Dino Chronicles: More of the Outdoors in Chippewa Falls

Wednesday, July 7, 2021

More of the Outdoors in Chippewa Falls - Blog Post #5

It’s been over six weeks since I spent the weekend with my friend in Chippewa Falls. Weeding through the over four hundred pictures I took means I am still dragging out the blog posts from those three days.

On Saturday, May 21, after we had seen everything we could at Irvine Park and after a relaxing lunch of I don’t even remember what, we drove over to nearby Lake Wissota State Park.

Where does the name Wissota come from? I always thought it was taken from one of the Native American languages. Nope – well – maybe you could say it sort of was.

Fun Fact: The lake was created in 1918 when the Wisconsin-Minnesota Light and Power Company constructed the hydroelectric dam on the Chippewa and Yellow Rivers. One of the engineers on the project, L.G. Arnold, shortened the two states’ names into Wissota. (The name Minnesota comes from the Dakota (Sioux) words meaning "sky-blue waters." The origin of the name Wisconsin was a bit more obscure, but I’m going to save you the long version and say it meant "red stone river" in Ojibwe and Sauk. Which must mean that Wissota would translate to "purple water". No?)

Must always get a picture of a feathered friend in the water.

As well as a human friend in the water.

And a bunch of strangers too.

Luckily the pollen was alongside the road instead of this thick in the lake.

Not only did we walk miles of trails at the state park, we also took a stroll one evening along the Old Abe Trail. (The story of Old Abe is another long one you can read about on your own.)

Beautiful wild flowers.

And fascinating pine cones which reminded me of old-fashioned Christmas tree lights.

God's art work.

But no matter where I travel and what I take pictures of, my favorite scenes are still the ones that remind me of where I came from and where my very soul belongs.