These photos are of the beautiful Cache River Wetlands in and around the small hamlets of Karnak, Belknap, Cypress, and Vienna IL. In my native Southern Illinois, the extreme southern tip contains dramatic changes in foliage and topography. The Cache was formed after the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers receded their waters many thousand years ago, and formed their present course. The Cache River is a meandering river through this part of the Shawnee National Forest.

Notice the Bald Cypress trees that stand straight up out of the water. I usually travel to this area to map out the various old rail lines in that area that are subjects of my HO scale Railroading...The later photos are on the Heron Pond Trail...You will notice the green cover on the water around the buttresses of the Cypress trees...This is called "duckweed". The green hue is not an altered effect. The whole area had the greenish hue to it. The Duckweed acts as a filter for the water, which is actually very clear.