MidwestWeekends.com - Waterfalls

Waterfall trails

Tue, 01 Jan 2008 00:00:00 -0600

In a remote corner of Wisconsin, a trove of waterfalls lies buried in forests barely trod since the lumberjacks moved on to Minnesota.

They�re not Wisconsin�s largest waterfalls, or the easiest to find; those can be found on the lower lip of Lake Superior, in Pattison, Amnicon and Copper Falls state parks (See Waterfalls of northern Wisconsin). But there are lots of them in this undomesticated forest, so thick with headwaters it�s known as the cradle of rivers.

Waterfalls of northern Wisconsin

Tue, 01 Jan 2008 00:00:00 -0600

Deep in the forests of Wisconsin, and Potato River Falls was nowhere to be found.

A sign pointed to an observation deck, from which I glimpsed a bridal-veil falls in the distance. But the path down the Potato River led only to a cobblestone beach.

Finally, I left the path to climb down a steep hillside, slippery with clay and choked with the roots of spruce trees that flecked my hands with sap.

Black and white

Sun, 25 Feb 2007 00:00:00 -0600

On the western tip of the Upper Peninsula, snow comes as regularly as mail.

Gusts of wind make the deliveries, picking up moisture and warmth over Lake Superior and then dumping it as snow when they hit the cold inland air around Ironwood and Bessemer.

The two ski towns are only four hours from the Twin Cities, but they look more like the North Pole in comparison. They've had 132 inches of snow so far this year, actually a disappointment considering that 150 inches had fallen by this time last year.