My Town Monday: Wagner Falls (Pictured Rocks Nat’l Lakeshore)

Yes, there are STILL more waterfalls in the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore.  Which was a nice consolation prize when we visited in the not-quite-spring before tourist season and found that we were seriously limited in what we could do while in the area. 

Anyway, Wagner Falls gest a bit more love than Scott and Alger Falls.  It gets a nice little scenic viewing area.

Wagner Falls consists of several small falls and rapids. 

 

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My Town Monday: Munising Falls (Field Trip)

The little town in Michigan’s UP near the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore is Munising.  It lends its name to one of the nearby waterfalls.
This was the first waterfall we visited, and the first sign that our trip was going to include some unforseen snow hazzards!

There was a cone of ice around the base of the falls, formed from the droplets of water splashing upon impact.  In fact, though it’s hard to see in these pictures, the cone extends almost up to top of the falls, but behind the water. 

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My Town Monday: Miner’s Falls (Field Trip)

Last week, I wrote about the Pictured Rocks.  But the rocks on the lakeshore are not the only great natural attraction.  There are a number of waterfalls in and around the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore. 
One of those is Miner’s Falls.  When we visited the area (about this time last year) there was still snow on the ground… and ice on the water, including the waterfalls!
It was an incredible sight and I’m actually quite glad we got to see this lesser-viewed condition of the falls. 
Pretty sure that thing across the top of the water is actually ice… it doesn’t appear in warm-weather pictures I found on the internet.  I plan to go back someday again, during warmer months to compare views. 

(I'm playing with Windows Live Writer for blog post and still figuring things out-- which is why the picture quality suffered.  Sorry!)

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My Town Monday: Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore

If you head up to the top of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, you’ll find, amongst the many national and state parks, the Pictured Rocks  National Lakeshore.

 

The rock is in multi-colored layers and is exposed along the water’s edge.  The water here is Lake Superior, the largest and coldest of the great lakes.  Over time, the lake has eroded away the land, exposing the many colors of the rock.

 

 

 

 

You can see the layers all the way up the rock face (as I leaned out as far as I could to get pictures.)

 

The best way to see the Pictured Rocks is by boat… or so I understand.  When we visited, it was late March last year and the tourist season hadn’t begun.  So the boats were not running yet.

 

 

Here’s a view of some of the layers as seen on land. 

 

 

 

This particular point is called Miner’s Castle, named for the miners who were looking for minerals and other valuable things in the area. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

At the time we visited, while warmer weather had moved in across the Lower Peninsula (where I reside), it was still cold up north.  And there was still snow and ice in spots, particularly shaded areas.  This was a bit of a surprise to us, since we didn’t think about the difference in climate an 8 hour drive can make!  But it turned out to be a wonderful surprise… 

This shot shows the ice that formed on the cliff face where the waves splashed up. 

The next couple weeks, I’m going to show you the waterfalls around the Picture Rocks National Lakeshore (as seen in early spring.) 

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My Town Monday: the Upper Peninsula of Michigan

 
Michigan is one of those unique states.  We're a peninsula. TWO peninsulas, even.  And our peninsulas have more peninsulas on them-- not just puny ones, but big ol' peninsulas.  And if that doesn't sound suggestive to you... your mind is much cleaner than mine.

I reside in the Lower Peninsula, not too far from civilization.  But because the Upper Peninsula holds several neat land marks, there are times when a Michigander should venture up there.  Many Michiganders have cabins, "cabins" and vacation homes in the northern parts of Michigan, for hunting or just escaping (or "escaping") from city life.  The Upper Peninsula is largely unsettled, though.

It consists mainly of forests and coastlines along the Great Lakes.  Plus some tiny towns.  US-2 meanders along the bottom edge of the Upper Peninsula, heading West into Wisconsin.  This road, while being  US road, is not a highway (or freeway or limited access highways)-- the speed limit is 55mph.  There is no limited access highway across the UP from east to west.  I-75 goes from the tip of the Lower Peninsula up to Canada, but that's it for highways in the UP.

After all, moose, bear and snow mobiles don't use expressways.

In the UP, it's colder than the rest of the state.  Winter comes earlier and the snow is heavier and around longer.  This situation is in someways exacerbated by the proximity of the icy water of Lake Superior.  More lake effect snow (where extra snow is created by the moisture of the lake).  But the lake, allegedly, has a moderating affect on the temperature-- which also causes more snow since snow can't fall if it's too cold.

Ice does form on Lake Superior and in massive chunks.  It takes awful cold weather to cause ice to form on a body of water that cold.  This shot was from April.  In the part where I'm from, the ice was gone, but on the shore of Lake Superior, it was large, cold reminder that the Upper Peninsula is a different world.

Traveling through the UP is interesting.  There are few towns.  And those that do exist are very small.  Some are so small that they don't have gas stations (a little disconcerting when you're miles from nowhere!)  Others have quaint combination bar/ restaurant/ grocery store/ post office/ barber shops like existed once upon a time.  You can drive for hours without seeing other cars on the roads of the UP.  It's tranquil... until it gets really boring.

This is a main road heading into Munising in the UP.  It was pretty busy that morning...

I like making visit to the UP.  Sometimes I imagine living in one of the small cities up there.  But only if I could work from home and never have to drive in the thick snow or go out in the cold.  You know, hibernate.  With high speed internet.  But it sure is pretty up there.

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My Town Monday: Field Trip "Up North"

Recently, I took a trip "up north." In Michigan, this usually refers to upper parts of the Lower Peninsula (the fingers) or even to the Upper Peninsula.

My trip was a little of both. Originally, the trip up north included one of the few North/ South routes-- first US 127 or US 23. Today, most people take I-75-- the only limited access freeway heading to points up north.

I took I-75 part of the way, but since it primarily cuts through the center of the state, it's certainly not the scenic drive. So, I got off I-75 and stayed with US-23 which still runs it's old route to and along the coast of Michigan, the shore of Lake Huron. (The pointer finger of the mitten. No, I never get tired of references to my state being mitten-shaped.)

This meant that along the way, starting about Tawas, I got glimpses and full views of the large expanse of blue or gray (depending on the current color of the sky) that is Lake Huron. Luckily, while the weather was overcast most of the morning, by our arrival in Tawas, the sky was clearing. The lake reflected the blue, deepening the color of blue as the sky became less cloudy.

The first stop was in Tawas.





Then we went across the bay to the East Tawas Lighthouse. Unfortunately, the end of March is kind really "off-season" for such places. It wasn't closed, per se. It was "self-service." Yeah. We could walk around and take some pictures of the lighthouse and the point.









I read that the point often washes away during the harsh conditions of winter, only to be rebuilt again the following months.



























Later, further up the coast, we stopped at a scenic overlook.














And later still, along the shore of Grand Lake. This lake is shortly inland from Lake Huron. It creates the area known as Presque Isle-- which means "Almost an Island." As you can see from the map, the area is barely connected to the mainland. The big white area on the top and right side of the map is Lake Huron...
















Grand Lake














Then, we made our way past the Mackinac Bridge (pronounced Mackinaw) and into the Upper Peninsula.


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