Foraging in the Bluffs

Getting oriented
at Eagle Bluff Environmental Center

The Driftless area has a wide variety of edibles in the woods and lowlands along the trails. As a MN Master Naturalist volunteer, I look for ways to add to my learning through various training opportunities. This week I had a chance to learn more about the "goods in the woods" during a foraging class at Eagle Bluff Environmental Center in Lanesboro MN.

I say class but, like all great outdoor education, it was in the woods that the hands-on part of our learning took place. We spent an hour and a half learning and identifying a variety of edible plants and their identifying characteristics from our knowledgeable guide, Lukas Wahl.

Sochan (cutleaf coneflower)

Before we started, we were reminded of a few things to keep in mind as we forage for edibles:

• When gathering, use the 1 in 7 rule - for every one plant foraged, leave seven. Don't clear any plant area completely.
• Be sure of the identity of what you harvest.
• Know the rules/laws of where you are gathering. For instance, in MN state parks, you cannot remove any vegetation (but berries and fungi are ok).
• As a rule of thumb, don't forage in drainfields, ditches, sidewalks (think of dogs walking); and sensitive areas.  Be aware of the "history" of the land you are foraging. Was it once used for conventional agriculture; was it formerly a dump, etc.

Spring beauty and an I.D. booklet from
Eagle Bluff Environmental Center

Tasty treats gathered on our May 7 trip included:

• White pine needles - buzz them in herb grinder and add to sugar cookies
• Sochan (cutleaf coneflower) leaves - in spring these tender greens can be eaten as is or in salads
• Spring beauty - their twin leaves, mildly spinach-like in taste can be added to salads
• Violets - flowerheads add color and a bright tang to salads
• Ramp leaves - adds a bright, sharp note to salads, compound butter, pesto dishes. To tamp down the sharpness for pesto and compound butter, do a quick blanch, ice water, drain and squeeze.
• Ostrich fern fiddleheads - a delight when sauteed. Pick before they uncurl.
• Burdock root - first year plants have a long root that can be peeled, then sauteed or roasted.
• Parsnip - roots are great for roasting/sauteing
• Garlic mustard - annoying invasive, yes! Tasty pesto, also yes! Use on pasta or bread

Although it was too cold for morels yet, our guides helpfully provided some dried chantarelles and oyster mushrooms from last year's foraging if we wanted a few fungi to rehydrate and taste (we all held out for fresh morels that will be popping out in earnest as the weather warms).

We pool our foraged food and start cooking

In a wonderful wrap-up to our foraging, we brought back our loot to the Center's kitchen. There were four stations set up. The group divided up and made garlic mustard pesto on noodles; ramp butter on bread, freshly baked by our Eagle Bluff trainers; sauteing station for parsnips, burdock root and fiddleheads; and cookie station with white pine needle (buzzed in an herb grinder) cookies. It was a wonderful communal, social, gustatory end to bring our learning full circle and admire the culinary prowess of our foraging group.

Resources (suggested by Eagle Bluff Center staff)

Books:

• The Forager's Handbook. Samuel Thayer - A great "local" resource for MN/WI specific foraging
• The Forager Chef's Book of Flora. Alan Bergo - tips and recipes
• The Sioux Chef's Indigenous Kitchen. Sean Sherman

Online, follow:

• Forager Chef
• Black Forager
• Chaotic Forager
• Edible Illinois
• Four Seasons Foraging
• Linda Black Elk
• MN Forager/Ironwood Foraging

There are still foraging classes coming up on May 13 and 14. Stop here to register.

Mixing up a batch of ramp compound butter

Burdock toot and parsnip sauteed with ramps

All images, unless noted - Marge Loch-Wouters

Carpets of Ephemerals - Beaver Creek Valley State Park Hike (MN)

This MN state park is a hidden gem in a largely agricultural section of southeastern MN. Located just west of Caledonia, the road to the park steeply descends from farm fields into a narrow valley dominated by high sandstone walls and the healthy rushing creek. 

The moment you get into that valley, the quiet sounds of nature surround you. The creek itself has it's source in the park (Big Spring) and you can walk right up to it on one of the trails. The creek sustains a population of native brook trout and one can see fly fishing during the season.

There are two main kinds of trails in the park: wide, grass-covered or dirt old-road trails on the flats along the creek (Beaver Creek Valley Trail and Big Spring Trail) ; and narrow, rocky trails that descend up and down the sharp valley walls and ridge tops (Switchback Trail; Mossy Seep Trail; Steep Rock Trail; Hole in the Wall Trail; and West Rim Trail). Both types of trails are amazing for the flowers, views, challenges and wildlife that abounds.

While every season is special in this hidden valley, spring is especially noteworthy, particularly on the steeper trails heading up to the ridge tops. The profusion of wildflowers is intense - the patches of wildflowers are on rocks, hillsides, the valley floor and in every nook and cranny.

In the last two weeks I spotted: Dutchman's Breeches; Cutleaf Toothwort; Anemones; Spring Beauty, Bellwort; Miterwort; Jacob's Ladder, Phlox; Trout Lily; fiddleheads, Virginia Waterleaf, trillium (pre-bloom); Wild ginger; Solomon's Seal; Ramps; Bristly Buttercup; Hepatica; Bittercress; Little-leaf buttercup...whew!

The park is also a great place to spot birds including warblers like the yellow-rumped, palm, cereulen, blackburnian and yellow warbler. You can see and hear a variety of common forest-dwelling birds as well as the less common Louisiana water thrush and Acadian flycatcher. 

Sadly the park also has a huge population of invasive cow parsnip and garlic mustard so that is another reason to recommend early spring as a must-hike destination.

 

THE HIKE
Beaver Creek Valley State Park Hike
A perfect hike for any ability. Flat trails near the creek are wide and feature small footbridges to get back and forth across the trout stream. For those up for a challenge, head up any number of trails for bluff views and challenging narrow switchbacks among the rocks.

Location: 15954 County Rd 1, Caledonia, MN 55921
Follow Hwy 1 straight west from Caledonia into the park. Trails are accessed from various points in the park

Additional Posts describing Beaver Creek Valley trails

• Rim Trails of Beaver Creek Valley State Park

Images, unless noted - Marge Loch-Wouters

Looking for more area hikes? Please stop by the web version of the blog and under the "Labels" tab on the right hand side of the blog, click on "find-a-hike". There are over 75 hike descriptions and lists of hikes to try!

I Spy on the Trails - Week of May 1, 2023

This week, we are watching the Mississippi River and other Driftless rivers and streams slowly receding. Our  Mississippi River flood in the areas near La Crosse WI crested at it's third highest level since data began to collected in 1874. Wetlands that had become vast lakes are re-emerging. Debris from the floods is everywhere. It is a testament to the power and importance of spring floods.

What did I come across on the trails this week? Boy howdy, alot!

Wildflowers -  Much of what I saw last week plus...

• Jeweled Shooting Stars
• Wild Ginger - the flower is at the base and is pollinated by beetles
• Pussy-toes - male and female patches - they grow separate from each other
• Birds-foot Violet
• Maidenhead Fern Fiddleheads - a lovely small reddish head
• Wood Anemone about to bloom
• Rue Anemone
• Jack-in-the Pulpit - unopened; 2 hours later...open!
• Hoary puccoon
• Bittercress
• Trout lily
• Cutleaf Toothwort
• Miterwort
• Jacob's ladder
• Fields of May Apples
• Fiddleheads everywhere!

Maidenhair Fiddleheads near a fine acorn cap

Wildlife:

• Yellow-Rumped Warbler
• Yellow Warbler
• Palm Warbler
• Pie-billed Grebe
• Northern Shoveler
• Wood Duck
• Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
• Blue-winged Teal
• Chipping sparrow
• Peepers 
• Trout

What are YOU noticing on your hikes?

This week's hikes: Beaver Creek Valley State Park (MN), Lytle's Landing Eight Mile Bridge segment of Great River Trail (WI), Fish Farm Mounds trails (IA)

Images, unless noted - Marge Loch-Wouters

The "I Spy on the Trails" column is a phenology (the study of seasonal changes in plants and animals) journal to chronicle year-round the weather, plant life and wildlife I observe while hiking. It is very useful in helping me compare observations from year-to-year. The column is published monthly from September through April and then twice-a-month from May through August when warm weather brings the natural world back to vibrant life.   

Death to Garlic Mustard!

I am a member of our city's Natural Resources Advisory Group (NRAG) It is a great fit with my love of the outdoors and MN Master Naturalist volunteer certification. This science-based advisory group helps the city navigate care of our two blufflands parks as part of our charge in preserving the natural resources in our community.

Before- garlic mustard

Our group is tasked with planning and helping with invasives control in the bluffland parks. Like many wild areas, our bluffland parks have buckthorn, bittersweet, russian elm, garlic mustard, dame's rocket and a few other pernicious non-native species scattered in areas throughout them. This year NRAG is tackling two of the invasives.

Garlic mustard has been our spring focus in Vetsch, one of our city bluffland parks. We have had a total of three 1.5-2 hour work days over a 10 day period to address three large patches. The crews have varied from 3-8 people. 

Working in early spring with rainy weather and before the plants set their flowers allowed us to quickly clear large swaths of each patch of young plants (which are easily pulled out with their roots intact, a major plus). In consultation with our county and DNR experts, our city is responsibly disposing of the bags of pulled garlic on site to prevent any re-seeding.

After garlic mustard pull

We weren't able to completely clear two of the patches. This first year pull "experiment" will help us plan more strategically next year. One thing we hope to do is recruit more people over more days for an hour or two shift.  The more people, the more areas we can clear completely. 

This is work that will be ongoing as we return next year to pull to clear more, monitor these sites and add others in coming years. In the fall, we will be going after targeted areas of buckthorn to begin the work on eradicating that. These projects are not one-and done. They take commitment over a number of years to help stop the spread.

We cleared 1/2 this patch in 2 hours!

If you ever have an opportunity as a hiker or outdoor user to step up as a volunteer, your 1-2 hours will make a difference in preserving and keeping healthy a vital part of the outdoors. 

I hope you will!

All images, unless noted - Marge Loch-Wouters

A Special Bird Paradise - Lytle's Landing Amble (WI)

Ambles are gentlehikes that are up to 2.5 miles long on flatter trails. They are perfect for people who like a slower pace, are recovering from illness or injury or just like to spend time enjoying nature. 

We moved back to the Driftless area 14 year ago after after a 22-year absence living in the Fox Valley area in eastern WI. It's a fairly flat, heavily populated region where the wild often seems like it has been tamed except in a few precious nature centers and parks.

During those two decades away, we shared a cabin with friends in northern WI. We used that cabin to launch fishing, hiking, canoeing, cross-country-skiing, waterfall-peeping, snowshoeing expeditions all over northern WI and MI. That 2.5 hour drive each way to the cabin brought to us to our wildest dreams of outdoor fun up north.

Once we returned to the Driftless, we saw that all the things we loved to do were no longer 2.5 hours away. They were at our doorstep. We sold our share in the cabin and embraced the Driftless outdoors.

I tell you this because I want to say that there is wonder in every bluff, every bike trail, ever hill and every flatland here. We have rich river sources and backwaters; a 260 mile long US Wildlife Refuge of protected waters and lands along the Mississippi and we are right on the migratory flyway for numerous birds.

One place that I just discovered through one of my friends is on the Great River Bike Trail in WI, managed by the DNR. There is a trailhead onto this bike/hike-friendly converted railroad bed at Lytle's Landing in Holmen. At the trailhead, you can head south or north over the Black River. We picked north. 

On a recent series of hikes, I followed the trail north across a number of old railroad bridges through a magical high water floodplain forest. While the Mississippi and Black Rivers crested a few days ago it will take a few weeks for the receding water to settle back in to the old riverbank heights. The area was alive with birds and waterfowl during early May in the three times we walked it. We spotted Northern Shoveler ducks; pie-billed grebes; blue-winged, teals, yellow-belly sapsuckers; palm warblers; yellow-rumped warblers; chipping sparrow, eagles; sandhill cranes; song sparrow; bufflehead and wood ducks. Wow!!

One can hike as far as one would like on this flat, graveled and dirt trail. You will meet birders, bikers, hikers, dog-walkers and people out to enjoy the abundant wildlife. It's always worth the conversation to stop for a visit and discover what has brought each person to this little gem.

THE HIKE:

Enjoy a leisurely hike along this bike/hike trail perfect for any ability and families. Cross  over the Black River on a 287-foot former railroad trestle and head through the bottom lands of the Black River across 4 shorter wooden bridges along the way. If the water has receded from spring flooding, one can see turtles, fish, ducks and Great Blue Herons. 

Location:  W8582 Lytle Rd, Holmen Take Exit 4 Hwy 53 North to Onalaska. Take exit 9 Cty Rd OT towards Midway. At the Midway stop sign turn left onto Cty Rd ZN.  Go 1.1 miles. At the next stop sign turn right on to Cty Rd Z.  Go 3.6 miles and then turn right on Lytle Road. Go across the railroad tracks, turn left and follow the road to the canoe access parking lot.

Images, unless noted - Marge Loch-Wouters

Looking for more area hikes? Please stop by the web version of the blog and under the "Labels" tab on the right hand side of the blog, click on "find-a-hike". There are over 75 hike descriptions and lists of hikes to try!

Vetsch/Vollenweider/Stoney Point Park Hike (MN)

This weekend marked the first in a series of three early morning hikes in city and state parks to track down the ever-changing landscape of spring ephemerals sponsored by the Driftless Drifter Hiking Club. I planned the hikes and either guided or, like this one, offered assistance to our expert guides!

In our small community of La Crescent (population 5,274), we are fortunate to have two large bluffland city parks that give recreational users a chance to climb bluffs and get to amazing overlooks and sandstone formations. One of these parks is Vetsch Park , just west of the downtown area, which also encompasses another park (Vollenweider) and city property (Stoney Point). That's where we hiked on Saturday.

Vetsch Park is part of an old apple orchard that the city was able to acquire from the owner. It has a huge swath of pollinator prairie plants at the entrance to this 25 acre park.  From there, multiple trails ascend up through the hardwood forests of Vetsch and Vollenweider to Stoney Point, an iconic sandstone monolith that affords sweeping views of the city, MN bluffs and Blue Lake. 

There are no trail markers or named trails so it's always an adventure to head into the park (the city has plans to untangle the trails and improve trail markers in the next few years). While there are a number of old orchard roads, interested residents have bushwhacked deer trails into narrow trails that cling to the sides of the steep bluffs which hikers, bikers, runners and others have used. The trails meander back and forth and can offer hikes from 2-4 miles as you wander them.

The park is a paradise of wildflowers, mushrooms/fungi and wildlife. Ruth Nissen and Betsy Knowles, two community members who serve on the city's Natural Resources Advisory Group, have spent the past few years searching out and identifying the wildflowers blooming during the growing season. Their 117-page Vetsch Park and Stoney Point Guide is available online and is amazing! From the common to the rare they have created a who's who and what's what of the wildflower world all the way up and on Stoney Point.

Ruth and Betsy guided us on this first hike in the series as we discovered a number of spring wildflowers. They talked about the different pollinators for many of the flowers; the geology that lends these flowers their unique home, their identification work and much more over the two hour hike. They also mentioned how quickly many of these ephemerals bloom and then lose their blooms. Hiking every few days opens up constantly changing blooms. Below is a perfect example - Betsy walked the trail again after our hike. What a difference a few hours make:

9:00 am unopened Jack-in-in the Pulpit

11:30 am - opened Jack-in-the-Pulpit!
Image - Betsy Knowles

THE HIKE
Vetsch Park, La Crescent MN
From the park entrance, follow old orchard roads up through the orchard into Vollenweider Park or through the pines in Vetsch park onto challenging, narrow trails that climb steeply up to the spectacular views on top Stoney Point (a scramble at the end up this sandstone rock formation. 200 foot elevation gain. Trails are unmarked and multiple trails can be confusing. Head upwards is my best advice until the city marks the trails! Note that the park abuts private property on the south side so be courteous of all posted signs.

Location:
722 N. 2nd St. Follow North 2nd St west until it ends at the water plant. Ample parking.

Images, unless noted - Marge Loch-Wouters

Looking for more area hikes? Please stop by the web version of the blog and under the "Labels" tab on the right hand side of the blog, click on "find-a-hike". There are over 75 hike descriptions and lists of hikes to try!

* The Driftless Drifters is a member-led hiking club program sponsored through the La Crescent-Hokah Community Education Department of MN ISD 300. Begun in 2021, the group goes on weekly "under 5 mile" hikes around the Driftless area and weekly "Ambles - shorter hikes on flat surfaces for hikers looking for a slower pace. All hikes feature learning opportunities as they identify flora, fauna and fungi around the area. New members are welcome - the fee for the club is $14 /yr (July through June). Members have access to a weekly newsletter with hike locations and tips as well as additional pop-up hikes. Contact Community Ed at 507 895-5150 to join.

I Spy On the Trails - Week of April 23, 2023

Part of the fun of hiking in a season like spring is that every day brings new sights on the trails around you. Each week, I will be sharing some of the plants, birds and wildlife that have been peeping up or returning to the the woods and wilds around the Driftless area.

Wildflowers:

• Bloodroot -  near the end of their bloom time but not the end of their spectacular foliage
• Dutchman's Breeches - nearing the end of their glory but still profuse in some spots
• Ramps - tis the season. Remember, if you gather ramps, only take a few from any patch (and never in MN state parks) to ensure their continued robust presence. And plant a few in your own landscape. They love shaded, north-facing areas with plenty of moisture.
• Rue anemone - carpets of them
• Hepatica - just getting started
• Spring Beauty - these multi-headed flowers are just coming on
• May Apples - their "umbrellas" are up but are not yet fruiting
• Lyre-leaved rock cress
• Virginia waterleaf
• Bellworts - just starting
• bluebells - a few are peeking through. Mid-May is the hot time and Carley State Park in MN is the place to be. Check out their Bluebell Festival and be treated to carpets of bluebells at this tiny gem of a park.

Dutchman's Breeches

Wild ginger

Wildlife

• blue-winged teals
• eagles
• coots
• mallards
• spring peepers
• sandhill cranes
• trumpeter swans
• Canada geese
• egrets
• great blue herons
• beavers
• muskrats
• turkey vultures
• wild turkeys
• yellow-rumped warblers
• kinglets
• eastern towhee
• palm warbler
• buffleheads

The Mississippi River

In the Driftless region, the Mississippi River plays a significant ongoing role in our geology and trails. For the past 3 weeks, our immediate La Crosse/La Crescent area has experienced slowly rising waters moving towards a crest of 15.89 feet on Thursday April 27. The waters are now sloooowwwwly starting to recede. That process takes between 2-3 weeks. Left behind are massive debris, mud and sand on trails and in homes near the river. This will be either the third or fourth highest water level here since statistics began being kept in 1874.

Part of everyday over the past three weeks, I have walked and observed where the river is at and how it continues to creep up and now back. Many favorite wetlands hikes have been inaccessible. Wildlife has been displaced - our local police department has noted that they have picked up the bodies of four beavers along a busy wetlands thoroughfare that have been displaced by the rising river. I see geese near the roadway that have lost their nests but remain nearby on higher ground.

Mississippi River on April 28, 2023

Image - National Weather Service

We haven't seen a flood of this magnitude since 2001. It is humbling to see what Old Man River can do. And I am grateful that our area has left many wetlands intact thanks to the advocacy of community folks and scientists in the area. The damage to human dwellings and infrastructure could have far worse otherwise.

Seems like the river took over the "overflow parking."
I *guess* we invited it...

This week's hikes: Vetsch Park (MN); Sugar Creek Bluff (WI), Fish Farm Mounds (IA); Lytle's Landing Eight Mile Bridge segment of Great River Trail (WI)

Images, unless noted - Marge Loch-Wouters

The "I Spy on the Trails" column is a phenology (the study of seasonal changes in plants and animals) journal to chronicle year-round the weather, plant life and wildlife I observe while hiking. It is very useful in helping me compare observations from year-to-year. The column is published monthly from September through April and then twice-a-month from May through August when warm weather brings the natural world back to vibrant life.