Every year my husband and I like to take a little weekend trip not too far away to celebrate Valentines Day. Last year we went winter hiking at a golf course in Black River Falls and we also did a beautiful snow shoe trail in the Black River Forest. This year we went to Parfrey's Glen in the Wisconsin Dells area.
The last time we hiked Parfrey's Glen was in the summer of 2012 when we still had kids at home! It looks really different in the summer than in the winter, and it is a little more challenging to hike because of the snow and ice. I think I enjoyed the beauty of Parfrey's Glen more in the summer than in the winter because you can see all the ferns and moss, but it was still fun to view it in winter too. If you'd like to see what Parfrey's Glen looks like in summer, go to THIS POST.
The trail starts out nice and level through a forest.
Very quickly you will come upon a babbling brook and from then on will be following it all the way till the end of the trail.
You know you've officially arrived in Parfrey's Glen when you start seeing huge rock formations.
Here's where you need to be careful. In some spots the snow/ice is covering the water and you could be walking right on top of water and not even know it. It's not deep, but you sure don't want to break through the ice and get a soaking foot in the freezing cold.
You have to step on rocks to cross the river several times, and those rocks are slippery in winter. Be sure to wear footwear that grips well and bring walking sticks if you can. I put my walking sticks right in the water to stabilize myself as I stepped on the rocks.
It is only 0.8 miles to the end of the path that leads to Parfrey's Glen. From there you are not allowed to go any further, and frankly, it's kinda tough as you really have to rock scramble if you want to see the small waterfall.
At its uppermost part the glen reaches a depth of 100 feet. The walls are sandstone embedded with pebbles and boulders of granite.
Parfrey's Glen is Wisconsin's Number One snow shoe trail. I however would not recommend wearing snow shoes here because of all the rock scrambling. No one on the trail had snow shoes on, so how this trail earned that title I have no idea. However, it is a nice winter hike!
Sorry that I'm in most of the photos, but it was Valentine's Day weekend and I think hubby was a little enamored with me. I do think however that having a person inside the photos gives you perspective of the size of the glen walls.
This is as far as I went as the trail was sheer ice at this point and lots of rock scrambling. My poles were useless here as the spokes couldn't poke through the hard ice. Hubby went a little further to hunt for the waterfall, but he said it wasn't much to see as it was only a few feet high.
Even though it was a beautiful day, this was the only hike we took. I've been having issues with my leg and we didn't want to push it. I had hoped to start physical therapy this week, but now we have a winter storm coming so I may have to cancel. Bummer! I've been waiting weeks to see a physical therapist.
There's a large outlet mall in the Wisconsin Dells so after our hike we grabbed some lunch and did some shopping. Hubby was thrilled. JK! This picture was posed! I didn't buy much: just this cool new frying pan and a couple of Under Armor hiking tops. Oh, we did go downtown to get some fudge and that was incredible!
In Last Week's Travel Post I shared our second trip to the Wisconsin Dells area. We spent Saturday hiking the East Bluff Trail in Devil's Lake State Park, then we headed to the Dells to spend the night. The next morning we got an early breakfast and then headed out to hike a trail that our Upper Dells Boat Tour Guide told us about.
But before I tell you all about the trail, I have to show the fun Denny's where we enjoyed breakfast. It is a fifties retro style Denny's with statues of famous celebrities like Elvis and Marilyn Monroe.
The inside was all decked out retro style as well with turquoise and red vinyl and fun chairs and lighting. It's always more fun eating in a place like this!
Now, onto our trail. We were heading home today but we were up so early we decided we could hike one short trail before hitting the road. When we took the Upper Dells Boat Tour the previous weekend, our tour guide pointed to a beach on the river and said there was a trail behind the Chula Vista that leads to down to that beach. So when we got home, we looked it up on the Internet and decided to check it out the following weekend.
The Wisconsin Dells is a tourist trap and it costs money to do just about anything there, so finding a nature trail that is free and open to the public is a true gem! It is hard to find. I swear, they keep it a secret on purpose. To find the trail, just follow all the signs to Chula Vista Resort. There is a parking lot on the left of River Road and there will be a sign with a trail map there.
The Chapel Gorge Trail is an easy 1.8 mile loop. It is level all along the trail except for a short, steep part to lead you down to the beach.
When you start the trail it is a mix of shrubs and prairie grass, but looking ahead it appears you are about to enter a tunnel! It was so cool! I felt I was about to enter a mystical, magical place!
Inside this tunnel was a deep and dark forest. It was so gorgeous when we were there because all the pine trees and deciduous trees dropped most of their needles and leaves by then leaving a soft carpet of pine needles on the ground and dark bark as far as our eyes could see.
Yet, there were still just enough leaves left on the trees to still provide us with some color to enjoy.
Once we emerged through the darkest, deepest part of the forest, I could see the Wisconsin River and the Dells peeking through the trees. We decided to venture off the trail, to the edge of the Dells for a closer look.
The beautiful views reminded us of the boat ride we took just a week earlier.
My adventurous husband decided to climb down one of the rock formations to get a closer look at the water while I stayed up on top. However, it wasn't long before he called out to me that "Something was staring right at him". Immediately I started to fear it was a cougar, bear, or wolf, although I knew that was highly unlikely. Instead, he says "I see a goat". "A GOAT? What do you mean you see a goat? We don't have wild goats in Wisconsin." Well, now I had to climb down the side of the cliff to see for myself. And yes, it indeed was a goat! Do you see him standing under the rock formation (Dell)?
Now I was a little nervous, not that I'm afraid of goats, especially one without horns, but I wasn't sure if this was a lost, domesticated goat or a wild goat. The area we were standing on was very steep, as you can see in the photos below. I was afraid if we startled the goat too much, he could lunge at us pushing us over the cliff into the water below.
In this picture, you can see the edge of the cliff looking down into the water (filled with leaves) below.
Hubby of course was a little apprehensive too. We didn't know what to think. We've seen mountain goats in Utah and Colorado, but we've never seen what looked to be a domesticated goat in the wild before. I've since googled it since I've been home, and no, Wisconsin does not have wild goats anymore. The last one seen was in 1940. However, in order to get rid of invasive species of buckhorn, the DNR hired local goat herders to supply goats to feast off the plants. My guess, is this little guy somehow got away and was left behind. That's the only thing that makes any sense to me. But, I really have no idea and if anyone else knows the real answer, feel free to leave it in the comments below. I don't think the goat ran off from a farm because the Dells are so commercialized there really isn't any nearby (although there is plenty of farm land surrounding the Dells).
Hubby and I kept talking to the goat, keeping him calm, so we could get a good picture of him. Eventually hubby was able to get right underneath where the goat was standing, before he spooked and ran off.
Seeing a goat on our hike was certainly an unexpected surprise and one we will always remember.
My husband took a video of the whole experience and in the video he is laughing at me because I was acting afraid of the goat. My granddaughter Alethea saw the video and asked "Why is Mamy afraid of the goat?". We had just petted goats at a petting zoo we visited over the summer, so Alethea knew goats were not to be feared. I had to explain to her that I was standing on the edge of a cliff and I was afraid the goat might charge at me and I'd slip and fall.
Well after our adventure with the goat was over, it was time to head down to the beach. This area was steep and slippery because pine needles covered all the stone steps.
But the hike down was worth it for the views were gorgeous! It would be a nice spot to come to in the middle of summer and get your feet wet. I'm not sure how deep or safe the water would be for swimming.
After a quick stop at the beach we headed back to the trail and made our way back to the parking lot.
Here you can definitely see the loop in the trail.
Once back in our vehicle we decided to head down to the famous Chula Vista Resort and check it out. It is quite the complex. We walked both inside the hotel and enjoyed all the historic photographs, then we took their river walk right outside the hotel.
They have steps leading down to a private pier on the grounds, so of course we went to investigate. It was so beautiful and peaceful.
In last week's travel post I shared that we went to the Wisconsin Dells for the weekend (we actually went two weekends in a row we loved it so much!). On Saturday we hiked in Devil's Lake State Park, and then that evening we enjoyed strolling in downtown Wisconsin Dells. The next morning, we took a Wisconsin Dells Upper Boat Tour.
Even though it might be chilly, fall is the perfect time to take an Upper Dells Boat Tour because the foliage is so beautiful! Just be sure to dress nice and warm, as it is chilly when that boat moves on the water.
On the day we took our tour, it was cold (42 degrees) and cloudy and we were FREEZING because the weather app did not predict these cold temperatures so we were not prepared for it. But we huddled close to stay warm, and we couldn't help to enjoy ourselves because the views were so breath-taking.
Can you see why we thought the views were breath-taking? Just look at the color! The dells formation with the colorful foliage on top makes it so much more beautiful than if you took a boat tour in summer and all you saw was green.
So now you're probably wondering "What are Dells?" They are glacier-carved sandstone formations. They surround the Wisconsin River. Their layered appearance is just so interesting.
There are two boat tours in the Wisconsin Dells: an upper dells boat tour and a lower dells boat tour. The upper dells boat tour is twice and long as the lower dells tour and it includes two stops: Witches Gulch and Stand Rock. A dam separates the upper and lower dells.
I believe the large rock formation is called "High Rock".
Now, the number one reason I wanted to take this boat tour was to see Witches Gulch. You see, a year earlier we took the family to the Dells for a weekend fall getaway. On our hotel's wall were vintage photos of this amazing place called "Witches Gulch". I wanted to see it so badly so I googled it to try and find it. To my dismay, I discovered that the area was not open to the public and the only way to see it was to take an Upper Dells Boat Tour. I made a mental note to come back again next year and take a tour.
Witches Gulch is a beautiful slot canyon. PLEASE watch one of the videos at the end of this post to get a feel for this amazing place. You walk through the canyon on a wooden boardwalk. Below the bridge is moving water and a hidden whirlpool chamber. The walls of the canyon surround you and seem to tower above as well. Beautiful green moss covers all the canyon walls.
There are many superstitions surrounding this place, hence the title "Witches Gulch". According to Native American legend a great serpent, wriggled down from the north and his home near the Big Lake, forming the bed of the Wisconsin River. Witches Gulch and Coldwater Canyon were formed by more timid, lesser serpents.
Other tales came from the early raftsmen (if you listen to the videotape on the boat tour below, you will hear our tour guide discuss the early raftsmen and what the river was like before they built a dam and separated the river into the upper and lower dells) who believed that a point in the river known as "Devil's Elbow" was an evil point that had no bottom to the water and was a portal to hell.
I always find it interesting that any beauty of nature is always giving the glory to Satan, instead of to God the creator. No matter where we travel, some beautiful, scenic area is always described "Devils....something".
When you reach the end of "Witches Gulch" there is a concession stand and restrooms. Some might not appreciate the commercialism, but I for one was happy to use the potty and get a cup of hot chocolate to warm my bones.
We had twenty minutes to explore the gulch and visit the restrooms and concession stand. At first, I thought it wouldn't be enough time, but is was enough. We all got back on the boat for our next stop Stand Rock.
Stand Rock is famous for this photograph. You see this famous photograph everywhere you go in the Dells. The photo was taken by photographer H.H. Bennett in 1886. He specialized in landscape photography and his photos of the dells turned the Wisconsin Dells into the major tourist attraction it is today. The photo below is significant because it was Bennett who created a new shutter to allow photographers to take pictures of moving objects. However Bennett's son Ashley still had to make the jump 18 times to get the shot Bennett wanted.
Many people have made the jump between these two rocks over the years. Now, the only one who jumps it is a trained dog. Watching the dog jump the rocks is included in the Upper Dells Boat Tour and you can see it for yourself in one of the videos at the end of this post. And don't worry about the dog. Today there is a safety net underneath the rocks.
To our surprise, after we watched the Dog Jump show the fun wasn't over yet for on the way back to the boat there were even more interesting rock formations with a lot of history to them.
The first one is called "Toadstool Rock", can you guess why?
There is a second concession stand/restrooms in this area but it was closed for the season. On the building of this stand was a large sign explaining the photography of H.H. Bennet and some of the famous rock formations we were now looking at ourselves.
This is "Luncheon Hall". It is this beautiful rock "window" overlooking the Wisconsin River. It's just stunning in person.
And if you caught Monday's Fashion Post, you would have seen this picture. I am standing beneath Visor Ledge...another rock formation H.H. Bennet made famous.
Well, after our last stop at Stand Rock it was time to get back onto the boat and enjoy the trip back. We were the first tour boat out on the water so it was very peaceful. We saw an eagle perched in a tree and lots of kayakers and fishermen.
We really loved our boat tour and wondered why we waited so long to take one. It is surprisingly very inexpensive for all you get on the tour, costing a mere $32.00 for an adult ticket. They also have ghost tours which are taken after dark (I kept wondering how much you could possibly see in the dark, although I did see lights on the side of the river so I think they must light it up nicely), summer sunset dinner cruises, jet boat tours, and the famous "Wisconsin Ducks". I hope to be able to take another tour next year, we still need to see the lower dells!
In the meantime, enjoy the videos we took. They are all super short. I know I will never watch a video that is too long, so I keep them short on purpose.
Dog Jump At Stand Rock
Boat Tour
(Guide explains how the early raftsman made it through the waters)
The next three videos show different sections of Witches Gulch!
