Wisconsin Dells 2
The lady who checked us in at the campground suggested that get a feel of what the Dells is really about we should take a river boat trip to see the actual dells. Good advice.
We took the first trip of the day on a two hour trip on the upper river. Very informative and nonstop views of amazing geology and action of wind and water – mostly water.
Dells is a shortening of original voyager French name for the area – Dalles. Like city in Oregon on Columbia River. Both named for same reason. Dalles means a rapids or narrows on a river.
Profile of face. Named for local native American chief.
The boat trip makes two stops. First stop is to walk up a slot canyon called Witch’s Gulch. So narrow in spots you have to twist body to fit through.
Second stop is at Stand Rock. This spot and the ingenuity of a photography pioneer opened interest in the Wisconsin Dells to the world. Don’t have name of photographer in my head. Easily researched. He developed camera and technique that allowed instant photography. Prior to then subjects had to hold poses for up to five minutes. Stop action photos were now possible. People did not believe his pictures were real. They thought jumping subjects were suspended by hidden wires. To prove authenticity of stop action photos the photographer took his son to Stand Rock. Son had to jump over and back seventeen times before his father could get proper picture. Hard to claim use of wires here. This picture is now in the Smithsonian. The rock still looks the same today. The tree is taller.
Today they use a German Shepard to demonstrate the leap.
This is what first brought people to visit the dells, thanks to the informative efforts of a few individuals.
The touristy stuff came much later and thankfully is not visible or hearable at all from the river.
Aptly named formation.
Have not yet seen a fly this large but the trip is young yet.
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