Decades later, a tree-stump forest still looks as Ernest Hemingway described it in his short story "Big Two-Hearted River." The trees were felled for lumber in the late 1800s, then the stumps charred black by brush fires. The numerous lichens, however, mirror the area's resilience: Trout-rich rivers and stands of birch, aspen, and maple continue to thrive.

(Text adapted from and photo shot on assignment for, but not published in, "Hemingway's Many Hearted Fox River," June 1997, National Geographic magazine)