Vacationing: The Land of the Gloomnadoom

I trust that no one will need an explanation as to how Black River Falls got its name. But I will note that the first white people came in 1819 and they never left. However, the native Ho-Chunk people got their revenge by opening the Majestic Pines casino just outside of town which facilitates the movement of small green pieces of paper (that are of paramount importance to the pale face) into their tribal coffers.

As I said in my last post, the Black River area is home to the Gloomnadoom. Sidney, a Jackson County resident, described the creature to Dennis Boyer for his book, Giants in the Land: Folk Tales & Legends of Wisconsin:

The Gloomnadoom is a strange little thing. It is hard to describe. It is smallish, maybe eighteen to twety-four inches high. Wears a black, hooded, ankle-length robe – like a monk.

You never see a face – just a darkness in the hood. No hands either – just big draping sleeves. There's a hint of feet – some kind of pointy shoes.

The funny thing about the Gloomnadoom is that the person afflicted by it almost never sees it. Oh, they might see it stalking them initially. But by the time it's really got a grip on someone, they have no idea what is going on.

The chief symptoms of the Gloomnadoom are the dees and disses. Things like dejected, depressed, defeated, deserted, deprived, and deluded. Things like discouraged, dispirited, desiccated, destitute, desperate, despondent, and despairing.

And how do you ward off a Gloomnadoom? Beer and brandy are a hit-or-miss affair but friendship does the trick every time.

Swinging into the Black River area, the first stop for The Dulcinea and I was Castle Mound Park where we hit the nature trail.



It was gorgeous. No Gloomnadooms here. While the sun shone brightly, it was rather cool on the trail with all the shade provided by the trees. One thing which I cannot relate to you very well in words was the smell.



Everywhere we were surrounded by pines (mostly red, methinks) and, in addition to the needles which covered our path, the air was scented by the trees. You couldn't escape it. Being a coniferous kind of guy, I absolutely loved it.

Castle Mound is the peak of a ridge which rises a bit over 1,000 feet above sea level. This meant that there were boulders aplenty along the path. The area was formerly a lake after the Green Bay lobe of the last round of glaciers melted.



At the top of the ridge there are many sandstone outcroppings and one of them is roughly shaped like a wall. You can climb atop it and take in the view which is rather nice, although you have to look between the trees.



There are many more such structures as you continue down the path including one that is absolutely huge. It must have been 40' tall.





While it wasn't the Grand Canyon, it was still a rather neat place. The ancient rock formations and the boulders overlooking the slope were timeless. It was incredibly peaceful up at the top of that ridge. Being a geek, I found that I was reminded of a certain watchtower in ruins from a certain trilogy of fantasy novels where a certain heir of Isildur fought off certain Ringwraiths. And, for this office drone who spends countless hours at a desk, there was a cheap thrill to be had by merely climbing the boulders.

After a spell atop the ridge, we descended. Unfortunately there was a paucity of wildlife to be seen. No black bears nor deer. Instead there were birds. I wasn't able to get any photos but I think we saw mostly finches with a smattering of red-breasted nuthatches thrown in for good measure.

By the time we found ourselves back at the car, we were hot'n'sweaty and so it was off to Wazee Lake for a swim to cool ourselves down.