Ocqueoc Falls

Ocqueoc Falls

Ocqueoc Falls, originally uploaded by argusmaniac.

What can I say? Stunning.

According to his web page (where some very cool black & white photos can be found) argusmaniac aka Mark O’Brien is a photographer, “somewhere between advanced amateur and semi-professional” who also collects Argus cameras. The photo was scanned from black & white slide and taken in July of 2002.

goWaterfalling.com (a super-cool site for waterfall lovers) says:

Ocqueoc Falls is the only “major” waterfall in Michigan’s lower peninsula. In rockier, hillier parts of the world this would be a nameless rapids of no note but here in the farmlands and forests of Michigan it merits its own little park. The falls is at most 5 feet high. There is a small gorge below the falls, with rocky walls about 20 feet high. The Ocqueoc Falls State Forest Campground is just across the road, and the Bicentennial Pathway passes by the falls.

The falls is about 10 miles northwest of Onaway, the nearest city. From Onaway head east on MI-68, take a left onto Millersburg Road, and then a right onto Ocqueoc Falls road. According to my road atlas, Rainy River falls is about 6 miles to the east, but it is apparently on private property. I imagine it is similar in size and appearance to Ocqueoc Falls. (view on the Waterfalls of the Great Lakes Region site)

Wide-Eyed and Alone

Wide Eyed and Alone at fayette

alone5, originally uploaded by whitewaves.

The photographer says that this photo was part of a series of photos taken on New Years Eve afternoon.

Fayette is located in the Upper Peninsula (on Big Bay De Noc):

The Jackson Iron Company founded the town in 1867 for the sole purpose of extracting iron from the ore being mined in its iron mine near Negaunee. The site was chosen for the limestone, the small but deep natural harbor, and the immense stands of hardwood on the entire length of the Garden Peninsula.

By 1891 the hardwood on the peninsula was gone and soft coal was replacing charcoal in the smelting process. It was no longer profitable for the company to run Fayette. The furnaces went cold and the town slowly became deserted.

The town site is now a State Park. Also see the Historic Fayette Photo pool.

Sunset on the Quincy Mine

http://www.flickr.com/photos/bgivens/9434372/

Quincy Mine Hoist, originally uploaded by exa.

Exa is one of Michigan’s most prolific Flickrites and took this great photo of the Quincy Mine Hoist. The mine is located on the Keweenaw Peninsula (that big peninsula atop the western UP).