On a bright fall color day in Wisconsin, we twelve of us headed
for Grand Rapids, MN. Grand Rapids is a
city in Itasca County, Minnesota. It was a short weekend getaway trip. Our
destination was a cabin called “Northern Jem” an eight hour drive from Madison.
Nestled in the woods along the beautiful Trout Lake, it was the perfect
location for spending the weekend with friends. We had a great weekend…lots of
food; lots of “adda”, singing songs till mid night beside the fire-pit…Kayaking,
fishing, and wandering aimlessly in the woods…enjoyed watching deer pretty much
every day. The Trout Lake is a pretty good size lake and famous for its fishing…walleye,
northern pike, rock bass, blue gills etc. etc…guess what!! we spent one whole
day in the lake without catching a single fish…and later end up going to the
nearby local store to buy some fishes for outside grilling. It was such a memorable
trip.
Saturday, April 18, 2015
Sunday, April 5, 2015
Last of the Fall Color - Devil's Lake State Park
Wisconsin is known for its beautiful fall color and Devils Lake State park is one of the best places to see them. Leaves start changing colors from mid September and reaches its peak by the end of October. I had a chance to go to see the fall color at Devil's lake with a friend last fall. It was the third week of October and lucky to see the last display of the amazing fall color of the season. We entered the park through the North shore entrance and were spellbound seeing such an amazing sight...the whole atmosphere suddenly turned fiery from the yellow color of sugary maple trees. It was such a breathtaking moment for me.
There are some good hiking trails around the lake. It is a beautiful glacier formed lake surrounded by high rocky bluffs. We did the full loop around the lake both the East and the West bluff trails and other small trails connecting them, around 2.5 mile loop. The famous Balanced Rock and Devil's Doorway rock formation are on the East side...was lucky to see a bunch of rock climbers climbing the rocky bluffs. This was my first experience seeing rock climbing in a natural set up.
The fall color view from the top was stunning. It was like a colorful canvas. Interestingly, there runs a rail road passing across the south shore of the lake in the park. I really enjoyed the scene of a cargo train with full of graffiti art passing by from the very top of the East Bluff. Also saw some big black birds known as turkey vultures for the first time. Later I came to know that Cherokee Nation gave them the honorary name of "Peace Eagle" as from a distance they resemble eagles and the fact that they can not kill their prey.
Flickr Album
Park Trail Guide
There are some good hiking trails around the lake. It is a beautiful glacier formed lake surrounded by high rocky bluffs. We did the full loop around the lake both the East and the West bluff trails and other small trails connecting them, around 2.5 mile loop. The famous Balanced Rock and Devil's Doorway rock formation are on the East side...was lucky to see a bunch of rock climbers climbing the rocky bluffs. This was my first experience seeing rock climbing in a natural set up.
The fall color view from the top was stunning. It was like a colorful canvas. Interestingly, there runs a rail road passing across the south shore of the lake in the park. I really enjoyed the scene of a cargo train with full of graffiti art passing by from the very top of the East Bluff. Also saw some big black birds known as turkey vultures for the first time. Later I came to know that Cherokee Nation gave them the honorary name of "Peace Eagle" as from a distance they resemble eagles and the fact that they can not kill their prey.
Flickr Album
Park Trail Guide
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