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| As we come into town, we think, "Do we really want to be here?" |
We have driven through Wisconsin near the Dells, dozens of times, but have never stopped before ... til now. It is one of those places we usually try to avoid, but sooner or later you just gotta go. Kinda like Graceland. Sure enough, it was a crass, over-commercialized, tacky tourist trap. It is probably like Disneyland for a 6-year old, but I don't see the appeal for a mature adult. There is a central business district with a narrow street that is like downtown Gatlinburg. Then there is a parkway out of downtown that is like Pigeon Forge. The worst of both worlds. There are water parks, roller coasters, upside down jumbled mansions, Ripley's Believe It or Not, fortune tellers, more water parks, Roman amphitheaters, tee shirt shops, a life sized Trojan horse, human slingshot aerial thrill rides, bungee slingshot rideie things, more tee shirt shops and more water parks.
While all those things were a site to behold and somewhat
interesting in their own right, that was not why we went to the Dells.
I wanted to ride the "Ducks"!
Before all this amusement park crap was built, the Dells was a scenic
destination to experience the unique geologic features on this section
of the Wisconsin River. In 1946 the Original Wisconsin Ducks were first
launched in the Dells. The Ducks were WWII surplus amphibious
vehicles.
Duck Vitals:
- 31' long, 8' wide, weighs 7 tons
- Originally powered by a 270HP GMC gas engine, most have been modified to a 115HP Cummins diesel.
- For land travel: 10 forward speeds, 2 reverse speeds, 4 or 6 wheel drive, 50 mph
- For water travel: 21" propeller, 6 knots
- Produced by GMC from 1942 until 1945
For more information on Duck origins and history click
here. This is cool stuff!
We arrived in town about noon and were hungry. Soon we saw a delivery car for Moose Jaw Pizza and Brewing Company, and we just had to go there. The food was overpriced and the pizza was just fair, but it was worth it to see the delivery cars.
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| We saw these guys driving around town, so we just had to go to the Moose Jaw |
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| Dorcas has new antlers! |
After lunch we went to buy tickets for our ride on the Ducks. The lady at the ticket counter said we could buy tickets for any other attraction at half price. The Ducks toured the so-called lower Dells, a section of the river below the dam. There was a boat ride that tours the upper Dells, and included a section we had paddled a few days before. What the heck; it's only money, so we bought tickets for an upper boat tour.
We did the ducks first and that was a blast! I would do it again if we find our way back here. The route was about 8 miles and 1 hour, and we did several "splashes". We also toured some of the wooded park land in the area.
The boat tour was OK, but I'd skip it next time. It took us to several named features on the river, namely Stand Rock and Witches Gulch, where we got off the boat to tour the features. There were boardwalks and paved paths at both places and a cheesy snack bar and gift shop. The tour lasted about 2 hours and covered about 11 miles.
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| The "Ducks" graveyard |
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| On the Wisconsin River |
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| Another way to travel |
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| Another Duck hitting the beach |
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| Hitting the water |
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| Through the woods |
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| They use Ducks for shuttle buses around town. I doubt these are still amphibious |
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| Wisconsin Dells Ducks ride |
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| Here are the Cambrian limestone bluffs that made the Dells famous |
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| Meeting another tour boat like ours |
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| Witches Gulch |
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| Stand Rock |
Several times during the tour the guide mentioned the jumping German shepherd at Stand Rock. I expected to see the dog jump from some great height into the river. That would be cool. Instead the shepherd jumped a 5' gap between Stand Rock and the adjacent cliff. Not so cool. The handler pitched a dog biscuit from the cliff, and the dog looked back like "What? You want me to jump over there?" Then he pitched another biscuit, and the dog jumped. He coaxed him back with yet another biscuit. I don't know if they ever lost a dog, but there were 4 up on the hill this day. This event celebrates photographer H.H. Bennett, who explored the area in the 1890s and made photos of his young son Ashley making the same leap. That photograph was famous for proving Bennett's invention of the instant shutter and his stop-action photography technique, at a time where most photos required an exposure of 30 seconds or more.
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| Historical graffiti. This would get you a $1000 fine if you did it today |
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| Dorcas in Witch's Gulch |
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| Want a $4 soda? There was a snack bar and gift shop at each of our two stops on the boat tour. |
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| Our kindred spirits. I hope they weren't cursing us, as we often curse the tour boats. |
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| Wisconsin Dells Boat Tour |
4 comments:
Witches Gulch looks really neat. Can you paddle through there?
Looks like a neat place to paddle.....follow the boat and listen to what is being said.
To paddle Witches Gulch you would probably need 10" of rain and a Class V brace. It's a much nicer walk.
Patty, it would be a great place to paddle if it wasn't for all the motor traffic. I doubt we could keep up with a tour boat to eavesdrop on his narrative.
We once tried to follow a trolley on Jekyll Island. When he saw bikes following he would stop and very loudly ask them to pass and not start again until they did. Apparently they want you to buy a ticket.
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