Walls of ice churn up the landscape leaving in their wake gravel, sand, silt and clay; filling in the valleys, grinding down the ridges and accumulating in piles. A steady flow of Canadian granite emigrating to what is now the Unites States. Massive lakes form behind these piles of rock and sand. Eventually their contents breach, leaving behind vast flats, wide river valleys and sand counties. These boulders, rocks, sand and clay are known a glacial drift.
There are pockets of the great white north that were spared from the most recent wall of ice. In these places the valleys and ridges remain. And roads, glorious roads! It's know by geologists as the driftless.
One of the best documentaries about the coulees and ridges we ride through was put together by Untamed Science, an "extremely passionate group of scientists, teachers and film makers." Mysteries of the Driftless is a 25 minute film that highlights some of the most unique aspects of this area.
Another short worth watching, put together by fellow blogger over at The Winona Fly Factory.
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- Ride North
Jason, you and I seem to running down the same coulee's lately. Over the last few weeks I've read "Crossing the Driftless: A canoe trip through the Midwestern Landscape" and then almost on top of that one, "Going Driftless", both of these the result of searching for a book friend Tom suggested "Driftless" by Rhodes....still haven't read that one but it's next.
ReplyDeleteI seem to be making the Kickapoo Valley my 2nd home these days and have been exploring and learning more all the time. Have you seen Brad's Blog? http://bradlfhist.blogspot.com/
Many of your photos look Very familiar :)
Thanks for this one!!
Sounds like you found some good reads, I'll have to dig one or two of those up. Brad's blog has some good local history, I liked reading about how people came to live there and what they ended up doing. Thanks.
DeleteOne of these day's I'd like to take the bike out to the Avalanche Hunt & Fish club for a day or two. Set up camp and do some fishing in the evening and again in the morning. Then cruise back. (all my best ride ideas come in the winter) I'd love to know more about the history of that place, the whole town is just one family and a couple of buildings.
Glad you enjoyed the videos. I think it's true that most people don't know what we have just an hour from the cities.