Tropic of Capricorn Multi-cache

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SammyClaws: Thanks for all the great logs.

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Hidden : 6/23/2007
Difficulty:
1 out of 5
Terrain:
2 out of 5

Size: Size: micro (micro)

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Geocache Description:


Parking coordinates:

N 42 49.129
W088 24.836

For me, spending time in the woods is my way of relaxing – the same way people go on a cruise or lay on a beach. I’d like to welcome you to Beulah bog, a little known area between East Troy and Mukwonago. For several years we have been walking this nature trail, enjoying is scenic beauty and ecological diversity. The parking is on top of a bluff and the trail drops you down not only next to, but right in the middle of, the bog. It is a bit of a hike, but worth it to see the various blooms in the summer, or many colored leaves in fall or the frost tinged foliage in the winter. We have seen various types of wild life ranging from deer to raccoons to predatory birds in and around the bog. Anyone that loves a good nature walk will enjoy this.

Here is what Trails.com writes:

A boardwalk to the center of a primeval bog. Name the least-disturbed natural habitat in this corner of the state and it would have to be bogs. Beulah Bog is a good example of these Ice Age relics; its impressive list of credits includes several rare plants and six carnivorous ones. This wetland also features floating mud flats, a bog lake, and a tamarack forest. Best of all, it has a way to get to the middle, a boardwalk. Bogs are neat, intriguing places, but they are inaccessible, too wet to walk and too thick with vegetation to canoe.

And from the DNR website:

Beulah Bog lies in a series of four kettle holes and features an undisturbed bog with many unusual plants more typical of northern bogs. Classical stages of ecological succession are exhibited in the bog including: a shallow bog lake dominated by watershield with white and yellow water-lilies and extensive floating mud flats; an advancing, quaking sedge and sphagnum mat between 25 and 50 feet wide; northern wet forest of tamarack and bog shrubs and; a wet open moat surrounding the main bog, dominated by wild calla and cat-tails. Undisturbed bogs in this area are rare and the site supports a number of regionally rare plants with more northern affinities including dense cotton grass, large and small cranberry, and small bladderwort. The site harbors at least six species of insectivorous plants and the state-threatened plant, kitten tails (Bessya bullii), is also found here. The bog lake provides habitat for several dragonfly species and other invertebrates. Beulah Bog is owned by the DNR and was designated a State Natural Area in 1975.

Insect eating plants; now how cool is that? Also there are a few who suggest that this area might have contained an early Potawatomi settlement.

(Updated 7/10/07)Recently, I had the pleasure of speaking with Renae Prell-Mitchell who wrote a dissertation about the bog and surrounding land. Apparently, this bog is very unusual. It is the most southern bog of this type; having the characteristics of bogs found much further north in the US. She described it as donut in the depression of the land. There is a “moat” area around the bog, then a hard packed sphagnum “donut” and then the bog. The bog itself is actually floating on top of a lake. And much like ice, if you would walk out on it, you could fall through and get caught underneath it. The solid sphagnum area is a build up of dead moss much the same way a coral reef grows. Because tamarack trees growing there and the composition of the sphagnum it is extremely sterile and early pioneers used it for everything from bandages to diapers. Also you should find the bogs hosts a number of amphibians including frogs, turtles and snakes. Other flora that you can find in the area is sundew and wild cranberries. Renae did warn that there is poison sumac all around, so be careful. (End of Update)

The point of this cache is to draw attention to this State Nature Area, The cache itself is on a street sign outside the SNA. (4/4/09 update -The floating barrels and board walk have been replaced. It looks like there may be more changes, but the following can be used to get the correct calculation: At the coordinates, there is a bridge that takes you from land to the donut. Count the number of ALL the posts on the west side of the bridge. I consider posts the wood that extend from the walkway into the ground or water, one of them is hard to see. Subtract 4 from this number /endupdate) and plug it into the missing number below.

Final Waypoint N 42 49.015 W088 24.?94

Welcome to my Tropic of Capricorn, we hope you have fun with this cache.

The Geocache Notification Form has been submitted to Thomas A Meyer of the Wisconsin DNR. Geocaches placed on Wisconsin Department of Natural Resource managed lands require permission by means of a notification form. Please print out a paper copy of the notification form, fill in all required information, then submit it to the land manager. The DNR Notification form and land manager information can be obtained at: (visit link)

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