I've started to force myself to go out and photograph different locations across Minnesota and Wisconsin. I'm taking a random Saturday and driving, driving and driving to spots that I usually wouldn't go to. It is partially (ok, probably mostly) therapeutic; if I'm by myself I can go at my own pace and listen to my music as loud as I want and stop whenever and where ever I wish. The only rule is that I need to be back home before it gets *too* late. This past Saturday, it was a trip to western Wisconsin again to hit some state parks that I wanted to go to but never seemed to have the time. I stopped at Cascade Falls in Osceola as a warm up, then trekked it to Pattison State Park to visit the tallest waterfalls in Wisconsin. After that it was onto Amnicon Falls State Park. After a quick lunch/dinner, it was over to Jay Cooke again for sunset. Amnicon Falls State Park was was nothing short of amazing; waterfalls everywhere and these wonderful, tall pines. I walked across the covered bridge and they just made me stop in my tracks as they appeared in front of me as I exited the bridge; the sun filtering through them and the pine straw on the ground, even after most of the snow melted and the straw didn't wash away. I went back two or three times to try to see what angle I liked the best; I ended up going with the horizontal format which shows the bright blue skies and the sun coming through them. Amnicon Falls will definitely be a place I want to return to later this summer when things green up and the scenery is much, much different than it was this past weekend.
A gravel trail leads to an unknown destination. Lined with tall pines and a fence, the fog adds to the mystery of what is at the end of the road.
An early spring storm blows into the South Dakota Badlands.
