Pictures and pictures and, oh yes, more pictures

I've got way too many pictures that I've been putting off posting for way too long. So, without further discussion, let's look at some of them.
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Here are some pictures of the fall colors taken from Mille Lacs Kathio State Park. This park is located about 30 miles south-southeast of Brainerd, between the cities of Garrison and Onamia. The first few photos photos I've posted were taken from the 100 foot fire tower located within the park. The view from the tower was simply amazing; not only could the colorful trees in the area be seen, but Mille Lacs Lake was also very visible as well.


A view from the tower


A view from the tower


A view from the tower


A view from the tower


A view from the tower


A view from the tower


A view from the tower


The sun peeked out of the clouds for a short time and really illuminated the colorful trees


A really nice reflection on the water can be seen in this picture


On the way down from the tower


An artistic shot of the tower (my camera wasn't even in B&W mode, either)


A small swamp in the park


A view from the Rum River


Just before the sun set, it peeked through a very, very small opening created in the clouds. The only thing illuminated by this little bit of sunlight was this colorful tree.


This tree stands out amongst all the others


The sunset along the Rum River


The park included a small waterfall created from a small dam owned by a power company
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The next set of pictures were taken at Crow Wing State Park, located about 7 miles south of Brainerd. The intent of going to this park was to look at the fall colors. However, upon arrival, I soon realized that this is more of a pine tree park and thus didn't have the most magnificent colors. Nevertheless, I still managed to take some good pictures.


This is a view of the Mississippi River. The Crow Wing River flows into the Mississippi at the spot located at the top and to the left of the Mississippi in this picture. Interestingly enough, the island created by the two streams that the Crow Wing River splits into to flow into the Mississippi is what gave the river (and later the county) its name. The island is said to look like a raven's wing by air. However, due to a mistake in translation, the word crow was used instead of raven.


Another view of the Mississippi River


The Shamineau House now sits on the site of what was once the town of Crow Wing


A view of the boardwalk meant to represent the one that originally went through Crow Wing


Along the park's nature trail
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Still some more pictures to post here. These ones were taken at the Gull Lake Recreation Area, where the Gull Lake Dam is located. The colors here were really nice. Equally as nice were the colors of the leaves that had already fallen and covered the ground.


The colors in the boat launch parking lot


A look at all the colorful leaves on the ground


Yellow trees


Along Cass County 77 near Gull Lake
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Another set of pictures here come from Sibley State Park about 10 miles north of Willmar. The day I visited was very cold and blustery -- the coldest day of the season so far -- and many of the leaves on the trees had already been blown off from a strong northwest wind. However, here are the pictures I was able to take.


There were still some good colors from the overlook at Mt. Tom


More of the colors at Mt. Tom


Looking southwest from Mt. Tom


The overlook structure on Mt. Tom


The leaves along one of the interpretive trails in the park


A look at the grass along the wetland interpretive trail


An overview of part of the wetland
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The final set of pictures were taken yesterday in Duluth. The trip would have been fairly uneventful -- and consequently not very good for taking pictures -- had the entire city not been covered in a thick fog. Although the fog was very thick everywhere in the city, it was much denser right at the lake and in the hills above downtown. The highest the visibility reached when I was there was 0.80 of a mile, otherwise it was all the way down to 0.10 of a mile for the majority of the day. Always an adventurer, however, I decided go to the top of Enger Tower, a very unpopular spot on this particular day for obvious reasons.


The lovely campus of The College of St. Scholastica -- at least lovely is how it should look on a clear day


At Enger Park


I'm sure the colors of the trees would have been pretty nice, had I been able to actually see them


Once again, the colors were probably pretty good...


The tower surrounded in fog


I know, I know...what did I expect it looked like from the top of the tower? Well, here's proof of what Duluth looks like in the fog. If you have good eyes, you just may be able to detect traces of tree branches in the bottom of this picture.


At Billings Park in Superior


The view of a foogy Lake Superior from Billings Park


The very nice trail in Billings Park that winds around the shore of the lake
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