Apr 29, 2018
North Freedom, Wisconsin (2015)
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North Freedom, Wisconsin (2015)
Spotted a Pileated Woodpecker (largest woodpecker in N. America) on the suet cage at my parents’ house just now. I just managed to get a shot through a window at a kinda weird angle, but at least you can tell what it is. For reference, the suet cage is ~5.6 inches on a side.
(Yes, these are the birds that Woody Woodpecker is [loosely] based on, complete with obnoxious “laugh”)
Fall colors are upon us here in Wisconsin. With a late October warm pattern pushing temps into the 70s, I booked last-minute vacation and hit the road. Full trip starts here on Thursday 10/19 and ends late Sunday 10/22 – stay tuned for more posts, there were over 10 stops and it takes time for photo processing. First stop was Natural Bridge State Park near Baraboo/Devils Lake.
Natural Bridge State Park
The park itself is relatively small at just over 500 acres and is day-use only. According to Wikipedia, this is the oldest site of human occupation (back to 9000-8000 BCE) and the largest rock arch in Wisconsin. From the parking lot it is only a short 1/4 mile hike to the arch itself, but the full trail runs in a 3.5 mile loop and traverses rocky outcroppings, dense forest, and cleared farm meadow.
Natural Bridge State Park
Natural Bridge State Park
Natural Bridge State Park
From below the canopy, leaves appeared neon bright at some points.
Natural Bridge State Park
Natural Bridge State Park
Natural Bridge State Park
I backtracked a few times just so I could do the whole trail, but mostly traveled in a clockwise direction. Heading away from the arch you cross a county highway through farm field. From atop that small rolling hill I could observe the widest angle of scenery. Favorite part? On an otherwise quiet Thursday morning, a single tractor cruised down the road and was the only traffic in sight.
Natural Bridge State Park
Natural Bridge State Park
Natural Bridge State Park
Natural Bridge State Park
Natural Bridge State Park
Natural Bridge State Park
Hiking Data
Nothing too crazy here. Most difficult part was south of the highway where the trail was completely covered in leaves and easy to lose. Many fallen trees on the trail you have to climb/scramble over. Mostly easy with a few sections of stairs or steep inclines. Only a few other hikers that stayed north of the highway.
Natural Bridge State Park
Natural Bridge State Park
Natural Bridge State Park
Natural Bridge State Park Fall colors are upon us here in Wisconsin. With a late October warm pattern pushing temps into the 70s, I booked last-minute vacation and hit the road.
I made my parents spend this afternoon driving around with me to view the fall colors. So this is the area in South Central Wisconsin where I grew up (and still live relatively near).
One of the nice things about growing up (and having family still reside) in a rural area is that sandhill cranes grazing by the side of the road is a relatively common sight.
Once they realized I was just a nerd with a camera they resumed picking through the grass as normal.
Steam and Snow! Mid-Continent Railway Museum—February 18, 1996.
Steam and Snow! Mid-Continent Railway Museum—February 18, 1996.
The heat of the summer is a nice time to reflect on a photograph that benefitted from a frosty day. Mid-Continent Railway Museum’s ‘Snow Train’ was an annual event that made the most of the weather and the equipment. Back in 1996, Dick Gruber and I spent two very productive days photographing the event. Saginaw Timber number 2 arrives at the station in North Freedom, Wisconsin on February 18,…
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Dr. Evermor's Forevertron - North Freedom, Wisconsin
For most of his life, Tom Every was a professional destroyer. Tom worked in Wisconsin as an industrial wrecker, thrashing old factories, breweries and any other building that stood in the way. But when he retired in 1983, he decided he would dedicate the rest of his life to being a creator: Dr. Evermor, to be exact.
Dr. Evermor is imagined by Every as a Victorian inventor from Eggington, England, with a back story involving a Presbyterian minister father and a traumatizing lightning storm. Dr. Evermor manifests his creativity in the Forevertron, a massive sprawling sculpture park in rural Wisconsin, one that Every or "Dr. Evermor" says will send him "into the heavens on a magnetic lightning force beam." Every also has put his sculptural skills to use at the nearby wonder the House on the Rock.
Made from industrial scrap, the sculpture park includes a decontamination chamber from NASA's Apollo project, dynamos built by Thomas Edison and scrap metal salvaged from an Army Ammunition Plant.
Plan your pilgrimage to Dr. Evermor's Forevertron with Atlas Obscura…