LaCrosse, Mississippi, and flooding

 

The above photo is from Riverside Park in LaCrosse WI. This little statue of the kids and the puppy waving to the boats on the river is something I always stop and admire when walking along here. This photo was taken in August of 2021 when I was getting new tires on my 'Ru.

There is a platform that goes right to the Mississippi's edge here below that statues.

Well not this week!

I shot this with the long lens because they had barricades up around the park. The 'Ru needed new brakes. Charlie and I went for a nice long walk while they were working on it.

People were going around the barricades to look at the water up close and personal...Not me!

After all that water had trees in it, and other gunk. It was swirling so hard that even the lone duck that was there had a hard time keeping afloat.

The bench I usually stop and sit at to people watch down in front of me? Well...

The damage isn't bad at the park at all, after all, the park is used to high water. However the neighborhoods near the river are/were getting their homes flooded. Below is a photo of Cass Street Bridge.

Those are river houses and boats out by Pettibone or Simmons Island. I have no idea how they stay in place.

This is a shot of the building at Pettibone Park across the way. I've never been here yet, but it is on my list of places to explore.

On my way back to the dealership with Charlie, I had to stop and read another funny saying on the sidewalk.  I don't know why these are in LaCrosse but they are! Silly sayings here and there!

It says:

The turtles in the trees
say please sing louder.
Swimming eagles eating cheese
curds and watch the sky for flying
cows driven by cats licking
ice cream. Ants line up at the libraries.

A child tells an adult.
The concrete beneath my feet
is alive with wild ideas
begging my shoes for a ride.

~Matt Cashion

I leave you with that to interpret any way you want. But I love this little ditty. It speaks volumes to me.
Don't ever lose sight of your imagination!

LaCrosse re did several sidewalks and embedded poetry and dance step instructions! What a fun way to celebrate walking through their city!

Road Trip sort of

I had to go to LaCrosse for an checkup on our Subaru. I generally take a quick little side trip while I am there.

Yesterday I went over to Goose Island. It is a nice county park with little roads going to different parts of the island. I think there are something like 8 or more picnic shelters that can be reserved and several playgrounds. All along the river access are picnic tables and some trees for shade. There is a campground for tents and a grounds for RV's.

It is on a slough to the Mississippi River and between LaCrosse and Stoddard Wisconsin. It is beautifully maintained and the county road GI is well maintained with wide shoulders to pull off on.

I try to get there a couple of times a year just to enjoy driving around the place and seeing if I can find something to photograph. I'm always on a time crunch as the other half is keeping tabs on my time. I called him to let him know I was taking a drive through the park. 

Time to test more with that long lens!

Here is Chippy! A seven striped Chipmunk. I was tickled that he just sat there while I took his photo. I stayed in my car as not to spook him.

I saw this doe along the slough, so I parked the 'Ru and walked slowly back up the side of the road.

I was able to take 3 shots of her before she took off, bounding through the low lands.

Along WigWam Slough, I found these turtles. I've cropped this but if you can look at it full sized it looks like the turtle on the right is 'snarling' at the one on the left. 

So do you suppose turtles fight?

Ninja Turtles!

A view of the bluff on the other side of highway 35. In regular color and then in Infrared. Wink...wink. You know I couldn't help myself!

The shots were taken in different spots on the county road.

It was warm and the sky was amazing. The clouds kept changing and developing beautiful Cumulus clouds. 

I'll be headed back to get new tires next week. I'll grab my gear and walk to downtown LaCrosse and visit the Riverside Park while I wait for the car to be fitted with new rubber.

Perhaps I will be lucky enough to see one of the Steamboats go by while I am there.

Big Adventure!

"Okay Charlie, you take care of Dad," I said as I donned my coat and made a last second check of my camera stuff.

I was only going to take my 35mm lens, it works well for night photography and I've used it for shooting the Milkway with some success.
I didn't grab the better of the two tripods and settled with the one that I trek through the woods with.

I was a bit nervous about one...meeting up with other photographers, but I figured Kristi would probably be there. [Kristi was the one I met at the fair and she told me about the Camera Club.] I got there a bit early and joined some men sitting just outside the room the club met in.
I was also a bit hesitant to leave Rich and Charlie on their own. Would Rich hear Charlie when he had to go potty? He usually doesn't even though they are only a few feet apart. Rich can be so engrossed in watching whatever program is on, that he can't seem to hear a thing.

By the time the meeting was over and I drove to the Riverside park, I was done being nervous.
The Rotary Lights were almost overwhelming. I'd seen them briefly in 2010 but had never actually gone and walked through the display.

I pulled on some snow pants in the parking lot, grabbed a hand warmer and opened it up. I dropped one into my hunting glove/mit and checked my camera settings before I even left the Subaru. The outside temperature was 19 degrees and calm.
I zipped up my coat, grabbed the tripod and walked towards the river.

I was fumbling around with my glove/mitts and tripod when one of the other members walked up to me and started to set up. It was Kristi, she said that she had decided to come to the park after all. She commented that she'd wander around until she got too cold.

I was grateful for her company. We spent an hour or so wandering around slowly trying out different settings to take photos. What really amazed me was while we were taking shots or setting up the people that were walking about were so nice! The groups of teenagers would say hello and then duck out of our way with a *sorry* or *pardon me* tossed over their shoulders.

To capture the whole view of the park, you have to drive over a bridge to another small park and you can 'shoot' the lights reflecting on the water.

I did want to do that but it got late and I realized that Rich may be worried or he may sit up and watch for me to come home.

When Kristi said she was cold and her hands were numb, I walked backed to the parking area with her.

I called Rich from the car and told him I was just leaving the Riverside Park. He sounded a bit disappointed and said that I was still an hour away.

I agreed and told him that I'd had a really great time and got to see some amazing lights.

As I came down the drive way through the woods, I could see the porch lights turn on. Yes, he had been watching.
Both he and Charlie seemed relieved to see me.

It was a wonderful adventure.

I need to figure out a time to get back there again this season. This time from across the river.

I hope to skip out with Charlie today to the Kickapoo Valley Reserve to walk along one of my favorite trails and perhaps get a photo worthy of a Christmas Card!

Perrot State Park

Not pronounced Parrot...but think of the French Perroooo....

I could hardly believe it.
I had a full day to myself.
No one to answer to but Charlie.
I'd planned on a day of doing some exploring.  What I didn't want to have to say is...
I'll be back by 'such and such' a time.

I packed myself a lunch and some apples. Packed 3 bottles of water and a small Gatorade.'

I figured I knew how to get there, it couldn't be hard at all as Highway 35 went nearly right to it.
Well. I got that sort of wrong. I did take a wrong turn but after a little 'whoops, mistake' and a turn around. I got it right.

I headed to the trails...

Terrain trail difficult at times....

Well, I like trails like that. It tends to be less crowded.
I decided to try going to the Perrot's Peak first.

This part of the trail was a bit rough and not groomed like the other more popular trails. I could see that there was on going work in a few sections. 

I liked it though, it reminded me of the trails in our woods.

I only know that I started at about the same elevation as the river and ended up about 450 feet above it when I stood on the rock out crop.

 This is looking southwest down on the Mississippi River

This was looking North a bit to my next climb, Brady's Bluff. This would be the back side of the bluff.

And then a look down to the spot I was standing on.

My thought at this time was that it would be fun to sit here on a nice fall afternoon or morning and take in the colors of the forest below. A sunset view would be incredible from here also.
Since it isn't an easy hike up this trail, it wouldn't be crowded.

Even a foggy morning would be neat.

I stayed a bit before moving on, to catch a breather and some air movement. My little thermometer was reading about 86 degrees and it was humid.

The trail coming off the peak was much nicer but quite long. I dropped back to the valley floor and followed a hiking/cross country ski trail that was flat and wide. I opened my strides and covered ground quickly.

Covering ground quickly was important here. The bugs were out in full force. I passed by some older people that were walking slowly swatting and sweating. I said hello with a big grin on my face.

I think they picked up their pace when they saw the crazy ol' lady with baggy hiking pants, a backpack, with purple and teal colored streaks in her hair, hiking like she'd just stolen something!

When I got back to the junction I could have chosen to walk out to where my Subaru was parked and then head up to the short trail, or take this trail which was longer and take the short trail down from Brady's Bluff and walk back to the car on the road.

I decided to take the longer trail up.

I'm glad I did, it was mostly shady and fascinating as the Conservation Corps had done such a neat job of making a trail.

I found a bench that may have been about halfway up the bluff and was still in the shade so I stopped for a snack and a selfie...
I may look miserable, but actually I felt great.

Stairs and railing to the goat prairie...
I saw no goats.

The heat was on in the Goat Prairie and I paused only slightly to catch my breath and look at the wild flowers.
On the second Goat Prairie I did take a 3 shot hand held panoramic of the river.

Note the haze. Some of the haze I heard an expert weatherman say was due to the heat. Plants give off moisture to keep cool and that creates a blue haze. I wondered if the rest of the haze was humidity and smoke from the wildfires.

I made it to the shelter and set up my camera [which really was not co-operating well] to try some infrared shots.

It isn't perfectly clear as I was shooting sort of blind. The light was so bright and I was trying to avoid the people climbing up to the shelter.
I popped a few shots off and then sat down in the shelter in the shade to finish my water.

A young couple came into the shelter after the other folks had left. I told them not to sit on the other side of the shelter as we had company peeking out from the cracks in the logs.

Yes I used a long lens. It could have been a rattle snake, although I am no snake expert.
From what I understand these snakes do inhabit the bluffs of the Mississippi but aren't often seen as they are very shy.

I talked with the young couple a bit and they handed me a bottle of water as they saw me putting away two empties. I was grateful. Even if I took the short way down, I had a long walk on the park road to get back to the Subaru.

Here is the view that everyone hikes up for. Trempeleau Mountain. I was more impressed by the boardwalk/trail that was built for the short trail.

Would I go back? Yes.

I hit the park road and power walked back to the Subaru. I grabbed out my sandwhich and a Gatorade and sat at a picnic table and had a picnic and thought about my
Big
Adventure.

What a great day.