80 years of ice on the Straits of Mackinaw

Posted on by farlane

Winter Service, photo courtesy Mackinac Bridge Authority

The Michigan State Ferry Album says:

Winter service began in 1931 when the Highway Department arranged with the Mackinaw Transportation Company to carry cars across the Straits on a railroad icebreaker during the cold months. This arrangement turned out to be poor business for the State, so in 1936 the Highway Department leased the railroad icebreaker “Sainte Marie” for winter operations on a regular schedule.Winter service began in 1931 when the Highway Department arranged with the Mackinaw Transportation Company to carry cars across the Straits on a railroad icebreaker during the cold months. This arrangement turned out to be poor business for the State, so in 1936 the Highway Department leased the railroad icebreaker “Sainte Marie” for winter operations on a regular schedule.

In case you’re wondering, the ice on the Straits of Mackinaw hasn’t changed a whole lot in 80 years, as this photo from February of 2008 titled Triangles by Dominique shows. See it bigger in her Snow/Ice slideshow or check out the whole set.

Triangles

February Fun in Michigan

Posted on by farlane

Misty February Morning

“Winter, a lingering season, is a time to gather golden moments, embark upon a sentimental journey, and enjoy every idle hour.”
~ John Boswell

Our Michigan February Event Calendar shows that from outdoor celebrations like Houghton’s Winter Carnival, the North American Snow Festival in Cadillac, the International 500 Snowmobile Race in the Soo, Detroit’s Winter Blast and the UP 200, Midnight Run Sled-Dog Championships in Marquette to indoor celebrations like the Taste the Passion wine tour in Leelanau, the Michigan International Auto Show in Grand Rapids, the Detroit Boat Show and the Winter Wine Wonderland in Traverse City, February is the month where Michiganders throw a snowball in winter’s face and head out to enjoy Michigan!

Check this photo of one of those golden February moments along the Grand River out bigger and in Jon’s My World Set (slideshow).

Previewing the Winter Olympics at Otsego Club

Posted on by Michigan in Pictures

SNOWBOARD Training in Gaylord, Michigan

SNOWBOARD Training in Gaylord, Michigan, photo by MyWheelsareTurning.

If a trip to Vancouver for the 2010 Winter Olympics (February 12-28) isn’t in your budget, consider the shorter jaunt to Gaylord next week.

Many of the world’s finest snowboarders are training for the Winter Games at Otsego Club in Gaylord, Michigan. The New York Times reports:

The Otsego Club, a private ski/golf club and resort founded in 1939, has been a good destination for snowboarders, with a terrain park of 45 trails and jumps to complement its 31 downhill runs. This season, it decided to take a chance and spend more than $100,000 to build the halfpipe…

The grounds were reshaped and prepared over the fall, and the architects of Planet Snow built the 500-foot-long, 22-foot-high halfpipe of ice and snow.

The club hoped adding the halfpipe could attract interest, but the general manager, Kris Klay, said the experiment had far exceeded expectations.

“Every day I am getting calls from coaches and athletes asking if they can come here too — do we have room?” Klay said. “We’re going to make the room. This has been an incredible experience for us to host them and for the community to be able to have exposure to this. We feel like we’re so lucky, we’re getting to see a preview of the Vancouver Olympics every day in our own backyard.”

They also have a nice feature on one of the biggest stars you can see there, Gold Medal hopeful Torah Bright. I’ve been told that even more of the top boarders will be in early next week, and my own resident snowboarding expert returned beaming from ear to ear at how he’d been able to board with Olympians, a chance that few get. I believe that the resort is closed to the public on the weekend, so be sure to call ahead!

You can see this photo of Japanese rider Shiho Nakashima larger in Gary’s Gaylord: Olympic Snowboard slideshow and check out his blog about
Walking, Biking, Getting Around in Northern Michigan & Beyond.

Old Reliable: Quincy Mine on the Keweenaw Peninsula

Posted on by Michigan in Pictures

24/365 - Quincy Boiler and Shaft

24/365 – Quincy Boiler and Shaft, photo by dcclark.

You can buy mine related stuff and get tour information from the Quincy Mine Hoist Association. You can’t, however, get historical information.

Thankfully, David has posted a bunch. He has some information on his Copper Country Explorer web site (update: actually run by his friend Mike!). On his Cliffs & Ruins blog he writes:

In the foreground are the ruins an old boiler house — once filled with huge steam boilers, providing steam power to the mine. Behind it is the #2 shafthouse, a modern steel structure from a different era of the mine’s development.

The Quincy Mine is a very different mine from the Central Mine, featured yesterday. Although both started in the 1850s, the Central was a “fissure” mine — mining primarily huge, pure chunks of copper. The Quincy, on the other hand, was an “amygdaloid” mine — mining rock with tiny bits of copper infused through it. As it turns out, Quincy’s model was better, and all of the truly successful mines in the Copper Country were amygdaloid mines. Quincy paid dividends for nearly 50 years straight, earning it the name “Old Reliable”. But, just like the Central and all other Copper Country mines, the Quincy is now nothing more than a collection of shafts and ruins.

It’s one of the Keweenaw National Heritage Sites and there’s detailed information on Wikipedia’s Quincy Mine entry.

Be sure to check this out bigger, in David’s store and on his Quincy, Michigan map.

Hoar Frost or Freezing Fog?

Posted on by Michigan in Pictures

Painted rolling hills

Painted rolling hills, photo by Dr. Farnsworth.

Wikipedia’s entry on fog says that freezing fog occurs when liquid fog droplets freeze to surfaces, forming white soft or hard rime. Then there’s also hoar frost…

Radiation frost (also called hoar frost or hoarfrost) refers to the white ice crystals, loosely deposited on the ground or exposed objects, that form on cold clear nights when heat losses into the open skies cause objects to become colder than the surrounding air. A related effect is flood frost which occurs when air cooled by ground-level radiation losses travels downhill to form pockets of very cold air in depressions, valleys, and hollows. Hoar frost can form in these areas even when the air temperature a few feet above ground is well above freezing. Nonetheless the frost itself will be at or below the freezing temperature of water.

Hoar frost may have different names depending on where it forms. For example, air hoar is a deposit of hoar frost on objects above the surface, such as tree branches, plant stems, wires; surface hoar is formed by fernlike ice crystals directly deposited on snow, ice or already frozen surfaces; crevasse hoar consists in crystals that form in glacial crevasses where water vapour can accumulate under calm weather conditions; depth hoar refers to cup shaped, faceted crystals formed within dry snow, beneath the surface.

Which is it? I have no idea. I’m hoping one of the weather experts in the audience can tell us!

Check this out bigger or in the Michigan snow group’s slideshow and you can also find a lot more Michigan winter wallpaper for your desktop on Michigan in Pictures.

Amtrak 23

Posted on by Michigan in Pictures

Amtrak 23, photo by Jim Thias

Jim writes that this is Amtrak 23 at 50 MPH, blasting through a freshly plowed crossing in snowy west Michigan.

He’s got a lot more great train photos.

There is unrest in the Forest…..

Posted on by Michigan in Pictures

There is unrest in the Forest.....

There is unrest in the Forest….., photo by RBS62.

There is unrest in the forest there is trouble with the trees
For the maples want more sunlight and the oaks ignore their pleas

The trouble with the maples and they’re quite convinced they’re right
They say the oaks are just too lofty and they grab up all the light
~ Rush (listen on Rhapsody)

Check this out as big as the trees and in his Winter in the UP set (slideshow).

Lots more winter wallpaper on Michigan in Pictures.

Turnip Rock, Port Austin and The Thumb

Posted on by Michigan in Pictures

Turnip Rock, Port Austin, Michigan

Turnip Rock, Port Austin, Michigan, photo by jensenl.

It’s been a while since Michigan in Pictures got out with the incomparable Lars Jensen, for my money one of Michigan’s best outdoor photographers.

His winter visit to The Thumb offers this photo and many more larger and he writes:

Turnip Rock and Kai standing on the “thumbnail” in Michigan’s thumb area. Unfortunately, this area is privately owned so Kai and I skied to it from the harbor at Port Austin (about 2.25 miles away) on Lake Huron. We then skied out to the Port Austin Lighthouse which sits out in the middle of the bay on a shallow shoal (about 2.5 miles from the shores of Port Austin). We saw all sorts of interesting ice formations along the way and had a great time on a cold and blustery day.

Click over to his site for the whole day of photos. Here’s more of Lars Jensen on Michigan in Pictures and I also recommend kicking back for his Michigan slideshow.

PS: Too cold for you? He has summertime photos in Kayaking the Thumb!

Winter Wonderland at the Tahquamenon Falls

Posted on by Michigan in Pictures

Winter Wonderland

Winter Wonderland, photo by Kiran Bhat..

Kiran says that he absolutely loves the Tahquamenon Falls. I confess that I do too.

He’s just begun posting his UP Trip slideshow where you can see it bigger.

Need more? How about the Tahquamenon Falls in winter slideshow from Flickr or more of the Tahquamenon Falls from Michigan in Pictures?

Michigan January Event Calendar

Posted on by Michigan in Pictures

Untitled, photo by Terrapin Dawg.

“The Old Year has gone. Let the dead past bury its own dead. The New Year has taken possession of the clock of time. All hail the duties and possibilities of the coming twelve months!”
~ Edward Payson Powell

Every month Absolute Michigan puts together a massive list of events from all across the state designed to help you get more out of Michigan.

Our January Michigan Event Calendar features some great events designed to help you get more out of the outdoors like Newberry’s Tahquamenon Country Sled Dog Race, Kalkaska Winterfest, Tip Up Town USA (Houghton Lake), Snowfest in Frankenmuth and the Subaru Noquemanon Ski Marathon in Marquette. If you like your events on the indoors side, there’s Ferndale’s Bluesfest, the Ann Arbor Folk Festival and the The North American International Auto Show in Detroit.

Matt took this photo in Cheboygan County. Be sure to check this out backround big or in his snowmobile trip set (slideshow).