April 28, 2022
Field Trip Travel Stories
It was last semester, October of 2021. My geology class entered the bus en masse with all of our rain gear and lunch boxes. We were going to multiple places, beautiful places deep in nature, to study rocks and land formations. The first destination was Dave’s Falls. I had been here several times, but it was rather gorgeous at that time of the year. My class and I needed to take notes on the rocks of the area, making guesses on what type of rocks we saw and noticing the fractures and crevices to attain an idea on how they had formed. I could not help but notice the girl whom I had a crush on. She was a cultured nature-freak I had in a couple of my classes during that semester, but I missed my chances and will probably never see her again. The place was divine.
The next destination was to a waterfall called Long Slide Falls, pristine in all its beauty. This was my first account of being here, and it was one of the grandest waterfalls I have ever seen. I spotted many edible plants while I was there, including wintergreen and uva-ursi, but I needed to remind myself not to get distracted, as I was supposed to observe the rocks. Professor West made a statement that Amberg rock was prevalent there, and he briefly explained how those rocks were formed. Lunch was next on the list. I packed an apple, a Protein-3 snack, a fruit cup, and some Cheetos. There was a lake where some of the other classmates were dipping their toes in. The last and final destination was Piers Gorge, which featured a collection of rapids in the Menominee River. The formation of the rocks were rugged and bumpy, making it difficult to walk. Shale was prevalent there, as my professor explained, and some of us collected some of those rocks. I found more wintergreen to collect, but once again needed to remind myself not to get distracted. When the time was up and it was time to go back to Marinette, I was so sore and tired, but I felt so relaxed by the therapy of nature. All in all, this was the best field trip I have ever been on. I would like to return to these parks some time soon.—Conner Tuthill, Travel Editor