indian lake

Take a Hike – Poetry in the Woods

| terriaw

There’s a hiking trail not far from my house that I love to go to, especially in Fall.

The longest trail is about 3.1 miles and goes through a prairie, along a small lake where motor boats aren’t allowed (which keeps it clean and quiet), and through the woods. It’s actually one of my favorite local hikes!

Along the trail there are these wonderful signs with beautiful poetry printed on them.

I find them so intriguing and comforting while exploring these trails. It would be so fun to set up something like this in my own backyard!

First Hike of Fall

| terriaw

We went on our first hike of Fall over the weekend! It felt great to be on the trails again, exploring the woods.

indian lake trail

woods at Indian Lake

Remember that old hollow tree I love so much? It’s still toppled over.

broken hollow tree

me in the hollow tree

It’s still early in the season, and we’ve had a lot of warm, sunny days lately, so we didn’t see a lot of fall colors yet.

leaves starting to turn

sweet gum trees turning color autumn leaf on the trail autumn maple leaf on the trail

indian lake Hope you’re out enjoying Fall too!

Terri

Colorful Hiking Adventures

| terriaw

It was a beautiful Fall weekend around here, so we took advantage of the sunshine and went hiking.

We went to one of my favorite places to hike, which you’ll see why in a minute.

We were pleasantly surprised to see how far along our fall colors are.

When you drive into the parking lot, you are greeted by rows of these beautiful sweet gum trees, which glow in the sunlight, and look so beautiful against the blue September sky.

Their leaves look similar to maple leaves, but they are even more colorful.

Of course, I had to pick up few to take home and press for future inspiration. There may be some screen printed leaves in my future!

We also found some leaves that looked like they were tie-dyed.

I’m usually a little anxious until we come upon this particular tree.

Surely you’ve seen me show it before around here.

My husband thinks I’m goofy because I always have to climb inside it and pretend it’s my little hideout. I think the hollow has gotten bigger over the years because I don’t remember being able to fit so well inside it. (Or maybe I’m shrinking.) I wish I could take it home and put it in my backyard!

There are about 4-5 nature-related poems on sign posts throughout these trails. I’ve never seen this on any other hiking trail, and I think it’s such a wonderful idea.

The trail we take ends at this cool cabin in the woods. It has an outhouse next door and a great big fire pit where you could warm up during a day of cross-country skiing or snowshoeing.

Such a wonderful way to spend a Fall day! I’m already looking forward to our next hiking adventure. I hope the fall colors last a little longer. Hope you enjoyed your weekend too. Thank you for stopping by!

Trail

| terriaw

A great way to ring in the first of October was a hike on one of my favorite trails, especially on such a beautiful day.

The sun was shining, which kept us warm and cozy.

The temperatures were cooler in the woods, which were damp after a week of rain.

I always love the treasure hunt of being on a trail, admiring different leaf colors carpeting the ground.

This particular trail we take ends at the most charming warming cabin, which has an outhouse and campfire pit, nice amenities for the woods, especially when you’re snowshoeing or skiing.

The best part of this trail,

is getting to hide inside my hollow tree!


I thank Mother Nature for every opportunity I get to to spend time outside.

Definitely resets my soul for the upcoming week!

I Heart Hiking

| terriaw

I was so happy our weather cooled off over the weekend so we could finally go hiking (i.e. no more bugs!)

Every fall, we love to make several trips to a county park about 20 minutes from our house. It’s set out in the country, so it doesn’t get too much traffic.

It has the most beautiful trails winding past a small lake and through the woods.

The fall colors are just barely beginning around here, but we did find some other treasures in the woods.

We had a lot of rain over the summer months and into fall, so there were these mushrooms (or fungus?) everywhere, making the woods look very mystical.

We always take the outer trail which is the longest and ends up at this quaint warming cabin, which can be used to warm up in winter after a day of cross country skiing or snowshoeing on these same trails.

There is also a big firepit in this clearing for campfires.

It’s one of my favorite things about the area I live in, and one of my favorite things about fall!

I Love Long Weekends

| terriaw

I wish every weekend could be a three day weekend!

On Friday afternoon, I canned about three quarts of tomato sauce with tomatoes from our garden using Amy’s recipe.

tomatoes from our gardenOn Saturday we spent the afternoon at the Taste of Madison, watching live music, eating and drinking. We saw this great new band from Vancouver. (bet you didn’t know I like heavy metal music!)

The Veer Union concert

On Sunday, I finished two sewing projects for swaps, which I will show you in my next post, after I finish sewing the label onto the mini quilt.

On Labor Day, we went hiking on one of my favorite trails which is only about 20 minutes from our house.

Indian Lake Trailhead

We lucked out with a gorgeous sunny day. Check out this cool hollow tree we are always mesmerized with.

the hollow tree

It’s so huge that I could hide in it!

find me in a hollow treeThis is my favorite part of the trail because it’s so peaceful, yet it reminds of that Stephen King book The Girl Who Love Tom Gordon, about this young girl who gets lost in the woods.

my favorite part of the trailWe are always intrigued with this cool tree that has a bowl shape at the base of the trunk. I wonder if any animals drink from that or if it’s just a breeding ground for bugs.

a bowl in the tree trunk

We saw lots of beautiful wild flowers, pretty fields of flowering weeds, and this butterfly busy on a thistle.

pretty yellow wildflowerIt’s always fun to see what hidden treasures you can find in the woods and on the trails.

butterfly on a thistle

There are a couple posts along the trail with poems on them that I always love to stop and read, reflecting on the moment.

leisure poem on the trailI love it when you find trees leaning over the trail, forming a tunnel or archway for you to walk through.

archway over the trail

At the end of the trail, we always look forward to resting at this warming cabin, a great place to warm up around the campfire if you’re skiing or snowshoeing in winter.

the warming cabin and campfireOh darn, that brings me to the end of our long weekend. I am already looking forward to next weekend!

Signs of Early Autumn

| terriaw

I love Autumn! Who doesn’t? We’ve had some gorgeous sunny days with cooler evenings, so I can feel Autumn in the air. I’m not looking forward to winter, even though I love snowy days and skiing, but I have been looking for signs that Autumn is here.

Last weekend we bought some mums, and so far only the red ones are starting to bloom. I love mums because they are the flower for November (my birthday month).

I came across two recipes that scream autumn that I can’t wait to try – squash and potato torte and zucchini pie. That means a trip to the farmers market, where I’m sure there will be more signs of Autumn.

Our garden is exploding with tomatoes-

We went for a hike on Saturday and enjoyed a cool sunny day on the trails.

Not too many leaves were changing colors, but we did find these burning Sumac leaves-

and these wildflowers, which I think are called Yarrow-

and these Rudbekia sunflowers.

I love looking down the trail, trying to find color changes as the season progresses.

So far the trail still looks very green, but it’s bordered by a grove of Aspens on the right, which means it will show signs of Autumn soon with those notorious golden yellow leaves.

What signs of Autumn are you seeing?