Every fall my husband and I like to drive up towards
Bloomer Wisconsin and take a hike on a portion of the 1,200 mile
Ice Age Trail. The colors are always beautiful and the trails are a nice mix of scenic landscapes as pictured below, heavily forested trails, and lake views.
I spotted this gorgeous mound of
purple Asters growing near the
Visitor's Center.
The first part of our trek led us through a sunny grassy path and meadows.
One can find fall color and interest in not just the trees, but in all aspects of plant life like this field of grass and wildflowers.
I always love the berries produced on trees and bushes in the fall.
I found more wildflowers!
As much as we've enjoyed the Ice Age Trail, I think this will be our last for a while. We've been going here four years straight, but the last two years have ended in strife so I'm starting to think the place is jinxed for us. Hubby wanted to take a short cut instead of starting in the forest behind the Visitor's Center like we have done in the past. Well this "shortcut" led to a fork in the trail where of course there was no sign (Don't you hate that? This happens to us all the time when we are hiking. Everything is going well, then we hit a fork in the trail with no sign and we have no idea which way to go) and hubby decided to go right which ended up leading us farther and farther from the trail. So, we decided to get off that path and follow the main road BACK to the trail. Eventually, we were back on track, but it was a lot of unnecessary steps in my opinion and was no shortcut. I was fuming. 😠. Last year's hiking story is even worse, I didn't even blog about it; it was so bad. But I will spare you that drama. 😌
Our "little" detour did have incredible fall tree foliage which we didn't see so much of while on the trail.
Back on the trail once again, we found more fall color close to the ground.
Can you see me in the distance?
Even though it was pretty, this was not a spectacular year for fall color. It was really late this year, and when it finally arrived it was more muted and didn't last long. I wonder what causes some years to be better than others?
The Ice Age Trail has lots of little lakes which makes hiking in the area more special.
And I always love all the cute bridges to use as photo ops.
All the ferns were this light golden brown color. There were areas where the ground was just covered in this color. My ferns never do this, but they are a different type of fern. Mine just shrivel up and die back in the fall.
I love looking up and seeing the color above me with the bright blue sky in the background.
Another lake.
What a perfect spot to stop and take a break.
Have A Great Day! Amy
Linking Up with these Fabulous Blogs
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See these posts for more information on the Ice Age Trail:
You captured the fall colors beautifully! I miss seeing so much color since living in Florida.
ReplyDeleteThank you! Oh, but you have so much other beauty in Florida to enjoy! I love all your birds!
DeleteWhat a beautiful fall hike and so much color! It's always fun to hike near lakes!
ReplyDeleteThanks Ellie!
DeleteThat looks like such a beautiful hike!
ReplyDeleteIt sure is!
DeleteYou have some beautiful shots of the trees and autumn color. There is one that I really like that shows all tall they are. Last time we got lost on a trail was a few years ago in Arizona and it was a little scary because we had all the kids and it was really hot and we didn't have water with us.
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Thank you. That must have been scary to lose the trail in a hot climate with no water. I have hiked in hot climates before and sometimes the trail can be so hard to see because they don't have a clear path like you would see in a forest and you have to count on seeing paint on a rock on occasion.
DeleteOh golly! It's no fun taking a "shortcut" that is anything but that! Sounds l ike you've had quite the adventures! When I read the title of your post I knew that "Ice Age Trail" sounded familiar but I couldn't place it. Then I did a bit of investigating and say that part of it runs near Verona, WI, which is close to where our daughter lives. The trail is beautiful!
ReplyDeleteNo, it was not a "shortcut" at all. :) Yes, The Ice Age Trail runs all through the state of the Wisconsin. You can hike a segment just about anywhere.
DeleteSuch pretty autumn colors and views! I agree that it is not fun to get waylaid on a poorly marked trail that takes you the wrong direction. There is a free app I sometime follow when I have phone reception called "All Trails" that can be very helpful
ReplyDeleteThank you. No it's not fun. I've tried "All Trails" before but it seems you can only do so much on their app or website before they ask for $, plus, where we hike there usually isn't any reception.
DeleteWhat a beautiful trail! I love the fall colors against that blue sky! I've never seen golden/tan ferns, either. I assumed they are always green. Thanks for sharing this post with all of us at the Will Blog for Comments #76 linkup. We look forward to more shares at #77 when it opens next Monday (new time 2 hours earlier). Wishing you a lovely week ahead.
ReplyDeleteThank you. The ferns were green, but changed golden in the fall. I'm happy to hear the link up opens up earlier. I usually posted to the link up on Tuesday because by the time it opened up on Monday, I was off the computer for the day.
DeleteYou take the best pictures Amy. I've never heard of The Ice Age Trail. Thanks' for showing us.
ReplyDeleteThanks bunches for sharing with Sweet Tea & friends this month sweet friend.
Thanks Paula. That is so surprising to me that so many people are unaware of the Ice Age Trail, but it could just be because I live here I'm aware of it. It is a huge part of our nation's geography.
DeleteOkay…I am jealous!!!! Gorgeous hiking trail to me!
ReplyDeleteGlad you enjoyed it!
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