sprucegoose: Beaver Creek Valley State Park

About Me

Location: MInneapolis, Minnesota, United States

I am now a simple Grandpa who's life is made richer as each grandchild is born. My wife and I have raised five children and the 30 year love labor of raising them has begun to yield sweet fruit..... And then there are fruits of 30 years in ministry ... I am a satisfied old man full of the joy of the Lord.

Thursday, July 27, 2006

Beaver Creek Valley State Park

My posting is lacking lately. It is summer and there are just too many activities. This last weekend my family (10 adults 1 really cute and pleasant grandchild and 2 more "in the oven")
went on the first of our annual, twice-a-summer season campouts. We went to a little known Beaver Creek Valley State Park. It is near La Crosse and in the SE corner of the state.

The features of this park are non-spectacular. The main one is its low use. The second one is a pristine trout stream. The third is the cool fact that there are almost no mosquito's due to the steep hills and valleys, moving water and cool temperatures. We were there at the hottest part of the summer, when the temps were near 100 only a few miles away. In this valley the temps were more like 85 and each night the valley cooled off enough that you crawled deeper into your sleeping bags.

Another outstanding feature is the amazing variety of birds. Some you will not see anywhere else in the state. This is also due to the trout stream and foliage. Our campsite was one of the group camp sites and it is cart in only. The birds were undisturbed and everywhere. I have included a few pictures of some of the birds we saw. Left to right they are 1. American Redstart 2. Acadian flycatcher 3. Evening Grosbeak

Life has many small pleasures if you know where to look.

2 Comments:

Anonymous said...: Go bug-eaters! At first I thought you were lacking because of the Israeli war. But it's good to hear you're absent because of the season again. That's cool. Looking at the comments, I'm quite sure I'm the only one who reads your blog anyways. I didn't know what to do. One day, my wife saw me spinning around in a circle, both rotating and revolving, like the Earth around the Sun. She quickly brought the laptop in front of me, showing the following two websites, and that calmed me down.

www.themedialine.org
www.littlegreenfootballs.com

But, seriously. I'm glad your grandson is maybe half as cute as my new, second, nephew. Man!
I missed out on Boundary Waters with my Dad and brother this year. They just got back. They caught a state record-breaking small-mouth bass but have no proof -- no camera etc. The record is 8lbs. They're quite sure it was at least 10lbs. It was 18+ inches long. Last year the small pleasure was the fog rising from the secluded waters early in the morning. Today the small pleasure is our new monster digital camera with a new monster lens... to capture those sweet sweet small (visual) pleasures.; 12:38 AM, July 28, 2006
The Charlebois said...: Wait just a minute, Carlton, I read this blog, too! :)
Dad, i had a blast camping this weekend. But you forgot about the two grand-dogs! :)
Love you; 3:52 PM, July 28, 2006