Winter Camping in the Refuge, Goose Island

My husband and I like to do a lot of outdoor activities together.  Winter camping isn't one of them. Along came Larry. Larry, Mike's sidekick, is game for just about anything.  I generally show up at some point to hang out, take some photographs and then escape to a warmer, safer place. Let the high jinx ensue. So when the temperatures were dipping down into the single digits, they were in their zero degree bags, happy as can be.  I was at home in bed, happy as can be.

The sun was just starting to dip when I arrived.

Goose Island is on the Mississippi River, in the middle of the Upper Mississippi National Wildlife Refuge.  All you can see are woods, a bluffline and the river stretching out in front of you.

Here's my White Fang shot.

The refuge is 261 miles long.

It begins at the Chippewa River near Wabasha, Minnesota and ends near Rock Island, Illinois, spanning four states.

At the campsite with Larry and another recruit, Tripp.

Hey, they're multiplying. Larry met Joe, on the left, in the parking lot and invited him out to the campsite. True story. Joe was wearing a lightweight wool coat and Puma tennis shoes. He might not have had socks on. He did not camp overnite.

There are over 400 camp sites at Goose Island.  There isn't much competition in early March.

Mike staked out this hovel where they ended up building a campfire and hanging out.

They lived through the night. My husband told me the next day that Tripp fell through the ice. They had gone for a walk the next morning. The sun was shining, warming up the ice and there was a crack in the ice from a tree. As they were noticing this, crack, and Tripp is thigh deep in water. I'm gasping as he's relaying this to me. 

Me: "So he went straight home, I assume?"  

Mike: "No. We walked back to the camp site and he dried everything in front of the fire."

Winter camping is not for wussies.

An Afternoon with the Goose Island Birds

I took the afternoon off and planned a special photo shoot with my husband. Soon we would be ice skating in the beautiful frosty marsh under a setting sun. One problem. There were big puddles, bumpy patches and lumpy gray slush where there had been a glossy, smooth perfect ice skating rink.  
January 6th and 50 degrees. Sigh. We switched gears. This isn't hard to do in La Crosse. As part of the Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge, there are a number of scenic places to
spend an afternoon. We drove along the Great River Road on Highway 35 and landed at Goose Island, a county park that is also an island in the Mississippi River. It is located in the heart of the La Crosse District of the Upper Mississippi River Refuge. Considered one of many birding hot spots in La Crosse County, it could be a nice place to spend an afternoon.

Black-capped Chickadees everywhere (North American songbird)

The Wisconsin Great River Road runs through the center of the Mississippi River Flyway, a superhighway for migrating birds, such as songbirds, waterfowl, shorebirds and raptors.  

Mike is a bird nerd and has this down to a science.  I just like to follow him around with my camera and breathe it all in.  We didn't see any real unusual birds but it's pretty cool to have a variety to look at and watch them come in so close.  

Bird whisperer

Downy Woodpecker

Red-bellied Woodpecker

Tufted Titmouse

White-breasted Nuthatch, a small North American songbird of the nuthatch family



Northern Cardinal













I did finally tire of the birds for the moment.  Mike had long since gone.  I stood around watching 
the sky.

I thought I'd stalked the sky long enough so I got in my car and drove home through La Crosse.

And then I saw this.  Maybe I didn't need to head home so fast.  
That sky wasn't done with me yet.























Sigh.  And now I can say goodnight.