Ripley Esker

 This past weekend I went to the master naturalist convention at Cragun's resort near Brainerd. I arrived around noon for my field trip to the Ripley esker. We boarded a bus and headed south. We entered the southern area of the camp. In case you didn't know, an esker is formed by an underground river beneath a glacier.  As the glacier melts the underground river takes a curving shape like a snake. Silt, sand, gravel and rocks drop out of the glacier. Once the glacier is gone, the esker looks like a snake like hill. We walked from the bus to the west side of the esker. This part of the prairie beside the esker had been burned earlier this season. The plants were already coming back in brilliant green. We found lots of wild flowers including pussy toes, hoary puccoon, and prairie smoke. I like prairie smoke. In the picture below the flower is newer and hasn't gotten to the ethereal smoke like shape yet. Once we got to the far side of the esker we started walking up the slope. We walked along the top of the esker noticing the difference in plant varieties from the prairie below.  After an hour or so of walking in the rain we headed back to the bus. The bus took us to a SNA (scientific and natural area) near Little Falls. We spent another rainy hour walking there looking at the plants and the birds. After all that fresh air it felt good to board the warm bus and head back to Cragun's for dinner and a keynote speaker.

Prairie smoke in bloom.