Some of the best stream trout fishing in the midwest is found in the Driftless Area of Southwest Wisconsin. The topography here is one of repeated bluffs and valleys, with an underlying porous rock structure consisting of limestone and sandstone. As a result the Driftless Area is dotted with hundreds of cold water springs that emerge at the bottoms of the bluffs, flow together, and create perfect trout streams. The Driftless Area streams are home to four types of trout: brook, rainbow, brown, and tiger.

The Inn at Lonesome Hollow  , a rural bed and breakfast located near Soldiers Grove, WI, is hosting three trout fishing workshops during the 2010 trout season. The speaker is Len Harris, a native of the Gays Mills, WI area, a former trout fishing guide, and currently a syndicated outdoor writer. Len knows these streams well, and he has hundreds of great photos of the streams he fishes and the fish he has helped his clients catch. In these workshops Len will discuss the tactics he uses to catch big trout.

Join us on May 8, June 19, or Sept 11 at Lonesome Hollow to be informed and entertained by a talented “trout guy”.  You can view all kinds of trout stories and pictures on Len’s blogsite, http://lenharris.blogspot.com.

The Inn at Lonesome Hollow is delighted to announce three culinary workshops this year featuring  chef Monique Jamet Hooker.  Participants in any of the 3 culinary workshops staying  2 nights at the Inn at Lonesome Hollow will get a $50 discount on their stay.  The first workshop this year is April 17th and 18th, and will be “Pates and Sausages”.  Learn how to make Pate de Campagne, garlic sausage, onion brats and more!

 Culinary workshop attendants can choose several ways to participate: from a full weekend, starting Friday night through Sunday, which includes 2 dinners, lunch, and Sunday brunch, to a shortened workshop on Saturday, which includes lunch.  The workshop will be located at Monique’s kitchen at her log home, which is nestled in the woods on a bluff above the Mississippi River.  Included with the workshop will be Monique’s award winning book,  Cooking with the Seasons, which introduces readers to over 200 recipes that emphasize seasonal distinctions of taste, texture, and color.

Monique Presents her Delicious Fare

Acclaimed chef Monique  came to the US from France in the sixties and took a position in her brother’s restaurant in New York state before moving to Chicago where she made a name for herself as a food stylist and caterer.  She also began teaching classes for people eager to recreate her art in their own kitchen. In 1983 she opened Monique’s Cafe’ in Chicago’s North River district which has since become the premier dining area in the city.

Since Monique has “retired” to the hills of Southwest Wisconsin,  she has been a spokesperson and chef with Organic Valley Cooperative, and is a frequent guest on “WPR’s “Here on Earth” and continues to teach, lecture and demonstrate the “art of seasonal cooking”.

Additional Lonesome Hollow workshops with Chef Monique Hooker will be November 5th-7th:  “All About Duck”-Roasted, Confit, Foie Gras, and more;  December 3rd-5th: “Chocolate and More Chocolate”-Cake, Truffles, Glaze, Dipping and more.

Photo by Jerry Quebe

It looks like the 2009/2010 winter will be another snowy one in Wisconsin. In SW Wisconsin, about 60 miles south of LaCrosse, we are right now watching a big storm go through. There is already a foot of snow on the ground from this storm and 3-5 inches additional is forecast for later today. So, lets make lemonade from the lemons!

For those who are adventurous enough to go out into the snowy landscape, the rewards are many. There is nothing more quiet and more peaceful than a snow-filled forest. The normal quiet of a rural forest is rendered even quieter by the sound absorbing blanket of snow. Everything is fresh, and white, and invigorating. Animal lovers have access to the tracks of every critter that has recently passed before you on the trail. Signs of deer, rabbit, fox, turkey, coyote, and even an occasional bobcat will be there on the ground. Look also for signs of a hawk swooping down to the ground to grab an unsuspecting field mouse.

Winter at Lonesome Hollow

The Inn at Lonesome Hollow is a rural bed and breakfast located half way between Gays Mills and Soldiers Grove, Wisconsin. Accomodations include B&B rooms, suites, and a cabin. All units have a gas fireplace to warm up over after a few hours in the woods. Four of our units have whirlpool tubs for you to soak away any residual chill. Enjoy a hot breakfast guaranteed to fill you up; dine at a great pub only four miles away; or order a take out meal from the pub’s menu and we will pick up your dinner for you.

The Inn offers complimentary use of snow shoes for use on the four miles of trails at Lonesaome Hollow or at one of five nearby state parks.  Visit

Snowshoeing at Lonesome Hollow

www.lonesomehollow.com to see hundreds of photos of our 160 acre property. We off special internet winter rates to make your stay economical as well as enjoyable.

Pete and Nora

Labor Day weekend offers several interesting activities in Southwest Wisconsin. All of these are within an hour’s drive of the Inn at Lonesome Hollow (www.lonesomehollow.com), a beautiful, rural B&B located near Soldiers Grove and Gays Mills, Wisconsin.

Effigy Mounds

On September 4 and 5 take a Mississippi River cruise and enjoy two or four hours of folk, blues, and bluegrass music, or explore a relatively unvisited part of Effigy Mounds National Monument to view and hear about the Native American burial mounds. Call Mississippi Explorer Cruises at 877-647-7397 for full information.

On Sept 4-7 spend some time at the Hillsboro Firemen’s 55th Annual Labor Day Celebration. Activities include a farmer’s market, tractor pull, carnival, and the largest Labor Day parade in Vernon County.

On Sept 7, step into the world of Wisconsin Amish at a fantastic live auction in the Cashton Settlement. Amish produce, furniture, quilts, and much more will be available for bidding. The auction site is at S347 Dell Road, just a few miles southeast of Cashton. Phone 608-654-7880 for more information. 

Haying in Amish Country

We have attended the Amish auction several times and have purchased some beautiful quilts at bargain prices.

Pete and Nora, Inn at Lonesome Hollow

In the heart of Southwest Wisconsin’s Driftless Area, in a landscape of continuous hills and valleys, surrounded by farm fields and hardwood forests, sitting on a ridge above the Bad Axe River, waiting to be visited and enjoyed by midwest wine lovers – is Vernon Vineyards (www.vernonvineyards.com). The vineyard has more than 10 acres of grapes that hug the ridge contours more than 300 feet above the river below. A very comfortable tasting room opens to a wide. two-sided porch that offers wonderful views of the vineyard and the valley below. Bob and Loren, the owners, are gracious hosts who will make you feel right at home as they walk you through the tasting of their wines. If you want to talk grape growing, they will answer any questions you have and have actively supported other local grape growers in Vernon and Crawford Counties. 

Vernon Vineyard

The winery, the first ever in Vernon County, now offers nine different table wines and two dessert wines. These wines are a delight to drink, and are so consistently tasty that Vernon Vineyard wine is now exclusively offered to guests staying at the Inn at Lonesome Hollow (www.lonesomehollow.com), a  beautiful, rural Bed and Breakfast near Soldiers Grove, Wisconsin. Pete and Nora, owners at Lonesome Hollow regularly offer Vernon Vineyards Ridge Red and La Crosse White wines. They consider it a very special treat for visiting guests to relax over a glass of locally produced wine.

Tasting Room at Vernon Vineyards

If you are a wine lover, visit southwest Wisconsin to taste the product of other local wineries as well: Wegge Winery in Richland Center, Wisconsin; Spurgeon Valley Winery in Highland, Wisconsin; and Eagles Landing Winery in Marquette, Iowa. The Inn at Lonesome Hollow is centrally located to all four of these wineries, and the beautiful Driftless Area landscapes will provide rustic, scenic drives as you travel to any or all of these wineries.

photo courtesy of Len Harris

On March 7, 2009 the catch and release trout season opens in Wisconsin. For those who are not aware of the great streams in Southwest Wisconsin, you are in for a sweet surprise. Brook, brown, and rainbow trout abound in the hundreds of coldwater streams that course through the Driftless Area, most of which are found in Wisconsin. The 300 to 600 ft hills (some call them the Ocooch Mountains) create elevated water tables that literally “spring” out of the ground all over and meld together into cold water streams that flow into the Mississippi, Wisconsin, or Kickapoo rivers. If you come to the Kickapoo Valley, you will find yourself in a 1200 square mile subset of the Driftless Area that is known for its peace, seclusion, and incredible scenery.

The Inn at Lonesome Hollow, www.lonesomehollow.com, is located smack dab in the middle of the

photo courtesy of Len Harris

Kickapoo Valley. We offer B&B rooms, a cabin, and two large suites that constitute some of the best lodging available in this part of the state. When you’re not on the streams you will relax in style on 160 acres of wooded hills. We can direct you to some great restaurants, or you can grill your catch right on the cabin deck.

The pictures on this page are courtesy of Len Harris, who will be here in May with folks from the Simply Fishing TV show, filming a day of trout fishing on our local streams.