Michigan Travel Promotion … on the cheap

Picture Rocks, photo by David :0).

The state of Michigan offers some amazing travel options and has been trying to share them with the nation through the Pure Michigan campaign. Unfortunately, our budgetary death spiral is jeopardizing a campaign that reportedly brings in nearly $3 in taxes for every dollar spent.

Whatever Lansing does, it strikes me that all of us can share scenes like the one above from the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore with our family and friends and when the time comes for our own travels, make it a Michigan vacation when we can and act as a sort of virtual tourism bureau.

This photo is one of a number of gorgeous shots in David’s Pictured Rocks set (slideshow) and check out lots more from the Pictured Rocks on Michigan in Pictures.

Chapel Rock in the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore

Chapel Rock (8-15-09), photo by Brevort.

Yesterday we featured a very interesting article about Smart Archaeology in the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore on Absolute Michigan. It explains a very innovative 3-year archaeology project by Northern Michigan University geography department researchers, and you should definitely give it a read. Today I came across this view of Chapel Rock and was surprised to see that I didn’t have a feature of Chapel Rock on Michigan in Pictures. The Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore Scenic Sites page says that Chapel Rock and Chapel Beach are:

Located about 15 miles east of Munising off Alger County Road H-58, then about 5 miles north to the end of Chapel Road (drive), then 2.5 miles (hike) to Lake Superior.

Trails to the beach overlook Chapel Lake with views of the beautiful Chapel Falls on the west side.

The Chapel area was named by early European explorers and is found on early maps as La Chappelle. Chapel Rock is a remnant of Cambrian age sandstone. The archway between the rock and the mainland collapsed in the 1940’s. It and the remaining arch were carved by Lake Nipissing high waters some 3800 years ago.

You can read the Geology field notes from the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore for detailed information about the different layers of sandstone in the park that form these incredible structures. Chapel Rock is representative of the 40 to 60 foot thick Chapel Rock Member.

See it bigger and view more in Doug’s Brevort Lake (2009) set (slideshow).

As a person who spent some time trying to capture to totality of this unique formation, I have to say that hiking to it is the only way to fully appreciate Chapel Rock. I can offer the next best thing: the Chapel Rock slideshow from the Absolute Michigan pool.

Explore many more Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore features on Michigan in Pictures.

Kayaking at the Pictured Rocks

pictured rocks 09-044, photo by northern_latitudes.

Check out Tim’s awesomely amazing pictured rocks kayaking 2009 set (slideshow). He does a better job than anyone I’ve yet seen of conveying these massive rock formations.

Kayaking buffs will definitely want to check out the Hiawatha Water Trail web site – it’s a kayaker’s dream!!

Michigan in Pictures has much more about Pictured Rocks and you can also visit the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore web site.

Waterlife, Michigan’s Life

Sunset over Chicago, photo by kevindooley.

A search for “Great Lakes” from the Absolute Michigan pool on Flickr yields nearly 2,000 photos. A search for “Michigan Great Lakes” on all of Flickr, over 20,000.

When I think about Michigan’s body & soul, at the very core are the Great Lakes that surround us and the rivers and lakes that feed our mighty sweetwater seas. There is no place in the world that is as blessed by water as we are, something that struck me when I watched Kevin McMahon’s brilliant movie Waterlife. This wonderfully shot and edited film explores the splendor and the imperiled state of lakes Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie and Ontario. It shows threats like toxins, sewage, invasive species and falling water levels and the effect that each and all have on the lakes, all accompanied by solid and very accessible science.

One threat that the scientists who are working to save our Great Lakes can’t do much about is that of the profound apathy towards these threats that we all show. In this interview with Kevin McMahon from Circle of Blue, McMahon talks about the challenge of telling the story of the slow death of the Great Lakes through a mass media that is only interested in the latest crisis.

There has always been a feeling of permanence I’ve associated with Lake Michigan and its siblings. The width of North Beach, the color of the water under the Mackinac Bridge, the sunrise over Lake Huron or the waves hitting the Pictured Rocks can all change from day to day or season to season, but you always know that you can return another time for a fresh experience.

Waterlife made me question that.

I really enourage you to explore Waterlife and to watch it.

And, if it’s not too much trouble, to do what you can to preserve one of the world’s greatest treasures.

This photo is part of Kevin’s Book set (slideshow). Check it out bigger.

Fog Bank at Grand Sable Dunes

Fog Bank, photo by siskokid.

Jim writes:

Fog rolls off of Lake Superior and up the Grand Sable Dunes on the Pictured Rocks Lakeshore as seen from the Log Slide Overlook west of Grand Marais in the Upper Peninsula Of Michigan. The Grand Sable Dunes are located on a five mile stretch between the Sable River and Au Sable Point in Alger County. The banks rise up to 275 feet high, created during the last ice age when sand and gravel filled in a deep rift in the glacier. Atop the gravelly banks, sand dunes rise another 80 feet. These are “perched dunes” because they are perched on top of another landform. They were probably formed when wind and waves piled up sand at the edge of Lake Nipissing, the forerunner of Lake Superior.

If you click through to Flickr you can see a few other shots from one of the most amazing vantages in Michigan. Be sure to check this out bigger or in his Lake Superior Slideshow.

For more, check out Grand Sable Dunes on Michigan in Pictures.

Calm Before The Storm

Calm Before The Storm, photo by Anapko.

Check this photo out bigger. It’s part of Anapko’s Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore set (slideshow).

Check Michigan in Pictures for many more photos from the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore and also see this Pictured Rocks slideshow Absolute Michigan pool.

Grand Island East Channel Light

Picture Rock Light House, photo by wlmgram.

The Grand Island East Channel Light entry at Terry Pepper’s Seeing the Light begins:

Grand Island stands at the entrance to Munising Bay, with its south shore long serving as a natural harbor of refuge to vessels seeking shelter from the fury of Superior’s late season storms. So critical was the area considered by mariners that one of the big lakes’ first lighthouses was built on the north tip of Grand Island in 1856, to both warn coasting captains of the northern point of the island and to indicate the safe harbor located to the south. While the lighthouse served both purposes well, it did little to provide assistance to captains making their way through the harbor passages one the east and west sides of the island, through which entry was difficult under conditions of good visibility, and next to impossible under the cover of darkness.

To this end on February 27, 1860, Senator Chandler presented a petition signed by masters, pilots and owners of vessels sailing through the area “praying the erection of two light-houses upon the entrance to Grand Island bay and harbor.”

In addition to being one of the first lights on Lake Superior, it was also one of the first to be decommissioned. Click through to Terry’s site to read on and to see more pictures. He notes that you pass this light if you take the Pictured Rocks Boat Cruise. You can also see a Map to Grand Island light at Lighthouse Friends.

Be sure to check this out bigger and also see Wendy’s slideshow for a few more lighthouse photos.

A Celebration of Lake Superior

Heaven’s Light, photo by n.weaver.

This weekend (Apr 3-5, 2009), the Superior Water Festival takes place in Marquette. It’s a celebration of Lake Superior and the rest of our water in Michigan and the world that unites organizations and thinkers about water with musicians, artists, students and citizens.

Water is what makes Michigan, Michigan, and the Water Festival is a great and ongoing celebration and dialogue on how we care for our liquid legacy.

You can see other photos of the UP and the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore in Neil’s U.P. set (slideshow). You can also drill down to Twelve Mile Beach or go get some of your own at Twelve Mile Beach.

Grand Sable Dunes In Winter

Grand Sable Dunes In Winter, photo by mandj98.

James says they rode his brother’s snowmobiles back along H58 to this overlook of Grand Sable Dunes in the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore last weekend.

He has more photos from Pictured Rocks in winter & all seasons in his tremendous Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore set (slideshow) with tons of photos including the pic to the right of the same scene in August.

I was a little surprised to find that I hadn’t written anything about Grand Sable Dunes on Michigan in Pictures. In my opinion, it’s one of the most amazing vistas in Michigan, a broad sweeping dune that arcs along the shore of Lake Superior. It’s a great hike, either from the drive-up overlook (where you can view or visit the Au Sable Light Station) or by walking along the base on the Superior shore just a mile west from Grand Marais. Michigan Tech has a nice writeup on the history, geology and natural character of the Grand Sable Dunes. They’re a perched dune like the Sleeping Bear Dunes in lower Michigan that were formed when:

Glacial ice that melted within the Superior Basin produced many large rivers after the last major readvance, The Marquette readvance, in North America. These rivers deposited millions of tons of debris into many different configurations south of the Superior Basin. The Grand Sable Banks may have originated as a glaciofluvial kame terrace along one of these glacial rivers during deglaciation.

Pictured Rocks then became very dry about 9500 years before present due to the Lake Superior basin draining to the north. The outlets to the east were now the low spots. A north facing ice contact bluff and a platform to the south of it remained in place for 4500 years after deglaciation right around the area where Grand Marais is located today.

Isostatic rebound then occurred about 4000 to 6000 years before present. North Bay began to rise which caused water levels to rise rapidly. In fact, Lake Superior rose to about 40 feet higher than it is today! The rise in lake levels formed Lake Nipissing. Lake levels of Lake Nipissing also began to rise which caused the Grand Sable Banks to become unstable. From this point the formation of a perched dune can explain how the dunes formed from the Grand Sable Banks.

When Lake Nipissing water level rose it caused the Grand Sable Banks to become unstable. In turn, the high water eroded the bluffs which left them exposed to wind. A dominant northwesterly wind blew through the Grand Sable Banks which carried the wind from the bluff to the top of the flat upland. This sand was “perched” on top of the upland, hence the name, “perched dune system.”

You can check out Grand Sable Dunes on Absolute Michigan’s Map of Michigan and check out the Grand Sable Dunes slideshow on Flickr. I have written a fair amount on Pictured Rocks that you might enjoy.

Rock diving at Indian Town

Rock diving, photo by Church of One.

This photo was taken in September of 2006 in the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore. You can see it bigger in Carol’s Michigan, My Michigan slideshow (photo set).

Flickr says the picture was taken near Indian Town. Their new Places pages have a link to the photo map and also some photos, groups and featured photographers for any place.

Dive in!