See more photos from this hike and others in the Gallery and please check out our Etsy store!
Sara and Topher
Tuesday's are no work, no school day in this relationship and you know what that means, hiking day! On our last hike, we had ended where the trail crossed over a County highway, so picking up where we left off was easy-peasy. The trail-head started out in the lowlands and prairie of the Eagle segment and had been lightly dusted with snow the night before. I was surprised that the only tracks on the trail were from field mice and the coyote's that pursued them, and with these tracks as our guide, we set off for, "Site 2." Right around the time that the last Coyote tracks wandered off the trail and into the distance, the trail transitioned from vast prairie to dense wooded forest. I love the diversity of terrain that the Ice Age Trail has to offer and it's always a treat when we transition from one environment to another. We were a little more than halfway through our hike when the forest was abruptly torn in half by a set of railroad tracks. It's kinda fun finding random stuff like this in the middle of nowhere, there was even a tiny little railroad crossing for snowmobiles and hikers. It was not something I was expecting to find, but it did offer a nice element to the photo's we took of the scenery. I've noticed my S100 renders color very different than my D700 and as such it almost gives a hand-colored look to the train tracks photo. It was about a mile or so after the train tracks, that we started encountering some decent sized Kettles, which is always a good time when there is solid ice under a light dusting of snow, hahah. Luckily we have some good gear that has never let us down and it came through for us yet again. Right before you get to site 2 if you are heading West on the trail, you will pass through a beautiful low lying Oak Savanna. Once on the other side, climb up the drumlin and follow the sign to your left that says, "Site 2." The site sits atop the drumlin and offers a spectacular view of a low-lying area complete with stream running through it! The view was so spectacular, that we decided to put off more miles and simply slow down to enjoy life. Few things in life are this great, an amazing trail that offers spectacular views and a challenging life goal, having the time to dedicate to being out hiking, being able to start a fire in the dead of winter and cook a meal in the middle of nowhere, and most importantly being able to do all this with a person who shares the same passion about it, as I do. We ended up losing track of time and stayed a little too late, but as luck would have it, the overcast sky dissolved into the night and a bright winter moon illuminated our path back through the sleeping prairie, to the trailhead whence we came.
See more photos from this hike and others in the Gallery and please check out our Etsy store! Sara and Topher
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Sara and I have been hard at work making shirts and prints for all of you to decorate yourselves and places of dwelling with! As of now, we just have a few more shirts up, but check back often, because there is a big stack of artwork I will be photographing and posting up for sale over the next few days. As always, thank you for following along and feel free to leave a comment or ask a question, we would love to hear from you!
Sara & Topher The past few weeks have been brutal here in Wisconsin. With windchills as low as -60*F, no one has even considered going outside for a considerable amount of time. The deep freeze has finally broken and Sara and I have been eager to get out on the trail, so the other day we did just that. It was a beautiful day and at a balmy 30*F, it felt like the tropics compared to what it had been (funny how relative temp is). We decided to pick up where we had left off and this brought us to the southern part of the Scoopernog section of the Ice Age Trail, heading south. It had snowed just a few days before and what a treat it was hiking through the forest. It was picturesque and beautiful; a perfect day to be in the woods. A few miles in we found a campsite for backpackers and decided to make a fire, cook lunch, and just enjoy what the day had to offer. It's been a while since I started a fire out on trail and to be honest, I really haven't had to deal with starting a fire in the winter time, but I've learned a few things since the last hike and this time I made sure to collect a tinder bundle along the way, before I was going to need to start a fire. Sara helped out a ton and while I am usually teaching her little tricks I've learned from my time in the outdoors, we both are learning along the way. I enjoy using only natural items for starting fires, it's a bit more challenging than using man-made objects and it's good practice incase you don't have anything else and you need to get a fire going. My only cheater item I always have with me besides my knife, is my trusty magnesium block and "flint." The Mg block is my go to, simply because it works and its reliable. you don't have to worry about it getting wet or breaking and as long as you don't lose it, it will work all the time, every time. As it turns out, Sara is quite good at directing the spark onto the Magnesium and we had ourselves a nice hot fire in no time. After that, we put the food on to cook, warmed ourselves, and simply enjoyed the afternoon together. It was a wonderful and special time and I can't wait for the next one! More pictures of our adventures will be in the gallery. Thanks for reading!
This past Sunday Sara and I once again got out on the trail for an afternoon hike, on the Ice Age Trail. We had finished the Scuppernog segment on our last hike and it was now time for the Eagle segment, which took us through mostly low-lands and beautiful prairie. It was a nice day and thankfully wasn't too cold. Since this segment was mostly prairie we were able to cover a lot more ground than we had been previously. Overall, we completed about 10 miles in three hours, which is about double what we had been doing; hooray for progress! I was surprised at how much color and beauty the prairie had to offer, even in the dead of winter. The beautiful and vibrant Red-Osier Dogwood against a hazy blue winter's sky was quite the treat for our eyes during our hike. Right when I didn't think it could get any better it started snowing some of the biggest and fluffiest snowflakes I've seen all year! It really was a magical experience. Unfortunately, we only had our phones with us to attempt to capture the beauty, but it was more an exercise in futility than anything. I'll be uploading a few pictures to the gallery page anyways, just for documentation and for anyone who might be interested, but I apologize in advance for the low-quality images from this segment of the Ice Age Trail! As always, thanks for reading and check back often, as I will updating the site often!
*DISCLAIMER* consuming wild edibles can be extremely dangerous and potentially deadly. This post is not intended to give anyone the knowledge to consume wild edibles in any way shape or form. Now that we have that out of the way, Let's continue! :) Lately, we have been on a big nature kick, even more so than usual and in the past two months we have casually completed about 20 miles of Wisconsin's amazing Ice Age Trail. During this time, we have both become more and more interested in what the world has to offer, while we are out on the trail. I (Topher), spent most of my life living in the countryside of rural Wisconsin and have always had an intimate relationship with nature. Over the years, I've collected a decent knowledge base pertaining to surviving in the wild, but my knowledge of wild edibles has always been lacking. Sara, being the awesome woman that she is, decided to surprise me with, Thomas S. Elias & Peter A. Dykeman's, "Edible Wild Plants." This is a good book in my opinion for anyone who is interested in learning about what plants are and aren't okay to eat in the wild. Seeing as how it is winter in Wisconsin right now, almost nothing is available to eat as far as wild edibles is concerned, but there was one plant that held out for us to try. The Staghorn Sumac is a small tree or shrub, that is common around the part of the state where we live now. It is easily identified when fruiting, by its fuzzy red fruit clusters at the ends of most branches. hidden inside of these dense fuzzy clusters, are dozens of small red fruits. We decided to brew them into a tea after removing all of the individual seeds from the buds. Using a French press, we steeped the seeds in almost boiling water for about 15 minutes, before serving and enjoying. Staghorn Sumac has a bright lemony tartness with a mildly bitter finish, especially as it cools down from what I noticed. Sara says she didn't notice much bitterness, so I guess taste is subjective, but overall we both enjoyed the brew very much and we can't wait to try some fresh fall fruits this year!
glue sticks aren't just for little kids! okay, so maybe Sara and I are kids at heart, but it's still fun! we decided to have a little Saturday night date night, watching Lost and making a fun collage. Today we are going to be hiking a few more miles of the Ice Age Tail, more on that later!
Today marks the first day that my girlfriend and I started our first online blog. This blog will be dedicated to our artistic and life adventures, as we take on the challenges of making the world a better place in the best ways we know how. Please check out our Etsy store to see what we have made and what is available for you to own!
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Sara & TopherWe are a working artist couple based out of Austin, TX. This blog chronicles our life and artistic ventures, as we work to make the world and environment a little better every day. Archives
August 2018
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