Mackinac Island in Winter

Posted on by farlane

Mackinac Island in the winter

Mackinac Island in the winter by SuzyQ0763, photo by SuzyQ0763

Mackinac Island is one of Michigan’s coolest places, drawing over 10,000 visitors a day for much of the summer. Winter on Mackinac is different though, and something that many of us never get to see.

The Arnold Line says that they keep boats running across until early January. After that, islanders use a six-seater plane operated by Great Lakes Air. Once the straits freeze (usually by February) folks can cross on snowmobiles, following the “bridge” marked by Christmas trees in the snow and ice between the Island and St. Ignace (click for a video).

If you’re interested in checking out the island in winter, the Mackinac Island Winter Festival takes place next weekend (February 1-3) at Great Turtle Park. The fun includes a bonfire cook out, sledding, snow golf, archery, snow volleyball, and broom hockey.

Check Suzy’s photo out background big or view all her photos from a winter’s day on Mackinac Island.

Channel Currents & Longshore Currents at Picnic Rocks

Posted on by farlane

Storm Clouds over Picnic Rocks in Marquette, MI Labor Day 2012

Storm Clouds over Picnic Rocks in Marquette, MI Labor Day 2012, photo by Superior Seasons

Picnic Rocks is a popular beach area in Marquette. I thought that I’d come up with a good story for the name, but instead, I learned about the formation and dangers of what are known as channel & longshore currents. The Marquette National Weather Service explains:

A channel current is caused when water is squeezed between the shore and an offshore structure or feature (such as an island). When water is squeezed it speeds up, thus causing the current. This is like putting a smaller nozzle on a garden hose. When the smaller nozzle is on, the water comes out faster.

This current can be enhanced by what is known as a longshore current, a current that is generated by waves breaking onshore. As waves move onshore, they break in the direction they are moving in order to dissipate their energy. This causes the longshore current. Overtime, the current spans the entire width of the surf zone (the place where you swim). In the case of a channel current, the longshore current can speed up the channeling effect between the shore and the rocks, causing dangerous conditions to develop for those who are walking along the sandbar. The longshore current is maximized during times of higher waves that come in at a 45 degree angle to the shore.

…One could escape a channel current by swimming back to towards the shore. Many people make the mistake of swimming against the current as they are trying to get back to the sandbar. Think of the current as an underwater treadmill. In order to get off the treadmill, one needs to step off to the side of it. The channel current will be moving parallel to shore, so in order to escape, swim perpendicular to the shore.

Read on for more including a diagram demonstrating the best way to escape if you’re caught in these currents. A swimmer recently drowned here and this summer has been a deadly one – please use your knowledge to help others stay safe!

So we don’t end on a down note, let me say that in good weather, Picnic Rocks is a fantastic, natural playground for folks of all ages!!

Check this out background big and in Superior Season’s Marquette slideshow.

More from Marquette on Michigan in Pictures.

June in Michigan…

Posted on by farlane

Untitled

Untitled, photo by SuzyQ0763

“June is bustin’ out all over.”
~ Oscar Hammerstein II, 1945

We’ve posted our June Michigan Event Calendar on Absolute Michigan. It’s packed full of all kinds of ways to bust out in June. I’m betting we missed some fun ones, so please share your favorite June events in the comments!

One of the events we do have is the annual Mackinac Island Lilac Festival, a celebration of lilacs and Mackinac Island that runs June 8-17th. While March’s crazy weather pushed lilacs elsewhere, the unique climate of Mackinac Island coupled with a cold snap has slowed lilacs down so that they’ll have them there. Check their Facebook page for updates and more photos.

Another microclimate where lilacs are still in force are the Les Cheneaux Islands, an archipelago of 36 islands east of the Straits of Mackinac. See this photo bigger, in Suzy’s slideshow or check it out in the Les Cheneaux Islands group!

South Fox Island Lighthouse

Posted on by farlane

South Fox Island ... tower view, spring panorama

South Fox Island … tower view, spring panorama, photo by Ken Scott

The South Fox Lighthouse Association maintains this light, has lots of great history and photos and is a worthy target for your donations.

Recently, I made the acquaintance of Terry Pepper. Terry’s Seeing the Light is hands-down the best Great Lakes Lighthouse website out there and I’ve used him as a resource for years in dozens of lighthouse features on Michigan in Pictures. Terry told me I could lean on him (even more) for photos and information. It seems a shame to waste that gift, so here goes. On his South Fox Island Lighthouse page he begins:

South Fox Island is located approximately seventeen miles off Cat’s Head Point, at the tip of the Leelanau Peninsula. The story of this Island light began with Congress’s appropriation of $18,000 for the construction of a lighthouse there on March 2, 1867.

Work on the light station began immediately, with the construction of the Cream City brick tower. With walls thirteen inches in thickness, the square tower topped-out at forty-five feet in height, and contained a forty-eight step cast iron spiral staircase leading to the lantern room.

The lantern was outfitted with a flashing red Fourth Order Fresnel lens, and the station’s first keeper Henry J. Roe climbed the tower steps to exhibit the light for the first time on November 1, 1867.

Read on for much more including Keeper Warner’s battle with drifting sands and snow that piled so high as to interfere with access to the station’s buildings and more about that Cream City brick from Milwaukee.

View Ken’s photo bigger and see more in his slideshow from South Fox Island.

Michigan’s Sleeping Bear Dunes is the most beautiful place in (Good Morning) America!

Posted on by farlane

Please Just Come
Please Just Come, photo by Happyhiker4

 

On Leelanau.com yesterday, I reported that the Sleeping Bear Dunes have been named the most beautiful place in America by the viewers of Good Morning America.

Today I’ve been reading here and there of folks who are wondering if in fact the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore deserves that distinction. They say a picture is worth a thousand words, so here’s 1600+ pictures of the Sleeping Bear Dunes from the Absolute Michigan pool on Flickr. Even better, here’s the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore homepage – take a trip and decide for yourself!

One of my favorite photographers who shoots in the dunes is Mark Lindsay. See this photo bigger and also in his Dunes slideshow.

 

Moon Shadow Self Portrait on Isle Royale

Posted on by Michigan in Pictures

Moon Shadow Self Portrait

Moon Shadow Self Portrait, photo by yooper1949.

We’ll stay outside and under the stars with this photo taken across from Pickerel Cove Campground in Isle Royale National Park. Carl writes that he was trying to photograph the bright stars filling the sky while keeping his shadow out of the shot. He finally decided to go with it (to great effect in my opinion).

Check it out bigger in his Under the Stars slideshow.

A sunset at sunset

Posted on by Michigan in Pictures

Seascape

Seascape, photo by Aaron M Jones.

Normally I get Michigan in Pictures done in the morning. Took the morning mostly off today however.

Aaron took this amazing shot off Drummond Island – No HDR or exposure blending using a circular polarizer + Cokin GND8. Wow.

Check it out background boomtacular and in his slideshow. And speaking of wow, in his slideshow he has a very cool video short titled Night.

Fog can be pretty…when you’re not in the thick of it,

Posted on by Michigan in Pictures

Fog can be pretty...when you're not in the thick of it,

Fog can be pretty…when you’re not in the thick of it,, photo by yooper1949.

Taken at Isle Royale and part of Carl’s amazing Isle Royale National Park slideshow (view the set).

See more of Michigan’s islands on Michigan in Pictures.

Hiking Isle Royale: Trails, Wolves and Minong Mine

Posted on by Michigan in Pictures

Minong Mine

Minong Mine, photo by nasunto.

Nina went to Isle Royale in September and has been posting accounts on her awesome blog Black Coffee at Sunrise. This photo of Minong Mine appears in Day Five, which features a detailed description of their encounter with a pack of wolves:

Since the vegetation along the narrow trail was dripping with dew and leaning inward, it wasn’t long before we were both soaking wet from hip to ankle. Ten minutes after leaving our campsite, the ground became marshy and we found ourselves walking a long stretch of protective plank bridge. Just before reaching the stream crossing, the trail curved to the right and Craig suddenly stopped in front of me, turned around and said very calmly, “Uh…a whole pack of wolves…”

His voice trailed off as he turned back around to face forward again. I thought he was trying to be funny since I couldn’t yet see what was around the corner. After inching forward another foot or so, he turned to me again and the look on his face was priceless. “I’m not kidding,” he said. “There are at least five wolves on the trail ahead of us.” The next few moments were the most surreal and exciting I’ve ever experienced.

Read on at her blog for the rest of the account or see them all in her Isle Royale section.

Be sure to check this out bigger or in her Isle Royale set (slideshow).

You can learn a little bit about Minong Mine and see a picture of a 6000 pound copper nugget right here.

Check out many more Isle Royale photos on Michigan in Pictures.

Michigan Northern Lights – October 16, 2009

Posted on by Michigan in Pictures

Northern lights over Amygdaloid Island Ranger Station

Northern lights over Amygdaloid Island Ranger Station, photo by yooper1949.

Last night our Michigan Northern Lights Log on Absolute Michigan lit up like … well … the northern lights I guess with reports from Howell, Perry, Bancroft, Pleasant Lake, Eaton Rapids

They were all over. North, South, East and West. I wasn’t sure at first what they were, because of seeing them in all directions. Never seen anything quite like it.

…and Hartland, where Eddie wrote:

Finally….some verification of what myself and the rest of the family was looking at. I’m in Hartland and saw them everywhere but the northwest direction last night. Then this morning on the way to work, to the north and north east only. Saw single shafts of vertical light streaks mostly with a few areas that were “brush stroked” also, completely vertical. My kids also saw them for the first time.

Our northern lights log is set up to be a resource for notification when the aurora borealis is out. If you’ve never seen the lights, you might want to subscribe to the feed to get notification. I’m really wishing I’d checked my email last night and I’m hoping that I at least get to see some of the photos in the Absolute Michigan pool!

Carl took this photo on Northern lights over Amygdaloid Island Ranger Station on Amygdaloid Island (<– read that link) in Isle Royale National Park on November 6, 2007. You can see it bigger in his Under the Stars slideshow or check out this whole set or his Isle Royale National Park photos.

I didn’t see this one at Carl’s Mackinac Scenics web site (where you can purchase some of his work) but he does have some great shots of Isle Royale under the stars!

There’s lots more Northern Lights / Aurora Borealis photos & information on Michigan in Pictures!