And answer I do by retreating to the far, far northwestern corner of Illinois, which along with southwest Wisconsin, southeast Minnesota, and northeast Iowa is known as the Driftless Area.
This area derives its name from being unglaciated in a region that had many glacial episodes, going back nearly two million years to the Pleistocene Epoch.
Having escaped the leveling effect of continental glaciers, the ancient land surface has been exposed to essentially continuous weathering and erosion. Several thousand feet of bedrock strata may have been removed during an overall span of some 243 million years. This erosion carved a series of deep valleys into the gently tilted bedrock formations with the Mississippi River Valley draining the entire region.
I feel fortunate, indeed, to be familiar with this area having friends and family living there now and once living there myself. It is an easy 3 hour drive from Chicago so for me it is a favorite get-away.
On May 25th a friend and I took a driving and hiking tour of Apple River Canyon State Park and Mississippi Palisades State Park. They are within 30 miles of each other. Apple River Canyon is a small park of only 297 acres. Mississippi Palisades SP actually begins at the confluence of the little Apple and the mighty Mississippi. It is about 10 times larger at 2,350 acres consisting of upland woods, steep bluffs, caves, sink-holes and, of course, Ol' Man River himself. According to a park ranger, this is the least visited State Park in Illinois and that is a cryin' shame. Evidently it was over-run by meth-cooking outlaw motorcycle gangs for several years but more recently the authorities have won out. In the whole of both parks on an incredibly beautiful day we saw only one other human, a fisherman.
My friend's meditation frog always helps me chill
Sunset on the 24th portended a good day to come
All day the sky was filled with cotton-candy-like cumulus clouds
Typical countryside
A little closer, please
The Apple may not be mighty but she is endearing
unknown wildflower
Ol' Man Cottonwood grabbed me by the camera straps...
and said "take this..."
"and this..."
and this, too..." Only then was he satisfied.
Lots of fungi to be seen
Solomon's Seal ?
'scuse me while I kiss the sky
Nature's greatest gift: green against blue
Soon this fallen branch ...
will look like this
Our trail was spongy underfoot
The noxious mustard weed
Cross-cut
The light was just right
A pause to reflect...
on a bluff.
sky above, sky below
On the way to the Palisades
What a joy to catch this from the windshield of the car
I love trains!
The Mississippi from Lookout Point
This is just too J for words
The ever-changing Upper Mississippi
Bridge at Savannah, Illinois
Typical growth of moss and ferns on the shady sides of the bluffs
Do you know what this is?
Looking northwest
Islands and sandbars abound
The turkey buzzards were flying about with apparent joy
Shooting stars
The heart-shaped leaves were so lovely
Wild violets
Buttercups ?
Ferns grow wherever they want
Wild columbine
One last glimpse of the Mighty Mississip
One last wildflower
Then how better to end the day than in the local bank turned tavern?
Any help identifying the wildflowers whose names I did not know or improperly named would be most appreciated. I hope this diary gave you a feel for my neck of the woods. There is great beauty when we don't just look but see. Thanks for stopping by.