Sometimes, wonders do cease

The disappearance of the Tettegouche Arch is just the latest example of a natural icon succumbing to, well, nature.

By BILL WARD, Star Tribune

August 30, 2010 at 3:54PM
The scenic Tettegouche Arch at Tettegouche State Park near Silver Bay, Minn., after it recently collapsed into Lake Superior.
The scenic Tettegouche Arch at Tettegouche State Park near Silver Bay, Minn., after it recently collapsed into Lake Superior. (Provided by Minnesota DNR/The Minnesota Star Tribune)

Sometimes, nature taking its course can change the course of natural wonders. Witness last weekend's collapse of the Tettegouche Arch on the North Shore.

The alterations can be sudden, from a violent storm or vandals; gradual, from overuse by humans, or downright glacial, such as the receding of a waterfall.

But when a beloved natural icon is damaged or lost, we can't help but wonder -- not only at Mother Nature's power to giveth and taketh away, but also about what awe-inspiring site might be next.

Here's a look at some of the region's natural wonders (plus one manmade) that have been or might be changing, if not disappearing.

Minnehaha Falls, Minneapolis Talk about a great recession: About 10,000 years ago, Minnehaha Falls spilled straight into the Mississippi River. Now it sits about a half-mile up the creek, but has just about stopped its retreat, said Mary Lynn Pulscher, environmental education coordinator for Minneapolis Parks and Recreation. "In the last century, it has not so much receded as scoured out," she said. "If you see photos from the 1890s, it's like a veil of water. Now it's a lot narrower." As the city grew around and upstream from the falls, fewer wetlands and more storm runoff have increased the volume and velocity of water -- for part of the year. "I think it freezes pretty similarly to 100 years ago," Pulscher said.

Whitewater River, southeastern Minnesota Over time, all rivers change course. Usually that doesn't happen in a matter of hours, though. On Aug. 18-19, 2007, a horrific flash flood left southeastern Minnesota's Whitewater River in a different place. One channel that used to run under a highway bridge moved 100 feet and now runs under a footbridge. "Where it used to be meandering, it kind of blasted straight through to a shortcut, where it abandoned a previous channel," said Dave Palmquist, interpretive naturalist at Whitewater State Park. "Geologically, things sped up." The channels are within walking distance of the park's visitor center on Hwy. 74.

Devil's Chair, Interstate State Park In April 2005, a rock climber in Taylors Falls, Minn., discovered that the formation known as the Devil's Chair was gone. So iconic that its image was used on town and Interstate State Park signs, the 30-foot basalt tower had been a perennial landmark for hikers, climbers, canoeists and boaters. But did it fall or was it pushed? A consultant hired by the Department of Natural Resources declared that it almost certainly was the work of vandals. A later investigation found cotter pins (used by climbers) and paint chips normally associated with a hydraulic machine in the chair's rubble. The perps have yet to be apprehended.

Lake Delton, Wisconsin Dells, Wis. On June 9, 2008, rain-soaked Lake Delton burst through its earthen barrier, opening a 300-foot channel and sweeping three houses -- and almost all of its water -- into the Wisconsin River. Within months, a new cofferdam was in place, and within a year the lake was back at full capacity. Its life cycle: Made by humans, devastated by nature, remade by humans. "Spillways have been improved to withstand a 1,000-year storm," said Melanie Platt-Gibson, Wisconsin Dells' director of communications. So were 2008's torrential rains a 1,000-year storm? "We hope so," she said with a laugh.

Tallest red pine, Itasca State Park A 1995 megastorm felled hundreds of trees in Itasca State Park. But it was no match for the nation's tallest red pine, a 126-foot, 300-year-old sentinel. Alas, Mother Nature eventually had her say, as a 2007 windstorm lopped off the top of the sturdy mainstay. But in a sense, it was done in by old age, said park naturalist Connie Cox. "Just like people with osteoporosis, the brittle inside [heart rot] weakened the tree." It still stands, but is a sheared shell of its former self.

Niagara Cave, Harmony, Minn. Not too much has changed at this tourist attraction, thanks in part to the nature of caves -- "they continually change but typically at a much slower rate than surface features," said owner Mark Bishop -- plus human intervention three-quarters of a century ago. "In caves, most of the action is at the mouth," he said. "Entrances are pretty susceptible to environmental factors, especially up here because they stay moist and then winter freezing causes rocks to break down." That helps explain why previous owners put a building atop Niagara Cave's opening in the 1930s. What about the other end? "It's in Iowa, where the stream runs out," Bishop said.

Bill Ward • 612-673-7643

Minnehaha Falls
Minnehaha Falls (File Photo/The Minnesota Star Tribune)
Devil's Chair
Devil's Chair (File Photo/The Minnesota Star Tribune)
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BILL WARD, Star Tribune