Spruce Flats Falls Trail

Canoe!!

You can take a girl out of the south..

Lunch

Ferry (pulled by cable)

Farmers' Market Scones for Breakfast!!

but the girl may still insist upon playing 4 hours of ultimate on a humid 90 degree day, which may lead to a burn worthy of an Alabama summer day. The southern girl may also be quite pleased with the heat-tolerance advantage she seems to have among Sconnies. Hypothetically speaking, of course.
Summer has arrived (hurrah!), and while it hasn't seen whitewater yet, my boat has at least been taken out of the basement a few times now. Classes are done for now; my pace in lab has become more relaxed (while I seem to be accomplishing more); and Madison is still awesome.
Took my bike out two weekends ago for the inaugural 2010 mini-tour (and first camping trip, wtf). Headed about 50 miles out of town to Devil's Lake State Park, which is really quite lovely. The weather out was kinda blah. Cold, rainy, gray, windy, etc. Not the worst conditions I've been in, but my companion didn't seem too thrilled. The rain was on and off, and about two-thirds of the way to the campground we (a) crossed a kinda big lake on a super-awesome ferry and (b) had lunch in the (kinda) sun. Road conditions weren't bad: traffic was moderate and the terrain was slightly-rolling until the very end (where we got some decent hills). We rolled in, got checked in, and began setting up our tent while we waited for the less-daring of the geneticists to arrive by car. As soon as the body of the tent was out of my pannier, it started hailing. Little hail, but hail nonetheless. As soon as our fly was over the tent, it stopped. Go figure.
The other 7 folks showed up, and after setting camp, we decided to go for a hike. Now state park trails in Wisconsin are kinda pitiful - and I say this in the most loving of ways. They're built to serve as XC ski trails, too, so they're wide, gently-graded, smooth, and occasionally even paved. A and I are much more used to rugged footpaths, so when a map says there's a trail at the end of a parking lot, we jump right on the game-trail-which-turns-creek-bed-which-then-disappears. Granted, we also realize our mistakes pretty quickly, but that would never keep us from scrambling up a super-awesome boulder slide to the top of the bluff (which is, of course, where the trail should be). Thus, shortly after finishing our 50 mile ride, we were crawling over ginormous boulders with human-sized gaps in between. And we would never want to leave a rather adventurous dog at the bottom of the pitch. I'd guess we spent 20 minutes or so climbing the bluff, and the views at the top were well worth our trouble. (Also, we found the real trail, the dog didn't drag anyone to her death, and our way up was a lot more fun than the real trail would have been.) Devil's Lake is bordered on the east and west sides with cliffs and some pretty nice rock. The north and south shores host campgrounds and picnic areas (complete with beaches). Once we found the trail (on the east side, if I recall correctly), we treked back down to the folks who had stayed behind. There was a delicious dinner, good rest, and equally delicious breakfast. I was a bit bummed when A and I headed to the lake to gaze at stars and the rangers kicked us off the beach. Perhaps it was for the best, since they refuse to turn off the lights in the parking lot by the water.
The next day was crystal clear and a great temp to bike in. We began the day with another hike. The car-folk turned back about a third of the way around the lake, and the bike-folk made a complete loop (since we're just that hardcore). The west side of the lake had some rather exquisite places to lie at the edge of the cliff and nap/stare out at the lake/etc. I was pretty darned amused when a little boy went by and announced, "One wrong move and she's a goner." We left the campsite between 2 and 3, went the wrong way for about a mile (adding some more hills), climbed a bit more, and then had a killer downhill. Twas grand, and just what we needed to mentally get over the unnecessary hills we added at the beginning of the day. There was a bit more traffic on Sunday, but the roads were still good, and we decided to ride along the outside half of Lake Mendota (one of the Madison lakes) to get into town a different way than we had left. The day ended pretty brilliantly with some shared southern food and a lot of ice cream. :)

Devil's Lake

The Scramble

And for those of you who want pictures of Madison, the first installment of photos that may/may not ever get posted, my lab:

woo!

It has been gorgeous, sunny, and warm the past three/four weeks now. Three weekends ago, I went with some other geneticists to check out part of the Ice Age National Scenic Trail (not the most scenic place, but it was nice to get outside). Two weekends ago, I saw my entire yard sans snow for the first time since mid-December (and got to go curling with Emory folk - and yes, it really is as amazingly fun as it looks - no, this is not sarcasm). Last weekend, I got to go see lambs at a farm just outside of Madison (my loop back ended up being a bit longer than expected, so I got my first 100K bike ride of the year). And this entire month, I've been working out like mad and eating accordingly. Tis quite excellent, really.
Since a group of us have been coerced into running a half marathon in December, we've been jogging all over campus & our respective parts of town. The runs I go on tend toward the lake, which means that I not only get spectacular views of Madison (capitol building + city lights reflected off the lake = awesome) but I also get cool breezes off the still-thawing water. I'm surprised at how easy running seems now; I'm attributing that to all the weights/racquetball/swimming/frolicking that we started with. Anyhoo, I shall try to post a bit more about adventuring if I get a chance. At the least, I may get some curling and sheep pictures up soon.

Wisconsin is Awesome (in case you didn't know)

Tenney Park

People complain about the cold. A lot. I am not necessarily exempt from that, but dude, winter sports are awesome. Thanks to one of my classmates, I am now cross country skiing and skating with some adeptness (and by "some adeptness," I mean like an absolute goober - a goober who's having a blast). We've been skiing quite a bit, thanks to some pretty decent snow. Two weeks ago we had a thaw that ruined the snow, so once things refroze, we went skating at Tenney Park.

The person teaching me everything

Now Madison is wonderful for a number of reasons: the sheer number of microbreweries, one of the highest bike store per capitas out there, the friendliness, the university ice cream, and definitely the parks. You can rent skis/skates/etc everywhere, and while I own cross country skis now (and am working on skates), the ubiquitous-gear-rental-at-parks makes it so easy to get outside. That and the peer pressure from others in my program :)

Going uphill with another novice. In pink pants. Yes, I own pink pants.

Pictures are still slow in coming. Sorry, but I'm having way too much fun outside to stop for pictures. It's a good problem to have. You can imagine Elver Park and the Arboretum (my xc-ski favorites in town) as being slightly rolling toward the edges, with a pretty equal distribution of woods and fields. The woods tend to be more awesome, if ya ask me. The wind doesn't cut through quite as badly, and everything's a bit more quiet/secluded (as might be expected). Tenney Park is the one place I've been skating. I'm pretty sure the water comes from Lake Mendota, and when we went last weekend, we caught the sun setting over Madtown - complete with all those nice pinky-oranges and purples. It seemed like everybody and their brother was out on the ice. There was a large group of hockey people and another large group that was just meandering across the ice, under the bridges, and as far as they could get before reaching a barrier. Gotta say, skating outside is a lot more fun, a lot more challenging, and a lot easier to pick up than skating in zamboni-groomed rinks. The last part may be a function of the hockey and figure skating expertise of the folks I was with.

Not falling. Didn't fall the entire time. Hope to keep that up.

This weekend we're hitting the hockey classic (played on our flooded and frozen football field), Elver park for some skiing, and of course, catching the superbowl. While things have been pretty perfect up here, I think last weekend really cemented the home-ness of Wisconsin. The ecohouse is a tough group to beat, but I've reached the point where my friends up here sustain me. Bring it, snow.

Wahoooo!!

BLIZZARD!!!!!!

I found these beautiful trees on my walk this morning
Snowplows have been running very long shifts
This morning (the ill-defined snowbank in the foreground is at least knee deep)
Road last night
Greenery out front (pre 17-inches)
Yesterday evening's view through my neighborhood

WAAAHOOOOOOO!!!!!! Man, snow is fun. 17.5 inches of snow is really fun. The university is shut down. The city (and busses) are shut down. The state of Wisconsin is shut down (no school anywhere). This ginormous storm system rolled in from the west, split, and covered the entire state with crazy amounts of snow. The poor snow plow guys have been going since last night, and while the main thoroughfares are open, the neighborhood roads were great for cross-country skiing. Whenever I finally woke up this morning, I threw on some snow pants, and I've been going ever since. I walked around the neighborhoods (down the middle of the roads), built a rather insignificant snowman (big for Emory, pitiful when compared to what the neighborhood kids have going), attempted XC skiing for the first time (rather successfully, even if I did look ridiculous figuring it out), and then caught up with C from my program for a lovely snow-bank-climbing, knee-deep-drift-wading, absolutely-exhilarating walk through the neighborhoods and (eventually) to the grocery store. My snow boots work great, I'm pumped for the possibility of skiing on a groomed trail later this week, and I am officially worn out. No skiing pics since I tried that alone, and the other pics aren't the best quality since the sun stayed hidden most of the day. Hopefully, I'll have some solutions to those problems by the time I head south.

Thundersnow

We've had a few snows now. One in October, perhaps two in November, and several this week. The past few days I've watched as the national weather service has issued winter storm watches, warnings, and, to my amusement, "society-impacting" blizzard warnings. I've sat by the windows watching flakes serenely drift downwards, and I've spent time tromping across slippery walks to and from bus stops. Last night, I feverishly set a spiriling path through our glistening front yard, occasionally drifting back to my car in the driveway for a fresh glovefull of snow to eat. This afternoon, I watched the sixth inch of snow land. (We've had more, but it seems a fair amount has be claimed by the mud, salt, sand, and occasional sun.)
But tonight. Oh, tonight was wonderful. As I went about my evening ritual, I paused for a moment to check the snow accumulation. The street lamp across the road illuminated the tunnel of bare deciduous trees that line the drive, all covered with a thick glaze of powder. The road itself was barely defined, a tumbling tread and a snow bank near the far curb. Where plenty of green was visible on the hedges around dinner time, there now remains a lumpy white rectangle. The evergreens near houses are coated, suitable for storybook illustrations. And all is quiet. The snowplows have surrendered, and the only li k to any sort of reality is the out-of-place but ever-important street light. How else could I see the wonderland that exists past my window?
And out of this peaceful surreality, a clap of thunder. Thundersnow. That was in the predictions. All the serenity of snow with the sheer power of a storm. A wind picks up. The trees shake their ghost-arms, yet the snow stays firmly upon the limbs. Perhaps it even glings stubbornly, with an air of rebellion against the storm. The breeze continues, more softly. While the ghost-arms wave gently now, deciduous branches give off small puffs of their white cover. The evergreens keep their blankets tight around them. The world I'm visiting is broken by the movement, the snow no longer calm. Still, I take one last draw from the filled-up, covered-over, pushed-aside world. With that, I rest

And this is why it's a good thing that I never got into creative writing.