Bobs blog

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This past Sunday I decided to take the scooter (henceforth referred to as Buddy) for a ride.  I put on the protective leather jacket, leather gloves, polarized sunglasses and topped off the ensemble with my helmet.  Without a care in the world, or a destination for that matter, I gave the throttle a twist and I was off.  Buddy likes to go fast so she headed straight for highway 10/114 in the direction of High Cliff State Park.  The park is located on the northeast shore of Lake Winnebago.  The ride there was uneventful, cruising at 55 to 60mph all the way.

When I passed the park entrance it was as though somebody flipped the insect switch to on, overdrive actually.  To my dismay it was the first lake fly hatch of the year.  Crap!  I kept my mouth clamped tightly shut and my speed under 15mph.  All the specks you see in the photo above are not the result of a dirty camera, they are lake flies.  How do I explain lake flies to the uninitiated?  It is estimated the number of these bugs that hatch can number into the trillions!  There are so many of them they actually show up on Doppler radar, check it out.  They congregate in clouds by the tens of thousands and in the evening hover above anything warm.  If you look above your head you will see a column of lake flies, starting inches above your scalp and rising to about 10 feet.  When you move the column moves with you in an undulating motion, starting with the bottom and followed by the top.  The sound they make is also astonishing.  No soft hum, they are loud because there are so many of them.

Below I have included a few full size excerpts from the photo above for you to appreciate.  The photo was taken at the lime kiln ruins.  I also included a photo of the sign explaining these ruins.

After visiting the kiln I did a tour of the campgrounds and the park in general before an uneventful trip back home.

click photo for larger view

click photo for larger view

click photo for larger view