Author: Twelve Mile Circle
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Miscellaneous Bayfield Locations
Apostle Islands & Bayfield Peninsula, Wisconsin (August 2007) Stunningly clear views of the Apostle Islands and the mainland led the way to the Mawikwe Sea Caves. Now on our return trip, passengers jostled railings for viewing space as we sailed away from the northwestern tip of the peninsula towards the Bayfield marina. We completed our…
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Shell Falls and Devils Tower
Northern Wyoming (June 1992) Shell Falls We cut across northern Wyoming on Route 14 as we gradually began our Bighorn Mountains ascent. These mountains formed about 60 million years ago as the land forced upward. Erosion slowly scraped away the sedimentary rock in many places, leaving behind the harder granite beneath it. We entered the…
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Russian River Falls
Chugach National Forest, Cooper Landing, Alaska (July 2010) Right at the middle of Alaska’s Kenai Peninsula, just off Sterling Highway west of Cooper Landing, the Russian River Falls put on a spectacular show for those who follow a gentle trail through the woods (map). It’s not amazing because of any great vertical drops. No, the…
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Ribeira Grande
São Miguel, The Azores (Açores), Portugal (March 2001) Ribeira Grande, translates to “Large Stream” in English. It serves as the main town on São Miguel’s northern coast (map). A large stream runs through town as the name implies. It provided power for grain mills in the early days of settlement, and a town flourished along…
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Quantico Cascades
Prince William Forest Park, Prince William Co., Virginia (April 2011) We had an enjoyable overnight stay in Prince William Forest Park, tent camping with the Cub Scouts at the Turkey Run Ridge Group Campground. They were working on their Hiking Belt Loop and the den decided upon the Quantico Cascades Trail as their main afternoon…
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Niagara Falls
U.S. – Canada Border (August 5, 2003) If you’re in the area of course you have to visit Niagara Falls. We parked on the New York side, and walked across the bridge into Canada (map). This was our son’s first international trip. We bought him a T-shirt and he made us put it on him…
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Multnomah Falls
Eugene to The Dalles to Portland, Oregon (May 12, 1998) We struggled from Eugene to Portland on I-5 through heavy rain and cut East on I-84, enjoying remarkable scenery along the Columbia River gorge. Clouds began to dissipate as we pushed through the mountains and descended into Hood River. Sunny skies broke through by the…
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Mendenhall Glacier and Environs
The City and Borough of Juneau, Alaska, USA (August 1995) Mendenhall Glacier (map) forms just north of the Mendenhall Towers, a portion of the Coast Mountains that reach nearly 7,000 feet. The glacier trends south from this point until it empties into a beautiful lake about 10 miles northwest of the city of Juneau and…
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Glacier Bay Waterfalls and Terrain
Hoonah-Angoon Census Area of the Unorganized Borough, Alaska, USA (August 1995) Tarr Inlet Not all of the snow that falls into Glacier Bay region packs into glaciers that calve into icebergs hundreds of years later when it eventually flows into the sea. Some of it simply melts as the summer progresses and rolls as liquid…
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Great Falls Park
On the Virginia Side of the Potomac River (2008) Sitting along the wide, placid shoreline of the Potomac River in Washington, DC, it’s hard to imagine raging rapids crashing through a narrow gorge just 15 miles upstream. Here stand the mighty Great Falls, rushing from those first foothills of the Appalachian Mountains further west (map).…