Devil's Lake, WI

(PHOTO: After Nature)

photo at the park

trip to Northwoods (part 2)

passing through Necedah Refuge, Wisconsin winter darkness

I've posted before on my previous trip to the Northwoods of Wisconsin (Wausau area and further north - see here, here, and here).  One of my favorite parts of the four hour drive is passing through the Necedah Wildlife Refuge.  The photo to the left was taken while passing through the refuge on the way home this evening.

While I passed through this area, the song "The Fool" by Coolrunnings happened to come on my iPod radio mix that I was listening to.

darkness

Wastelands of Iowa en route to Mt. Horeb, Wisconsin.

hiking today

pbs episode: Wolves in Wisconsin (tagged under philosophical ecology)

Watch the full episode. See more In Wisconsin.

Wisconsin mountain lion sightings

The Northwoods is more remote than I thought.  Traveling to Wassau and surrounding area, and then further north, I was quickly immersed in vast - and I mean *vast* expanses of wilderness.  What immediately struck me was how heavily forested the area happens to be after a good bit of it (mostly near Lake Superior, but also where I was) had been logged out during the late 1800s.  

During the turn of the century after the loggers had left, Woodrow Wilson granted that much of the land be turned into state forests and parks and restored (Wilson was also instrumental in conservation efforts with Maine state parks as well).  Now, 100 some years later, the forests have grown back in full force.  Save for hunting camps, a wilderness bar & grill, I was astonished to drive through hours of small mountains, wooded areas, and swamps.  I was pleased to see white spruce, red cedar, balsam fir, black ash, maple, oak, and birch.  It was a strange combination of Maine and Pennsylvania - but with smaller hills and lower "mountains" (more like very, very steep hills that stretch upwards for miles before descending again).  Hopefully my photo in the post below communicates the nature of these huge hills that seem to stretch endlessly.

Another surprising thing I encountered was the warnings about wolves.  Supposedly some of the access roads go pretty far back into the forest, and if one isn't armed, or if one is alone, you would question your intelligence to venture into the wilderness of the Northwoods.  As well, recently there have been more and more mountain lion sightings.  These are not escaped pets.  They are wild animals looking for food.  Again I was quickly reminded that we often "sugar coat" the great face of nature, when in fact, it is quite indifferent to the human.

(PHOTO: WDNR)

Northwoods, WI

(PHOTO: After Nature)

trip next week to Northwoods / Northern Wisconsin

(PHOTO - Northern Woods, WI)

It is not well known that Northern Wisconsin is heavily forested and has quite a number of trails, lakes, camping sites and other outdoor activities.  There are also plenty of interesting animals such as mountain lions, black bear, deer, coyote, wolves, and elk.  I first heard about the wildilfe and forests of Northern Wisconsin while watching documentaries about the large Native American population that resides there (the Wisconsin channel has some great programs about this, as well as about the Northwoods).  In addition to serving the needs of the Native American communities, these remote areas also offer beautiful sights and hikes for naturists such as myself.

I'll be making a four hour drive to Wassau, and once there I'll make my way over to the Ice Age Trail, back over to Nicolet National Forest, and then back down to Devil's Lake.

(PHOTO - Devil's Lake, WI)

Madison, WI - State Street

Wisconsin travel blog (post 3)

Wisconsin travel blog (post 2)

Wisconsin is AMAZING. A nature lover's dream come true (esp Boulder Junction, Wildcat Mountain, Nicolet National Forest, and Black River State Forest). More soon ...

Wisconsin travel blog (post 1)

Leaving the Pennsylvania Wilds ...