ADAM HAYDOCK

 The last night of our trip we slept in a bit at Buckhorn State Park so we could stop of at a little gem called Pewit's Nest.  This place is located near Baraboo in Wisconsin which as a small narrow canyon with several small waterfall drops to wade through.  Laura, Marne, John and myself went to the top of the canyon where the walls allow for people to slide into the water and into the canyon.  John stayed dry as the rest of us started our descent down Pewit's Nest.

 The canyon walls had similar features as the bluffs of the Kickapoo River and Parfay's Glen.  Moss and slippery rock were common in the canyon as we made our traverse down the small gorge. We encountered two sections where we had to swim to get to the next drop.  The picture below was the first wade through water.

 After the final drop there was a pool with deep water that was surrounded by a narrow canyon but lead out to the beach area where a through trip can be made.

We were having a lot of fun so we decided to ascend back up the waterfalls and to the top of the canyon were we entered from. We were presented to the same fun challenges but they were a bit different since we are ascending up slippery rock and waterfalls, it required a bit more team work to complete.

 

 After making it up and over the waterfalls we got to the top and John was waiting for us there holding our dry clothes.  Pewits nest is a nice break away from the day and it was a great way to end a wonderful weekend labor day trip.  I want to thank Laura for setting up such an awesome trip as well as for everyone else who came out to enjoy some of the good parts to the southwest Wisconsin region.

Pictures featured on travel Wisconsin http://www.travelwisconsin.com/rafting-tubing/kickapoo-river-200506



Bluffs on the Kickapoo River



The Kickapoo River got its name from the Algonquin Indians which means "One who goes here, than there".  The crooked meandering river starts near Mill Bluff State Park and 126 miles later becomes a tributary of the Wisconsin river.  There are some springs and other creeks that feed into the Kickapoo River but back in the last ice age, glacial meltwater ran down cutting valleys and gorges which has cut a valley/ravine through the southwest Wisconsin Driftless area known today as the Kickapoo River. The scenery was as expected, beautiful!!!

As we cut the banks around the twisty bends of the Kickapoo river, we come across decent sized bluffs with hanging gardens of rare ferns and moss.  The marshlands and the valley of the Kickapoo hold some unique flora and fauna to enjoy while you meander down the lazy river.  We encountered a few small places where the water picked up but I wouldn't really class it as a class one.

We continued down past wildcat mountain and found ourselves losing the crowds at the take out points along the way.  It was really nice to have the river just us which also made it easy to find a good camping location.

We woke up early from camping and got back onto the water so we can make good time back to the car and onto our final location for the trip at Buckhorn State Park.  We continued on our trip down the river enjoying the heat of the sun and the coolness the canyon bluffs offered us.

We came across a spot on a bluff where we could all jump into the water and enjoy a nice break from the canoes.  Properly named "Adventure Cove" for the cavern like indentation in the bluff, we continued on the Kickapoo River into the Kickapoo Valley preserve area.

We continued to see bluffs with hanging gardens all the way down to Lafarge which was nice as well as having time to tie our canoes together to enjoy good company and stimulating conversation.

The trip was nearing its end as we made our final bends around to the take out point at Lafarge.  22 miles of memories, nature, adventure, and good times with friends made this trip a wonderful experience.

We woke up early Friday morning so we could get a jump on the labor day traffic and get our relaxing weekend started in Wisconsin’s southwest region.  We made it through before the herds of labor day weekenders and got to our first location on the trip, Parfay’s Glen. 

  Parfay’s Glen has some unique features that belong to this particular gorge in the Baraboo hills. This is the first state Natural Area of Wisconsin which has Cambrian strata conglomerate stone layers made of quartzite and sandstone that have been embedded into the gorge walls. 

 We hiked up and through the canyon past the waterfall about a quarter mile and completed our traverse back.  The groups of people started showing up there ( which was expected) but it wasn't the madhouse carnival ride line it could have been which was nice.   The canyon provides an opportunity for rare species of flora to grow on the walls as seepage and cooler conditions can be found within the gorge.  We were in the gorge for a couple hours and decided to head out knowing that the checkout lines will be flowing with humanity.  We wanted to make sure we got to Wildcat Mountain State Park before nightfall.



    After a few wrong mis orientations with Iphone GPS and a camping stop, we made it to Wildcat Mountain State Park.  We had 8 more people showing up so we got a group site which turned out to be a really nice large camping site with lots of room.  After we set up camp, we got to the Observation Point where we were able to see quite a distance into the hills of Ontario Wisconsin.

We could see the Kickapoo River from the top meandering its way through the valley below.  We decided to drive down to see the river and check out the "Ice Cave".  The Ice Cave was a depression in a small bluff with a dripping waterfall that seems to flow after a rain storm.  I wasn't rally impressed with the Ice Cave and I don't even consider this feature to be an Ice Cave.  It is worth checking out if nothing else is going on as it is 5 minutes from the state park and a 5 minute walk to this feature.  We stayed up until everyone showed up while we watched the stars, gazed at the  lighting clouds from the huge storms passing to the south of us, as well as the faint site of the Milky Way Galaxy.  We all got to bed around 2 AM and woke up super early for the main event of the weekend, The Kickapoo River. 

FLICKR PARFAY'S GLEN: http://www.flickr.com/photos/exploration-worldwide/sets/72157635363981077/

FLICKR WILDCAT MOUNTAIN STATE PARK: http://www.flickr.com/photos/organize/?start_tab=one_set72157635365171283