Taken in a Kalamazoo backyard with a Hasselblad, I believe. View it bigger.
Steel
Lake of the Clouds in the Porcupine Mountains State Park
Lake of the Clouds by Night, photo by SpringChick.
Spring Chick writes: Lake of the Clouds at dusk. I love the mirrored, mystic look to the lake in this photo. I also found it interesting that the sky colored in the east. I could visit this place every day and never tire of it. Porcupine Mountains, MI.
This photo is part of her Porcupine Mountains set (best as a slideshow) and yes, it makes an amazing background for your computer.
Lake of the Clouds is in the Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park, which was established in 1945 and is Michigan’s largest state park. The “Porkies” are located 15 miles west of Ontonagon in the western Upper Peninsula, and the 60,000 acre park features virgin timber, secluded lakes, and miles of wild rivers and streams. If you it that link above you can get trail maps (they allow mountain biking too) and backcountry camping information.
The Wikipedia Porcupine Mountains entry says that the Porcupine Mountains were so named by the native Ojibwa people because their silhouette had the shape of a porcupine. Also see Exploring the North’s Porkies page, this cool Ski the Porkies site and a map to the Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park.
Michigan Orchard in Snow
Michigan Orchard in Snow, photo by coonjamm.
Today’s photo of a cherry orchard near near Paw Paw from February will hopefully remind those of us tempted to complain about the heat of other things we could complain about.
I’d also like to call attention to Van Buren County, Michigan our latest Michigan shoreline county article on Absolute Michigan.
Modern Day Detroit … from above
modern day Detroit, photo by paulhitz.
Paul says that this photo of Comerica Park and the Detroit skyline was shot Sunday from a helicopter tour around Detroit during the Detroit International River Days Festival (held late June every year). I was going to ask Paul how the heck he managed a helicopter ride, but apparently helicopter rides from Walton Helicopter Charter were part of River Days this year.
Paul encourages you to view this picture bigger (yes, it makes a great computer background). You can also view more helicopter-eye photos of Detroit.
Striking a 50s pose
Michigan Shoreline Tour: South Haven … and the Friends Good Will
Friends Good Will, photo by Doug Langham
Doug writes that the Michigan Maritime Museum’s historical replica of the famous sailing sloop Friends Good Will sails daily from the South Haven harbor. Follow that link for the tale of the original Friends Good Will and the building of this replica. (also check out Doug’s daytime photo of the sloop)
The Wikipedia entry for South Haven has all your facts and demographics and says that most of the city is in Van Buren County, with a the very north portion in Allegan County. Probably the best resource for South Haven history is the city of South Haven’s history page. It notes that the city was originally founded by J.R. Monroe, who was granted a land patent from the U. S. government in 1833 for 65 acres of land along Lake Michigan’s shore. The city didn’t get going until the 1850s when sawmills at the mouth of the Black River were established and fed the growth of the town (and the timber-hungry city of Chicago). South Haven’s “glory days” were probably when:
The resort business had its beginning in the mid-1800’s at the home of Mrs. H. M. Avery. It was to experience phenomenal growth and became South Haven’s most colorful era. By the turn of the century, thousands of visitors were arriving by steamer and train to enjoy a memorable vacation. Lodging was available in magnificent hotels, farm resorts, family homes, or picturesque little cottages along the river. Entertainment was unlimited. Choices included pavilions, several theaters, a casino, an opera house, an amusement park with a roller coaster, and much more.
Tourism remains the main business of South Haven and the South Haven Visitors Bureau and Great South Haven Chamber of Commerce can help you plan a visit. You can look in on the town with the South Haven web cam, view the Flickr photo map for South Haven and the Google map for South Haven.
Coincidentally, yesterday’s post was from South Haven too. View more South Haven area photos on Michigan in Pictures and also explore South Haven on Absolute Michigan.
Telling the story of the Great Lakes
_DSC0179_8x8_toned, photo by kcephoto.
Healing Our Waters – Great Lakes Coalition is looking for stories (500 words or less) and photos about people and the lakes that fill folks with laughter, sadness, nostalgia, or wonder, and maybe even inspire us to think about the Great Lakes in a new way.
The story categories are Fishing, Camping and General and there’s also a photo category. In addition to grand prizes with two outdoor adventure packages (kayak, tent and sleeping bag and two photography packages including a digital camera) there will be monthly prizes (backpacks, fishing gear, digital cameras) for children, high school student and adult age groups.
The contest runs through August 20, and you can get all the details and view some of the submissions at healthylakes.org.
Ghost Forest, Sleeping Bear Point
Ghost Forest, Sleeping Bear Point, photo by Matt Callow.
Matt writes All over the Sleeping Bear Dunes are the remains of trees killed by the constantly shifting sands, often clustered together in eerie stands of ghost forest.
Matt recently spent two weeks in an artist residency for the Glen Arbor Art Association. He also has placed this photo on a map. The Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore says that the trees in these ghost forests were killed hundreds of years ago by the moving dunes and that:
After an initial phase of active sand accumulation, a period of stability followed when trees began to grow on the dune. Later, more sand moved in and buried the trees. Two layers of buried soil within the dune indicate that there was a second period of stability and growth followed by another period of sand build-up and then the final growth of the trees and shrubs that now cover the sheltered portions of the dunes.
More in the Sleeping Bear Dunes Geology auto-tour.
Michigan in Pictures 