Havin' fun at the Kickapoo Country Fair

The fair offers many interesting activities, but of course, is all about food, lots of food; locally grown or raised, fresh and organic.  There is plenty of food, as the Driftless Region boasts the largest concentration of organic farms in the U.S.

So get the family in the car and come on down to the Kickapoo Country Fair.  There is something for everyone; from nationally recognized guest speakers, to food and wonderful music, to  displays by local vendors and artisans.  Once you are here, you will see that there are many ways to have fun and experience the Driftless Region: canoeing, biking , hiking, horse trails, antiquing, and visiting the Amish shops.

We are only two weeks away from the opening day of catch-and-release trout fishing in Wisconsin – March 1. The southwest corner of the state has hundreds of cold water streams and trout fishing opportunities abound. The landscape in this corner of Wisconsin is that of the Driftless Area – rugged ridges and valleys that sit on a limestone/sandstone base. Cold, clear springs “pop up”  along the hillsides and in the valleys and combine to form great trout streams. Native brook trout along with stocked rainbow and brown trout constitute this fishery.

Many of the Southwest Wisconsin streams pass through heavily wooded terrain. The wooded areas are not suited to farming and the scattered cabins and houses are few and far between. You definitely get the feel of being much more remote than you really are. Other parts of the stream do pass through agricultural land and as you gaze up from the stream you may see crops or livestock in the foreground and the ever-present wooded hills in the distance.

Last year I met two friends for lunch. They had been fishing that morning in the south-central part of the Kickapoo Valley. They were grinning from ear to ear. Between them they had caught (and released) 55 trout that morning. Everything worked for them – surface flies, sinking nymphs and light spinners. They were anxious to get bak out to see if they could rack up a hundred for the day, and they called a few days later to tell me that they did reach 95.

The area around Soldiers Grove and Gays Mills has nice family restaurants and a wide variety of lodging including campgrounds, motels, and B&Bs. Bring the family and let the non-fishers in your group enjoy biking, canoeing, antiquing, Amish shops, and incredible vistas of the Mississippi River. There is something for everyone here, especially for the trout fishermen.

Snowflake Ski Club was founded in 1922 and it is one of only two remaining all-volunteer large hill ski jumping clubs in the Western Hemisphere. This is a tribute to the city of Westby (population 2000) and to the dedicated local volunteers. On Friday, February 4 there will be open training at night, under the lights. Following the jumping there will be live music and fireworks. The main competition will be held on Saturday, February 5 starting at noon. Live music will go throughout the day on Saturday. Snowflake Ski Club offers free admission to US military members.

Westby is located in Wisconsin’s famed Driftless Area and is a three hour drive from Minneapolis, about four hours from the Chicago western suburbs. Excellent lodging and restauarants can be found nearby.

We decided to stay at Three Rivers Lodge for dinner. We sat next to the wall of windows and as the sun set and darkness crept over the landscape we once again were amazed as the Rotary Lights came to life. From Thanksgiving through New Year’s Day almost three million lights adorn the trees and the Christmas themed displays. Some hot coffee and dessert fortified us for the walk outside and into the park.

A Light Castle offered a variety of live entertainment. Hay rides and horse drawn carriage rides were available. A live nativity scene, caroling, and of course Santa’s reindeer added to the joyous feeling. The river reflected the lights and added to the feeling of Christmas fantasy. We ended our tour of the Rotary Lights by offering a donation to the Rotary Club food fund that supports many local food pantries in the La Crosse area.

We drove home having enjoyed a great meal and a splendid Christmas event. We vowed to do the same next year.

Pete & Nora

This is a special time of the year along the upper Mississippi River, near the tri-state area where Iowa, Wisconsin, and Minnesota meet. Just south of the city of Brownsville, Minnesota in the extensive Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge, the Corps of Engineers has been rebuilding islands in the backwaters of the Mississippi. These islands were originally present when the river was dammed, but then gradually eroded over the subsequent 60 or 70 years. It turns out that those islands provided the perfect habitat for tuberous plants that offer a perfect diet to migrating  swans.

Migrating Swans on the Mississippi

The islands eroded away and the tuberous plants disappeared. The Corps initiated a project many years ago to rebuild those islands and to make them more resistant to erosion. After many years of reduced numbers of migrating swans, the newly recreated islands are working! Now you can see as many as 25,000 Tundra Swans on any given day from late October until the backwaters freeze over. An estimated 25-40% of the eastern population of Tundra Swans stop near Brownsville on their trip from Canada to the Atlantic coast.

For our guests at Lonesome Hollow or for anyone living in or visiting Wisconsin’s Driftless Area or Kickapoo Valley the short drive to Brownsville will provide fantastic sights and sounds of these migrating birds.

For several reasons the fall colors are especially good in the Driftless Region of Southwest Wisconsin. The Driftless Area is very rugged and much of the land is heavily forested. Maple trees constitute about 50% of the Driftless Area trees and over time this percentage will increase (this bodes well for future maple syrup production as well). Also the terrain itself, a constant expanse of ridges and valleys, creates an environment in which there are wooded hillsides that face in every direction. This extends the time over which fall colors can be enjoyed. The south and west facing hillside will turn color first, followed by the east and north facing hillsides. Likewise the trees along many streams and along the Mississippi River will hold their leaves longer and produce fall colors after many other trees have disrobed themselves for winter.

Fall at Lonesome Hollow B&B

In the Kickapoo Valley fall is a great time to take in the Vernon County Fair and the Driftless Area Art Festival. Explore the shops of local Amish artisans. Walk through the apple orchards of Gays Mills and purchase locally grown apples, cider, and baked goods.

Gays Mills Apples

Fall is nature’s way of preparing us for the rigors of a Wisconsin winter. The Inn at Lonesome Hollow is located only a few miles from the Gays Mills orchards. Come over and spend two or three glorious fall days with us.

Nora and Pete

June 19 – for you outdoor enthusiats, travel to Prairie du Chien and take a Bald Eagle Cruise on the Mississippi River. The scenery is superb for river lovers: backwaters, bluffs, wildlife, and river towns. This cruise will focus on the bald eagles that call home to this section of the river. Call Mississippi Explorer Cruises at 877-647-7397.

June 19 – visit the famous Villa Louis in Prairie du Chien and participate in a hands-on cooking workshop - Breakfast in A Victorian Kitchen. Take a culinary tour of the late 19th century using the foods, utensils, and technology of the times. Call 608-326-2721 for details.

June 18-20 – if you like good food, live music, tractor pulls, sports tourneys and more, stop in Soldiers Grove at their Dairy Days. Great fun and tradition.

June 19-20 – enjoy Midsummer Fest at Norskedalen Nature and Heritage Center. Enjoy their beautiful grounds, hiking paths, gardens, and a recreated homestead of the late 1800′s. For information call 608-452-3424.

All of these events take place in Crawford and Vernon Counties, in the heart of the Driftless Area of Southwest Wisconsin. More area information is available at www.driftlesswisconsin.com.

Dutchman's Britches

Nora and I are fortunate to live in the Driftless Area of Southwest Wisconsin, a rugged area of bluffs and valleys, relatively few people, and incredible scenery. Not only do we get to live in this wonderful place, but we also can greet and host hundreds of guests each year at our Bed and Breakfast, the Inn at Lonesome Hollow. Our B&B offers 160 acres of mostly wooded hill and valley, many gardens, a large pond, and a completely undeveloped ridgetop woods/prairie.

Spring Beauty

On Sunday afternoon the temperature was in the mid 60s, the sun was shining brilliantly, and we found ourselves in the midst of the earliest spring either of us can remember. Temperatures have been above average ever since the beginning of March. Trees are leafing out at least two weeks ahead of schedule. Maple syrup season has come and gone and the morels will undoubtedly be here early this spring. We decided it was time to seriously check out the wildflowers in the woods on our ridge. We left the coziness of our valley and headed upward 300 ft in elevation to our ridgetop 80 acres. We are not expert at plant identification, but with the help of a Wisconsin Wildflower Guide we noted purple and yellow violets, bellwort, spring beauty, wood anemone, dutchmens’ britches, bloodroot, pussytoes, and Greek valerian.

Crabapple Blossoms

We saw at least 20 flowering crabapple trees that were absolutely loaded with blooms. A few small trees were flowering, we think they are northern-hearty dogwood that mange to eek out an existence this far north. Mayapples were prolific in some places, but not yet flowering.

Down the Ridge Road

The paths through our woods no longer had the black and brown and gray coloring of winter, but were instead softened by an array of green hues on the newly emerging leaves. Turkeys were gobbling in the not-to-far distance. We walked past the quarter acre vineyard that John and Jamee planted with such loving care last spring and found it to be patiently waiting for warmer weather.

It’s a great time for hiking in Wisconsin woods. Turn off the TV, put on some comfortable walking shoes, and enjoy the best spring in a long, long time!

Kickapoo River Canoeing

The 2010 canoeing season is now open on the Kickapoo River in Southwest Wisconsin. A leisurely paddle down the Kickapoo starting in either Ontario, Wisconsin or Rockton, Wisconsin will take you through some beautiful Driftless Area terrain complete with large limestone and sandstone rock outcroppings and some good trout fishing opportunities as well.

The Kickapoo River is a class 2 trout stream from Wilton to Gays Mills. Good spots to fish are the junctions where small streams flow into the Kickapoo. Right now all trout fishing is catch and release, and there is a week that is closed to trout fishing in early May as angling transitions into the regular season. From mid-May through the end of September trout season is fully open and you can catch your own dinner.

Don’t attempt to canoe the Kickapoo following heavy rain. Too much water is funneled quickly by the surrounding hills into this otherwise lazy river. But most of the time you can just relax, paddle slowly, and enjoy great scenery. If you float south from Ontario, you will pass through a corner of Wildcat Mountain State Park and past impressive limestone outcroppings. If you float out of Rockton, you will float through a long stretch of the Kickapoo Valley Reserve, an 8600 acre parcel of public land (very much undeveloped) with great hiking and biking opportunities.

Spend two to six hours on the Kickapoo. Have a great local steak dinner. Lodge at one of the areas neat B&Bs, such as Inn at Lonesome Hollow. You’ll have a wonderful time.

For those who are adventurous enough to go out into the snowy landscape, the rewards are many. There is nothing more quiet and more peaceful than a snow-filled forest. The normal quiet of a rural forest is rendered even quieter by the sound absorbing blanket of snow. Everything is fresh, and white, and invigorating. Animal lovers have access to the tracks of every critter that has recently passed before you on the trail. Signs of deer, rabbit, fox, turkey, coyote, and even an occasional bobcat will be there on the ground. Look also for signs of a hawk swooping down to the ground to grab an unsuspecting field mouse.

Winter at Lonesome Hollow

The Inn at Lonesome Hollow is a rural bed and breakfast located half way between Gays Mills and Soldiers Grove, Wisconsin. Accommodations include B&B rooms, suites, and a cabin. All units have a gas fireplace to warm up over after a few hours in the woods. Four of our units have whirlpool tubs for you to soak away any residual chill. Enjoy a hot breakfast guaranteed to fill you up; dine at a great pub only four miles away; or order a take out meal from the pub’s menu and we will pick up your dinner for you.

The Inn offers complimentary use of snow shoes for use on the four miles of trails at Lonesaome Hollow or at one of five nearby state parks.  Visit

Snowshoeing at Lonesome Hollow

www.lonesomehollow.com to see hundreds of photos of our 160 acre property. We off special internet winter rates to make your stay economical as well as enjoyable.

Pete and Nora