The Mackinac Bridge Walk is a Michigan tradition that takes place every year on Labor Day morning. People may begin their walk on either end Monday, September 2024 anytime between 7 AM and 11:30 AM and walk as much of the bridge as they are able to do before the bridge reopens to traffic at noon. Walkers may start their Mackinac Bridge Walk from Mackinaw City or St Ignace at either end of the Mighty Mac, and there are no longer busses traveling across the bridge during the walk. Get all the details from the Mackinac Bridge Authority.
The photo above shows the freighter Herbert C Jackson passing under the bridge, and Mike Rezabek took the pic of the walk below from the deck of the Jackson to complete the 360 view. Click for more of Mike’s shots!!
Michigan in Pictures is all about sharing new places & ways to have fun in Michigan. Whether you are visiting or live here, I think it’s important as you’re enjoying your explorations to recognize the hardworking people helping to make the experience of kayaking a mercurial freshwater sea, hiking a wilderness trail, viewing historical artifacts, or simply finding that hidden waterfall or local favorite taco stand as safe & seamless as possible. It’s not easy, and everyone who enjoys Michigan’s diverse offerings owes them a big thank you!
Monika shares: Picture Rocks Kayaking guide breaks a hard right to turn the nose of five kayaks pointing in towards Miner’s Beach. These guides work SO hard and in all weather conditions on the clear but cold Lake Superior! Last summer I met one in the East Channel while crossing and she was towing 2 kayakers home who simply quit paddling. Let’s give them some much deserved applause! 🙌
I’m not afraid of storms, for I am learning how to sail my ship. -Louisa May Alcott
It’s been too long since I shared a photo from Beth. I just love her work!! See more in her Waterscapes / Nautical gallery on Flickr & safe (but interesting) voyages.
John Muir and Theodore Roosevelt. Everett Townsend and Walter Fry. Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Richard Proenneke, and Ansel Adams. Since the inception of the national parks in the late 1800s, the men who carried the banner of wilderness preservation also wrote the history of their movement, often missing the crucial role women played in protecting America’s wilderness from the Industrial Revolution and the raw material extraction that revolution demanded.
At Isle Royale National Park, the lower 48’s least visited but most revisited national park, an all-women team of park rangers reminds us that all it takes to work in nature is a passion for conservation and a love for the outdoors.
“It wasn’t intentional at all,” says Katie Keller, lead ranger at Isle Royale, when we inquired about how the team came to be. “Hiring for the parks is different every year. So we were just as surprised as the visitors when we had all-women rangers two years in a row.”
Back in the day, I used to feature excerpts by Linda S. Godfrey from the definitive book of Michigan mysteries: Weird Michigan. A good story to share when you’re floating around this weekend is the tale of the Lake Leelanau Monster.
The story of an early 20th Century sea monster sighting was sent to The Shadowlands Web site by a reader whose great-grandfather was the witness. The boy was fishing for perch one day in 1910 in the shallows of Lake Leelanau in Leelanau County. The lake had been dammed in the late 1800’s to provide water power for the local mill and to enable logging. The dam also flooded much surrounding area, turning it into swamps and bogs punctuated by dead, standing trees.
On that particular day, the young great-grandfather, William Gauthier, rowed out to a new fishing spot near the town of Lake Leelanau. Looking for good perch habitat, he paddled up close to a tree that he estimated to stand about five feet tall above the water, with a six-inch trunk. He was in about seven feet of water, and after deciding this would be a good place to stop and cast a line, began tying the boat to the tree.
That’s when young William discovered the tree had eyes. They were staring him dead in the face at about four feet above water level. The boy and serpent exchanged a long gaze, then the creature went, “Bloop” into the water. Gauthier said later that the creature’s head passed one end of the boat while the tail was still at the other end, though it was undulating very quickly through the water. The writer noted that Gauthier always admitted to having been thoroughly frightened by his encounter, and that the event caused him to stay off that lake for many years.
The writer added that his great-grandfather came from a prominent area family and was very well-educated, and that he knew others who would admit privately but not publicly that they, too, had seen the creature. No sightings have been reported in recent times, but who knows how many people have believed they were passing by a rotting old cedar when in fact they had just grazed the Leelanau lake monster?
This morning I saw this fantastic pic shared without attribution for probably the 100th time. I knew the attribution because I had shared it from Instagram back in 2017.
I know that a million bots building social media using AI will only make things worse, so I really (really) want to make a plea to all of you to FOLLOW THE PHOTOGRAPHER. Every time you do, even if you don’t purchase their work, you build their following which makes it more likely that their work is credited and profitable because making pretty pictures is hard and takes lots of glass & gas!!
Good morning everyone. Regrettably, I need to take a break which (fingers crossed) won’t be too terribly long to deal with some health issues. In the meantime, I hope all of you are able to enjoy the bounteous offerings of Michigan summertime!
Jeff took this photo two years ago at sunrise on June 29th (my birthday) in Traverse City (where I currently live), so I thought it would be a perfect placeholder while I’m gone. See more from Jeff in his Most Faved (Best of) gallery on Flickr.
Rod took this photo of the classic laker and steamer Wilfred Sykes in fog on the St. Clair River at dawn last week. Head over to his Flickr for the latest!
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!
Lake Michigan Carferry, Inc. is in the early phases of looking for ways to ditch the coal that currently propels the 410-foot historic ship across Lake Michigan.
“We are just in the early phases at looking at what other options could be viable for the Badger,” said Sara Spore, general manager of Lake Michigan Carferry. “There are not any definite plans, but we know that coal isn’t the long-term solution. We really are starting from scratch and looking at all of our options.”
Michigan in Pictures 