We live in an area molded by geological processes.   The last major events of our area were the Ice Ages.    While the ice was on the land and as the ice retreated 10 000 years ago, landforms were created and have since been weathered and eroded for 100 centuries.    We can still see evidence of the work of the ice in our immediate area in numerous locations.   The Lac du Bois upper grasslands are a good place to see some of the molded shapes with the treeless terrain.   The area between the Lac du Bois Road and Bachelor Ridge is a geological landscape of moraines, eskers, kames, kettles, alluvial fans, erratics, bedrock-anchored hillocks of depositional materials, and erosion gullies.

One prominent feature which is “hidden”, but is an impressive feature is a large esker that runs southeast to Long Lake.   It stands 10-20 feet high, is only about 6 feet wide and runs for almost a kilometre in a sinous, esker-shaped form.

An esker is a winding ridge of depositional debris following the channel of a stream flowing beneath the ice.     To witness and “meet” this esker, follow the route described in the January 13 article called A Snow Stomp in the Grasslands.   Just continue north until you hit the esker.   Climb the esker and follow it east (downhill) or west (uphill) to understand its shape and composition.   Take some photos and visit the kettle ponds nearby, especially in the spring when the birds waterfowl are nesting.  

This photo was taken in March, 2009: