Iowa – Neaton Adventures

Pikes Peak State Park-McGregor-Iowa

August 7, 2024Posted in Adventure, Christi Neaton, hiking, Mississippi River, Nature, Outdoors, Photography, UncategorizedTagged Adventure, Christi Neaton, exploring, hiking, Hiking Adventures, Iowa, Mississippi River, nature photography, Outdoors, Pikes Peak State Park1 Comment

We hiked Pikes Peak State Park June 30^th, 2024.

Our first stop was at the overlook of the flooded Mississippi River.

We hiked the Bridal Veil Trail. To our left, were burial mounds and the Mississippi River was to our right.

We approached another overlook of the Mississippi River. Due to all the recent rain, many of the trees were under water.

A wide wooden path led us to Bridal Veil Falls.

I was a bit surprised Bridal Veil Falls wasn’t crashing down on the rocks below. Instead, we saw a slow drip from the falls.

We followed along East Hickory Trail.

Weeping Rock Trail led us back to our starting point.

Our hiking adventure was 1.1 miles.

Swiss Valley Nature Center-Peosta-Iowa

August 6, 2024Posted in Adventure, Christi Neaton, hiking, Nature, Outdoors, Photography, UncategorizedTagged Adventure, Catfish Creek, Christi Neaton, exploring, hiking, Hiking Adventures, Iowa, nature photography, Outdoors, Swiss Valley Nature Center2 Comments

We hiked Swiss Valley Nature Center June 29^th, 2024.

Our hiking adventure began on the trail across from the Nature Center.

The trail led us across Catfish Creek.

We followed the Ridge Trail which was a slow incline…up, up, up.

High Point Trail led us to a beautiful open prairie.

I loved seeing all the large boulders along the trail.

Only a small section of the trail was flooded near Catfish creek.

Our hiking adventure was 2.2 miles.

Bellevue State Park-Nelson Unit-Bellevue-Iowa

July 22, 2024Posted in Adventure, Christi Neaton, hiking, Nature, Outdoors, Photography, UncategorizedTagged Adventure, Bellevue State Park, Christi Neaton, exploring, hiking, Hiking Adventures, Iowa, nature photography, Outdoors, Parks3 Comments

We hiked Bellevue State Park-Nelson Unit on June 29^th, 2024.

Our first stop was the Butterfly Garden. The gardeners did an amazing job, the flowers were gorgeous!

Next, we hiked the Quarry Trail.

Cool shrooms growing on a downed tree.

Mill Creek separated Bellevue State Park and Felderman City Park. We hiked towards the bridge taking in the views of the city park and creek.

Remnants of the old Bellevue Lime Kiln could be seen off in the distance.

We continued hiking the Quarry Trail which looped us back to our starting point.

Today’s hiking adventure was 2.5 miles.

Mines of Spain-Dubuque-Iowa

July 18, 2024Posted in Adventure, hiking, Mississippi River, Nature, Outdoors, Photography, UncategorizedTagged Adventure, Christi Neaton, Dubuque, exploring, hiking, Hiking Adventures, Hiking Iowa, Iowa, Mines of Spain, Nature, nature photography, Outdoors, travel1 Comment

We hiked Mines of Spain State Recreation Area June 29th, 2024.
Our adventure began on the Pine Chapel Foot Trail.

Pine Chapel is a tiny one room chapel.

The next trail we tried to hike was towards the Julien Dubuque Monument. Unfortunately, due to all the rain the trail was closed.

As we made our way back to our starting point, we passed an old Green House and an old Lead Mine of Julien Dubuque. The area around the mine was fenced in and is barely recognizable with all the plant overgrowth.

Due to the trails being flooded, we drove to the Horseshoe Bluff Foot Trail.

The bluffs begin to appear. I absolutely love the bluffs especially against the brilliant blue sky!

We followed the trail up to the different levels.

A small cave was located next to the overlook.

We looped back to our starting point to find our next destination.

Down the road a bit, we pulled over to hike the Julien Dubuque Foot Trail. The trail at ground level was flooded so we made our way to the second trail leading us to the Julien Dubuque Monument.

Up, up, up we went.

The Julien Dubuque Monument

The view was worth the climb. It always is. The overflowing Mighty Mississippi River rushed past us.

Today’s hiking adventure was 3.26 miles.

Pulpit Rock-Decorah-Iowa

July 16, 2024Posted in Adventure, hiking, Nature, Outdoors, Photography, UncategorizedTagged Adventure, Christi Neaton, exploring, hiking, Hiking Adventures, Iowa, nature photography, Outdoors, Parks, Pulpit Rock1 Comment

We hiked Pulpit Rock June 27^th, 2024.

The trail quickly inclined as we made our way to Pulpit Rock.

Pulpit Rock

The old stone steps looked like we were entering a castle.

The view of Pulpit Rock from the top.

We continued along the trail looping back to our starting point.

Today’s hiking adventure was .63 miles.

Ice Cave State Preserve-Decorah-Iowa

July 12, 2024Posted in Adventure, hiking, Nature, Outdoors, Photography, UncategorizedTagged Adventure, Decorah, exploring, hiking, Hiking Adventures, Ice Cave State Preserve, Iowa, Nature, nature photography, Outdoors, Parks, travel, Upper Iowa River1 Comment

We hiked Ice Cave Park, which is part of Iowa’s State Preserves System, June 27^th, 2024.

The main entrance to the park was closed so we hiked up the road towards the parking lot. As we hiked up the hill, we saw why the road was closed. Giant rocks fell from the bluffs taking over part of the road.

Mid-way along the road, a staircase appeared to our right. Of course we had to see what was at the top. A cave! The cave entrance was a bit too tight for comfort, so after a few photos we hiked on.

Once we arrived at the top of the hill, we noticed Dunning’s Spring Waterfall was just around the bend. The hike towards the waterfall was just as beautiful as the waterfall itself.