Travelogue ~ Chasing Geological History (Part 1)

Ever since college, the geographical and geological history of my home state has been of some interest to me. Most of Wisconsin was, at one time, covered with glaciers. Nowadays, I happen to live in the southwestern corner of the state, where the physical geography was such that the glaciers never came here. The topography of this “driftless” area is different from the rest of the state in several ways. In general, this area is hillier than those areas that were ground down by the power of giant moving slabs of ice. On the other hand, while there are hills and ridges and valleys, there are no familiar glacial features such as drumlins, kames, and glacial pothole lakes. Glaciers are partly why Wisconsin has more than 12,000 lakes, about half of which are named either “Round” or “Trout” or “Long.” Almost none of these otherwise ubiquitous pothole lakes are located in my corner of the state. 

Store this information away because its importance will eventually become apparent -- with any luck that will occur sometime before the glaciers come again.

Musical Interlude
"Terror at Trout Lake"

My daughter Moonbeam (not her real name) is 28, and ever since we got over the rocky teenage years, she has been in many ways the best friend that a mother could have. She is a wonderful companion, and she is, fortunately, interested in many of the same things I am. One of these is history. Beam attended college in the Twin Cities, and earned a fine arts degree. She is an aspiring artist with a pretty responsible day job and a nice apartment in a beautiful, upscale area of St. Paul. Since I have been living alone, I have visited Moonbeam in the Cities several times. We have had a few urban adventures, most of which have involved Beam’s indulgence of my fledgling photography hobby. 

During one such visit last fall, we decided to venture outside the urban environment and explore some place that neither of us had seen before. We chose a day trip to Stillwater, a small, touristy town located just north of the Interstate, about 15 miles east of the Cities, along the St. Croix River.  Stillwater is a very old town, with many quaint shops and restaurants lining its main thoroughfare.

By Divine Ms. Moon

After some obligatory shopping for vintage items and a much-needed coffee break, we stopped briefly at the edge of the river so I could take a few photos before heading north to find out what else there might be to see.  This photo was taken from the river walkway and shows a rather unusual “vertical lift” bridge that connects Stillwater on the Minnesota side with Wisconsin on the other side.

By Divine Ms. Moon

Turning in the other direction, we observed several riverboats, some modern, and some more traditional, that had been parked at the end of the walkway, presumably bedded down for the season.

By Divine Ms. Moon

The St. Croix is a substantial river that divides the northern part of Wisconsin from Minnesota and ultimately joins the Mississippi just south of Hudson, Wisconsin. We anticipated having a chance to get some good views of it, but the ride north from Stillwater proved somewhat disappointing as lookouts over the water are surprisingly few and far between. Fortunately, it was early autumn, which meant that the early colors were beginning to appear.

By Divine Ms. Moon

Looking back from the same spot that I was standing to take the above photo revealed a delightful panorama view of Stillwater, now to the south, with sunlight dancing across the water. The city was actually much farther away than it appears here, owing to the power of the zoom camera. In some ways, Stillwater reminded me of the little tourist towns in Door County, Wisconsin, and in particular the harbor at Ephraim, which is similarly picturesque.

By Divine Ms. Moon

And that was about it for our day last fall. We drove north for a while longer without finding another vista of the river. When we reached Highway 8, we decided it was time to turn back and head for home. Along the way, we came across a quirky little sculpture garden that contained such fine objets d’art as this.  You might not be surprised to learn that we didn’t stay here long. Moonbeam astutely characterized it as "creepy."

By Divine Ms. Moon

As we traveled south, I amused myself by snapping a few sky photos from the car, as shown below. The light was interesting that afternoon, changeable without being threatening. Despite appearances, there was no rain in those clouds.

By Divine Ms. Moon

When we got back to Stillwater, the clouds had cleared off, and we stopped briefly to take a few pictures looking down the river. This is the same lift bridge shown above, viewed from the opposite side, as it opened to let a small boat pass through.

By Divine Ms. Moon

For the active mind, it is always a full day when you are exploring things you have never seen before. But we didn't learn much about geology that day, or even much about the St. Croix River. It took another trip, this past spring, to accomplish that.