Feeling a bit bloated from all the food and cocktails from the last few days, I pulled out of the closet my old Scarpa boots to check out some new trails on a near by bluff system in the Mississippi Valley region. Time to burn off some carbs.
Years ago, I got into a mountain climbing craze. Mind you, I never climbed a mountain, nor have I since, but I was reading everything I could by John Krakauer and Ed Viesturs that I could. And, of course because I was single at the time, I invested in some equipment that would never be used. One such piece is the Scarpa mountaineering boots featured above. Yes, I know, I should have invested in Bitcoin, but what can you do? Hindsight is always 20-20. Plus these boots have occasionally turned out handy on hikes over the years.
The trail system is located in the Mississippi Valley Region. As history goes, the valley I live in, and the surrounding bluffs that sprawl the region, were generated during the glacial runoff during the second Ice Age. The Mississippi River was over 10-12 miles wide when the glaciers melted and its water drained through this area. During both Ice Ages, this area was never touched and flattened by any glaciers; it's since been called the Driftless Area.
The valley extends all the way into northern Iowa. The photo above is showing three states; Minnesota, Iowa, and of course the point of view from Wisconsin.
Scattered all over the region are large chunks of sandstone that were thrown off with the glacial melt-off river; there are actually a few places near me that have some excellent bouldering areas with similar rocks. And despite not climbing the Himalayas, I have "bouldered" a few rocks here and there back in the day. Not quite as exciting as rock climbing, but still a great workout.
The trails allow for both mountain bike and hiker traffic. Thanks to the Scarpas, I managed to scramble over rocks and snow/slick trails in a solid fashion. All in the the hike was about 2 miles, taking roughly 36 minutes, and moving from roughly 1250 feet above sea level to 800 feet above sea level and back.
With our daughter napping, this hike was the perfect escape from the house. Temperatures were lowish (15F), but the north wind was on the other side of the bluff, so wind chills weren't an issue. I'll take it; trust me, norther wind and wind chills are no fun when outside.
Oh yeah, and it helped burned some of those bourbon Manhattans off too!
Me with the holiday bloat...2021 definitely will see more exercise. With my Packers making a solid push for some playoff success, the beer might still flow on the weekends for a bit through January. Hey, don't judge...it's a Wisconsin thing. Maybe there is another #engagetheweekend post in all of that?
Thanks for reading as always! Hoping everyone else out there had a wonderful post-Christmas/holiday weekend too.