Seeing the Big Picture from great
riverside parks
Paddle Sports with Mike Svob I'm not a religious person far from it but there are places and occasions that invariably cause me to experience something approximating "religious awe."
Whenever I find an ancient fossil a trilobite, say sticking out of a riverbank, I make a beeline for it, then luxuriate in the look, the feel, the significance of it, the sudden reminder of my linkage with the earth of millions of years ago.
The experience is much the same during one of my hikes in the deserts and mountains of Arizona when I pick up a piece of broken pottery, examine its shape and painted markings, and reflect on the fact that the Hohokam civilization that produced it
preceded me in the same spot more than 2,000 years ago, living their lives quite successfully, thank you, without air conditioning and Starbuck's.
For me, such occasions are precious moments in time that break me out of my routine and remind me of my place in the bigger picture and of my paradoxical significance and insignificance. I'm obliged to recognize that the trilobite, the Hohokam pottery-maker and I are all participants in the same cosmic dance, and that in a sense we are all one.
This is not a new insight, of course. Mystics, religious seers and ordinary people with a modicum of sensitivity have recognized it for ages. But to directly and personally experience this recognition of oneness, of goose flesh-inducing wonder that's the relatively uncommon part. When you attempt to share such experiences with others, you're sometimes greeted with polite, bemused incomprehension, as if you're indulging in a flight of poetic fantasy, having a "zen moment," or
feeling the effects of "runner's high." It's a pity, because if more people were to experience and internalize the interconnectedness of all things, I'm sure we'd have fewer wars, a cleaner environment, etc.
The primary way that I know to experience such moments is to get out and do things especially quiet, wholesome activities like hiking, bicycling, running, cross-country skiing and (of course) paddling. Whenever I look back over my 30-plus years of canoeing and kayaking, I'm
amazed at the number of unique, life-enhancing, insight-producing moments that I would have missed out on if I hadn't simply been "out there."
For example, one location that always fills me with awe lies on the banks of the Crawfish River several miles upstream from Jefferson, Wisconsin. There, at Aztalan State Park, are found the remains of a community that thrived 1,000 years ago. Now the largest and perhaps most important archeological site in the state, Aztalan was once a
17-acre village surrounded by a wooden stockade with huge mounds at the corners. You can still climb the mounds and view the partially reconstructed stockade. The people of Aztalan were related to the Middle Mississippians who created the magnificent mounds in Cahokia, Illinois.
If you paddle the Crawfish from Milford to Jefferson (9.5 river miles), Aztalan makes a good stopping point along the way. Or you can visit Aztalan (accessed from County Trunk Q), and put in at the park and paddle
to Jefferson. Visiting the park by car is also an option, of course. I think you'll agree that there's something magical about the place, an almost palpable sense of connection with the mysterious people who, for some reason, abandoned the site around 1,200 A.D.
One of the great things about paddling is that it continually exposes you to marvelous riverside parks like Aztalan. Some, in their own way, are as awe-inspiring as Aztalan, while others are categorizable more as delightful
accesses or rest stops. There are so many that I can't begin to catalog (let alone describe) them all in a single article. But I would like to recommend a few that, in my estimation, are outstanding.
Wisconsin
Bois Brule River: the DNR scenic overlook (scenic indeed!) at the confluence of the river and Lake Superior, north of Brule.
Eau Claire River (Eau Claire County): Big Falls County Park, on both sides of the river at Class 3-4 Big Falls, upstream from Eau Claire.
Eau
Claire River (Marathon County): Dells County Park, in a gorgeous rocky canyon, west of Wausau.
Jump River: Big Falls County Park, alongside a 400-yard-long dells with many Class 2-3 drops, west of the town of Jump River.
Kickapoo River: Wildcat Mountain State Park, with excellent hiking trails and lovely cliff-top views of the river, south of Ontario.
Menominee River: Piers Gorge Park on the north shoreline, where you can view close-up a series of turbulent Class 2-4 drops, west of
Niagara.
Oconto River: 1) Bagley Rapids County Park, with riverside paths, south of Mountain; and 2) Copper Culture State Park, which commemorates the prehistoric people who left copper artifacts there, just west of the city of Oconto.
Peshtigo River: 1) Goodman County Park, at Class 3-4 Strong Falls, east of Laona; and 2) McClintock County Park, with its beautiful wooden footbridges, south of Goodman Park.
Pike River: Dave's Falls County Park, where you can hike alongside a series
of impressive waterfalls and drops, near Amberg.
Prairie River: Prairie Dells County Park, a mile-long dells, dammed-up until recent years, near Gleason.
Red River: Monastery Falls, a marvelous mini-canyon with Class 2-3 drops, near Gresham.
Sheboygan River: Falls View Park, a series of 3-foot to 6-foot ledges that gives Sheboygan Falls its name, in downtown Sheboygan Falls.
St. Croix River: Interstate Park, another magnificent dells, with cliffside paths and potholes to explore,
at St. Croix Falls/Taylors Falls.
Wisconsin River: Wyalusing State Park, with fantastic views of the confluence of the Wisconsin and Mississippi Rivers, near Prairie du Chien.
Wolf River: 1) Gardner Dam Boy Scout Camp (with permission), featuring suspension bridges and riverside paths, south of Langlade; and 2) The Dells and Big Smoky Falls, heart-stopping canyons, rapids and waterfalls, in the Menominee Reservation north of Keshena.
Illinois
Apple River: Apple River Canyon
State Park, a peaceful place to view some of the river's many cliffs, north of Stockton.
Kishwaukee River: 1) Belvidere Park, a model of what can be done with municipal riverfront development, in Belvidere; and 2) the series of inviting parks between Cherry Valley and New Milford.
Nippersink Creek: Glacial Park, a showcase of land forms left behind by the Wisconsin Glacier, near Wonder Lake.
Rock River: Castle Rock State Park, which features a riverside observation deck, south of
Oregon.
Sangamon River: Lincoln's New Salem Park, where Lincoln lived 6 years of his youth, south of Petersburg.
Vermilion River: Matthiessen State Park, which you can access by boat via a tributary creek if water-level and deadfall permit, near Oglesby.
Almost all of the above are accessible not only by boat but also by automobile and on foot. Whatever your mode of access, you're likely to be impressed, perhaps to the point of awe.
| |
