Left Behind ...
Exploring Ice Age Wonders At Kettle Moraine State Forest By Robert J. Zimmer  Feathery clouds
brushed the sky in a soft pattern of blue, pink, white and orange, awash in the colors of the rising sun. To the east, the steep slope of a towering bluff rose from the forest floor, higher and higher, whitened by the first heavy snows of what had so far been a snowless season. The clouds arched across the brightening sky in pairs, almost like the wings of angels stretching from horizon to horizon. We followed the trail as it gently climbed the side of the bluff, the first to
break tracks into the fresh fallen snow. The temperature was mild, hovering right around 35 degrees, and the towering maples and oaks were shedding large chunks of snow that had accumulated in the still of night on every branch and twig. A loud scream from the top of the hill, and the shadow of a circling red-tail soared out over the steep ledge, silhouetted against the angels' wings brushed across the rosy sky. Powerful wings carried the
bird round and round, circling high overhead. This is hill country, and the hawks take advantage of the stunning vantage points and wide vistas in their search for a warm winter meal.
As the snow loosened and dropped from the branches high above the forest floor, we continued along up the gentle slope of the trail, bombarded now and then with a big wet mass of the falling snow. The
view of the surrounding woodland and countryside as we climbed higher and higher was stunning. No where else in the country is one able to view the stunning ridges, gum-drop-shaped hills, "kettles" and "moraines," clear sparkling lakes and other amazing landforms left behind by the last great glaciers that covered the area 20,000 years ago than here at Kettle Moraine State Forest. The state forest is actually
made up of two distinctly different areas, or units the northern unit of the Kettle Moraine, and the southern unit. Throughout the region, the Wisconsin Glacier left its mark as nowhere else in the world. Two of the regions' natural wonders sculpted by the great glacier the Kettle Moraine and Horicon Marsh are internationally famous, drawing visitors from many different countries. At 46,000 acres,
the Kettle Moraine State Forest preserves a rich geological array of stunning and breathtaking glacial features, preserved mementos of a time not fully understood ... left behind.
The southern unit of the Kettle Moraine State Forest covers some 18,000 acres across parts of three southeastern Wisconsin counties. Over 60 miles of trails wind through the southern unit, including a 36-mile segment of the Ice Age Trail. Four self-guided nature trails from
a half mile to 1.5 miles in length are available in the southern unit in addition to 48 miles of cross country ski trails in winter and 46 miles of connecting snowmobile trails. Two miles of mountain biking trails and 20 miles of horse trails also cross the southern unit. Trail maps are available from the forest headquarters.
During the last Ice Age, when the glaciers reached this area, woolly mammoths, mastodons, elk, caribou and musk oxen roamed the
landscape here. Wild bison also roamed the area until just a century ago. Today, the southern Kettle Moraine remains one of the state's largest wildlife sanctuaries, home to badgers, coyotes, red and gray fox, white-tailed deer, Canada geese, wild turkeys and many more.
We continued our climb up the side of the ridge, amazed by the area's rich geological landscape. All along the trail, where the cliffs reached to the skies, great ice formations decorated the rocky face of the hillside.
Icicles longer than a man dangled from the rocky ledges, in spectacular displays of rock and water. Textured rock and sand colored the fresh snow, and the bare skeletons of winter trees towered at the top of the ridge. In spring and early summer, the cliff sides are spangled with colorful columbine and violets that drip from every crack and crevice in the rock. In fall, the area is on fire with spectacular fall color, the brilliant
yellows of sugar maples and hickories and the rich reds and browns of the mighty oaks. In winter, the landscape changes again. One can see for miles across the surrounding forest, from glacial lake and deep kettle to towering kames and moraine. The landscape is enchanting; it's magical. Abundant wildlife adds to the great natural beauty found here. You can explore the Kettle Moraine for many seasons and still not see it all.
A cross country skier can ski anywhere and get the same physical benefit and the relief skiing brings from his own back yard to the wilds of Alaska. A trail is a trail, snow is snow. A hill is a hill. A woodland is a woodland. For me, the place makes the sport so much more than just a physical activity. I've skied a lot of places, none more interesting and intriguing than the Kettle Moraine. Here, a woodland is not just a
woodland, and indeed a hill is not just a hill. To appreciate the rolling valleys and steep ridges, the deep drops and the towering cliffs that make up the Kettle Moraine, one has to understand the complicated way in which these unique and special features of the land were formed.
A great place to do that is at the Henry S. Reuss Ice Age Visitor Center in the northern unit of the Kettle Moraine State Forest. Located a half-mile south of Dundee on Wisconsin Highway 67, the center has
exhibits about the area's glacial history and a beautiful collection of glacial erratics copper, coral fossils, granite and other rocks brought by the glaciers from hundreds of miles away. The center offers a must-see film, "Night of the Sun," that explains the story of the glaciers and the landforms they created and shows the incredible power of the mile-high sheets of ice, as well as the incomprehensible time frame encompassed by the Ice Age.
Identification of many of these great glacial features is made easy from the spectacular view right from the center's veranda. On the horizon, one can see the end moraine of the Lake Michigan lobe of the Wisconsin glacial the southernmost place the glacier reached. Signs identify all the nearby features, from Dundee Mountain, a huge kame standing 255 feet high, a flat outwash plain formed by melt water from the glacier and other smaller kames rising above the forest.
As we neared the top of the ridge, we stopped to watch a group of six white-tailed deer bound up the wooded slope and disappear over the top, the great white flags of their tails flashing through the trees. A warning "huff" from a blowing doe directly behind us and another group of eight deer leaped gracefully across the trail just in front of us, following the rest of the herd up and over the top of the hill. We removed our skis and climbed upon a huge rock chimney looking out
over the hills and valleys below and relished the winter wonderland below us. In the surrounding woodlands, the forest was wakening after a long night of heavy snow. Fresh tracks began to appear in the snow as fat gray squirrels came out to explore their newly whitened home.
From the east, quivering waves of Canada geese began to parade across the feathered clouds from open water in a valley below on their morning journeys to feed in nearby cornfields. The rich, musical honking
of the geese echoed loudly from the rocky ledges as the birds passed by just over the treetops. The scream of another red-tail pierced the morning air, and a raucous blue jay in the bare oaks playfully imitated the hawk's powerful cry. Crows bubbled up from their nightly roost in a nearby valley, talking loudly among themselves as they set out to explore the snow-covered hills and crevices. A stream still flowed through the
valley directly below us, the soft bubbling of its flowing waters drifting magically up the rocky face of the hillside. We sat there in silence, side by side, caught up in the beauty and wonder of this ancient land.
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