Rib Mountain

Sunday 6th March
Rib Mountain is a four-mile-long ridge of ancient rock dating back about 1.7 billion years, and lies on the edge of the town of Wausau. It is composed of a very hard metamorphic rock called quartzite. For many years, it was believed to be the highest point in Wisconsin. Now it's generally accepted that Timm's Hill, near Ogema in Price County, is the highest at 1,952 feet above sea level and Rib Mountain is fourth at 1,924 feet above sea level. However, Rib Mountain does stand higher above the surrounding terrain than any other hill in the state. On a good day, the top of the park offers great views of the Wausau area and Wisconsin River. Granite Peak Ski Area is on the north face of the mountain, facing the town, and offers downhill skiing and snowboarding. It was another cloudy day, but at least the visibility was a bit better than yesterday. First we drove up to the top on the state park side, to see the view and the tops of some of the ski slopes, top left in my collage. The rest of the photos are from our hike up to Rib Mountain Quarry. The quarry is believed to have been started in1893 by Jacob Kolter who hauled stone by horse team off the mountain. It was later run by a succession of enterprises, and the last material was taken out of the quarry in the early 1980s. The quartzite rock was crushed and graded for grinding, polishing and finishing metals, and for making sandpaper. In the evening Laura had choir practice, so we had an early dinner out at an Asian restaurant which was excellent.