Tips and tales about keeping water clean
We started our trip at the County Rd K landing (Namekagon River), near Trego, Wisconsin, and ended four days later at the Lower Tamarack landing (St. Croix River), 47-miles downriver. To avoid using a shuttle or bringing two cars, I brought my mountain bike along and rode back to our put-in at the end of each day to bring our truck and camping gear down to the next location.
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Tanners Lake is part of the Ramsey-Washington Metro Watershed District (RWMWD), and the district has worked hard to improve and protect water quality in the lake over the past 20 years. In fact, Tanners was one of the first lakes in Minnesota to be removed from the state’s impaired waters list (in 2004) after phosphorus levels went down and algae stopped being a problem.
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There is an art to meandering in the woods. For Trout Brook and other naturalized streams, the “wiggles” allow for different types of habitat that fish need.
Sometimes people need a pause to wander in the woods as well.
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Like any good wilderness adventure, our day featured a stimulating mix of peaceful solitude, surprising discoveries, playful rest time, and harrowing travel.
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Look! There’s a yellow flower growing in that jagged sidewalk crack, but watch out! You almost stepped on the crack and everyone knows that would break your mother’s back. Is it a weed or is it a flower? I guess that depends on who you ask, but rub it on your chin and see if…
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We went to the woods on Sunday afternoon to enjoy fresh air, warm sun reaching through frostbitten air, and no other humans in sight. For the dog, it was just like any other day. She had no idea that the world was turning upside down as she galloped across the blackened prairie, still charred from…
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Design with Nature Conference: Sat., Feb. 29 in St. Paul “What is that over there?” “It’s the wild,” said the mole. “Don’t fear it.” “Imagine how we would be if we were less afraid.” – Charlie Mackesy, The Boy, the mole, the fox and the Horse A friend gave us a new book for Christmas…
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A grasshopper perches on a tattered black-eyed susan. Two red and black striped beetles dance a tango atop a lilac spray of vervain. Gentle summer breezes carry the sound of laughter as an impish four-year old boy balances carefully on a time-weathered rock. Around him, the swaying grasses, muted prairie colors, and tumbled down, lichen-covered…
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Nestled deep in the woods on the north side of Stillwater, Fairy Falls is a well-loved and well-guarded local secret. Unless someone tells you where to go, you’d never think to park on the side of the road and hike through the brambles on an unmarked trail in search of a cascading waterfall, steep gorge…
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The first thing you need to know is that at least one child will become ravenously hungry the instant you’re out of sight of the parking lot. Be prepared to fuel a four hour adventure in the wilderness, even if you are only taking a 30 minute walk in the park. Also, don’t imagine that…
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