Grouse Hollow Journal for July 18, 2013 by Greg Koelker

Grouse Hollow Journal for July 18, 2013 by Greg Koelker

“To reminisce with my old friends, a chance to share some memories, and play our songs again.”

Ricky Nelson

Last week our old friends Jane and Doug Ledbury invited us up to Alma. We went to high school with Doug and Jane, Jane in Ellen's class and Doug in the year between us. Doug's folks, Dave and Donna, were my god parents, and I believe his mom was my mom's maid of honor and when we were kids my family would go back and forth with them. I loved going over to their Grant River valley farm where we, Doug and his brothers and I, would hike in their woods, explore the barns, and picnic on Donna's canned chop suey. Doug and Jane and Ellen and I once – in our foolish younger days, - drove our motorcycles to Rantoul, Illinois to visit my sister and her husband who was stationed there in the Air Force. No big deal today, but they were on a 500 Triumph and we were riding a 350 Honda for over 7 hours! I attribute some of my backside pain to that trip yet.

Today, Jane and Doug live in the country on a sprawling estate of woods and pole sheds that house Doug's toys, as Jane called them. (We guys know that tractors, fourwheelers, motorcycles, guns, bows, fishing gear, hunting dogs, boats, etc. are necessities, not toys of course.) Their a-frame home is surrounded by rows of terraced gardens of flowers. Jane used to have her own greenhouse business so the place is covered with color and smells wonderful. (Ellen mused that she now has two Janes as a resource about flowers. Jane Downs works at a nursery in Iowa.) Jane laughed when I mentioned all the beautiful retaining wall with gardens on top. “I say to Doug that a wall or garden here or there would be nice, and he's so handy, he just goes out and builds it.” Like us they are empty nesters, but their three children and five grandchildren all live in Wisconsin.

Anyway, we were invited up for a last ride of sorts, in an airboat! Neither El nor I had ever ridden in an airboat, so I didn't know quite what we were in for. Jane had a cooler full of picnic makings and adult refreshments while Doug had a chainsaw loaded up along the sides of their fiberglass airboat. The power source was wrapped in metal frame in the back with a Chevy 350 V-8 attached to an airplane propeller. We drove up to Nelson and then north a couple miles to a primitive landing along a slough. By primitive I mean mud. The water was a lot like the Bad Axe or Kickapoo, passing slowly in a mostly narrow channel. Ellen and I got the front seat, Jane road on the cooler, and Doug took the controls in a raised seat. We all put on ear protection. The sound was like, well an airplane. Off we went, gliding smoothly over water only meant for canoes or kayaks or a duck boat with a mud motor. The weather was ideal, not too hot with little humidity and a hazy sun. The Chippewa River winds over 180 miles southwest from northeast Wisconsin through Eau Claire and past Durand to the Mississippi north of Nelson; it is considered the northern border of the Driftless Area of Wisconsin. In the 1850's it was a channel for the logging industry, but today it is mostly good for hunting, trapping, camping, canoeing, kayaking and air boats. There are plenty of fish in it too; one source said bass, northerns, walleyes, panfish, and even musky can be found in its waters. It looked like great smallmouth country.

My first airboat ride was a lot like flying in a helicopter I think. Very smooth with tilting to turn and hovering over logs and sandbars and such. I shot picture after picture of the scenery of trees and bars and eagles reflected in the quiet waters. The color was amazing with greens and blues and browns and gold reflected in the larger pools of the river. Twice we stopped for our own version of “Swamp People.” Doug took his chainsaw and waded in the shallow water to cut up downed maple trees that were blocking the channel. “I need to clear them for canoeing up to turkey and duck hunt later this year,” he said. We also needed them out of the way to continue. The chainsaw snarled and turned up sprays of water as he chopped off the tree tops. We eventually came out of the slough into the Chippewa River proper. The Chippewa is a lot like the Wisconsin, shallow with many sandbars. Jane and Doug told us that on some weekends the river and sand bars are full of canoeists, but we had it all to ourselves this evening. We ate sandwiches and blue berries (until I knocked them in the sand) and Nelson Cheese curds with cocktails and enjoyed the company and the spot. On the way back, Doug stopped the boat to point out where he got his turkey last spring. He often uses a canoe with a trolling motor to quietly sneak up the slough until he hears a gobbler and then he hunts them in the marshy woods. He also hunts deer and ducks out in these parts. The airboat would not work for much hunting as I imagine we scared everything off for miles with the racket. When we got back to their home, we looked at my pictures on their computer and reminisced more over more food and libation until it was decided we would stay over. Doug suggested I go with him to North Dakota this fall to fish and hunt waterfall. He and Jane own some land there and the hunting is fantastic. I am going to take him up on it. It was 12:30 by the time we pulled the plug; poor Doug had to work the next morning. Anyway, what great friends and what a great time.

Until next time, get out – Ellen and I saw a little buck in velvet browsing along a weedline in the middle of a neighbor's field at midmorning Sunday. It looked healthy with a reddish coat and foot tall fuzzy antler growth. We both thought it was probably a 6 point or small 8. It was sure having a time with the flies; I imagine the flies are murder in the deep woods too. Speaking of deer, Eli, John, and Pat were here this week, clearing shooting lanes, putting up trail cams and tree stands and shooting their bows. It's good to see them, but best of all, their youthful enthusiasm is contagious. I gotta start shooting my bow today and get up on the ridge and in the woods more too. Ellen and I cleared a downed tree off the ridge road on Friday morning, so I took the 8N up the ridge road, mowing the fire pit and Grouse Hollow trail on Saturday afternoo. The deer flies were nasty in the shade. The black caps are small but appear to be plentiful. Ellen has been picking smaller batches and freezing them for making jam later. Yum – El's berry jam; maybe a berry picking hike will be in order this week – with lots of bug spray first. We talked to man at a farmer's market this weekend who had half-a-dozen pints of black caps for sale at $4 each. We are getting some red raspberries now – enough for ice cream anyway. Enjoy.