By Mary Fairchild Although it is possible to ride storm surf, tidal bores, and swell, what provides us with ‘the finest waves to ride’ is swell arriving on a suitable beach. Nigel Foster (1) During the first week of April, I was fortunate to be a part of Gini Callahan’s first sea kayak surf camp…
Category: Travel
Exploring the Great Basin: Anza-Borrego Desert, Calico Early Man Site, to Boarding the Coral Pink Sand Dunes
By Mary Fairchild Anza-Borrego Desert The Great Basin stretches from southern Idaho to Southern California which includes all, or portions, of Oregon, California, Nevada, Wyoming, Utah, and Colorado. Its southwestern parts are now known as the Mojave and Colorado Deserts of Southern California. In this large, generally dry, mountain-studded region of the West the rivers do not flow to the sea…
Mirror, Mirror, on the Water: A Tranquil Paddle at Mirror Lake State Park
By Mary Fairchild Chelsea Boots appreciates the serenity of Mirror Lake as she quietly discovers the oak/pine forest reflection before her for the first time. …there is rarely a wind-stirred ripple on the water’s still surface— Mirror Lake is a narrow river-like waterway between tall cliff-sided gorges that is about 4 miles long. An impoundment of Sauk County’s Dell…
Giant Fiberglass Statues: Do You Know the Wisconsin Dell’s Muffler Man?
By Mary Fairchild (updated 10/2015) Until recently, this Muffler Man had been behind the Mobil Station near the Kalahari Resort in Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin. Now he’s all groomed, repainted and stands “all lit up” by the Buffalo Phil’s Pizza & Grille. These giant fiberglass statues were designed to draw the attention of tourists in the latter half of the 20th century when the West opened…
Nestled Deep in Wisconsin’s Woods: A Rustic Wedding at Mirror Lake State Park
By Mary Fairchild The bride with her flower girls; Mirror Lake State Park Amphitheater, 10/25/14. Picture by John Nicholls. An outdoor wedding in the woods can be an incredible experience especially in the fall as the cooler days and cooler nights begin to open and reveal more and more of the landscape. The playfulness of crisp falling…
Kayaking the Apostle Islands: Kennedys, Native Americans, Religion, and Myth
By Mary Fairchild Paddling around Eagle Island, 2009; the island is protected by Critical Species Natural Area. Last fall, on September 24th, Chequamegon Bay JFK Day marked Kennedy’s visit to the Apostle Islands area thirty years ago (Sept. 24, 1963). Chequamegon was applied to the region by traders and missionaries which derives from a Chippewa(Ojibwe) word, shagwaumikong, meaning soft beaver dam….