Ideas for places to visit in the Midwest
Laura is holding these three hounds waiting for some others to catch up. The hunt this day was sparse as there were only a few scents to pickup. The hounds would eventually scour some fields down by the Missouri River before heading back up to the clubhouse and calling it a day.
To get this photo I had to sit on the ground (or a may have fallen) and used a 300mm lens to get a nice closeup of the bassets.
A fall scene in Weldon Spring, Missouri. This area sits on bluffs above the Missouri River, just west of St. Louis County. The area provides space for equestrians and roving “foot pack” hunters with their Basset Hounds. Following the hounds through the woods and pastures can be a great way to spend a fall afternoon.
I liked this scene with the fall color and the lone horse in the pasture. Probably trying to get the last good grass of the season.
This photo was taken with a 300mm lens as the horse was not very close. The lens condenses the distance and beyond the horse is a large pasture with an even larger pasture beyond the gate. It looks like there is a home beyond that which is probably about 3/4 of a mile away.
Meet the latest member of our family: Berick’s Lilly Blossom. This photo of Blossom was taken the day she arrived at the tender age of 9 weeks. You have to love the Basset names (all important for the breed) and their full AKC name. Blossom’s dad (Sire) is: Triple Hill Farm’s Mister Homer and mom (Dam): Long Range’s Zinnia Princess. Here, the first part of their names are the Kennels they came from but Blossom’s first name comes from the street where she lives.
Blossom comes from Triple Hill Farms near Jefferson City, run by a very nice group of people.
The bandstand in front of Forest Park’s Municipal Opera is a fun subject for photographers. Different states of the water, trees and skies can make it a unique subject every time I stop by. The bandstand was part of the St. Louis Worlds Fair in 1904 and survives today as part of the entry to St. Louis’ outdoor Municipal Opera.
These two compete nationally as scent hounds. Here they have been tracking rabbits and just came out of a deep ravine where they found a few tracks but nothing substantial. The Hunt Master is telling them to move on to another field where they might find a better scent to track. They are judged for finding a scent and for staying on it. They rarely find a rabbit since that is not the point. They are graded strictly on tracking.
Here I am photographing a hunt for Three Creek Bassets, a Midwestern pack located in Eastern Missouri. Out of about 30 hounds only a few will become proficient. The top Basset Hounds will compete at various meets on the East Coast several time a year.
The Basset Hound is a short-legged breed of dog in the hound family. The Basset is a scent hound that was originally bred for the purpose of hunting hare. Their sense of smell and ability to ground-scent is second only to the Bloodhound. Basset Hounds are one of six recognized “basset”-type breeds in France.
During the fall the trees on the rim of Art Hill turn a bright red. In the middle of the rim is the stature of Saint Louis and during an early morning walk you can see the recent Blue Moon. Below id the Grand Basin, a body of water that was the centerpiece of the 1905 Worlds Fair.
Located between the Saint Louis Art Museum and the Grand Basin, expansive Art Hill is one of Forest Park’s most iconic and beloved locations. It is home to summer picnics and winter sledding, concerts and film series and much more.
These colorful trees flank St. Louis’ art museum and create a border around Art Hill in front of the museum. Fall can be spectacular in our urban Forest Park. The park is located in western St. Louis, Missouri and consisting of 1,326 acres. Opened in 1876, more than a decade after its proposal, the park has hosted several significant events, including the Louisiana Purchase Exposition of 1904 and the 1904 Summer Olympics.
This area overlooks the “Grand Basin” which was the center part of the 1904 Worlds’s Fair and featured waterways with gondolas taking visitors from place to place.
Fall has started in our Forest Park. This area with its lagoons, streams and lakes make it a be a special place to visit. You can travel through here by boat or canoe to enjoy the wildlife and landscape.
This is one of my favorite places in Wisconsin’s Northwoods. Little Bohemia is a beautiful lodge in a scenic area with an
interesting history. Located on Little Star Lake in Manitowish Waters, Little Bohemia is a great place for Lunch or dinner.
My wife and I go, from time to time, and have lunch in the back glassed in porch. They always have good food and a beautiful view of the lake.
The first time there was as a 16 year old with my dad, St. Louis aviation pioneer, Casey Lambert, and several of their friends. We sat on the back porch for lunch and swapped stories with the infamous proprietor, Emil Wanatka.
Emil built the lodge in 1929, and like may establishments of the time hosted visitors from the big cities who wanted to escape the summer heat. The Northwoods of Wisconsin was noted for another type of escape and that was Chicago gangsters
who wanted escape the jurisdiction of Illinois police. Apparently Wanatka lured John Dillinger and his gang to the lodge and then notified federal agents of the situation. A major shootout ensued with Dillinger escaping by boat across Little Star Lake.
A number of movies have been made about Dillinger and one, Public Enemies, was filmed there.
Great Rivers Imaging 