Morning on Pearl Lake
May 15, 2012
Today is the opening day of walleye season in Michigan. I couldn’t find a good walleye photo, but even though Pearl Lake isn’t on the list of top walleye lakes in Michigan, I thought it captured the mood perfectly! Much more at Michigan Walleye on Absolute Michigan.
Check this out background bigtacular and in Jim’s My Most Interesting Photos slideshow.
More fish & fishing on Michigan in Pictures.
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Kayaking at Spray Falls, photo by Aaron Peterson
In Wednesday Waterfall: Spray Falls on his blog Aaron writes:
Remote Spray Creek bubbles up somewhere in the middle of Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, meanders through miles of maple and beech forest—then flies foam-first over a 50-foot cliff into Lake Superior. Seeing the creek upstream, you’d never guess the little guy had it in him to become one of the most dramatic waterfalls in the region.
Due to its remote location and precipitous drop, visitors to Spray Falls will have to decide ahead of time how they’d like to view it: from land, or from water. Each gives an amazing perspective and a good workout (3 miles by foot, 12 miles by float). Either way, you can contemplate gravity and the world’s largest lake in peace, because the park’s tour boats usually turn around a couple miles short of this fascinating feature. Scan the water at the base of the falls for the rusting remnants of a boiler from an 1856 shipwreck.
Read on for directions and another stunning shot of this amazing waterfall. Click to see this photo bigger and check out some more shots by Aaron of Spray Falls and view a lot more of his photography of the Upper Peninsula and the Lake Superior region on his website.
Many more Pictured Rocks photos on Michigan in Pictures.
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Remembering the Carl D. Bradley
November 16, 2011
Bradley – Color – 300 dpi, photo by Presque Isle County Historical Museum.
23 women became widows in that instant and 53 children lost their fathers.
~Rogers City resident on the sinking of the Bradley
The Edmund Fitzgerald gets the majority of the attention when Michigan shipwrecks are discussed, but it can be argued (very convincingly) that the wreck of the Carl D Bradley on November 18, 1958 was the greatest of Great Lakes tragedies. 33 of 35 crewmen – most from her home port of Rogers City – perished, leaving the small city in northeastern lower Michigan stunned by grief.
Over on Absolute Michigan today we have an excellent feature from the Archives of Michigan on the Wreck of the Carl D. Bradley that includes a riveting video from the documentary November Requiem. An article by Warren J. Toussaint about the sinking begins:
Tuesday, Nov. 18, 1958, at 5:31 p.m., the limestone carrier, Carl D. Bradley, was up bound on Lake Michigan, having delivered her last limestone cargo of the year to Indiana on November 17,1958. She stayed close to the Illinois and Wisconsin shores because of reports of severe weather conditions rapidly developing from the west. As it reached the area of Sturgeon Bay, Wis., it had to turn to the northeast in order to cross the upper area of Lake Michigan on its way to the homeport of Rogers City, Mich., on Lake Huron. Suddenly, the Bradley’s steering wheel went slack, as if the gears had suddenly disconnected. On the course it was on, the winds and waves were striking the ship on the aft quarter of the port side causing the ship to rock severely. First Mate, Elmer Fleming, knew the ship was in trouble. He jerked the radio telephone from its cradle and shouted a desperate call “Mayday, Mayday, – Mayday. This is the Carl D. Bradley. Mayday Mayday Mayday.”
Read on and see much more at carldbradley.org!
The photo is one of the last known photos of the Steamer Carl D. Bradley, taken after she passed under the Mackinac Bridge and was making the turn to the southeast to set a course for Rogers City. Check it out background big and in their great Bradley Transportation Fleet slideshow. Definitely have a look at the Presque Isle County Historical Museum website for more on the Bradley and the history of the region and to order the Bradley DVD!
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Edmund Fitzgerald, 1975
November 10, 2011
Edmund Fitzgerald 1975, photo by The Open Lake Group LLC
Wade writes that this photo by Roger LeLievre of the Fitzgerald as she passes downbound in the St. Mary’s River off Six Mile Point is one of his all time favorite views the Fitz. See it on black and in his Edmund Fitzgerald slideshow. Wade works the lakes and has some really cool photos of all kinds of ships in his photostream. He had this to say about the Fitz:
The 729 foot Str. Edmund Fitzgerald was launched into the Detroit River in 1958. Over the next 17 years she was considered to be the ‘best among the best” as the flagship of the Columbia Transportation Line. Sailors that worked on her took immense pride in their opportunity and she was a favorite of sailors and people ashore as well.
Lots more Edmund Fitgerald on Michigan in Pictures and definitely check out The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald by Joseph Fulton on Absolute Michigan – a masterful video that accompanies Gordon Lightfoot’s tribute with great footage.
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Graveyard Coast II
November 7, 2011
“Graveyard Coast II ” – (Mary Jarecki shipwreck) , Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, photo by Michigan Nut.
Over on Absolute Michigan today we have a feature on the Alger Underwater Diving Preserve – Michigan’s first underwater preserve and one of 12 that protect over 2300 square miles of Great Lakes bottomland.
You don’t have to strap on a tank to explore some of these wrecks. John writes that the Mary Jarecki was a wooden bulk freight steam Ship of 645 tons, 200 feet in length. It grounded on Au Sable Reef and went down on July 4, 1883. She lost her way in one of the heavy fogs that frequent the area. These shipwrecks are a sobering reminder of the incredible power of Lake Superior.
Indeed. See this photo bigger and in John’s jaw-dropping Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore slideshow.
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An adventure a day…
October 13, 2011
Michigan Fall Paddle, photo by onewildwest
An adventure a day keeps the doctor away by Carol Thompson on the Great Lakes Echo is short, sweet and exactly the prescription that Michigan can be filling for an over-stressed and under-recreated nation. Carol writes:
A dose of exercise and fresh air is just what the doctor ordered.
Getting out for a bike ride is a good medicine for any Great Laker.
Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore is partnering with Porter Health Systems in Indiana to prescribe walks, bike rides, kayak trips and other activities to patients through the Park Prescription Program. By getting out to the park, patients will get some exercise and stress relief, while hopefully boosting visitation.
Not every prescription is the same. Before they write a prescription, Porter doctors will find the right trails and activities based on the patient’s needs and abilities. Considering there are over 40 miles of trails in the Lakeshore, there’s something for everyone.
Don’t wait for your next checkup to get out for a hike or a ride. In this case, a little self-medication might be ok!
We should probably add “paddle, ski and snowshoe” to that list. Can we take a cue from out neighbors to the south and add “Michigan is good for you” to the Pure Michigan message?
Check this out bigger and in Brent’s Random slideshow.
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Rainboat … aka the State of Michigan
September 19, 2011
Sorry about the bad link this morning…
Traverse City 9-15-2011, by Mark O’shaughnessy
It was quite the double rainbow last Thursday in the Traverse City area. I was off to the right end of the bow in Suttons Bay but I couldn’t fit it all in in any of my photos.
The boat is the State of Michigan at the Great Lakes Maritime Academy in Traverse City, a training ship that allows cadets to put into practice the theory and skill sets taught in the classroom. The vessel is a:
…224-foot former Navy submarine surveillance ship Persistent, which is now T/S State of Michigan. The vessel is relatively new, having been built in 1986 as part of a series of 18 Stalwart-class T-AGOS vessels designed to tow highly sensitive sonar arrays for the tracking of Soviet submarines. As the Soviet threat diminished in the 1990s, the Navy decided to decommission the T-AGOS fleet, and in 1998 Persistent and sister ship Vindicator were transferred to the U.S. Coast Guard for primary use in drug interdiction.
See the specs and check it – and Grand Traverse Bay – out on their webcam!
See this photo bigger on Facebook and see more from Mark on his photography website.
kayaker shadow
September 14, 2011
kayaker shadow, photo by northernlightphotograph.
Gorgeous shot from Lake Superior.
Check it out bigger and see a great series of kayaking photos in Tim’s slideshow.
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Kicking back on the Kalamazoo
September 5, 2011
The View From My Kayak “Hazy Day’s of Summer”, photo by Mark Workman
Mark says that he got to enjoy yet another summer sunset on Big Daily’s Bayou off the Kalamazoo River.
Check it out bigger and in Mark’s The View from My Kayak Slideshow.
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Kayaking Under the Mighty Mac (and walking over it)
August 30, 2011
Kayaking Under the Mighty Mac, photo by Kathleen Swinehart
This Monday (September 5th) it’s time for the annual Mackinac Bridge Walk. 2011 is the 54th annual and the walk is open to all. It starts at 7 AM and you can leave any time up to 11 AM. They have a blog with information for and about the 400 runners who won the lottery for an opportunity to take part in the early morning Mackinac Bridge Labor Day Run. It includes information for how to enter next year and I have to imagine that for a runner, the 5 mile span from the Lower to Upper Peninsula would be a pretty special memory!
Michigan in Pictures has a TON of Mackinac Bridge photos and information.
Kathleen posted this photo to the Michigan in Pictures wall on Facebook. You can see more photos that people have shared with us in our photo album. See it big as the Mighty Mac and see more in Kathleen’s My Pure Michigan album.
