LATE SUMMER 2019

This was a beautiful late August evening on our lake. No clouds, no wind, and best of all no bugs.

Our friends Jason and Angie were up for a visit in early September. They are huge fishermen, but the fishing just hadn’t been good recently so we decided to do some hiking and show them some of our favorite places.

This is Lake of the Clouds and the overlook is from a very steep cliff called an escarpment. Its ecosystem has changed very little since the last of the glaciers melted around 10,000 years ago. People are asked to stay on the trails to avoid degrading the ecosystem.

Looking out over the valley it’s hard to imagine how many trees there are.

You know what they say is the only cure for stupidity. Somewhere I read recently that 600 people have died this year taking selfies.

We’d always wondered where the end of the earth is. Now we know. It’s 2 miles before you get to the Porcupine Mountains.

The Presque Isle river goes through a series of waterfalls near Lake of the Clouds. This section is known as the pot holes. The shore has been eroded into a series of circles. The water going through them looks sort of like the tub of a washing machine.

There is a person in the upper center part of this picture that gives a good perspective on how deeply the water has cut through the surrounding rock.

This is the shore of Lake Superior where the Presque Isle River enters into it. The driftwood looks almost prehistoric.

The only thing that limits how far you can see from the shore of Lake Superior is earth’s curvature. As I pan to the right you can see that storms are coming in. The parking lot is a fair distance from the shore so we decided discretion is the better part of valor and high tailed it back to our car. We made it by about 10 minutes.

This is Potato Falls. The right side does look sort of like a giant spud.

It never ceases to amaze me how nature always finds a way. Look at how the roots on this tree have adapted to deal with the rocks.

Another tree that found a way.

Labor Day weekend was a wild time in Presque Isle. The weekend began with an Elvis/Johnny Cash impersonators free concert at the American Legion Hall.

The impersonators were surprisingly good . There was free food for whatever you wanted to donate, the beer was $2.50, and a glass of wine was $3. The hall was filled to overflowing with an age range of something like 6-90. It was unbelievably fun.

Then Sunday night was the last Bingo night of the year which also drew a good crowd. Monday was the wave goodbye party in Minoqua where the year round residents take lawn chairs and line the highway to wave good-bye to the seasonal people.

Barb and I feel that we’ve been very fortunate all our lives. Not that there haven’t been bumps in the road, but this August marked our 42nd year of marriage and we raised 2 great kids. Now we are so fortunate to live in a place that is truly magical.

So that’s the latest news from the north woods. Hope things are good in all of your lives.