I finally made it back out to the Felsenmeer again, and I have also found some time to put together another blog post. For part 2, I promised I'd include some more details on where it is located, how to find it, and some geological info with links to research projects on the area...here goes.
Parking roughly 2.5 miles south of the Blue Hills Inn on Rusk County Hwy. W seems to be a pretty simple way to get there. I whipped together a Gmap Pedometer route to indicate which logging road I follow. There are 2 or 3 forks that shoot off from this trail going south, but taking a right at each will keep you moving west toward the Felsenmeer. Today I noticed a cairn on the last fork where a right is needed. At the cairn, there is a relatively steep, rocky hill that you must go up. Continue roughly another 300 yards and keep an eye out for a yellow No Motorized Vehicles sign on the left side of the trail. If the water is high enough (this year we have received substantial rain), you will cross a creek about 150 yards after the cairn, or roughly half the distance to the sign. Once you're at the yellow sign, hike another 100 yards in the woods directly behind this sign and you're sure to find it! Follow the rocks!
http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=4068448
Parking at the trail head roughly 2.5 miles south of the Blue Hills Inn (as seen on the GMAP above) has been the only way I have traveled to it. I am told that an entrance from the North is also possible...and I believe that the trail I chose simply continues and/or is the same trail as the North entrance. I may try this way another time...
Anyway, I guess at some point there were debates on whether or not this area being called a "Felsenmeer" was in fact a true Felsenmeer. For a little background, here's an excerpt from Wikipedia on what an actual Felsenmeer is...
--The term felsenmeer comes from the German meaning 'sea of rock'. In a felsenmeer (also known as a block field), freeze-thaw weathering has broken up the top layer of the rock, covering the underlying rock formation with jagged, angular bolders. Freeze-thaw weathering occurs as water that is trapped along microcracks in rock expands and contracts due to fluctuations in temperature above and below the freezing point. Felsenmeers are formed in situ, meaning that they are not transported during or after their creation.--
Some geology students from UW-Eau Claire did a research project on this area a few years ago. As stated in their report, they discovered that this is actually a talus slope, and the term Felsenmeer is incorrect...although the Wisconsin DNR still labels it as such. In order for it to be a Felsenmeer, the rocks would have been shattered by freeze and thaw in their current location, and could not be transported from somewhere else. The rocks that you now see were likely shattered on the hillside north and south of the canyon, and as the glacier's runoff carved out a channel the rocks fell to their current location. The rocks remaining on the hillside adjacent to the canyon may still be a true Felsenmeer.
The center of the canyon seems to maintain a fairly cool temperature throughout the entire year. I suspect that that the steep grade prevents the southern rocks from getting any sun. When I traveled there in April it was an 80 degree day and March was an abnormally warm month. Some snow remained in the valley weeks after almost all the snow in northern Wisconsin had melted. I'm not a botanist, nor was the person who informed me of this...but I was told that the fairly constant temperature of the rocks allows for the growth of very rare lichens and other plants not native to this area. Many of these species must be found much further north of here. I wish I had some more info on this. With that said, there certainly is some unique looking vegetation nearby, and the lichens provide the rocks with their strange blueish hue. Without these lichens present, the quartzite rocks would appear much more red or orange.
Honestly, I'm no expert on any of this really. Overall it was simply another enjoyable hike/bike out in the Blue Hills. With an abundance of farms, lakes, rolling hills, woods etc. around here, northern Wisconsin is nothing shy of beautiful...but if you're up for a little change of scenery, this is worth checking out. Other than that, I don't have much...
The photos are courtesy of Troy Lynch...with a little cheesy doctoring on my part. Also, as promised here are a few links for more info...
http://www.uwec.edu/geology/pdfs/felsenmeer.pdf
http://dnr.wi.gov/Org/land/er/sna/index.asp?SNA=74
http://gsa.confex.com/gsa/2007SC/finalprogram/abstract_119778.htm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?
