tigertoy

Friday morning, I stopped at a large green area on the highway map called Black River State Forest. I was rather irked to discover that Wisconsin state parks demand $10 a day from visitors; to add insult to injury, they charge more for out of state cars than in-state (Hello? Aren't you supposed to be encouraging tourists to visit, not making them unwelcome?) And to add additional insult to injury, you have to pay even when there isn't a person there to take your money. I very nearly left in disgust, but I realized that my planned route would drop me pretty much into Minneapolis, and I'd get there a lot earlier than I meant to if I didn't spend some time somewhere. So I went ahead and paid.

With more research, I might have found a more exciting place to stop, but this was a somewhat interesting area. It was clear-cut and farmed until the Depression, and then the forest was allowed to return. The "State Forest" designation means that they still do logging, but hopefully more responsibly than in past years.

Orange Flowers and Butterfly
I started seeing these orange flowers north of Tomah. When I got to Minnesota, they were everywhere. This one had a little orange butterfly, so I took pictures.

Orange Flowers and Butterfly
closeup

Busy Yarrow
This flower had a wasp and a bee on it.

Warbler
Anyone want to play Name that Birdie?

Sandhill Cranes
The area where I first parked was beside a pond called a "flowage". Across the pond when I came back from my walk there was a pare of cranes.

White Stripe Butterfly (top view)
Another thing I started seeing all over when I went north was these butterflies. They look a lot like my local Red-Spotted Purple, but with a white stripe on both sides of the wings.