11 FALL 2023 VOL . 05 / ISSUE 01
SNOWGOER . COM 12 abandoned taconite quarry that is now a destination for summer divers because of its incredible water clarity . That allows underwater exploration of old mining equipment .
This part of the ride east of the interstate took us over a lot of public land . We started in a county forest before hooking north and cruising through a good portion of the Black River State Forest toward the city of Hatfield and more county land .
The sandier soil in this part of the county makes it less agricultural than father west , and its trees also make it home to an incredible population of
porcupines . In fact , Schweitzer said seeing the clumsy-looking , quilled rodents on a pleasant winter day is quite common . Over the course of the day , we saw whitetailed deer and wild turkey , but no “ quill pigs ,” as some people call them . Coyote and black bear also inhabit the area .
As we hooked back toward Black River Falls and the interstate corridor , the roll of the land kept getting more interesting , and flat spots increasingly became rare . Through twists and turns and undulating landscape , we worked our way through a rural area north of town and suddenly found ourselves running parallel to the freeway . typically vary in height and age during the course of the ride , but within any given section they are all roughly the same size and spaced according to a plan .
The roll of the land is gentler on the east side , but it ’ s intermixed with occasional isolated hills or rock structures . This area is known to be a part of what geologists call the Central Plain . Part of its land was affected directly by glaciers , other parts by glacial runoff and the formation and emptying of Glacier Lake Wisconsin .
Prehistoric volcanoes also created the base of the land , both by forming some big hills and also by lining the sub-surface with iron embedded in granite . That in turn created mining in the area through the 1900s . Wisconsin ’ s deepest lake , nearby Wazee Lake , is an