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Late-winter hiking conditions remain good

Photo at left: A group of hikers makes their way along Stoney Ridge on the Ice Age Trail in the Kettle Moraine State Forest.

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We had another week of pretty good winter hiking conditions this past week. There were a few icy spots in the trail, but one could easily walk around them. Most of the trails were either bare or covered with crunchy snow. There were also new weekly walkers participating in both walks.

The Tuesday walk was a loop of trail south from our meeting place consisting of Ice Age Trail and snowmobile trial. Norwin Watson led the regular hikers while I followed behind with the two new adventurers. The lead group extended the walk to include the loop of trail west of Esterly Road and passes my group a short distance before the end of the walk.

There was a beautiful sunset, but it was difficult to take a photo of it through the trees although the other scenery was great. The steep and rolling terrain is much easier to appreciate in the winter when it is snow covered and without leaves to hide the views.

The next day, we continued our hike of the Ice Age Trail through the Southern Kettle Moraine. I joined Meg McCormick and Ellen Davis on the shorter walk because they were not familiar with the section of trail we were to hike. We left some cars at the Emma Carlin parking lot and carpooled to the parking lot north of the Wisconsin Highway 59 Ice Age Trail crossing to hike back to complete the Waukesha County part of the trail.

This trail is about four miles long, about a mile longer than the literature at the forest headquarters indicates.

We took a long break at the forest headquarters midway through the hike. There is a small museum there to enjoy and an Ice Age Trail display in the foyer. As we neared County Highway Z at the county line we took a of trail which was not covered with snow and ice taking us off the Ice Age Trail followed by a shortcut through the evergreens to the Carlin trailhead.

In the meantime, Norwin led the longer distance walkers from the Carlin lot on the Ice Age Trail in the other direction and returned through Stute Springs which is located a bit south of the Ice Age Trail nearly doubling the distance my group had walked.

Happy trekking, Russ

Activities Saturday, March 5 at 1:30 p.m., Wild Ones (Native Plants, Natural Landscapes) Informational Meeting: Meet at Southern KMSF headquarters to discuss the possibility of forming a local chapter of Wild Ones. For more info see www.wildones.org and http://www.for-wild.org/web/chap_intro.html. Contact Mariette Nowak (262) 642-2352, mmnowak@wi.rr.com. MORE

Tuesday, March 15, 7 p.m., Member Appreciation Meeting of the Walworth/Jefferson Co Chapter, Ice Age Trail Alliance: Meet at US Bank, Elkhorn Community Room. Contact Carol Prchal (262) 495-8502.

Saturday, March 19, 9 a.m., Trail Work: Meet at Highway 12 trail crossing for maintenance and clearing trail. Contact Jerome Converse (262) 473-7204.

Sunday, March 20, 1 p.m., Hike: Meet at the Emma Carlin Trailhead on Highway Z. Hike the Stute Springs Nature Trail (no dogs allowed), Big Hill, and Ice Age Trail with a stop at the KMSF-SU headquarters. See skunk cabbage in bloom, springs, a trout stream, and a variety of other beautiful scenery. Contact Russ Helwig (262) 473-2187.

Saturday, April 2,noon Pot Luck, 1 p.m., 2011 Trail Adopter Organizational Meeting: Meet at the Nordic Trails Shelter with a dish to share. Eat, short meeting, and hike afterwards. The event is for current and potential new adopters. If you would like to learn about trail adoption please come. Contact Gary Patzke (262) 763-6275.

Weekly Walks

We meet at 4 p.m. Tuesdays and 10:30 a.m. Wednesdays at the Highway 12 Ice Age National Scenic Trail crossing located about four miles east of Whitewater.

We include two or more walks of different distances on Wednesdays, and also do this on Tuesdays when desired.

All ages are welcome.

Note that a state park pass is required to park a car at the Highway 12 meeting place.

A daily or yearly pass may be purchased at the meeting place provided correct change is available.