You Know Your Up Nort' When...

..the gas station lacks the ability to pay at the pump, but also does not require you to pay before dispensing.  This is just but one feature of being in northern Wisconsin.  Several weeks ago, as summer began to take full swing, the Milwaukee Journal wrote an article noting that Wisconsinites cannot agree on where "Up North" begins.  In a reader poll Highway 8 garnered more votes, than any of the other five choices.  Some say Up North is a state of mind.  I myself tend to view Up North as a matter of physical and cultural geography--which help form the state of mind.  Clearly, certain geographic elements north of Hwy 8 are also present south of Hwy 8.  As much as people today tend to like a clear demarcation, there is no magic dividing line; it is not a matter of math; there is no clear cut geographic boundary.  This post will focus on a recent camping trip that my wife and I took Up Nort' last week, when I noticed elements of what, in my mind is "Up Nort'".  Dat's (a little Wisconsin lingo) what this post is about.  Not all elements listed are unique to northern Wisconsin, but together they form place--both physically and culturally.

Big Manitou Falls, Pattison State Park
 Aug. 2017 photo

Formation of a state of mind by being up north reminds me of a story.  After my mother passed away in 1980 my Dad and many of the younger kids would travel to our Aunt and Uncle's cottage south of Rhinelander.  Even though it is south of Hwy. 8, it belongs to northern Wisconsin.  In any event as we were leaving and driving the big Buick station wagon up and down the snow covered driveway my younger brother proclaimed: "This is Xanadu."

Indian Paintbrush flower
August 2017 photo

So what traits make Xanadu?  We will begin our venture at the intersection of County Highway B and County A in Douglas County, WI.  After filling up with gas in McFarland we luckily came upon a filling station, over five hours later, at the above mentioned location only four miles from our destination--Pattison State Park.  My wife, who was driving at this time, pulled into the station and got out to fill up with gas.  She was surprised to find that the pump lacked a place for a credit card.  She asked if we had to pay before filling up, and I said there is no sign, so just fill it up and we can pay indoors.  I mean, come on, down south in the state not only have we had credit card availability at pumps for years, but if you can't pay by a card, you have to actually pre-pay at the pump.  Of course while a person may run without paying for gas at this station, the pump is skimmer proof.  This rural station, was, except for the price, how one used to purchase gasoline 30 or more years ago. Not all is lost for the non-cash crowd as one can pay by credit card inside the store.  Similarly, after having attended church on Saturday evening in Gordon, WI we stopped at an Ico station along Hwy. 53 and County Y to fill up with gas.  This station had a place for a credit card at the pump, it also  has a new sign by the pump that read: "Available 24 Hours, Pay at the Pump."  Clearly, pay at the pump is a novelty in the area. You know you are up north when they advertise the ability to pay at the pump. 

Wildflower, Pattison State Park
August 2017 photo

..the churches are small, many having only a main aisle, and one priest says four masses at three churches.  This may be more a rural than a northern Wisconsin situation, but this is quite prevalent in the small communities of up state. The church we attended in Gordon Saturday afternoon was a small nice white clapboard structure.  If people still married in the Catholic Church it would make for a nice intimate wedding venue.  Many of the attendees were quite chatty and took time before mass to get reacquainted.  Showing the changing demographic of the church, only a few attendees were younger than my wife and I.  I am sure most persons would do not wish to take time out to attend a 4:00 pm mass on a clear, sunny summer Saturday with a high in the mid-70's.  But yet, here we were with a fairly good and enthusiastic number at this small church by the railroad bridge, and across from the post office in the unincorporated community of Gordon.  

Small Catholic Church near Clam Lake, WI
Agusut 2015 photo

...frac sand operations are, as the Donald would say, huge!  Train cars were a common view of the railroad tracks which parallel Hwy 53 near Spooner, WI.  Large frac sand mines operate in this area, and massive sand piles are present with sidings full of rail cars to be loaded with the plentiful quartz crystal used to obtain every ounce of oil out of rock deep below the surface of the earth.  Like most mining operations, it rapes the source of the mineral for the benefit of other locations, leaving the local region to pick up the external cost of the mining operation.  And to think, I thought they mines by Tomah were large.  All for cheap gasoline.

Sign at Amnicon Falls State Park
August 2017 photo

...you can travel down a state highway and not have a paved intersecting road for miles.  Yes, miles and miles.  Did I say miles and miles?  Try Hwy 35 in Douglas County.

Foam circle formed by Black River just upstream of Big Manitou Falls
August 2017 photo

...forests are abundant.  Whether in a wetland, or on a hillside forests are abundant as is the eponymous logging truck. Down south has corn, but up north has logging operations.  The pines produce a nice aroma to conjure up images of Christmas.  Even though that holiday is months away, the temperatures can tell a different story.

Timm's Hill, highest point in Wisconsin
2015 photo

...it gets down into the 40's during an evening in the first half of August.  Yes, it can get cold.  Of course, we also had a daytime high just near 63 on Thursday.  The low of 49 is attributed to a clear sky with no breeze, and the cold day is attributed to a cloudy rainy day.

Totogatic River, near Minong, WI
August 2017 photo 

...leaves start to change in mid-August, showing the fleeting nature of the summer season.  Visiting a brother a few years ago near Conover the temperatures were in the low 60's (yes, cloudy and cold) in late June.  One sister asked if they had had their week of summer or was it yet to come.  Weather is unpredictable.

Pattison State Park
August 2017 photo

...clean water with little algae.  This is one reason to travel up north, particularly if you like swimming, even if the water is cold.  Rivers and lakes are also great for canoeing and kayaking.  There area also water falls in parts of northern Wisconsin, created by past faults of the earth and erosion of softer layers of rock.  As a friend of mine once said on our trip to the boundary waters years ago, "you don't have to mow  the lakes" as needs to be done in the Madison area (harvest seaweed).

Black River, downstream of Big Manitou Falls, Pattison State Park
August 2017 photo

...bears.  Are black bears becoming more abundant?  On a hike Saturday a few miles north of Minong, WI, we came across some large fresh bear tracks in the sand of the path.  My sister-in-law was scared.  Two years ago my wife and I saw a mother bear and two cubs come out of Day Lake right next to the beach.

Bear print near Minong
August 2017 photo

...second homes.  Second homes from three season cottages to, well, mansions, are abundant along the lakes and streams of northern Wisconsin.  By state law the water is under the jurisdiction of the public.  When I first started in the planning field the state required local units to adopt regulations to help protect the waters and the view from the water.  All, in all, the 75' setback is a good thing, although it makes little sense in areas densely developed before the regulations came in place.

Bears at Day Lake, near Clam Lake, WI
August 2015 photo

Up north is the confluence of streams into rivers.  It is also the meeting place of water and woods which together make it the north woods.  These physical geographical features help inform the culture. It is a good example of the interplay of different fields of geography. It is the physical traits that have led to the second homes.  It is the physical traits that have led to cleaner water.  If farm fields were abundant as they in the south, the lakes would be just as dirty from erosion of sediments, and the phosphorous and nitrogen they carry.

Amnicon Falls, east of Superior, WI
2017 photo

It may also be the rural nature that gas stations just do not sell enough product to warrant a new pump to allow you to pay at the pump. It is a credit to that rural culture that one does not have to pre-pay at the pump.  Land, however, has a finite carrying capacity, and an overload of that capacity can lead to negative consequences, like algae growth in the water, and sediments building up in the streams and lakes. The proper land ethic is important to protect the waters and forests of Up Nort' so that they do not loose the physical elements that framed the culture and help create that state of mind.  The land ethic, however, needs also to be practiced south of Highway 8. It is the land ethic that helps create a place to be Xanadu.  

Photos by author