Here’s a sweet shot I shared 5 years ago on June 3rd of a boat in the mist on Lake Leelanau in the northwestern Lower Peninsula. See more in Francios’ Michigan Journey’s gallery on Flickr and have a great weekend everyone!
More fog & mist on Michigan in Pictures!
Indian River Skiff by Great Lakes Boat Building School
The Great Lakes Echo has a nice feature on the Great Lakes Boat Building School in Cedarville that begins:
At the northwest corner of Lake Huron, in Michigan’s eastern Upper Peninsula, is an 80 square-mile town of 240 people, one phone booth – and one boat building school.
That school is growing explosively, bringing the entire community along with it. Experts estimate that a planned expansion of the Great Lakes Boat Building School could bring an additional $2.5 million to residents of Cedarville.
The small town has a rich history of wooden boat building and repair. For over a century, wooden boats have been the primary mode of transportation around the nearby Les Cheneaux Islands. As the boating crafters grew older, the artful skill risked being lost.
To keep its wooden boat building heritage alive, the Cedarville community founded the school in 2005.
“In all of these academic qualifications we have for high school students, we have neglected our need for tradespeople,” said Ken Drenth, former Great Lakes Boat Building School president and current director of the Les Cheneaux Islands Community Foundation. “Everybody doesn’t have to get a four-year university degree. We need plumbers and electricians and wooden boat builders.”
The Great Lakes Boat Building School shared this on their Instagram. You can read more about their building of an Indian River Skiff on Facebook.
from a 4×5 glass negative by Bill Dolak
Bill shares:
The VanBuren County Historical Museum (a great afternoon visit, btw) is sitting on dozens, if not hundreds, of 4×5 glass negatives. Some of them were on display on a light table. I snapped a few with my iPhone and did a quick conversion of one using Snapseed (an iPhone image editor), which was perhaps the first time a “print” had been made from the negative in possibly a hundred years (these types of negatives were popular between the 1880s and the 1920s). Here are a few I “processed” in Lightroom. Sadly, I am sure that these images cannot reproduce the detail that is likely stored on those plates.
You can see more of his scans in the Michigan in Pictures group on Facebook & in his massive Michigan: Van Buren County gallery on Flickr!
Heading Home for the Night by TP Mann
TP took this shot a couple of years ago & shares:
This is an example of being at the right place and at the right time. The sun had set long ago and the boat heading in for the night. The light reflections added to the pure beauty of this beautiful evening. This from the pier in Charlevoix Michigan, located along beautiful Lake Michigan.
Here’s hoping you find yourself in the right place at the right time this weekend! See more in TP’s Charlevoix, Michigan gallery on Flickr.
Presque Isle Harbor by John Hart
There’s some names that you see again & again in Michigan. One of these is “Presque Isle”. It means “almost island” in French so you can see why Michigan’s peninsula right coastline brought that to the minds of early French traders.
The US 23 Heritage Route shares that Presque Isle Harbor offers the only natural harbor on Lake Huron with a new marina offering water, restrooms, showers, diesel, electricity, pump-out, gasoline, launch, fishing pier, dog run, grills, and the Portage Restaurant. The Old Presque Isle Lighthouse is a short walk up the path.
Check out the US-23 Heritage Route for more great summer touring options along this northeast Michigan highway!
John shared this cool photo of Presque Isle Harbor during the age of wooden boats. Check out his mix of old & new pics on his Flickr.
Julie writes:
Sunday evening the winds picked up and we rode down to the pier and I watched this boat come from the harbor out the channel and head towards Petoskey north. He hit some huge waves coming in and I don’t know how he ever made it.
Here’s hoping he did and that you’re able to overcome the waves of 2020 as well!! See more in Julie’s Coronavirus Times 2020 album on Flickr.
mLive’s Emily Bingham reports that historically high water levels are closing campsites, harbor slips at popular state parks across Michigan:
During a summer recreation season already hampered by pandemic-related delays and restrictions, many of Michigan’s state parks are now wrestling with another force of nature: historically high water along the Great Lakes.
From the east side to the west side and up north, the record-setting water levels are reshaping shorelines, eroding beaches, submerging docks and piers, and rendering roads and trails inaccessible. The unprecedented situation has manifested in high water-related closures statewide at harbors, parks and boating access sites managed by the Michigan Department of Natural Resources.
…A number of boating access sites and fishing piers across the state are temporarily closed on account of high water as well; a full list of closures and updates is available at Michigan.gov/DNRclosures.
Leland’s popular Fishtown is one place with critically high water levels. You can see Mark’s photo of the Joybigger on his Facebook & for sure follow him on Flickr @downstreamer!
How about those blues??!! The Michigan DNR says that Clear Lake State Park in Montmorency County is located within the Mackinaw State Forest and:
…is a quiet, secluded retreat offering a sandy beach and a shallow swimming area that is ideal for children. A metal detecting area is available. The park encompasses two-thirds of the Clear Lake’s shoreline. A trail spur offers Off-Road Vehicle (ORV) riders a direct connection to the Atlanta ORV route and the Michigan Cross Country Cycle Trail.
This State Forest is composed of the northern eight counties of the Lower Peninsula. The Atlanta area of this forest contains over 258,000 acres of state-owned public land. Most of the virgin timber was removed from the forest by the 1920s and has been replaced by second-growth forests managed by the DNR. Deer, elk, turkey and small game are plentiful in the Mackinaw State Forest …elk can be seen and heard throughout the area in the early morning and evening, especially during the spring and fall. Native elk disappeared from Michigan nearly 100 years ago, they were reintroduced in 1918 and have multiplied into a large herd.
Head over to the DNR for trail, camping & disc golf course information.
Laurent took this photo above Clear Lake the other day. Lots more pics in his Aerial Photos of Northern Michigan Gallery on Flickr.
Yesterday, Governor Gretchen Whitmer extended Michigan’s stay at home order until May 15th. mLive reports that some controversial restrictions have been removed:
Certain restrictions previously included under the state’s stay-at-home order, including bans on motorized boating, golf, and retail operations like garden centers, are lifted under the new order.
Landscapers, lawn-service companies, nurseries and bike repair shops will be allowed to return to work subject to strict social distancing, and big-box stores will be allowed to reopen closed sections of the store. Other retailers will now be allowed to reopen for curbside pick-up or delivery.
And residents will be allowed to travel between their residences again, although such travel is “strongly discouraged,” according to a press release from the governor’s office.
Public-facing businesses like gyms salons, bars and in-person dining at restaurants will remain off-limits under the order.
In a statement, Whitmer said social distancing remains the “best weapon” to defeat COVID-19, but said some of the restrictions put in place are being lifted because new COVID-19 cases appear to be leveling off.
Julie took this photo of a boat out at sunrise last summer. See more in her UP of Michigan gallery on Flickr.
Michigan in Pictures 