crashing to Earth
March 19, 2013
crashing to Earth, photo by .brianday
Brian suggests the Cinematic Orchestra’s Outer Space to accompany this photo. View it on black and might I suggest queuing up the song above and digging into his Gray Matter slideshow.
More amazing work from Brian Day on Michigan in Pictures.
Miners Castle in Winter
March 16, 2013
Ice Cove, photo by Rudy Malmquist
Since I’m up in the Pictured Rocks, I thought it would be a good time to share this video of Lake Superior waves at Pictured Rocks in winter by Lars Jensen.
Check this out background bigtacular and see more in Rudy’s UP Winter 2010 slideshow.
More from the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore on Michigan in Pictures including a feature from Lars on Miners Castle from the winter of 2006!
Good Hart Iceberg
March 8, 2013
Good Hart Iceberg, photo by Molly Baker/The Outfitter
“This year we have been fortunate enough to have cold weather, lots of wind, and combined it builds ice into ice caves, ice mountains.”
~Jim Sutherland, Good Hart General Store Owner
Winter 2013 sure has been dishing up some amazing ice including the ice boulders along the Sleeping Bear shore. UpNorthLive reports on the latest a Lake Michigan iceberg floating offshore at Good Hart north of Harbor Springs.
“It was just a bunch of blocks piled on top of each other and they were welded together with the wind and snow,” Outdoor enthusiast Josh Baker explained.
Over the weekend, Baker and his family stumbled across this giant island floating in Lake Michigan outside of the small town of Good Hart.
Sunday, he decided to climb the jagged, 15-foot ice mountain. Once he made it to the top, he noticed the structure was different on the other side.
“The side facing the lake was almost sheer, it was pretty neat. So the side I was on was all jumbled and the opposite side was just sheer down to the water,” Baker said.
Click through to watch the report!
Check this out bigger on Facebook or scroll through their whole gallery. If you want to visit Molly & Josh for a first-hand account, their store is The Outfitters in Harbor Springs.
More ice on Michigan in Pictures!
Ice on the Chippewa River
March 6, 2013
_JMC5873aw, photo by Jeff Caverly
Wikipedia’s Chippewa River (Michigan) says that the river runs 91.8 miles from its beginning in northeast Mecosta County in the village of Barryton to where it flows into Big Cranberry Lake in southwest Clare County. It’s a tributary of the Tittabawassee River and part of the Saginaw River drainage basin.
To learn more about the river and some of the natural preserves on the river, visit the Chippewa River Watershed. You can also check out the Chippewa River Water Trail.
Get Jeff’s photo background bigtacular and see more in his slideshow.
More Michigan rivers on Michigan in Pictures.
Northern Lights, photo by gkretovic
Michigan in Pictures has a whole lot on the Northern Lights.
The aurora borealis are one of the world’s most rare and wonderful sights and Michigan – especially the Upper Peninsula – is blessed with more than a few nights every year when this elusive phenomenon makes an appearance.
The Library of Congress page What Are the Northern Lights? calls on NASA’s Dr. Sten Odenwald, author of The 23rd Cycle, Learning to Live with a Stormy Star, to provide insight to how northern lights are formed:
The origin of the aurora begins on the surface of the sun when solar activity ejects a cloud of gas. Scientists call this a coronal mass ejection (CME). If one of these reaches earth, taking about 2 to 3 days, it collides with the Earth’s magnetic field. This field is invisible, and if you could see its shape, it would make Earth look like a comet with a long magnetic ‘tail’ stretching a million miles behind Earth in the opposite direction of the sun.
When a coronal mass ejection collides with the magnetic field, it causes complex changes to happen to the magnetic tail region. These changes generate currents of charged particles, which then flow along lines of magnetic force into the Polar Regions. These particles are boosted in energy in Earth’s upper atmosphere, and when they collide with oxygen and nitrogen atoms, they produce dazzling auroral light.
We focus on the beauty, but as he explains:
“Aurora are beautiful, but the invisible flows of particles and magnetism that go on at the same time can damage our electrical power grid and satellites operating in space. This is why scientists are so keen to understand the physics of aurora and solar storms, so we can predict when our technologies may be affected.”
Dr. Odenwald’s book is out of print but he has made it available online. There’s some interesting stuff in there, and be sure to check out his Astronomy Cafe site too.
One benefit from the economic & security concerns of predicting space weather is that you can get some great northern light forecasts. My favorite is NOAA’s Space Weather Service. They reported a G1 storm on March 1st – it’s the lowest intensity on the Space Weather Scales but as you can see is still able to produce auroral activity!
Greg took this photo Saturday night just before midnight at Presque Isle in Marquette – check it out on black and in his slideshow. You can see more of Greg’s work on Michigan in Pictures, at michigannaturephotos.com and definitely follow him at Michigan Nature Photos on Facebook.
Miners Memorial Heritage Park (2), photo by siskokid
I’ve always found snow & cold to be a lot more tolerable when accompanied by a healthy dose of sun & blue skies. About this photo Jim writes:
During the recent snowshoe weekend with my buddies Jim, Fred and Roger, we snowshoed the trails of this beautiful park located in my hometown. A recent snowfall had left a good blanket of powder that hadn’t been groomed as of yet for cross-country skiing. Lucky for us!
The City of Ironwood, Michigan passed an ordinance in 2011 that designated 167 acres of city-owned land in the center of Ironwood as the Miners Memorial Heritage Park. This area once contained five iron ore mines, the last of which closed in the 1960′s. The Friends of Miners Memorial Heritage Park has created a 2.6 mile looping trail through a portion of this area for hiking in the summer and cross-country skiing and snowshoeing in the winter. The Park is “Dedicated to those who toiled underground to work these mines. Many died in the darkness so future generations could live in the light.”
More about the park including some old photos at fmmhp.com.
Check this photo out on black, see more from the park in Jim’s slideshow and also view more of his UP shots on Michigan in Pictures.
In My Kingdom Cold
February 28, 2013
In My Kingdom Cold II, photo by Shadows in Reflection
While Winter Storm Rocky hammered states west of us with high winds and over a foot of snow, it was relatively mild here in Michigan. Still, numerous schools canceled classes, prompting Lindsay Knake of the Saginaw News to ask readers if Michigan has gone soft. It’s an interesting discussion with good points on both sides. I thought that Neksom had a useful & thoughtful comment:
It’s a different world. I have no doubt administrators would have closed school a lot more in days gone by if it weren’t such a logistical nightmare. Today, technology makes the process relatively simple. Heck, most districts have automatic systems that call parents and employees when a snow day has been announced. And let’s face it – we see too many fatal accidents on days like today not to be a little concerned about safety. If it saves us from even one potential catastrophe, the mild inconvenience is most certainly worth it.
Check this out on black and see more in Michael’s slideshow.
More snow on Michigan in Pictures.
Men at Work, Snowshoe Edition
February 22, 2013
Real Photo Men at Work with Snow Shoes Winter Ice and Snow location Unknown, photo by UpNorth Memories – Donald (Don) Harrison
Don Harrison collects and sells postcards. His Flickr features some really great old postcards, mostly from Michigan. Check this photo out background bigtacular and see many more in Don’s Winter slideshow.
More postcards on Michigan in Pictures.
Bond Falls in black & white
February 21, 2013
Bond Falls, photo by wingsfan1705
Michigan in Pictures has a number of photos from Bond Falls, but there’s always room for one more. ;)
Check this out background bigtacular and see more including some detail shots in Kim’s slideshow.
More black & white photography on Michigan in Pictures.
Pancake Ice
February 19, 2013
Pancake Ice, photo by ChiliFrei64
I believe that Daniel took this photo in Lexington. Check it out background bigtacular and see more in his Water slideshow.
More ice on Michigan in Pictures.
