Just as in the first half of the month, showers and downpours were frequent. The heat dome that lingered over the central and northeastern regions of the country these last two weeks created perfect conditions for severe storms, tornadoes and rainfall across the areas of Iowa, Minnesota and Wisconsin that were just above the wicked heat front. Add that to a very wet April and May and it spells ground saturation and flooding.
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Many places in these states received two months of rain in just nine days in mid-June. Rivers, streams and creeks flooded throughout the region. Since most of this water makes its way to the Mississippi River, we have entered flood stage along it's length.
Here in La Crescent, the flood waters are predicted to crest sometime in the coming week (we are about 2.5 feet over flood stage). This is the highest flood stage in summer since records were kept starting in 1937. But with more rain predicted in the next few days, it is wait-and-see whether the waters go down or keep inching up.
Our temps were seasonal these two weeks. A hot day or two but we were mostly in the mid 70s-mid 80s. We had some cool mornings and some lovely non-humid days. We'll see what July has in store!
It was challenging to find days and places that weren't wet and mucky during this time. Many hiking groups throughout the region had to cancel, change locales or otherwise punt on planned hikes. I was able to squeeze in some good hikes and was lucky in my picks. The trails were solid and the lush plant and flower growth was explosive.
Woods and wetlands tended towards very high mosquito and gnat action and far less flora (although ferns and fungi are rocking there) during these two weeks. Flowers, birds and pollinators on blufftop prairies and on low trails, however, were in their glory. This is the time of year I shift away from woods walking and spend my time amongst the prairie flowers and birds. The woods will see me again in fall!
Stay tuned this yet week for a blog post recommending some prairie hiking trails perfect for the your summer Driftless adventures.
Plants
Wagon Wheel Trail, MN -wetlands
- Daisy fleabane
Canadian Anemone - Wagon Wheel Trail - Black-eyed Susan
- Indian hemp
- Purple meadow rue
- Rough cinquefoil
- Tall cinquefoil
- Fringed loosestrife
- Bittersweet nightshade
- Common milkweed
- Sweet Joe-Pye weed
- Showy tick-trefoil
- Canadian anemone
- Self-heal
- Prairie rose
Hixon Forest Prairie Trails (WI) - hill prairie/hardwood forest
- Interrupted fern
- Lady fern
- Maidenhair fern
- Butterfly weed
- Harebells
- Leadplant
- Jack-in-the-pulpit, past bloom
- Wild geranium, past bloom
- Large beardtongue
- Scarlet elf cap fungi
- Prairie fleabane
- Prairie rose
- Canadian black snakeroot
- Purple prairie clover
- White sweet clover
- Candle anemone
- Upright carrionflower
- Catmint
- Grey-headed coneflower
- Prairie coreopsis
- Tall thimbleweed
- Stiff goldenrod, unbloomed
- Poke milkweed
- White avens
- Wild columbine
- Hoary verbena
- Yellow salsify
- Woodland sunflower
- Black-eyed Susan
Holzinger Wildwood Trail (MN) - hardwood forest/bluff prairie
- Interrupted fern
Marge-high interrupted ferns
Wildwood Trail
Image - Lloyd Lorenz - White avens
- Lady fern
- Maidenhair fern
- Sensitive fern
- Prairie fleabane
- Daisy fleabane
- Turkey tail fungi
Vetsch Park, MN -hardwood forest/bluff prairie
- Death camas
- Spiderwort
- Harebell
- Butterfly weed
- Lady fern
- Maidenhair fern
- Bracken fern
- Tall meadow-rue
- Tall thimbleweed
- White avens
- Stiff tickseed
- Stiff goldenrod, unbloomed
- Common mullein
- Palespike lobelia
- Common milkweed
- Western dwarf cliffbrake
- Bloodroot, past bloom
- Jack in the pulpit, past bloom
- Wild geranium, past bloom
- Scarlet elf cap
- False Solomon’s seal, past bloom
- Prairie rose
- Northern bedstraw
- Leadplant
Winona East Lake, MN - wetlands/park
- Purple coneflower
- Large beardtongue
- Black-eyed Susan
- Spiderwort
- Tall thimbleweed
- Bergamot, unbloomed
- Cup plant, unbloomed
- Common milkweed
- Butterfly weed
- Flowering spurge
- Sunflower, unbloomed
- Motherwort
Fish Farm Mounds, IA - hardwood forest
- Two-flowered dwarf dandelion
- Maidenhair fern
- Lowland bladder fern
Lowland bladder fern - Fish Farm Mounds - Lady fern
- Sweet Joe-pye weed, pre-bloom
- Jewelweed, pre-bloom
- Giant ragweed, pre-bloom
- Woodbine
- Canadian honewort
- Common yarrow
- Daisy fleabane
- Creeping smartweed
- White avens
- Giant chickweed
- Virginia waterleaf
- Yellow wood sorrel
- Jumpseed
- Red clover
- Northern dewberry
- Wild geranium, past bloom
- Tall thimbleweed
- Canada goldenrod
- Blackseed plantain
Holland Sand Prairie, WI - sand prairie
- Deptford pink
Deptford Pink - Holland Sand Prairie - Narrowleaf hawksbeard,
- Smooth hawksbeard
- Flowering spurge
- Cylindrical thimbleweed
- Hoary vervain
- Hoary puccoon
- Purple coneflower
- Spiderwort
- Leadplant
- Horseweed
- Winged loosestrife
- Wild prairie rose
- Black-eyed Susan
- Prairie bush clover
- Prairie coreopsis
- Bergamot, unbloomed
- Hoary alyssum
- Yarrow
- Rough blazing star, unbloomed
- Oxeye daisy
- Woody plaintain
Wildlife
- Northern leopard frog
Widow skimmer dragonfly
Holland Sand Prairie - American eagle
- Doe and fawns
- Great blue heron
- Gray catbird
- Chipping sparrow
- Robin
- Common yellowthroat
- Downy woodpecker
- Hairy woodpecker
- Red-bellied woodpecker
- Northern Cardinal
- House wren
- Yellow warbler
- Song sparrow
- Red-winged blackbird
- Canada goose
- Deer
- Indigo bunting
- Eastern wood-peewee
- Eastern towhee
- Red-eyed vireo
- White-eyed vireo
- Bell’s vireo
- Tufted titmouse
- Black capped chickadee
- Northern rough-winged swallow
- Indigo bunting
- American redstart
- Wood thrush
- Cedar waxwing
- Baltimore oriole
- Least flycatcher
- Dickcissl
- American goldfinch
- Monarch butterfly
- Widow skimmer dragonfly
- Twelve -spotted skimmer dragonfly
What are YOU noticing on your hikes?
Two weeks of hikes:
Hikes below in bold color have links to previous posts with descriptions/location of the trails
Wagon Wheel Trail, La Crescent, MN; Vetsch Park, La Crescent, MN; Hixon Forest Prairie trails, La Crosse, WI; Holzinger Wildwood Trail, Winona MN; Lake Park Trail, Winona MN; Fish Farm Mounds, New Albin, IA; Holland Sand Prairie, New Amsterdam, WI; urban hiking, downtown Chicago , IL
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| Great blue herons taking advantage of a flooded field near IA's Fish Farm Mounds |
All images, unless noted - Marge Loch-Wouters
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