I Spy on the Trails - February 2025

A view of La Crescent from Eagle Bluff prairie
Image - Nola Larson

Again, this month has been a mix of winter weather:

• a welcome 3-4" inches of snow here. Barely enough to snowshoe in but I did anyway! It was especially nice for all the candlelit snowshoe hikes scheduled in February. But the Birkie cross country ski race up north in WI finally had decent snow again this year.

• plenty of serious sub-zero weather with a polar vortex dipping even further south below us. My temp limit for hiking outside is -10 with windchill so I caught up on lots of blogging and reading on the coldest days.

• a higher sun - we are now in the lovely eight months until November when it is reliably light at 5pm. Those longer days are great.

• a bodacious thaw to end our month and remind us that the spring equinox is almost upon us.

Trumpeter swans migrating on the Mississippi flyway

My time outdoors centered around favorite spots that had interesting features: rivers, creeks, quarry walls and rock formations, ice caves and other nature eye candy to keep me alert in a brown, partially snowless month.  Once we had snow, many animal tracks and deer beds were revealed. 

Woodpeckers, chickadees, nuthatches, eagles and hawks were spotted in abundance and the deer were active on the quietest hikes and in the ravine woods next to us. During the last week, I saw many flocks of trumpeter swans migrating through on their way north to their nesting grounds.

Ice caving
Image - Steve Dawson

As we enter sloppier weather in March, I will be turning my gaze away from some of the woodland hikes to preserve those dirt trails. This is a list of spots you can try if you're looking to conserve trails in the Driftless area as they hit their peak spring thaw time.

I look forward to longer days, spring bird migrations, skunk cabbage and the beginning of the greening season ahead!

Turkey tail takeover

What are YOU seeing on your hikes?

A month of hikes

Hikes below in colored, bold type or underlined have links to previous posts OR descriptions/location of the trails found online

Eagles Bluff Park, La Crescent MN (2); Pine Creek Campground trails, Fort McCoy WI (2); Hixon Forest, La Crosse WI; Stoney Point, Park La Crescent MN; Veteran’s Park Ravine Trail, La Crescent MN; Halfway Creek, Holmen WI; Mathy Quarry, La Crosse WI; Kickapoo Valley Reserve, La Farge WI; Wildcat Mountain State Park, Ontario WI; Riverside Park, La Crosse WI (2); Wagon Wheel Trail, La Crescent MN

Finally, a bit of snow for snowshoeing
Image - Lloyd Lorenz

Images, unless noted - Marge Loch-Wouters