Photo Blog with Waterfalls, Hiking, Outdoors, and other Adventures
Last winter I started dreaming up “side quests” for future journeys – mostly to help discover new places to visit, but also as a pseudo bucket-list to keep me moving. One dark and cold night, I was using my Google-fu and came across the concept of highpointing which is to visit all the highest points … Read more
Last night I was informed by park attendants while at Willow River State Park that rain would begin promptly at 6am today. Sure enough, heavy thunderstorms started at 6:15am. Thankfully I woke early and broke down camp quick. My next stop was not planned – more of an “I’m bored and tired of driving in rain” … Read more
Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I’ve been quite distracted with life & other adventures this past month. Since I’m stuffed with turkey and cannot move much, figured now is a good time for catch-up on my posting backlog. Stay tuned, I have about 20 new places to share in the pipeline! Back to this post originally from … Read more
Since one of the main goals on this journey was to observe fall colors, the next choice of Mill Bluff State Park was easy. The park contains several large sandstone bluffs, and the main Mill Bluff can be climbed to look out across the forest. Amazing to consider thousands of years ago this was a … Read more
The second stop on my fall tour was Wildcat Mountain State Park. I lost time trying to select a camping site and didn’t get much hiking in here, and instead of cranking out the mileage I did the short Observation Point Trail and watched the sun slowly fall beneath the horizon. Due to lack of … Read more
Fall colors are upon us here in Wisconsin. With a late October warm pattern pushing temps into the 70s, I booked last-minute vacation and hit the road. Full trip starts here on Thursday 10/19 and ends late Sunday 10/22 – stay tuned for more posts, there were over 10 stops and it takes time for … Read more
A short drive from the main Devil’s Lake State Park area (but still within the park) is Parfrey’s Glen State Natural Area. Dedicated as the first state natural area in 1952, this is a popular family attraction thanks to easy access and a waterfall at the trail terminus. Traffic is very busy during weekends/holidays – … Read more
I woke early and left Mirror Lake State Park so I could get one last day of hiking in. After striking out at Devil’s Lake State Park due to huge crowds, I was hopeful that most families were heading home so I tried again – and was right. Although I didn’t have much time … Read more
After leaving Iowa, I headed back towards central Wisconsin. My initial thought was to hit up Devils Lake, but after finding swarms of people & lack of camping I decided this was a bad idea for my spontaneous agenda. Drove around for a while searching for smaller lesser-known areas but my cell service cut out … Read more
After making a mistake with campsite reservations at Wyalusing (and a less than restful stay at the last motel available), I woke early and headed to the Effigy Mounds National Monument in Harpers Ferry, Iowa. I didn’t know much about this park, but it was on my list simply to check off another nationally-managed area. … Read more