#if this post gets like 100 notes ill post more nature stuff but thatll never happen.

[ashroomancer]

I recently went to Temperance River State Park in Minnesota for a camping trip and figured I'd share some photos and cool facts with Tumblr about it.

The river itself! The surrounding cliff sides are a fantastic example of the eroding power of flowing water over rock when given a long enough time to work. The water would pool into "bowls" in the rock that developed as water formed pools that would develop a whirl whose force and movement would erode the bowl making it larger. Once they eroded enough the river would continue down the cliff. You could see these bowls all through the river and in the above pictures!

The water was fairly murky and had a mild sheen as well as formed bubbles throughout. This is because this far north the water flowing south into Lake Superior (which Temperance does) will have water flowing into it from bogs. About 20 miles (32.2 km) is the Cascade River and its state park named after itself which also flows with the same coloration and foam and drawing from some of the same bog lands. Minnesota's north eastern third is a coniferous forest biome and the decay of pine needles and other plants that grow in the region lower the pH in the wetlands of the region around them, which is how the bogs develop. Scotland's peet bogs are developed in the same way.

These conifers have adapted to grow into the rock faces of the area as well. The rocky region is partially due to a volcanic history in the region meeting ice age glaciers. Glaciers that largely made Minnesota as ecologically and geologically fascinating as it is. The melting of the glaciers here started the process by which this, and many over rivers and lakes here formed. As they melted the flowing water formed the divots in the ground that the future rivers would later carve their paths deeper into. You can still see those layers in the rocks in the above image.

I saved my most gorgeous image for last. A lot of this information came from local signage but also from my long history of learning about the ecological minutiae of my home through interest and study. I know not everyone can make it to places like these so I hope this slice of my adventure could bring you even a sliver of the joy it brought me a marvel at it in the context of my love for nature.