Pioneer Ridge's Annual Halloween Night Hike October 2012

Pioneer Ridge, part of the Wapello County Conservation Commission, hosted its annual Halloween Night Hike this week-end. 

Guests were treated to eight stations featuring portrayals of animals that fit this year’s theme “Don’t Wake The Bear!” or hibernation. 

When guests finished the tour they found sweet treats, hot chocolate, balloon animals and swords, face painting, and other activities in the Nature Center.

Let’s go on the hike. . .

The bears welcomed guests to the hike at station one.

A beautiful butterfly came next that is indigenous to Iowa and actually hibernates through the winter.

Frogs can actually freeze and thaw out within 10 hours.  This frog hibernates near water in the mud, in the brush, or under rocks.

The boy and husband portrayed Ornate Box Turtles.

Salamanders were next on the trail and told us about how their body parts can regenerate and the reason salamanders are know as fire lizards.

The skunks told us that they “spray” only when mortally threatened and empty their scent sacks when they wake up throughout the winter.

The groundhogs told their tale with a song.

Chipmunks are typically loners but were BFF’s for the night hike.

There were guests of all ages that enjoyed the hike!  To read more about previous years’ hikes click here and here.

Winter Survival Camp At Pioneer Ridge

The husband and the boy headed to Pioneer Ridge Nature Center to learn about winter survival and ended up with their pictures on the front page of the newspaper!

The afternoon session was geared towards families to work and learn together to build a shelter to survive the elements.

There were many variations of shelters.

Making fire was another segment of the session.  I was informed that this part was very difficult due to the materials that were at hand. 

The afternoon ended with some hot chocolate at the Nature Center and a photo op with Annette, the Naturalist leading the program.

Pioneer Ridge is one of our favorite locations for free or low cost family fun.  We find ourselves there at least once each season, if not more.  Check out Pioneer Ridge’s web-site for a list of events—click here.

Click here to read about other adventures at Pioneer Ridge.

The Boy's 9th Birthday Party

To celebrate the boy’s 9^th birthday, we decided to rent one of the two cabins at Pioneer Ridge, part of our county’s Conservation Commission, located a few miles outside of town.  Due to a soccer tournament schedule—more about that later—the festivities began at 7:00 pm.

Guests of all ages arrived for arrived for the party, after finding their way down an unlit gravel road.  Hopefully, the lights of the cabin welcomed them, along with the husband who stationed himself outside to direct traffic.

While both girls and boys were invited to the party, it would be the boys who would spend the night in the cabin.  But everyone wanted to take a tour of the two story cabin.  Upstairs featured a loft with bunk beds and a queen size bed, including a set of dressers on each side!  Downstairs featured a living, dining, kitchen area, and a bathroom with a shower.

Once all the children arrived and had some pizza, they were each given flashlight as their party favor.  Then the husband and Jeremy, the dad of two of the guests, took the crew of 7 out into the night for a hike.  When they returned, they had 10 children as three more joined during the hike! 

The birthday cake was ready when they returned.  The wanted Lilo and Stitch to grace his birthday cake.  Yeah, Disney!  (You knew I would get it in here somewhere!)

After cake, came the opening of presents and there were cheers and ahs at the variety and generosity of the gifts!

Thanks to the husband, and again, Jeremy, a camp fire followed with the making of s’mores, as there is a fire pit located in the back of the cabin.  Guests can help themselves to an armful of pre-cut firewood for $3 per bundle.  It’s on the honor system, as guests put their payment in a small wooden box attached to the firewood shanty. 

After s’mores, the “day” guests began to leave and the husband prepared to tell a camp fire story.  This is where things got interesting.

We had said good-bye to everyone who was leaving and I began to tidy up the cabin while the boys were outside.  Within minutes, the boys began to make their way inside.  Seems that the story was a bit too scary!  Hmm. . . did that happen on purpose?

Soon all of the boys were inside the cabin and were getting ready to get into their sleeping bags, but not ready to call it a night.  Flashlight beams and “boy noises” continued until late into the night.  They were all awake by 6:30 am.

Breakfast was prepped and ready for the hungry brood.  After all were dressed, the husband hosted a morning hike through the woods. I got a text message from the trail “have water ready.”  Seems that the morning trail was a bit rough, but one boy sprinted back to the cabin.

We then paused to take some pictures of the group around the cabin.

We loaded the cars and continued to play outside while I cleaned the cabin as required—sweeping, wiping surfaces, etc.

The husband and I delivered the boys safely to their homes around 10:00 am.  As for our boy, he was showered and asleep by 6:15 pm that night and I followed at 7:00 pm.  We had a grand time and hope everyone else did too!

We were grateful for the star filled night—almost a full moon, beautiful weather, and great guests!

Guests included:

Braydon

Hannalee

Jeremy and Emily (parents of Braydon and Hannalee)

Friend and neighbor Ann

Grandma Carol

Sam

Abby

Moira (mother of Sam and Abby)

Nate

Jennifer and Rod (parents of Nate)

Taylor

Teri (mom of Taylor)

Jack

Brock

Conrad

Scott (parent of Jack, Brock, and Conrad)

More about the Cabins at Pioneer Ridge:

• There are two cabins that are similar in size, but different in layout to select from. (one has the queen size bed on the main floor for guests not wanting to use stairs.)
• The rental fee is $63 (includes tax) plus a $50 security deposit
• Pots, pans, dishware, silverware, and cleaning utensils are provided.
• A list of cleaning expectations is posted in the cabin, including removing all garbage.
• Rental guests are given a combination to the lock box containing the key to the cabin. (Note:  The lock box is located on the “porch” side of the cabin.  We arrived after dark and I was holding the flashlight in my mouth so I could manipulate the paddle lock to get the key.)
• Guest can occupy the cabin as early as 2:00 pm and must be out by 11:00 am the next day.
• Guests bring their own towels and bed linens. 
• Here’s the link to the Pioneer Ridge web-site for more information about the cabins.

Pioneer Ridge's Annual Halloween Night Hike October 2011--Magnificent Migrators

Want to have some fun, learn about animals, and enjoy a fall evening?  That’s exactly what many guests experienced at Pioneer Ridge’s Annual Halloween Night Hike.   Our county’s Conservation Commission teamed up with a crew of volunteers to offer two evenings of "edutainment" about animals that migrate, as the theme for this year’s hike was Magnificent Migrators.

Guests began at the Nature Center at Pioneer Ridge and were formed into groups of 15-25.  Groups left with the Natural Center every 10 minutes with a guide to make their way around the 1.5 mile paved path to visit the various stations where migrating animals were being portrayed.

First up were the pelicans—a mama and “teenage” pelican.

The path continued to the hummingbirds—a mama and child hummingbird were being portrayed.

The dragonflies were up next.

Silver haired bats were next on the trail and were the only migrating mammal in the bunch.

The endangered Sooty Shearwater birds were next to share information with guests.

A Monarch Butterfly shared its needed migrating conditions with guests.

A family of Canadian Geese greeted guests at the next to last stop on the trail.

Lastly, a pair of salmon informed guests in between their bickering.

When guests completed the “hike” portion of the evening, there was even more fun. . . and goodies, waiting for them in the lower level of the Nature Center. 

Volunteers provided cookies and other sweet treats along with coffee and hot chocolate. 

Balloon figures were available for the kiddos.

Cotton Candy was a hit.

And face painting was available.  All done by volunteers!

Guests are welcome to done their Halloween gear when joining in the hike.  Just dress for the weather!  It can be chilly to down right cold during the evening.  This year, we had beautifully weather. .  . windy and a bit chilly on Friday night and just a bit brisk on Saturday night.  Mother Nature even graced us with an almost full moon and clear skies for star gazing.

This creative, safe, educational endeavor is a favorite fall experience for guests and volunteers alike.  This marks the 9^th year of our family’s participation in the Halloween Night Hike and the 2^nd year of the husband and the boy portraying animals.  (Click here to read about last year’s Hike.)

Mark your calendars for next year.  We’ll see you there!