It was. 

We met at Jones Park. Googlemaps took me to the Jones Park by the police station. I knew we were meeting at the one below the Convention Center. So I had to wind my way back down to the river. I got there with plenty of time to spare. It said it would be a 2 hour hike in about 1.5 hours. 

Our friendly librarian guide gave us a mini journals to use once we got to our half way point. He said we would stop periodically and point out some flowers and animals that we saw along the way.

The first stop was the bird mural, which I did not know existed. It is a lovely mural depicting many different bird species found in the area painted to look like paper cranes. 

We spotted a pelican on the bank of the river.

There were plenty of wild flowers growing along the side of the trail including these fake sunflowers or oxeyes.

We then continued down the path to the Houdini Sculpture. Here talked about the bat population and various volunteer opportunities people have been involved with. We also saw an abandon eagle's nest. 

Our next destination was City Park. Here we learned about journaling and was sent to observe nature. We were to use the I notice.. I wonder.. It reminds me of technique. 

There was a tree that caught my eye when we walked in. It had vines growing out of it. As I laid there studying it, it reminded me of a woodland fairy. That is about as in touch with nature I get. 

From there we headed back to Jones Park. We didn't see much of anything on the way back. I did notice horse heads protruding from the front of Cloe's building. Never noticed them before.

It wasn't a bad way to spend a summer night. I was hoping for a little more guidance and discussion instead of lets just walk. I wanted to see things I usually missed but there wasn't anything unusual. Oh well, at least I got a walk in.

I challenge you to take an urban hike through your city and see what you find. 

Exploring State Trails 2023 -- Ahnapee State Trail

 Most of my state trail excursions occur because I decided to go to baseball and needed a place to walk. Ahnapee State Trail is no different. I opted to go to Algoma with the hubby for Shoreland League Playoff game. Looking at the map, I could either walk to along the beach or walk part of the Ahnapee Trail. Due to fact I didn't have to cross busy streets, I chose the Ahnapee Trail.

The Ahnapee Trail is a 48 mile trail through Kewaunee County that follows the Ahnapee nd Kewaunee Rivers. It can take you to Algoma, Kewaunee, or Luxemburg. When Heather and I were at the World's Tallest Grandfather Clock, we saw the trail head in Kewaunee. 

I picked up the Ahnapee at the trailhead Perry and Mill Street which was about 4 blocks from the ball park. The trail is open year round and does not require a trail pass. Like most state trails it has a gravel base, limestone in this case. It is a pretty flat trail.

I ended up walking more of the trial than I planned on, I probably walked about a mile on the trail before turning around and heading back to the game. The initial part of the trail was not very clear and over grown with grass and weeds. It went past the lumber yard but once it got out of the industrial area, the path became more defined and peaceful.

At one point I could have taken a right and followed the Ice Age trail but kept going straight. This is probably where I should have turned around but I kept going for another 1/4 mile or so. I tend to forget, that everything I walk on the way there must be retraced on the way. 

There was not much to see. I could have used some bug spray even though the bugs weren't horrible. Again I made the mistake of walking in flip flops so I kept having to shake stones out of my feet. One of these times, I'm going to learn my lesson and grab the shoes. 

Overall it was a nice night for a walk. The trail was not busy at all. I did see a few people but not many. If you are ever find yourself near the Ahnapee Trail, take time to walk or bike. 

Exploring State Trails 2023 -- Rockwell Mountain Bay State Trail

 When the hubby said he wasn't doing the regional tournament this year, I canceled most of my PTO except for Friday. I figured I'd hang out at the local tournament he decided to do instead. He was at Nouryon Sports Complex in Howard. 

There didn't seem to be a good walking trail so I ended up just kind of following the road. Then I saw this foot path and decided to follow it. The foot path led me to the Rockwell Mountain Bay State Trail which is one of the longest in the state. It runs from Rib Mountain to Green Bay and covers 83 miles. A trail pass is required if you are biking or roller blading. 

Since the trial is used for biking, horseback riding, and walk it is a mix of gravel and dirt which for me in flip flops was annoying. I kept shaking out pebbles from my sandals. I ended up walking about .75 on the trail before turning around and heading back to the game. 

This part of the trail is wooded. The shade makes it nice but that also means it can be buggy. Bug spray could be essential depending on the year.

I did walk through this culvert. It was a bit slick inside. 

Since many back yards but up against the trial, they have their own footbridges to get to the trail. 

I wish I had more time to explore this trail. It was is quiet and peaceful.. especially on a Friday morning. Brown County and Wisconsin both have wonderful trail systems and I plan on exploring more of them whenever I get the chance. 

1770. Go to Big Cypress National Preserve

 When we first were planning on going to Florida, I looked at an option that would take us from the East Coast to the West Coast passing through the northern edge of the Big Cypress National Preserve. Then we changed our itinerary based on who was playing when and how long we were going to be gone. We ended up having a potential free day to do some exploring and I mentioned we could headed down to check out the Everglades since we still had the National Park pass. The hubby agreed.

Big Cypress National Preserve is on the northwest edge of the Everglades. It really could be considered part of the Everglades because when the Everglades was founded in the 1930s, the government didn't have enough funds to maintain the whole area so later the Big Cypress National Preserve was created in what remained of the unprotected land in the area.

Big Cypress Preserve is open year round and has two visitor centers. Since we were going to the Everglades, we visited Nathaniel P. Reed Visitor Center in Ochopee. Due to some unforeseen issues, we didn't spend much time at the visitor center but instead decided to drive through the preserve on our to the Everglades. I had several stops I wanted to do.

There are two boardwalks and a scenic drive along US 41 that you can explore Big Cypress. Knowing the scenic drive is a dirt road, we skipped. We didn't want to deal with all that dust. 

We stopped at H.P. Williams Wayside park which has a short boardwalk. The boardwalk was the perfect length for the hubby who is not all about hiking or walking much. We saw several alligators, a really large bug, and some birds. It was actually a very nice boardwalk to check out.

The other boardwalk we did not check out due to time was Kirby Storter Roadside Park. This one has a longer boardwalk (about 1 mile round trip). If we ever get back down here, I would check it out. 

I would have loved to spend more time in Big Cypress but we had to get to the Everglades National Park. You could spend the whole day explore the scenic trail, boardwalks, and check out the visitor center. It was definitely worth the detour on our way to Port St. Lucie.