One of my favorite things about Michigan in Pictures is seeing some of the incredible cameras people are using.
One man who has some sweet gear is Kirt E. Carter and he has been bringing some incredible Hasselblad pics to the Absolute Michigan group on Flickr for the better part of a decade. I figured today was a good day to bring attention to his amazing work. The large one below of icicles on the Eagle Harbor shoreline – see more in the Hasselblad search in the Absolute Michigan group & for sure head over to his website to view & purchase his work!
“Does anyone know where the love of God goes when the waves turn the minutes to hours?”
It’s November 10th again, which means that for the 48th year straight year I have Gordon Lightfoot’s legendary ballad to the Witch of November on repeat. My absolute favorite version of the song (as many of you know probably all too wdell) is this version that Joseph Fulton created way back in 2009. Given YouTube’s ruthlessness on music copyright, I have to assume that Lightfoot blessed this because from the moment Harry Reasoner begins speaking, who wouldn’t?
You can join the 49th annual Great Lakes Memorial Service, a remembrance of the crew of the Edmund Fitzgerald in person at Mariners’ Church in downtown Detroit or on their YouTube livestream at 11am today. On November 11, 1975 they rang their church bell 29 times in honor of all the sailors that lost their lives due to the wreck of the S.S. Edmund FItzgerald. They do it every year, and the beloved service also commemorates all sailors who have lost their lives on the Great Lakes.
Here are a couple of photos I took recently of the beautiful stained glass and the historical marker at Mariners’ Church which is between Hart Plaza and the Renaissance Center on the riverfront in downtown Detroit. Lots more about the Edmund Fitzgerald on Michigan in Pictures!
Back in the day there was a great site of spooky stories by someone who went by the name of “Amber Rose Bierce”. She doesn’t seem to be online anymore, but one of my favorite of the spooky stories she shared is that of the Lake Superior ghost ship Hudson:
Perhaps the eeriest tale of a ghost ship is the story of the lost steamer Hudson. This took place right on the Keeweenaw Peninsula, which I have visited several times…the last and loneliest outpost of Upper Michigan before land gives way to the rolling waves of Lake Superior. I can picture this story unfolding in the area I have visited…it doesn’t take much imagination to envisage a ghost ship off Keeweenaw.
The tale was first told in the 1940’s and has all the elements of a bone-freezing beauty of a folk tale. But many sailors take it as the gospel truth.
A refitted tugboat now used for fishing was sailing past the tip of the Keeweenaw Peninsula. A thick, clinging fog was impeding visibility but the boat was making good time when the cloying mist became dangerously dense. There was barely five feet of visibility in front of the vessel when the captain saw in shock that his ship was closing in on a much larger vessel. In a panic, the tug just barely avoided hitting the ship.
The crusty old skipper of the tug was furious at the other boat for not signalling its position in some way. He pulled up alongside the vessel and noticed that it was very old and in poor condition. He could hear no motors…the vessel was floating dead in the water without engines. The skipper was determined to board the strange boat and confront its crew.
This ship was a wreck that barely looked like it should be on the water. A steamer, one of its twin smokestacks was broken in half. Boarding the ship, the captain saw most of the vessel was covered in either rust or what looked like slimy mud. An uneasy chill fell upon the skipper. The ship looked almost abandoned…but then he spied a silent figure wearing the long oilskin coat of a lake sailor standing a little ways up the deck.
“What’s the matter with you?” yelled the skipper. “You almost cut my ship in two!”
There was no spoken reply, but the silent figure pointed further up the deck, where the decrepit boathouse was located. The skipper stomped towards the boathouse, ready to curse out the big steamer’s captain. At this point, anger won out over fear, even though the skipper knew something was terribly wrong.
When he opened the door of the boathouse, he froze. Two emaciated figures manned the boathouse, staring straight ahead with dead black eyes, their skin the color of a fish’s belly. They seemed locked in position, with one manning the wheel as if he were the captain.
“Your ship is a wreck, I don’t know what’s keeping her afloat.” stammered the captain. “You almost slammed into my tug! What the hell’s the matter? What can I do?”
“Nothing,” came a cold, hollow voice from the man at the wheel. The tug’s skipper felt his guts go ice cold at that voice. “There is no help for us. We are the wreck of the Hudson and we’ve been at the bottom since the ship sank in 1901. 24 of us have stayed with the ship on bottom but for us, there is no rest. The devil has cursed us to rise each year on the anniversary of our sinking, until the end of time. Leave…leave quickly, we must soon return to the bottom and any who are with us must remain. Pray for us, shipmate! Pray for us!”
With a scream of terror, the skipper…a man who feared no earthly fate…ran from the boathouse and virtually threw himself back into his own ship. His crew saw immediately that he had suffered a horrible fright. Word was that he never again sailed on the Lakes…that he shuddered to even see the vast watery expanse he once spent all his waking hours on.
A good ghost story for a chilly night? Almost certainly. But the Hudson was indeed a real ship, which sank with all hands on September 16, 1901!
Michigan in Pictures regular Chris Roxburgh is one of my absolute favorite follows on Facebook. It seems like every week all year round he’s under the water showing me something I’ve never seen or a new look at an old friend. Miner’s Castle in the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore is for sure one of those old friends. What I didn’t realize until today is that the millions of years old sandstone underneath the surface of Lake Superior may be even cooler than what’s above the water!!
8PM EDT: This is nothing short of astronomical. I am at a loss for words to meteorologically describe you the storms small eye and intensity. 897mb pressure with 180 MPH max sustained winds and gusts 200+ MPH. This is now the 4th strongest hurricane ever recorded by pressure on this side of the world. The eye is TINY at nearly 3.8 miles wide. This hurricane is nearing the mathematical limit of what Earth’s atmosphere over this ocean water can produce.-Orlando Meteorologist Noah Bergren
The phrase “nearing the mathematical limit of what Earth’s atmosphere over this ocean water can produce” is one of the most terrifying I have ever read, especially when it directly follows Hurricane Helene that killed over 200 people and wrought devastation even in the mountains. Could this be the hurricane cycle that wakes people up to the reality of a changed climate or will we keep acting like it’s normal for hurricanes to wipe mountain towns off the map? Time will certainly tell.
While it’s too early to forecast the impact of Milton on Michigan, Hurricane Sandy in 2012 produced the second highest wave height ever on Lake Michigan of 21.7 feet – click for all kinds of Lake Michigan Hurricane Sandy weather data from the NWS. Cory took this at Sugar Loaf just outside of Marquette way back in November of 2012 in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy. See more in his Portfolio gallery on Flickr.
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! 🙌
You don’t take a photograph. You make it. ~ Ansel Adams
Great photography is not easy! Karl shares “Laying practically under my tripod and up against a prickly picker bush, I’m narrowly able to cram in this craggily white birch with a few remaining autumn leaves that are just barely hanging. In the crisp and cold October morning air, I caught one of the nicest and richest sunrises I’ve ever experienced over Lake Superior. This was a good morning.“
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.”
The 25th annual Grand Marais Splash-in on the Bay happens June 13-16th at the Lake Superior village that’s the eastern gateway to the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore. In 2024 they will debut a Seaplane Poker Run on Friday, and Saturday competitions include a Balloon Target Drop and Take-off & Landing contests. Add a potluck, cookout & the natural beauty of Grand Marais & the Superior Coast and it’s a recipe for a great weekend!!
The Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore asks if you’ve ever thought about being a campground host?
If the answer is “Yes!” they are seeking a volunteer campground host for the month of June at Hurricane River Lower Campground. Volunteer campground hosts work 5 days a week and stay in a designated campsite, assisting fellow campers with information and registration, but they do not handle any money, and do not clean restrooms. Campground hosts are welcome to bring their own RVs and campers, though there are no electric or sewer hookups (vault toilets are available) and cell reception is limited.
Hurricane River Campground is on the eastern side of Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, about 12 miles outside of Grand Marais. The campground sits above a sand and pebble beach on Lake Superior, which is dotted with shipwrecks as it stretches east towards the Au Sable Light Station.
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