Driftless Region
What if I told you one of the most beautiful parts of the country with spectacular views from dizzying heights was in the – Midwest? (As always, all images are best viewed full screen by clicking to enlarge)
Above - View from the top of a bluff in Minnesota
And what if I told you that specific area is called the Driftless Region? Don’t worry, my response before last month would have also been, “Yeah, sure, Paul.”
But then, there I was in mid-October either looking up at vertical bluffs or standing on top of them with sweeping views you’d expect from here in Colorado, not in Minnesota, Wisconsin and even Iowa! It’s an area flanking either side of the upper Mississippi River that was missed by the glaciers of the last Ice Age. Apparently, much of the Midwest was quite hilly thousands of years ago. The glaciers not only flattened out those hills creating the current topography of the Midwest we all know and love leaving lakes and rocks (“drift”) and flat land in in its wake as it retreated. Not so in the Driftless Region where not only does Minnesota defy its slogan of “Land of 10,000 Lakes” there, it should even be called “Land of ZERO Lakes” although I doubt the Minnesota Tourism Board would go for that.
Intrigued by a photographer friend’s frequent descriptions of this region that he lives in, a group of us fellow photography friends met up with him and spent five days there exploring it.
The Mississippi River is the main attraction, of course. We rented a pontoon boat that came with a captain/tour guide at the helm and explored the back channels for several hours. Fall colors and plentiful eagles made this so special.
La Crosse, Wisconsin, our “home base” for most of the trip, as well as nearby small towns, made for some unique architectural photography, my second favorite genre of photography after birds, of course!
The small towns in the Driftless had interesting historic buildings…
…and great places to eat with fun names!
Above - Bucknuckles bar and great food were in the middle of nowhere
We stayed close to the River every day, stopping at local parks as well as wildlife refuges so that I could get my fill of bird photography. One of the attractions of this area is the migration of hundreds of Tundra and Trumpeter Swans that “chill” for a while before they continue their migration south. Sadly, we were a bit too early for the hordes but I did manage to find a few early pioneers.
Small birds were prevalent, too, including the Northern Cardinal that we rarely get here in Colorado.
And, of course, what would photographing birds be for me without an egret or two or three. We generally only get the smaller Snowy Egret here but on this trip it was the larger Great Egret. On my last day I got all of these shots, some with a unique perspective.
Above - Solitary Great Egret sits on log in the shadows of the Mississippi River in Riecks Lake Park
I even found a few Sandhill Cranes along the way, a bird I usually only see once a year here..
So there you have it. A “hidden” gem not so hidden now and well worth visiting, especially in the Fall. Feel free to leave me any comments here - I love getting your feedback!