On Feb 10, 9:25*pm, jeff wrote:
On 2/10/2011 9:24 PM, Giles wrote:





On Feb 10, 6:19 pm, *wrote:
On 2/10/2011 5:40 PM, Giles wrote:

Speaking of brookies, I heard a bit of a program on climate change on
public radio yesterday. *Best guess predictions based on current best
bet climatological models are that coulee country could well lose
anywhere from 30 to 90 percent of its brook trout suitable habitat in
the next half century or so. *I say **** a bunch of Fawn Lake and get
back up here in early June. *Deluxe accommodations. Home cooked
meals......and everything you ever wanted to hear about chestnut,
walnut, butternut, hickory, hazel, etc......all at no extra charge.
Hiking available on request.....if you insist.

sounds great...i'll need to see what's happening hereabouts first as i
have a 2 week trip planned in march, and a bit of home construction - an
addition to the house - beginning soon, which is guaranteed contractor
hell.

One could say, "think of it as an adventure!", * * * *

but then, one has heard that said to bone marrow transplant
recipients.....and donors. * * *

but, for pre-planning and full-of-hope, good intention purposes,
what's the nearest airport...milwaukee?

La Crosse (LAX), about 25 miles down the road. *Nice view of the
father of waters on the approach.....not to mention on landing.

Not a "major" airport by any stretch of the imagination, but it
definitely has regularly scheduled flights to and from Milwaukee and
Minneapolis (the latter being marginally closer and perhaps a bit
cheaper) and probably Detroit and Chicago as well, though I haven't
actually checked on the latter two.

In any case, Milwaukee and Minneapolis are the closest major airports
and are about equidistant from Sparta at roughly 3 hours' drive, and
would probably represent a substantial savings over flying directly
into La Crosse. *Either way is a nice enough drive.....in
daylight.....otherwise its just a three hour drive. *Not a problem.

giles
who has never actually experienced it himself, but supposes that
landing in/on/next to one of the world's great rivers has a certain
charm all its own.....at leat at this time of year when, in these
latitudes, it essentially completely frozen over. * * *

having never seen a full grown chestnut tree, and as an admirer of the
coulee country streams (at least to the extent my weak grey matter
allows a recollection - i do remember an apparition, a log that
miraculously became a fish - and, trout that shared a universe with
cows...well, i'm on go if it can be fashioned from the rough fabric that
usually envelopes me. another trip to wisconsin seems a worthy
adventure...not to ignore or minimize your own good company (and
cooking). it would be excellent luck to see joel and george and becky
and...well...june is a lifetime from now, and one i hope to live. *i'll
start checking flight schedules and costs. you start checking on the
spotted cow...

jeff

Many of the trees have succumed to the chryphonectria, and we find
more infected individuals all the time. However, there are still
plenty of apparently healthy adult trees left. You'll be impressed by
how rapidly they grow.

The log that became a fish was, most appropriately, in Timber Coulee.
A recent acquaintance showed me a photo of a fish his young son caught
(on a worm) in a stream not far from there (or from some other waters
we sampled.....or from here, fot that matter) a couple of years ago.
Brown trout.....29 inches.

I'll make an announcement of some sort in a couple of week.....after
I've had some time to think about logistics. We'll see who we can
dredge up.

giles