The Agatelady: Adventures and Events

Winter Storm Extraordinaire

2012-03-04T10:47:00.000-05:00

On this Sunday morning the sun is out. This is definitely the calm after the storm. The winter blast over the past couple of days is the biggest we have had in a few years. Because of the wind, it is hard to tell how much snow we received. In total over the last two weeks at least two feet has fallen. I had to wipe the snow off my satellite dish yesterday and to gain access I post-holed through snow up to my hips. Most of the snow fell on Friday night, but it snowed lightly most of Saturday. But the wind did not stop, so the snow we received continued to drift.

First, while at the post office I took a picture of the bay showing that it at this point is ice covered. I think it is the first time all winter that the bay seems to be frozen. Hopefully the snowmobiles don't try to drive on the ice, however, because it cannot be too solid.

Next I decided to go out into the midst of the storm to document the fury of Lake Superior. I prepared and not only had goggles on, but I had every inch covered. The wind was blowing from the northeast, so I figured I could get some great pictures from the perspective of the beach. The road commission had plowed the access road to Agate Beach, so that is where I started off. The wind chill was well below zero. I could only take a few pictures at a time because even with my glove liners on, after about 30 seconds I could not feel my fingers. Throughout my snowshoe walking west down the beach, the waves were just crashing into the shore ice. Spray, snow, and chunks of ice were blasted over the mounds of ice. The noise was deafening.

I couldn't decide which picture of the blow hole I liked, so I picked my favorite three.

I think this photograph looks more like a painting.

Here is a picture looking west. Is it a beach? A glacier? The Moon?

Crash, boom, bang....

Some of the shore ice has amazing patterns.

Here is a sequence of a wave heading straight at me and crashing into the ice.

Another wave...

Another ice formation...

Notice the floating ice as well as this tipped iceberg.

Some of the waves were 12 to 15 high.

I was going to keep walking west, but decided instead to walk up the path at First Creek. Notice how the snow has coated all the trees.

Then I walked the bluff in Woodland Park all the way back to my car.

Challenger Deep

2012-03-03T08:22:00.000-05:00

I worked on the online rockhounding adventures all day yesterday. As part of my new usual routine,in the evening I checked the science channels on my new Dish Network satellite TV to see what was on. Last night I watched a show on the Science Channel about a scientific mission to the Challenger Deep, which is the deepest place on earth.

On May 31, 2009 a robotic sub called Nereus reached the bottom of Challenger Deep in the Marianas Trench, located in the western Pacific Ocean south of the island Guam. This trench is basically unexplored. We have had more vehicles and have researched the surfaces of both the Moon and Mars more than we have explored the Marianas Trench.

It is the deepest abyss on Earth at 36,000 feet deep (11,000m), more than 2km (1.2 miles) deeper than Mount Everest is high. At that depth, pressures reach 1,100 times those at the surface. The trench developed when the Pacific plate started subducting under the Mariana plate.

As a result, this is only the third vehicle to have ever made the trip to its crushing depths. In January 1960, Jacques Piccard and Don Walsh made the first and only manned voyage in a Swiss-built bathyscaphe known as the Trieste. The vessel consisted of a 2m-diameter (6ft) steel sphere containing the crew suspended below a huge 15m-long (50ft) tank of petrol, designed to provide buoyancy. During the nine-hour mission, the two men spent just 20 minutes on the ocean floor; enough time to measure the depth as 10,916m (35,813 ft). When near the bottom, one of the Plexiglas panels cracked -- but held. No manned submersible has ever repeated the dive. However, 35 years later, a Japanese remote-controlled vehicle called Kaiko returned, setting a depth record for unmanned exploration. The Japanese craft was lost in 2003 on an unrelated dive when a cable connecting it to its control ship snapped. Currently, all the other deep-rated vehicles can descend to 21,325 feet (6,500m), allowing scientists access to 95% of the seafloor, but not to the Challenger Deep.

The morning of the historical dive provided perfect weather.

The unmanned vehicle was remotely operated by pilots aboard a surface ship via a lightweight fibre-optic tether to the research vessel Kilo Moana. This allows the submersible to make deep dives and be highly manoeuvrable.

During its dive, the vehicle recorded a depth of 10,911m (35,797ft). It was also able to recover a sediment core, rocks, and record pictures of life including a sea cucumber, a worm and a shrimp. During a test dive to 9,000 meters the crew was able to collect biologic specimens. While on the bottom, however, the suction tube missed a couple of specimens.

Here is a graphic showing the specimen collection equipment.

Here are shots from the collecting that took place during the test dive.

The critter on the left is the one that got away. Next to him is a rubber band that broke off the specimen collection bag.

Winter Scenes

2012-03-02T06:26:00.000-05:00

Yesterday I did get out and cross country ski the trail that I groomed by snowshoeing. There was a chance that we would get more snow the night before last, but we did not. There is enough snow now that you do need snowshoes or skies, other wise you have to post hole it through around a foot and a half of snow on the ground.

I decided to capture some of the snow on vegetation contrast.

With the snowfall this week, my driveway plow service has had to bring in their front end loader twice this week. The snowbanks are finally starting to pile up.

Winter White Out Storm and Local School Play

2012-03-01T08:01:00.000-05:00

Yesterday a strong winter storm passed through the Upper Peninsula. Places in the U.P. received over a foot. In Grand Marais we received around five inches, but so far this week we have received eight to ten inches. I had to go to town to the post office and store and ended up driving through the worst of the storm. Here is a shot I took when I pulled out of my garage.

Here are a couple of shots of the marina and north side of the bay.

When the snow slowed down in the late afternoon, I decided to snowshoe my property. Here is a close up shot of the snow coming off the roof of my wood shed.

The snow drift behind my house is starting to pile up.

The trees are beautiful when coated with new snow.

Now that I have human-groomed my trail by snowshoeing, I can ski today. With the deep snow, it takes two loops around to groom the trail to be ski-compatible. I must admit that I did something stupid while out on the trail. Due to the snow, I took my glasses off when they became coated and put them on top of my head. When I arrived back at my house, I noticed my glasses were gone. I headed back and snowshoed the 3/4 mile trail to look for them, hoping they would be sitting on top of the snow. No dice. I went back to my garage to get a garden implement, choosing a hoe the first time. Again I walked the trail. No dice. Then I decided to try a leaf rake and walked the trail for a third time. It was like looking for a needle in a hay stack, but finally success! I actually found my glasses!

Last night the high school in Grand Marais put on a play: The Canterbury Tales. Congratulations to the kids and all those who helped with the production, especially Dixi McCormick the teacher and play director. Considering we only have 46 kids in the whole school (K-12), and around 20 in the high school, it is amazing they can put on such a nice play.

Brown Snow Fell from the Ski + Winter Beach Hike -- Post 2

2012-02-29T07:51:00.000-05:00

This past Sunday in the western U.P. there was something different falling from the sky. Brown snow was reported in many areas across the upper Midwest on Sunday. The cause? Strong southerly winds kicked up dirt and dust in the Plains. These winds were out ahead of a storm system that brought snow to our region. When the snow fell, it appeared to have a brownish tint. This isn't the first time this has happened. Two years ago we had the same type of occurrence, but that snow actually had a reddish hue to it because the dust came out of New Mexico or west Texas that was brought up in the storm system and transported all the way up here to Upper Michigan. Meteorologists were able to track the dust cloud as it moved northwards from Kansas. The dirt particles picked up reached thousands of feet in height. Below are satellite pictures as well as a picture of the brown snow.

Here are the rest of the photos I took the other day on my winter beach hike.

Even though there is shore ice, there are still some rocks showing up the beach. For you rockhounds who are thinking about coming north to agate hunt -- it is still a bit early. There are not enough rocks to make it worthwhile. Notice the wave splashing in the background. Some people call these "ice volcanoes."

I love the contrast between snow and sand. Notice the agate-like banding.

I decided to head up the middle steps at Woodland Park. When I got there, I realized there is a tree that fell over the steps. I was able to crawl under the tree.

Here is a winter view of the park office.

Winter Beach -- Post 1

2012-02-28T08:01:00.000-05:00

Yesterday I decided to put on layers and brave the ferocious winter beach. Winds were fierce with a chill factor below zero. The 8-10 foot waves were breaking up the ice resulting in floating ice chunks everywhere. I am hoping that as the wind dies down, that the ice chunks will be accreted back onto the ice mounds.

I parked at First Creek and walked down the steps.

Then I walked east away from the wind.

The waves carved neat natural ice sculptures.

Here is a close up of some of the waves.

A shot looking west....

Facts About Our Sun

2012-02-27T08:01:00.000-05:00

I did go out and cross country ski again yesterday, but didn't take any pictures. How many photos can you take of the ski trails anyway?

I have been using my DVR to record all of the Universe and How the Universe Works shows. Yesterday I watched the one about our Sun. We perceive that the Sun rises each morning, shines all day, and sets each evening. But actually, the Sun does not rise or set. It just looks like it does because the Earth is moving. For the most part we take our Sun for granted. Do we think about how important the sun is?

The Sun is by far the largest object in the solar system. It contains more than 99.8 percent of the total mass of the Solar System (Jupiter contains most of the rest). It is often said that the Sun is an "ordinary" star. It certainly is not one of the larger stars in the universe, but the Sun is in the top ten percent by mass.

Our Sun developed 4.6 billion years ago along with the rest of our solar system when material from a supernova explosion was recycled. Like other stars, our Sun has a specific life cycle. Currently the Sun is a little more than half way through its expected life span. At present the Sun comprises about 70 percent hydrogen,28 percent helium,and 2 percent heavier elements. This changes slowly over time as the Sun converts hydrogen to helium in fusion reactions in its core. Here are a couple of shots from How the Universe Works representing the fusion reactions. Since the formation of the solar system the Sun's output has increased by about 40 percent.

One interesting fact is that the different parts of the Sun, which is a million miles wide, rotate at different rates. At the equator the surface rotates once every 25.4 days; near the poles it's as much as 36 days. This odd behavior is due to the fact that the Sun is not a solid body like the Earth.

Conditions at the Sun's core (approximately the inner 25 percent of its radius) are extreme. The temperature is 432 million Fahrenheit. At the center of the core the Sun's density is more than 150 times that of water.

The Sun's power (about 386 billion billion megaWatts) is produced by nuclear fusion reactions. Each second about 700,000,000 tons of hydrogen are converted to about 695,000,000 tons of helium and 5,000,000 tons of energy in the form of gamma rays. As it travels out toward the surface, the energy is continuously absorbed and re-emitted at lower and lower temperatures so that by the time it reaches the surface, it is primarily visible light. For the last 20 percent of the way to the surface the energy is carried more by convection than by radiation.

The surface of the Sun is at a temperature of about 9980 F (5527 C). Sunspots are "cool" regions, only 6300 F (3482 C). They look dark only by comparison with the surrounding regions. Sunspots can be very large, as much as 31,068 miles in diameter (50,000 km). Sunspots are like hurricanes, except rather than rain and wind, they are intense magnetic storms caused by twisting tubes of magnetic energy that pop out to the surface from deep inside. Because they are magnetic in nature, sunspots always occur in pairs with opposite magnetic polarity. The Sun's magnetic energy is so powerful that it exerts its influence well beyond the orbit of Pluto.

The region above the Sun, called the corona, extends millions of miles into space but is visible only during a total solar eclipse.

Since its birth the Sun has used up about half of the hydrogen fuel. It will continue to radiate "peacefully" for another 5 billion years or so (although its luminosity will approximately double in that time).

The Sun’s diameter is about 870,000 miles wide (1.4 billion km). The Sun is 109 times wider than Earth, and is 333,000 times heavier. Over a million Earths could fit inside the Sun.

Without the Sun, Earth could not support life. The Sun gives off heat and light that the Earth needs to support life (us).

Sun loops are large loops caused by the Sun’s magma (molten rock) shooting off of the Sun’s surface. These loops can fly millions of miles into space. Our Sun is approximately 25,000 light-years from the galactic core of our galaxy (the Milky Way).

Stars vary in size. They can be as small as 7,000 miles in diameter (11,265 km), or as large as 900 billion miles in diameter (1448 billion km). No two stars are exactly alike. The number of stars in the known Universe exceeds one billion.

Miscellaneous Winter Photos

2012-02-26T08:14:00.000-05:00

Yesterday I skied the cross country trails in the national park. We received a few inches of snow the night before so they were able to finally groom the trails. Both the track and the glide was better than it has been all year.

Most of the winter the snow guage has shown a depth of around five or six inches. We have had lake effect snow this week so now we have around ten inches. There did seem to be a drift, however, in the area where the snow guage is located.

We had major wind the other night. That combined with snow coming off my roof caused this tunnel like drift next to my wood shed.

The lack of snow continues to be seen with the lack of drifting on the south side of my house. Normally the drifts are up to the middle or top of the windows at this time of the year.

Sometimes the wind blows and deforms the icicles.

Tahquamenon Falls -- Upper Falls

2012-02-25T08:01:00.000-05:00

After skiing around the lower falls, I drove south on M123 to access the upper falls. I had originally planned on skiing the trails but instead just skied to the falls and back. I wanted to get home before it was dark and I simply ran out of time.

There are 94 steps to get down to the platform at the top of the falls. You can see the falls in the middle of the picture below.

With the warm temperatures as of late, there was a lot of flow going over the falls. The Upper Falls is one of the largest waterfalls east of the Mississippi. It has a drop of nearly 50 feet and is more than 200 feet across. A maximum flow of more than 50,000 gallons of water per second has been recorded cascading over its precipice.

The reason why people like to look at the falls during the winter is because of the ice formations next to the falls as well as coming off the rock walls to either side of the falls. In some years the ice has dramatic colors. This year there is a bit of color, but not as good as I've seen in the past.

I stopped at the Tahquamenon to get some soup. My waitress told me that people have been driving the back way to Grand Marais, although she did clarify that a truck is required. Since I have a Suburban, I decided to go for it. I knew I was taking a risk of getting stuck, but she said she was 100% sure. I would guess that no time in the history of mankind has this been possible in February. Usually the snow is way too deep.

It was a bit squirrelly in places but not as bad as I thought it was going to be. Of course the most important thing is to not slow down. However, there was an area where the snow was not deep so I left my car in the middle of the unplowed road on a straight-away and with my flashers on so I could get at least a couple of photos. These pictures were taken about a half mile west of Perry's Landing.

Tahquamenon Falls Ski -- Lower Falls

2012-02-24T07:51:00.000-05:00

Yesterday I had to drive to Sault Ste Marie to sign papers to refinance my house. I have been trying to do so since September with many failed attempts. The primary difficulty has been because I could not get a valid appraisal since only two houses have sold in Grand Marais in the past year that can be used as comparables (you need 3). This is not fair since I cannot help it if I live in a town of less than 400 people. The Old Mission Bank in the Soo knew this up front and said it was not a problem since I have a lot of equity in the house. This refi makes my life a lot easier. Thanks to Nicholas Eby at Old Mission Bank. If anyone in the central or eastern U.P., or northern lower Michigan needs to acquire a mortgage or a refi -- please give Old Mission Bank a call at 906-635-9910.

To celebrate the refi, I decided to ski Tahquamenon Falls. First I stopped at the lower falls. Although there are no ski trails there, I skied the path created by others who have hiked back to see the cascading falls.

There was plenty of snow on the boardwalk, which was a blast to ski.

Winter Beach Walk and Sable Falls

2012-02-23T07:51:00.000-05:00

Here are the remainder of photos from the winter beach walk I took the other night.

This first shot I took while approaching Sable River.

Here is a picture of dune rising above Sable River.

A close up of the dune ridges....

The mouth of Sable River, or Second Creek, where it enters Lake Superior. In most years there are huge ice bergs here. Not this year.

This is a shot of the river looking south toward Sable Falls.

One more beach picture looking east.

A couple of shots of the ice hanging over the river off the banks.

More ice on the river.

The forest along the river. I like the colors and contrast of the sand and snow.

And Sable Falls. With the warm temperatures, the increased flow has broken up a lot of the ice on the falls.

Then I snowshoed across the fields back to my car. This pine tree appears to have new growth on it all ready.

Winter Beach Walk -- Post 1

2012-02-22T09:16:00.000-05:00

Yesterday I decided to explore the beach. In normal years I like to ski down the beach. In fact it is one of my favorite things to do in the winter. However, this year the lack of snow makes this impossible. There is so little snow that I was able to park in the small lot near First Creek, at the west end of Woodland Park. Since I was planning on walking west down the beach and up the trail at Sable Falls, and then across the fields back to First Creek, I decided to carry my snow shoes. You just never know how much snow there is in the woods and in the fields. Plus I didn't know if the crampons would be necessary climbing up the falls trail.

In most years the steps are full of snow. Not this year.

The beach in front of Woodland Park has no snow. There is shore ice, or "icebergs" as we locals call them.

The shore ice is made up of thousands of frozen ice balls.

The teepee located on the beach between First Creek and Sable River is still standing tall.

The fall storms recontoured the beach and created this six foot high mini bluff.

Because of the lack of snow, there are sections of the beach with rocks. Yes, you could actually agate hunt, although these sections of rock are few and far between. Most of the rock is still under the shore ice.

Here are one of the holes in the shore ice. It is because of these holes that it is not safe to walk on the ice. Sometimes the holes are covered with a thin layer of ice.

Winter Scenes -- Sort Of

2012-02-21T07:00:00.000-05:00

For today's post I decided to drive over to Agate Beach and walk out the boardwalk to check on beach conditions. There is shore ice mounded off shore, but hardly any snow on the beach.

As I drove through town, I captured this shot of snowmobiles that seem isolated from the snow. Actually, with the route going through Woodland Park, there is snow until you get right down town.

There is almost no snow at the boardwalk.

Sometimes the snow melt makes for great contrast photography.

The shore ice is around eight feet tall.

A shot looking west toward sunset.

A couple of shots of the north channel lighthouse.

A wide shot of the beach showing lack of snow. Normally, this time of year I love to ski down the beach. Not this year.

UP 200 Dog Sled Race Finish

2012-02-20T08:09:00.000-05:00

I arrived at the museum yesterday at 10 am since I was told the mushers would be finishing around 11. Two teams had already come in before I arrived. I kept the museum open for a few hours when most of the crowd dispersed, even though there were still a couple of teams out on the trail.

The home locations of the mushers included:
Alaska 2
Michigan 7
Minnesotta 7
Montana 1
North Dakato 2
Wisconsin 1
Quebec 1

The musher information:
1 Vogel Amanda F Ray MN. USA Rookie
2 Gill David M Skandia MI USA Veteran
3 Malikowski Kevin M Outing MN USA Veteran
4 Zappa Monica F Kasilof Alaska USA Rookie
5 Wallin Ward M Two Harbors MN USA Veteran
6 Osmar Tim M Kasilof Alaska USA Rookie
7 Moe Frank M Bemidji MN USA Veteran
8 Koenig Martin M Seeley Lake Montana USA Veteran
9 Tremblay Denis M St. Michel des Saints Quebec Canada Veteran
10 Groeneveld Troy M Two Harbors MN USA Rookie
12 Anderson Ryan M Ray MN USA Veteran
13 Raasoch Krister M Marlborough NH USA Veteran
14 Williamson JR M White Cloud MI USA Veteran
15 Letzring Andrew M Herbster WI USA Veteran
16 Stielstra Ed M McMillan MI USA Veteran
17 Johnson Nancy F Devil's Lake ND USA Veteran
18 Johnson Matt M Munising MI USA Veteran
19 Hunt Tim M Skandia MI USA Veteran
20 Johnson Roger M Devil's Lake ND USA Veteran
21 Schroeder Nathan M Chisholm MN USA Veteran
22 Jorgenson Odin M Grandmarais MN USA Veteran
23 Bauer Tom M Tapiola MI USA Veteran
24 Minard Rick M Newberry MI USA Veteran

The top five finishers:
1 Ryan Anderson
3 Martin Koenig
4 Nathan Schroeder
5 Frank Moe

As I arrived on sunday morning, I was treated to a sprint to the finish by two of the teams.

When each team arrived, veternarians examined all of the dogs.

A local mush was interviewed at the delight of his supporters at the finish line.

Last night I decided to ski my property. I snapped this picture to document the lack of snow this winter. Normally this area on the south side of my house has another several feet of snow.

UP 200 and Midnight Run Sled Dog Races

2012-02-19T09:08:00.000-05:00

This is the weekend of the annual UP 200 and Midnight Run Dog Sled Races. The UP200 is one of America’s premier 12-dog, mid-distance sled dog races and draws mushers from around the United States and Canada. The first UP200 was run in February, 1990, after two years of planning by sled dog racing enthusiasts. The race covers approximately 240 miles. Normally the race goes from Marquette to Grand Marais and back. The terrain includes stretches of near-wilderness, creek crossings, hills and valleys, and heavily forested land. Mushers say this is one of their favorite races, not only because of the challenging race, but because of the cheering crowds and warm welcome they receive here in the Upper Peninsula.

The UP200 is an Iditarod qualifying race. Registration is limited to 40 teams, and mushers are required to have finished the Midnight Run or other equivalent sixty (60) mile continuous running race within the past three seasons.

Coinciding with the UP200 is the eight-dog Midnight Run, a race that usually goes from Marquette to Munising, Michigan with a checkpoint in Chatham. The Midnight Run is an eight-dog, 90-mile race. It draws premier teams wanting to test their skill on a technically challenging trail. Registration is also limited to 40 teams.

Because of lack of snow, the routes had to be changed. The Midnight Run race does not go through Grand Marais. It is a shorter run that started and ended in Chatham. This race was won by Joanna Oberg from Ignace Ontario Canada. This was her first time racing the Midnight Run and she was very excited and wanted to do this race for years! She is a native northern Minnesotan now living in northwestern Ontario, she helps her parents operate Agimac River Outfitters, a fishing and hunting camp. She also runs Silent dog sled trips and racing kennel houses with approximately 30 dogs/puppies. Her handler was her long suffering and adventurous mom, and hopefully a few musher friends from Canada. Second Place went to Jerry Trudell from Calumet MI. Third Place went to John Hull from Elton, WI. Here is a picture of the Midnight Run winner.

2012 MIDNIGHT RUN PURSE
1st Place $2,300
2nd Place $2,000
3rd Place $1,700
4th Place $1,300
5th Place $900
6th Place $600
7th Place $400
8th Place $325
9th Place $275
10th Place $250
11th Place $225
12th Place $200
13th Place $175
14th Place $150
15th Place $125
Total $10,925

The route for the longer UP 200 was changed this year to go from Chatham to Grand Marais, back to Chatham, and then back to Grand Marais. The map and pictures are below. I did decide on Friday night to open the museum since the checkpoint is right outside in front of the Museum. It took me 2 1/2 hours to unpack all the boxes from the last art show and set up the gift shop. I used my Eden Pure for heat, which didn't quite do enough. I worked the museum from 9:30 in the morning and made it until about 4:30 when the cold finally sent me packing. I must admit that sales were dismal and there really were not that many people out and about. Since the finish is in Grand Marais today, I am hoping that it is better. I'll be open today from 10 until 2.

I was standing next to the checkpoint arch when I took this shot of the museum.

One of the musher trucks, probably driven to Grand Marais by the handler. The first team arrived in Grand Marais about 8 in the morning. In total the teams must rest around 13 hours. They rested in Grand Marais around 7 hours.

Here is a series of shots of the first team that headed back to Chatham around 3:10. Notice how handlers help to bring the team and keep them settled until the timer releases the team.

In the shot below, the musher sets the brake awaiting the timer to release the team.

2012 UP200 Purse
1st Place $7,200
2nd Place $5,200
3rd Place $4,100
4th Place $2,700
5th Place $2,000
6th Place $1,500
7th Place $1,200
8th Place $975
9th Place $875
10th Place $775
11th Place $575
12th Place $475
13th Place $400
14th Place $325
15th Place $275
Total $28,575

Cougars in the Upper Penensula

2012-02-18T08:42:00.000-05:00

Cougars were native to Michigan, but the state’s last known wild cougar was killed near Newberry in 1906. However, in the last year there have been many confirmed sitings. Several sets of tracks have been verified trail camera photos have been confirmed in the Upper Peninsula. The cougar (Puma concolor), is also known as a puma, mountain lion, mountain cat, or panther. It is a terrestrial mammal usually found in the western U.S. An adaptable, generalist species, the cougar is found in every major American habitat type. It is the second heaviest cat in the Western Hemisphere, after the jaguar. Although large, the cougar is most closely related to smaller felines and is closer genetically to the domestic cat than to true lions.

So where do cougars hang out? The answer is simple - find the whitetail deer. Cougars routinely follow deer and other prey animals. It is an elusive animal and usually can be seen on the edges of tree lines, roadways, railroad tracks, hiking/biking paths, and power line easements where they will wait and stalk prey. Like any animal, cougars will travel the path of least resistance whenever possible, using roadways, trails, railroad tracks, and open easement land to travel distances.

It is interesting to note that, in Michigan, there have been eight sightings near and/or on airports and 15 near and/or on golf courses - perhaps they like the soft grass. There have been 7 Michigan sightings in and/or near gravel pits/quarries. There was at least one sighting in Grand Marais when a cougar sauntered across the road in front of a car east of town. The car stopped to watch the cougar slowly walk across the road. The cougar momentarily stopped, looked at the car, and then continued across the road.

A cougar recently seen in the western U.P. was wearing a radio collar. Western states are the only ones that have collared cougars for research, so officials assume the Michigan cat came from there.

On June 11, 2011, a mountain lion was killed on the busy Wilbur Cross Parkway in Milford, Connecticut. He was hit by a car. The cougar, a young male that weighed 140 pounds, probably came from the Black Hills of South Dakota and had struck out a couple of years ago to establish his own territory. After the cougar was killed, officials were able to reconstruct his wanderings by matching DNA from his tongue with DNA samples taken in Minnesota and in Wisconsin. Because genetic material was used to follow his movements, there was confirmation that he traveled somewhere around 1,600 miles. His epic journey is the longest ever recorded for a mountain lion. The previous record for a male cougar dispersal was 663 miles, while the average dispersal is only about one hundred miles.

Encounters with cougars are rare. But if you live, work or recreate in cougar habitat, there are things you can do to enhance your safety and that of friends and family. Here are a few tips to ensure your safety.

Don't approach a cougar. Most cougars want to avoid humans. Give a cougar the time and space to steer clear of you.
Don't feed wildlife. Don't leave pet food outside. Both may attract cougars by attracting their natural prey.
Keep pets secure. Roaming pets are easy prey for cougars.
Supervise children, especially outdoors between dusk and dawn. Educate them about cougars and other wildlife they might encounter.
Always hike, backpack, and camp in wild areas with a companion.
Never run past or from a cougar. This may trigger their instinct to chase. Make eye contact. Stand your ground. Pick up small children without, if possible, turning away or bending over.
Never bend over or crouch down. Doing so causes humans to resemble four-legged prey animals. Crouching down or bending over also makes the neck and back of the head vulnerable.
If you encounter a cougar, make yourself appear larger, more aggressive. Open your jacket, raise your arms, throw stones, branches, etc., without turning away. Wave raised arms slowly, and speak slowly, firmly, loudly to disrupt and discourage predatory behavior.
Try to remain standing to protect head and neck and, if attacked, fight back with whatever is at hand (without turning your back) people have utilized rocks, jackets, garden tools, tree branches, and even bare hands to turn away cougars.

The Length of our Day is getting Longer -- Really

2012-02-17T10:18:00.000-05:00

Day length, or length of day refers to the time each day from the moment the upper curve of the sun's disk appears above the horizon during sunrise to the moment when it disappears below the horizon during sunset.

We all realize that the length of the day changes with season. In the norther hemisphere, the shortest day of the year is around December 21st on the Winter solstice and the longest day is June 21st on the summer solstice.

But other than seasonal differences, day length is actually increasing because the Earth rotation is slowing has been for the past 4.5 billion years. Why? It is because of the Moon. Since the Moon's mass is a fraction of that of the Earth (about 1:81), the two bodies interact as a double planet system, rather than as a planet with a satellite. The plane of the Moon's orbit around the Earth lies close to the plane of the Earth's orbit around the Sun. The mass of the Moon is sufficiently large, and it is sufficiently close, to raise tides in the oceans of Earth.

However, the rotation drags the position of the tidal bulge ahead of the position directly under the Moon. As a consequence, there exists a substantial amount of mass in the bulge that is offset from the line through the centers of the Earth and Moon. Because of this offset, a portion of the gravitational pull between Earth's tidal bulges and the Moon is perpendicular to the Earth-Moon line, i.e. there exists a torque between the Earth and the Moon. This boosts the Moon in its orbit (moving it away from the Earth), and decelerates the rotation of the Earth.

As a result of this process, the length of our day, which is nominally 86400 seconds long, is actually getting longer. The small difference accumulates every day, which leads to an increasing difference between our clock time (Universal Time) on the one hand, and Atomic Time on the other hand. This makes it necessary to insert a leap second every once in a while.

Scientists have measured these changes in day length by using the geologic record. Sedimentary deposits can be studied because they show alternating layers of sand and silt laid down offshore from estuaries with tidal flows. Daily, monthly and seasonal cycles can be found in the deposits. Similar patterns can be seen as well in the growth of coral (including fossil coral), that have fluctuations based on tides. Here is a picture showing sedimentary and coral fluctuations.

In the future, tidal acceleration would continue until the rotational period of the Earth matched the orbital period of the Moon. At that time, the Moon would always be overhead of a single fixed place on Earth. Such a situation already exists in the Pluto-Charon system. However, the slowdown of the Earth's rotation is not occurring fast enough for the rotation to lengthen to a month before other effects make this irrelevant: About 2.1 billion years from now, the continual increase of the Sun's radiation will cause the Earth's oceans to vaporize, removing the bulk of the tidal friction and acceleration.

These sedimentary and coral growth measurements, along with other paleontological evidence, have allowed scientists to model the changes in earth rotation speed, number of days in the year, and moon to earth distance. As for the latter figures, scientists think that the earth was only 12,000 miles away after the moon was first formed around 4.5 billion years ago when a Mars-sized planet struck the earth. Today the moon is 238,857 miles away (384,403 km).

From the observed change in the Moon's orbit, the corresponding change in the length of the day can be computed to be around +2.3 ms per century. The moon is also moving away from the earth around two inches (5 cm) per year. As the Moon creeps further away it carries energy away with it. This loss of energy manifests itself by the slowing of our planet.

I was curious what data I could find to substantiate the premise that the moon's movement away from the earth has changed the length of an Earth day as well as the number of days in a year. I found a technical paper that had the data: http://www.gly.fsu.edu/~odom/orbital%20forcing%20stratigraphy/orbital%20forcing%20timescales%201995.pdf.

Here are the charts I created from the data.

The bottom axis in both charts corresponds in time from the present to 4,500 million years ago (left to right). Scientists think that 4.5 billion years ago the length of an Earth day was only 6.1 hours. The shorter day length required 1,434 days for the Earth to make a complete revolution of the Sun.

Natural Lake Superior Agates

2012-02-16T09:20:00.000-05:00

Very often people have suggested that in order to fully appreciate Lake Superior agates, it is necessary to cut and polish them. In most cases this is not true. These agates are almost 1.2 billion years old. After becoming free from the basalt rock in which they formed, they have been dragged by glaciers and rolled in the waves of Lake Superior as well as the lakes and oceans that existed in the upper mid-west prior to Lake Superior. Thus, in most cases the husk has worn off the agates exposing the beauty of their banding without the need of lapidary.

For today's posting, I decided to go through the pictures of agates found by people who visit the Gitche Gumee Museum and include close up shots. All of the agate structure in these agates are visible on the outside. In my opinion, if there is beautiful structure showing it usually is better to not cut or polish the specimen.

Grand Marais Bay and White Tail Deer

2012-02-15T08:06:00.000-05:00

Today's blog will include a few winter pictures, mostly of the bay, a couple of pictures of deer in my yard, and facts about white tail deer.

First a couple of shots of the bay in Grand Marais. There is a bit of floating ice, but mostly open water. This has happened in other recent years, but not historically. Of course the erosion of the old breakwall and island that used to protect the bay has had an influence. However, even after the bay opened up to the waves of Lake Superior the bay usually froze over in the winter. The village of Grand Marais even had snowmobile races on the bay because it's surface was significantly frozen. This year the bay in Munising and even the Keweenaw Bay are not as frozen as usual.

These are not the best pictures as they were taken just before it turned dark, but here they are.

I decided to include some information about Whitetail Deer.

Scientific name: Odocoileus virginianus
Average weight male: 150 to 311 pounds (68 to 141 kg)
Average weight female: 90 to 211 pounds (41 to 96 kg)
Average height: 27 to 45 inches (68 to 114 cm)
Average lifespan: 6 to 14 years, but up to 20 years (in captivity)

The North American Whitetail Deer can be found throughout the continental U.S. as well as in Canada, Mexico,Central America and northern parts of South America. They spend their time in wooded areas and dense forests. Relatives include elk, moose and reindeer. It is interesting that many states have the Whitetail Deer including Arkansas, Illinois, Mississippi, New Hampshire, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Michigan, South Carolina, and Wisconsin.

How many deer are there in the U.S.? No one knows for sure but experts think the total number has increased significantly. During the mid-1980s it was thought that there were around 15 million. Today experts estimate there are around 40 million.

White tailed deer are a small deer with short ears and a long tail with white underneath. Few deer live to be more than 5 years old because of hunting, vehicle accidents and predators. The male "buck" is the only mammal in North American that has antlers. The female or "doe" does not have antlers, and has a wider hind quarters than it's chest.

Under normal conditions, these deer have a fairly small territory. If there is enough food, they will stay in the same area long periods of time. They sleep in thickets and come out in the early evening to drink water and forage for food, returning to the thicket after the sun rises to bed for the day. They prefer to live near stream bottoms, draws or swamps. Deer are preyed upon by wolves, bears, coyotes, bobcats and humans. Decline in predators of the deer has caused population growth.

Whitetail Deer are herbivore's. Over 614 different plants are eaten by these deer. They mainly like to eat agricultural crops, acorns, grasses, leaves, shoots, twigs, fungi, fruit and nuts. Deer drink in the morning before they go to sleep and then in the evening. They don't really care if it is crystal clear water or not. They are more likely to drink someplace within there territory than to wander off to a better source.

Bucks use there antlers to fight and get the attention of the female. The antlers begin to grow in the buck's second year. A male deer with small bumps instead of antlers (button buck) is under 1 years old. Yearlings can have 6-8 points if they wintered well and have a good food supply. You can tell the age of a deer by the diameter of the antlers and by it's teeth. Bucks reach maturity at 3 1/2 years and will have medium to large antlers.

Antlers are fast growing -- up to two inches per week, starting in the spring. The velvet on the antlers provide blood supply making the antler bones grow. When a buck's hormone level increases, the antlers stop growing. Once they stop growing, the velvet dies and bucks use trees and shrubs to rub it off. The larger the buck the bigger the rubs. Rubs look like the bark has been shredded off about 2-4 feet from the ground. These pictures I took in Marquette a couple of weeks ago must be a deer rub.

Bucks use their antlers as a weapon in the mating ritual to defend does. During the pre-rut, bucks will play fight or spar. Sparring establishes dominance. As breeding season draws closer, fights become more serious. They go head-to head, challenging the opponent by locking antlers, pushing and shoving, trying to knock the other off it's feet. Usually it ends with the winner chasing off the loser. After the breeding season, the bucks antlers fall off.

A deer's hearing is sensitive. When they hear a noise, they turn to face it with their ears propped up. If they sense danger, they make a quick get away. The Whitetail Deer uses it's tail to signal other deer as they are running by lifting it up and will also use the hairs on it's rear end. The doe, fawn and buck communicate with each other by using sounds, gestures and marking their territory with scents. Different sounds have different meanings. Bleats and grunts are the most common sounds heard.

One more picture I took out my kitchen window of ice hanging off the roof.

Cross Country Ski in the Seney National Wildlife Refuge

2012-02-14T08:13:00.000-05:00

Yesterday friends and I went over to Seney to ski at the refuge. I just love the Manistique River Trail. Despite the lack of snow, we were able to ski other than a few patches on the Smith Farm Trail where we had to walk over grass.

Under the swing on the Manistique River Trail, we noticed that the beavers have been busy. This dam was not there when I was at the refuge in December.

Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore Cross Country Ski Trails

2012-02-13T07:28:00.000-05:00

It has been a while since I skied the trails in the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore so I decided to head over there yesterday. In some places the track was OK, while in other areas there was so much sand mixed in with the snow that it was not fun to ski. The latter trail is the one right next to Sable Falls. Until we get some significant snow I am going to stay away from that section of the trails. It was still great to be skiing in an actual track, rather than on the bumpy snowmobile tracks in the school forest.

It is hard to see but I snapped this picture of some small animal tracks -- either mouse or vole.

School Forest to Lake Superior Cross Country Ski

2012-02-12T10:23:00.001-05:00

I received a request to provide some references for yesterday's blog posting. I'll include them at the end of this posting.

Today's blog update includes pictures taken during a cross country ski yesterday in Burt Township's School Forest. I parked at H58 and skied the road toward the bridge, went left and then right on Deer Lane. From that intersection I skied the road all the way to the Lake Superior shoreline. In total the ski is around seven miles.

During the summer you can actually drive this section -- with trees right next to your car on both sides.

In the woods the wind was not too bad. As I neared the bluff, it was big time intense. The chill factor was below zero. Notice the ice in the center of the picture. All of the warm temperatures lately has been causing these melts that later freeze.

This beach east of Grand Marais now has shore ice. The second row of ice (white streak) was around eight feet tall.

The waves were crashing into the wall of ice. Notice all the floating snowballs. After watching the shore ice build for the last 18 years since moving to Grand Marais full time, it seems that the ice building process involves:

The surface water temperature just off shore must fall below 32 degrees.
It must snow.
Usually the snow is lake effect snow that happens when the wind picks up and blows over Lake Superior. At first the waves break pieces off the already existing shore ice.
As the layer of floating ice balls expands, it actually cushions and protecst the outside wall of shore ice.
The waves consolidate the floating ice against the shore ice wall.
As the floating ice balls get pushed together, some of them accrete and mix with the new snow which helps to solidify the mix into larger floating ice balls.
Waves both attach the ice balls to the row of shore ice and push them up onto the shore ice wall.
If the wind dies down, the surface of the water next to the shore ice freezes. There can be large stretches of flat frozen ice that connects north of the last row of shore ice mounds.
When the wind picks up again and if it snows (which often happens at the same time), the process of building a new row of shore ice mounds begins.
Over the course of a normal winter (which this one is not), there can be rows of shore ice mounds connected by sections of flat ice going north off shore for great distances. Once since I lived full time in Grand Marais the ice formed all the way across Lake Superior.
Throughout the winter and into the spring, the wind from an intense storm can break apart the rows of ice mounds. Some of the ice mounds turn into floating ice bergs. Sometimes a stiff south wind breaks off sections with multiple rows of shore ice. These large contiguous pieces float away from shore and can be seen as white ice floating across the lake towards Canada.

Notice the floating ice balls just off the ice row mound in the photo below.

Usually ice forms up on shore first. The next row, which is shown in the photo below, is usually located just off shore. This year this shore ice building process is happening a month or two later than usual.

It is important to point out that this ice is not safe to walk on. Over the winter, this ice can form miles out from shore. Even the first row of ice mounds just off shore are not safe. There are holes in the ice that may be covered over with a thin layer of snow. Sometimes these holes go through the entire ice mound down to lake level. As this shore ice builds, it can be up to 40 feet thick. Most often the mounds are at least eight feet thick. If you slide down a chute into the water below the ice -- it is not likely that you will survive. Also, it seems that the ice is stable -- it is not. The ice can shift or break off right under your feet. Lastly, the ice is slippery. Many people get hurt because they fall on the ice.

After I took the shot below, I inched forward on my skies to the edge of the ice. The next thing I knew, the wind started blowing me across the ice. I was able to careful steer myself back off the ice and onto snow.

Then I skied back to the car, which I was very glad to see. Since I was skiing on the road, there were frozen snowmobile tracks under the two inches of new snow. The irregular surface underneath jerks you around. It is a constant test to your balance and definitely tiring. But it was worth it to be able to see the first row of shore ice forming out over the lake.

I have not posted pictures of my cats lately. Here are Lucky Jed and Ramsey.

Here are the references for yesterday's postings. As for the weather references, I don't remember exactly what the keywords were, but I searched Google for something like: "change in snow cover 2012 and 2011." In the process, I found this new source: http://www.climate4you.com/SnowCover.htm.

I really like the maps in the new source so I included them in today's update.

One of the other sources for yesterday's post was: http://snrclimatecorner.blogspot.com/2012/01/winter-2011-12-snow-cover.html

As for the earth tilt references, I Googled something like: "earthquake causes change in earth axis." I found several references including the two listed below. The estimate for change in earth tilt varied among all the articles.

http://content.usatoday.com/communities/sciencefair/post/2011/03/japan-earthquake-shifted-earth-axis-shorter-day-nasa/1

http://www.sott.net/articles/show/225741-Japan-s-quake-shifts-earth-s-axis-by-25-centimetres

Facts about the Mild Winter and Change in Earth Axis

2012-02-11T09:32:00.000-05:00

I was curious how our sort-of-winter is doing compared to previous years. The current winter stands in stark contrast to the winter of two years ago. As of the beginning of this week, only 14.3% of the continental U.S. was covered in snow. As you can see in the list below, this is the lowest total over the last eight years. Two years ago, 56.0% of the lower 48 states were snow covered. This unusual lack of snow cover has allowed temperatures in areas that usually have snow, but do not this year (e.g. the Great Plains) to soar to record levels. Snow reflects much of the incoming solar radiation and a snow free darker surface absorbs much more of the solar radiation allowing surface temperatures to be much warmer. A friend of mine talked to a contractor in the eastern U.P. The contractor told him that the ground has not frozen yet this year so they are able to continue ground-breaking construction rather than having to wait until spring.

Snow Cover January 6 (lower 48 states)
2012 14.3%
2011 44.9%
2010 56.0%
2009 41.8%
2008 34.6%
2007 27.7%
2006 26.6%
2005 54.6%
2004 40.3%

Here is a picture of snow cover this year:

Here is a picture of snow cover last year:

One of the main reasons why these unusual winter patterns are occurring is that the jet stream has not moved south. The jet stream acts as a boundary between the cold air to the north and warm air to the south. Rather than dipping south as it usually does, the jet stream has been stagnant across the United States and Canadian border. When the jet stream “dips”, it becomes a trough and typically brings colder and stormier weather. However, these dips in the jet stream have not been substantial or long term to provide a sustaining cold pattern like it does in most winters.

Take a look at the record highs that were broken on February 1, 2012. 124 places broke their record high, with 27 areas tying their record high:

January 2012 is listed as the third least-snowy January for the contiguous United States since snow records began in 1966. December 2011 was ranked as the 11th least snowy on record. According to experts, if February comes in four to five degrees warmer, then the winter of 2012 will have a great shot of becoming the warmest winter recorded across the United States. It has also been reported that the top five warmest United States winters occurred after 1992, with the 1999-2000 winter season coming in as the warmest ever recorded.

As I was researching the winter weather statistics, I saw the heading for a web page that discusses the impact of earthquakes on the tilt of the earths axis. That is a fact that I had not heard before. Apparently the 8.9-magnitude earthquake in Japan that hit on March 11, 2011 shifted the earth’s axis. At first they thought the shift was around six inches (10 cm). Now experts think the tilt changed 15 inches (25 cm)!

As shown in the diagram above, the earth’s axis of rotation is tilted at an angle of 23.5 degrees relative to the orbital plane at which Earth travels around the sun. This tilt causes our four seasons. The tilt in Earth’s axis is strongly influenced by the way mass is distributed over the planet. Large amounts of land mass and ice sheets in the northern hemisphere make the earth top-heavy. Powerful forces such as those from thrust-earthquakes or asteroid impacts can change the distribution of land mass and alter the earth’s axis. When the earth’s axis changes, the daily rotation of earth can speed up or slow down much in the same way that a figure skater can change the speed of their spin by moving their arms up or down.

Other earthquakes that have changed the tilt of the axis include:

•The 8.8 magnitude earthquake in Chile in February 2010 shifted Earth’s axis by 7.6 centimeters and shortened the length of the day by 1.26 millionths of a second.
•The 9.1 magnitude earthquake in Sumatra on December 2004 shifted Earth’s axis by 7.0 centimeters and shortened the length of the day by 6.8 millionths of a second.

While small changes in the tilt of the earth’s axis caused by the 8.9-magnitude earthquake in Japan – and other powerful earthquakes – will not have any noticeable effect on our day-to-day lives, these changes do serve to illustrate the power that can be unleashed by natural disasters.

In addition to the 30 foot tsunamis (see image above) that were triggered by the Japanese earthquake, it appears there were other impacts. One is that the quake moved the main island of Japan by eight feet (2.4 meters). Scientists know this because the location of the GPS station moved. Satellite images also show the shift:

The quake was the most powerful to hit the island nation in recorded history and the tsunami it unleashed traveled across the Pacific Ocean, triggering tsunami warnings and alerts for 50 countries and territories as far away as the western coasts of Canada, the U.S. and Chile. The quake triggered more than 160 aftershocks in the first 24 hours -- 141 measuring 5.0-magnitude or more.

The quake occurred as the earth's crust ruptured along an area about 250 miles (400 kilometers) long by 100 miles (160 kilometers) wide, as tectonic plates slipped more than 18 meters.

The Japanese quake was of similar strength to the 2004 earthquake in Indonesia that triggered a tsunami that killed over 200,000 people in more than a dozen countries around the Indian Ocean.

The Planets

2012-02-10T08:27:00.001-05:00

I didn't feel well yesterday so I did not get out to exercise and get pictures. I am feeling a bit better today and will try to get out, even though it is cold today. Highs are supposed to be in the mid-teens. Normal winters we wouldn't even think that this is cold, but the weather has been so mild that we are not yet acclimated to the typical weather expected in Grand Marais.

So for today's blog update, I've decided to present information about the planets. An easy way to remember the order of the planets (plus Pluto) is the mnemonics: "My Very Excellent Mother Just Sent Us Nine Pizzas."

The solar system is made up of two parts. The inner solar system contains Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars. These four planets are closest to the Sun. The rocky planets are mostly made up of rock and metal. These planets are very heavy and move slowly. They also do not have rings and very few moons.

Mercury is 36 million miles (57.9 million km)from the sun. This planet has no moons.

Venus is 67.2 million miles (108.2 million km) from the sun. This planet has no moons.

Earth is 93 million miles (149.6 million km) from the sun and has one moon.

Mars is 141.6 million miles (227.9 million km) from the sun and has two moons.

The inner planets are separated from the outer planets by the Asteroid Belt. Asteroids are primordial objects left over from the formation of the Solar System. While some have suggested that they are the remains of a protoplanet that was destroyed in a massive collision long ago, the prevailing view is that asteroids are leftover rocky matter that never successfully coalesced into a planet.

The outer solar system contains Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. The gas planets are mostly made up of gases (hydrogen and helium). These planets are light for their sizes (just like a big air balloon) and move quickly. They have rings and lots of moons.

Jupiter is 483.6 million miles (778.3 million km) miles from the sun and has 18 named moons plus numerous smaller moons.

Saturn is 886.7 million miles (1,427.0 million km) from the sun and has more than 18 moons.

Uranus is 1,784.0 million miles (2,871.0 million km) from the sun and has 15 moons.

Neptune is 2,794.4 million miles (4,497.1 million km) from the sun and has 2 moons.

The relative size of the planets is shown in the picture below:

The largest planet is Jupiter. It is followed by Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Earth, Venus, Mars, Mercury, and finally, tiny Pluto (the largest of the dwarf planets). Jupiter is so big that all the other planets could fit inside it.

Generally, the farther from the Sun, the cooler the planet. Differences occur when the greenhouse effect warms a planet (like Venus) surrounded by a thick atmosphere.

The outer, gaseous planets are much less dense than the inner, rocky planets. The Earth is the densest planet. Saturn is the least dense planet; it would float on water.

Jupiter is by far the most massive planet; Saturn trails it. Uranus, Neptune, Earth, Venus, Mars, and Pluto are orders of magnitude less massive.

The planet with the strongest gravitational attraction at its surface is Jupiter. Although Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune are also very massive planets, their gravitational forces are about the same as Earth. This is because the gravitational force a planet exerts upon an object at the planet's surface is proportional to its mass and to the inverse of the planet's radius squared.

A day is the length of time that it takes a planet to rotate on its axis (360°). A day on Earth takes almost 24 hours. The planet with the longest day is Venus; a day on Venus takes 243 Earth days. (A day on Venus is longer than its year; a year on Venus takes only 224.7 Earth days). The planet with the shortest day is Jupiter; a day on Jupiter only takes 9.8 Earth hours! When you observe Jupiter from Earth, you can see some of its features change.

Since each planet has its own mass and gravitational pull, you would weigh a different weight if you were standing on each planet.    Mass is a measure of how much matter an object has. Weight is a measure of how strongly gravity pulls on that matter. Thus if you were to travel to other planets, your weight would change because the pull of gravity would be different than it is on earth, but your mass would stay the same because you are still made up of the same amount of matter and the same number of atoms. If you weigh 200 pounds on earth, your weight would be:

--On Mercury     75.6 pounds (34.3 kg)
--On Venus      181.4 pounds (82.3 kg)
--On the Moon   33.2 pounds (15.1 kg)
--On Mars          75.4 pounds (34.2 kg)
--On Jupiter    472.8 pounds (214l5 kg)
--On Saturn     212.8 pounds (96.5 kg)
--On Uranus     177.8 pounds (80.6 kg)
--On Neptune   225.0 pounds (102.1 kg)

Some of the information included in today's posting came from: http://www.zoomwhales.com/subjects/astronomy/planets/.

Full Moon Snowshoe in the Grand Sable Dunes

2012-02-09T10:50:00.000-05:00

The other night friends and I decided to go on a full moon snowshoe up in the sand dunes. Temperatures were in the low 20s, but there was a stiff breeze coming off Lake Superior from the north. We were out for about an hour and a half. I must admit that I was cold since we were actually doing more sitting than snowshoeing. If we would have continued walking, we would have missed the moon's rising since we would not have been high enough to see it.

First, a picture looking out over the frozen Sable Lake. Notice the lone ice shanty.

It was supposed to be clear, but there were more clouds than we wanted.

There were too many clouds to get a good sunset, but we did get some after-glow.

And then we played with the moon both out in the dunes and wiith Photoshop.

Sable Lake to Lake Superior Snowshoe

2012-02-08T13:50:00.000-05:00

To celebrate being back in Grand Marais, I just had to get up into my beloved sand dunes. There is so little snow that I was easily able to drive to Sable Lake. There wasn't a lot of snow in the dunes but the snowshoes were helpful on the frozen sand.

Sable Lake does have frozen ice, but very little snow. There is one ice shanty that was just put up in the last couple of days.

Some sections of the dunes still have snow. In this area the snow is just a few inches deep.

Most of the dunes have almost no snow.

Here is a shot of a moose hoof print.

From the bluff I took this shot looking east.

There finally is some shore ice. The offshore water temperature must finally be at or below 32.

And a shot looking west...

Marquette Snowshoe

2012-02-07T08:42:00.001-05:00

After my plane landed the other night, I went and stayed with friends Helen and Jimmy. It was a good thing since the fog was terrible. It is around a 15 minute drive from the airport to my friend's house, and there were sections of the drive where I couldn't see more than 50 feet.

The next morning, Helen and I went snowshoeing. It was a pleasant day and a great little excursion. We snowshoed along a creek, where I took these first few photos.

Then as we headed away from the creek, we spotted this Pileated Woodpecker (Dryocopus pileatus). It is the largest woodpecker found in the U.S., inhabiting deciduous forests in eastern North America, the Great Lakes, the boreal forests of Canada, and parts of the Pacific coast.

Adults are 40 to 49 centimetres (16 to 19 in) long, and weigh 250 to 350 grams (8.8 to 12 oz). They are mainly black with a red crest, and have a white line down the sides of the throat. They show white on the wings in flight. Adult males have a red line from the bill to the throat, in adult females these are black.

These birds mainly eat insects, especially carpenter ants and wood-boring beetle larvae. They also eat fruits, nuts, and berries, including poison ivy berries. They often chip out large and roughly rectangular holes in trees while searching out insects. Pileated Woodpeckers raise their young every year in a hole in a tree. In April the hole made by the male attracts a female for mating and raising their young. Once the brood is raised, the Pileated Woodpeckers abandon the hole and will not use it the next year. When abandoned, these holes—made similarly by all woodpeckers—provide good homes in future years for many forest song birds. Ecologically, the entire woodpecker family is important to the well being of many other bird species. A Pileated Woodpecker pair stays together on its territory all year round. It will defend the territory in all seasons, but will tolerate floaters during the winter.

Nearby we spotted this tree that has had its bark stripped off.

In Marquette it was a beautiful sunny day.

On my drive back to Grand Marais, I took this shot of shore ice on a Lake Superior beach.

Then I stopped at Scott Falls, located a few miles west of Munising.

As I made the turn on M77 toward Grand Marais, I spotted the lake-effect clouds and realized I would be loosing the sunshine.

Incredible Frozen Waterfalls -- Post 2

2012-02-06T08:22:00.000-05:00

Today I'll post the second half of the frozen waterfalls photos I took on my way to Marquette to catch the airplane to Arizona. The first half of the photos were posted last month. They were taken at Munising Falls. After visiting that falls, I went across H58 to the neighborhood where you access the Michigan Nature Association property. This is where Memorial Falls is located, as well as the other one we call "sometimes falls".

This is a shot from the top of Memorial Falls.

And from the side....

Then I climbed through the hole in the rock....

And here are a few shots of Sometimes Falls. Notice the colored ice.

As I continued my drive west, I was entertained by a great sunset.

Saguaro National Park

2012-02-05T09:09:00.000-05:00

I am still catching up with the Arizona photos. I think, however, that this is my last posting with Arizona pictures.

On one of the last mornings before leaving the Tucson area, we decided to visit Saguaro National Park, which is located just down the road from Tucson Mountain Park where we were camping. This park is divided into two sections located 30 miles apart: one is west of Tucson and the other east. We were at the west portion of the park. Together they preserve over 91,000 acres of the Sonoran Desert and a million and a half Saguaro cacti, which have been protected in the park since 1933.

Here is a shot of the main visitors' center.

Most of the park is designated as wilderness.

There is a five mile loop drive. Due to the roughness of the road, we drove only the west mile to gain access to the Signal Hill Picnic Area. There is a short half mile walk that takes you up to an area that has prehistoric rock art.

Old cactus blooms.....

I must admit that I love the desert, but this is not a good place to bushwhack. If you do, you are bound to end up with cactus spines.

For centuries peoples of the Sonoran Desert have used products of the saguaro. In summer the cacti produce a nourishing bounty of juicy fig-like fruits. Tohono O'odham Indians knock them off with long poles. They use the fruit to make jam, syrup, and for religious ceremonies -- wine.

Many features help the saguaro store and conserve water. Accordion-like pleats allow the cactus to expand and hold water collected through its roots. Spongy flesh in its trunk and branches serve as a reservoir for water, storing it as a slow-to-evaporate gelatin substance. Unlike most plants, the saguaro has no conventional leaves. Photosynthesis is instead carried out by the trunk and branches. Spines shade the plant, shield it from drying winds, and discourage animals. Waxy skin also aids in reducing moisture loss.

Saguaro collect water with a network of roots that lies about three inches below the desert surface and stretches as far from the main trunk as saguaros are tall. In a single rainfall, these shallow roots may soak up as much as 200 gallons of water -- enough to last a saguaro for a year.

The Sonoran Desert, which stretches across the American southwest and into Mexico, supports 25 species of cacti. A saguaro begins life as a shiny black seed no bigger than a pinhead. One saguaro cactus produces tens of thousands of seeds a year and as many as 40 million in its lifetime of between 175 and 200 years. Most of the seeds that survive grow under nurse trees like palo verde and mesquite. These cacti grow very slowly, especially at first. By the end of a first year after sprouting, the young seedling is only 1/4 inch tall. After 15 years, it may be barely 12 inches tall. At 30 years saguaros begin to flower and produce fruit. By 50 years the saguaro can be up to seven feet tall. After 75 years it may sprout its first branches, or arms. By 100 saguaro may reach 25 feet. A full grown saguaro may tower 50 feet and weigh in at 16,000 pounds! They die from old age, animals, lightning, cactus poaching, vandalism, freezing temperatures, wind, and drought.

Tucson Showplace -- Author's Event

2012-02-04T14:33:00.000-05:00

On Tuesday, January 31st, the Gem Shop sponsored an Author's Event at the Tucson Showplace. I stopped by the day before to find out more about the logistics of the event. The first logistic was moving huge bins of heavy rocks out of the way. Here is the room the day before.

Late morning on the 31st I drove the 14 miles in from the Tucson Mountain Park. It is an easy drive that doesn't require dealing with the crazy highways and heavy traffic typical of Tucson. The six authors included Brad Cross (Mexican agates), Scott Wolter (Lake Superior agates), Roger Clark (South Dakota Fairburn agates), Johann Zentz (agate encyclopedias I, II, III), Hans Gamma (Oregon jaspers), and me. I felt very privileged to be included in such a fine group. We were each asked to speak around ten minutes and explain how it was that we were standing at the podium. The Gem Shop did a great job marketing the event. Over 100 people showed up for the talks, book signing, and cocktail reception. Here is the poster they had printed.

The books were all lined up and ready to be sold.

Here is a picture of the six of us seated against the wall. This is the same room that had all the bins of rocks in it the day before.

Here are all six of us. It is interesting that three of us are not professionally trained in geology. Johann is a music instructor, Roger Clark is a retired lawyer, and I worked mostly in medical marketing.

Gene Mueller, from the Gem Shop. He did a great job introducing all of us.

Johann Zenz, who is from Austria.

Roger Clark is from Wisconsin, but is an expert on South Dakota agates.

Hans Gamma is from Switzerland, but now resides in Arizona. He is an expert on Oregon jaspers.

Brad Cross is from Austin, Texas and is an expert in agates from Northern Mexico.

Scott Wolter was one of the first in this country to publish a book on a specific type of agate. in 1986 he published a book on Lake Superior agates. Lately he has been writing books on history, inspired by the finding of artifacts that date well before Columbus, but that were not produced by Native Americans.

In my talk I relayed stories about how the museum founder, Axel Niemi, inspired me to be a rockhound. I also formally announced that I will be producing online rockhounding adventures. Now that I am finally home, I plan on continuing the project begun last winter. I am looking forward to making this vision happen.

Tucson Gem and Mineral Show

2012-02-03T13:03:00.000-05:00

I am sitting at the Sky Harbor Airport right now waiting for my flight. Friends, Gerald and Jill, and I went to see the movie, Descendants, last night. It was OK, but not what I was hoping. We stayed in the parking lot at the mall in Glendale and then headed over to Avondale this morning to turn in my RV. Gerald and Jill are continuing their adventure and have other rockhound friends coming in next week, and their daughter the week after that. I am going home to work on my online rockhounding adventures project. I have only been out here in Arizona for eight and a half days, but there were so many segments of the trip that it seems like a lot longer.

I heard that the number of total show sites in the Tucson area this year did decrease. There are 39 different locations. We went to four. The main venue where I spend all my money is at Electric Park. Here are a couple of shots of the Village Originals tent.

Outside their tent they have all the large amethyst and citrine towers, amongst other things.

The venue for my speech was at the Tuscon Showplace -- The Gem Shop facility. I'll include more pictures of the author's event tomorrow.

At the Tucson Showplace, there are several dealers including Paul's Ocean Jasper booth. Here is a great piece of OJ.

Out in front they have tables with ocean jasper. Gerald and Jill are in the picture below, along with my friend, Karen Boaz. She lives in Benson, AZ in the winter and in Au Train, MI during the summer. We have been shopping the show together for many years. Thanks to Karen for driving us around so we didn't have to take our RVs.

Here is a picture of a large piece of petrified wood.

I also love the table tops.

Some of the dealers sell rough rock -- lots of it.

The Gem Shop probably has the largest variety of agate for sale. Here is just one section.

Tonto National Forest, Carefree, Arizona

2012-02-02T21:00:00.000-05:00

Last night we camped in the Tonto National Forest, located near Carefree, Arizona -- which is around an hour northeast of Phoenix. Friends, Jill and Gerald, want me to post some of the pictures of us so I am including the pictures from the last day or so in this update. There was no cell signal when we were there, so I did not update the blog this morning. Right now we are in Glendale, AZ at a shopping mall. We are going to go to the movies tonight to see Descendants and will camp here tonight. I drop off the RV in the morning and fly back to Michigan tomorrow.

I'll catch up with some of the other AZ pictures in the next couple of days.

I carefully snapped this picture while driving. It shows Jill and Gerald's RV and some dragoons that welcome you to Carefree, AZ.

We camped in the Tonto National Forest. Here is one of the mountains bathed in sunset glow.

Here are Jill and Gerald, as well as Bruce their dog. They are standing on the top of a small uplifted mound.

And me....

Today we spent the day rockhounding. The first site had some feldspar. While we were looking for specimens, I captured the sun coming through this cactus.

A bee cooperated for this photo.

Another cactus....

And more dragoon boulders.

The next two shots are not completely in focus since I was taking the pictures through the RV's glass window. I'm not sure what type of birds they are, but the first appears to be some type of raptor. He was around 16 to 18 inches tall.

This black bird had amazing red eyes. I was going to go out of the RV to get a shot, but he flew off.

There were lots of happy cacti communities.

Gerald drove their RV 10 miles down a very rugged road to Horseshoe Lake. The AZ rockhound guide said there would be agate and jasper. There was some jasper, but we didn't find any of the translucent black agate that the book said was there. Oh well -- we tried.

This is the wash we walked down looking for agates and jaspers.

This 20 inch rock had a bit of agate, but not much.

This is the best saguaro cactus I saw today.

This one was perched on some red sedimentary rock.

Kitt Peak National Observatory -- Post 2

2012-02-01T11:32:00.000-05:00

There is so much happening out here in Tucson that I am not able to keep current to the day, or the day before as I like, to update the blog. For this posting I am going to include the rest of the pictures I took Sunday night at the Kitt Peak National Observatory. I’ll try to catch up this week before I leave Arizona to include pictures from Tucson Mountain Park, the gem show, Saguaro National Park, and the author’s event that happened last night. It was a real privilege to be included with the group of six authors. I will say that I am glad my short speech is over and that feedback was very positive.

The pictures below document the variety of telescope structures that exist on Kitt Peak. The first is the one you can see from the highway.

This odd looking structure is the most interesting telescope on the mountain. It is used exclusively to study our sun. If any of you have ever used a magnifying lens to concentrate light from the sun,, you know how hot it can get. In order for scientists to study our sun, it is necessary to cool the telescope. Thousands of feet of cooling tubes are used to control the temperature.

Here are some more of the telescope domes and other buildings on the Kitt Peak grounds.

And how about a couple of more sunset photos….

This shot is hard to make out, but it was taken inside one of the telescope domes. Once the sun goes below the horizon, you cannot use any white light on top of Kitt Peak. Thus, I was not able to use a flash.

This shot was taken inside the visitor’s center of a display showing how big some of the telescope mirrors are. The biggest at Kitt Peak is the 4 meter. When it was installed 20 years ago or so, it was the biggest in the world. Now it ranks around the 25th. Efforts are under way to build a multi-mirror telescope that will be a total of 100 meters in diameter! It is being built in Tucson.

Since we were so high above the valley and away from smog and light pollution, I just had to get another picture of the moon.

Here are a couple pictures of nebulae we were able to look at through the telescope. The first is the Eskimo Nebula, a round cloud of gas ejected by a dying star. This nebula was discovered in 1787. The second is the Orion Nebula. It is located around 1,500 light years away and is 30 light years across. It contains enough material to make 10,000 stars the size of our sun. I must admit that this was my favorite object that we viewed. Although these images were displayed on the computer next to the telescope, we were able to see the images quite clearly. The only difference is that our eyes were not able to see the color the way that digital cameras are able to pick up.

This picture, of course, is Jupiter. It is actually a computer image and is a bit larger than what we actually saw looking through the telescope. We were able to see four of Jupiter’s moons, which I thought was totally awesome!

Kitt Peak National Observatoryv-- Post 1

2012-01-31T08:52:00.000-05:00

Before leaving for Arizona, I not only worked on my speech that I am giving at the Tucson Showplace today, but I also spent even more time preparing my speech for the international agate show coming up in Minneapolis, Mn the end of July. After researching the topic of my talk (The Story of Silica: Cosmic Source through Agate Genesis), I became completely hooked on astronomy. In the July talk, I will start with the Big Bang and summarize how the elements silicon and oxygen came to be, how these elements became part of the earth, and how they formed into agate.

During my research, thanks to a referral from one of my blog followers, I found out about Kitt Peak National Observatory. Since they have lost a lot of their federal funding, each night as not only a fund raiser, but as a sincere effort to share their technology and understanding with the public, they initiated a nightly observatory program. On Sunday night, I decided to participate. It costs $48 per person, but that includes a box dinner. The program started at 4:45pm and did not end until 9:30.

Back in the late 1950s, it was decided that we need a national observatory for the United States. The first task was to select the location. Because of the more favorable weather, several mountain peaks in the southwest were considered. It was decided that Kitt Peak, located 45 miles west of Tucson in the Quinlin Mountains, would be the perfect place – except for one thing: the mountain is owned and sacred to the Tohono O’adham Nation.

Negotiations took place and the Native Americans finally agreed to lease the land. Construction began in 1958 and the first telescope was installed. Today there are over 25 different telescopes nestled on top of this rugged mountain. The visitor's center was built in 1964 allowing tens of thousands of visitors per year to learn about astronomy. The mission of the visitor's center is to inspire a sense of wonder and awe about the Universe, through exhibits, tours, and public programs. The Nightly Observing Program is one.

From our campground in the Tucson Mountain Park, I headed west down Aho Way. As soon as I turned west, I figured that the mountains that I could see housed the National Observatory. In Photoshop I zoomed in and spotted one of the telescope domes. Notice the arrow below.

I am driving the RV, so I was nervous about driving 12 miles up to a peak that is nearly 7,000 foot tall -- but I did it.

Here is the view of the peak from the access road.

I stopped in a pull out half way up the mountain to get a few shots.

In the parking lot is a decorated mirror from one of the telescopes.

There are 23 different universities and groups that operate equipment on Kitt Peak. Some of them operate their telescope remotely, such as one that is in Florida and works from there.

This is a shot of the visitor's center.

In the visitor's center is this awesome meteorite that was recovered in Argentina. Scientists believe that this meteorite hit earth a few thousand years ago.

Outside the visitor's center is a display with this Native American artifact.

Here are a couple of shots from the top of the mountain looking out over the valley floor.

After orientation and dinner, they walked our group of 42 up to the west side of the mountain to watch sunset. Wow.

Agate Hunting in Arizona

2012-01-30T09:01:00.000-05:00

We woke up yesterday after camping on BLM land to a glorious morning.

Gerald took off by himself to trek up the mountain you can see in the photo below. Jill and I walked the flats looking for chalcedony roses and fire agate.

This is the nicest chalcedony rose that I found.

A view of our spot looking west.

Jill and I agate hunted for about an hour and a half. On our way back to our vehicles, I spotted this prayer circle. It was not near any of the two-track roads -- just out in the middle of nowhere. I am not sure, but it could be an artifact left over from Native Americans. There was a sign posted as we drove in saying not to disrupt any artifacts.

Jill found this shed snakeskin.

I had a request to take pictures of the inside of my 23 foot rented RV.

In this high desert field, there are holes in the ground everywhere. Most of the holes are just an inch or two wide, but this one was a foot in diameter.

Arizona Adventure -- Quartzite and Agate Hunting

2012-01-29T08:50:00.000-05:00

Yesterday morning we started at first light and had breakfast. Even though it gets into the 70s during the day, it is chilly at night. So I have been using the heater in the morning to take the chill off. The dealers in Quartzite, as I think I already explained, stretch over a three mile area. We heard that there were more rock dealers down at the other end, so we headed there. One of the first dealers I met was George Sechler, who owns Oasis Prospecting.

I must admit that George is the most adventurous rockhound I have ever met. He not only travels the world, but he spends weeks and months using Google Earth to find old mines, ancient river beds, and other geologic features that can lead him to incredible finds. For example, he found some jasper chips in the Sahara desert and after studying aerial images, determined that there was an ancient river bed that existed even before the Nile had carved its full path. Once he determined the path of the old river, he was able to find the source of jasper. He has also found minerals in Cambodia, Brazil, and many other places.

I spent around six hours meeting people, buying rocks, and lugging them back to my RV. By that time I had pretty much spent my budget – and I have not even been to the Tucson Show yet. That is OK, though, since I found so many great deals in Quartzite. I purchased a lot of new and different things that I have never carried before including perfect pyrite cubes in matrix, a whole flat of incredible Mexican Laguna agates, Royal Sahara Jasper, some bizarre iron concretions, more ocean jasper, a lot of pendants, calcite, spook rock, selenite swirls, obsidian, lots of slabs for making art, more polished stones including some great quality, Botswana agate, snakeskin agate, and more.

Mid-afternoon my friends and I decided it was time for us to get out into the field and do a little rockhounding. Gerald had bought the new Gem Trails of Arizona book and selected a site near Saddle Mountain, which is located half way between Quartzite and Phoenix. After an hour and a half drive, we pulled off the highway and headed to BLM government land.

The land was littered with rocks as well as cactus and scrubby desert bushes. In amongst the rocks are small pieces of macro quartz as well as chalcedony. Some of the chalcedony is formed into rose-like structures, and some actually have some fire agate. Considering that the rest of the desert rock, most of which is sedimentary, is monotone in color – the quartz and chalcedony are extremely obvious. In about an hour I collected a gallon bag.

The peaks of the mountains in this area are rugged and jagged. It is a cool place to camp.

Do you see the chalcedony?

This is the mountain that is sitting right in front of us.

Of course there are cacti.

The rock strewn desert floor.

Sunset...

The moon...

For the first time I used my camera's zoom to get a picture of a planet. I'm not sure which one, and the picture is not in focus, but I enjoyed trying.

Arizona Trip -- Post 1

2012-01-28T09:33:00.000-05:00

I flew out of Marquette on Thursday and tried to do a blog update from 28,000 feet up. I was just ready to send the data when the free wifi ended. I didn't want to pay, so I'll finish the frozen waterfalls posting later.

In the mean time, I would like to share with you the first pictures from the Arizona trip. I am sitting in my rented RV in a dirt "dry camping" area right in the middle of the chaos at Quartzite. There are over 100,000 RVs and lots of other people. The dealers are spread out throughout the city, but mainly on this one 3 mile long corridor. There are not just rocks for sale -- but everything you can imagine.

In Marquette two years ago a stolen Russion plane landed for refueling and repairs. It was discovered that it was stolen and there the plane still sits. I heard that someone purchased it, but for what ever reason it is still there. The snowplows just go around it.

Here is a shot I took after we took off. You can see the airport and that same Russian plane.

When I worked in Corporate America and flew a million and a half miles, I saw many sunsets from my airplane seat. It has been a while....

You know you are in Arizona when you see palm trees. My friends, Gerald and Jill, who left Grand Rapids last weekend, picked me up in Phoenix and drove me to the RV rental place. By the time we went grocery shopping, it was too late to try to drive across the desert to somewhere we had never been. So we found a campsite. Thus, the first night I only drove my rented RV about 10 miles.

Scenes from the campground....

Then the next day we drove the hour and a half to Quartzite. What chaos. But we found the Rice Ranch and paid our $7 to dry camp. The picture below is my rented RV.

Here are both of our RVs, side by side.

In three hours or so I spent half my budget. There is no question that the prices are better in Quartzite than at the Tucson show. Here is a shot of part of the Western Woods booth.

There are more non-rock booths than there are booths that sell rocks and minerals -- at least where we were yesterday. This is an ice cream maker that we saw.

And here is a sphere maker. I have a lot of people ask me what they look like. You can see the rough cut rock in the middle of the three grinding surfaces.

The sunset over the mountains lit up the sky.

Incredible Frozen Waterfalls--Post 1

2012-01-26T07:51:00.000-05:00

Yesterday I left Grand Marais mid-day to start heading toward my Arizona adventure. This is the 3rd of 4th trip in a row that I had a more leisurely approach to preparing for the trip. I must admit that this is an easier way to go about it, rather than working like a crazy lady to cram more work in before leaving.

I even had time in Munising to stop by some frozen waterfalls. First, I drove out Sand Point in Munising to see if I get get any photos of the ice cliffs on Grand Island. Yep. They are awesome.

This photo was taken looking back up Munising Bay. Notice the two ice shanties as well as two lone fishermen sitting out on the ice.

Then I stopped at Munising Falls, located across from the hospital in Munising on Sand Point.

A map of the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore.

Frozen ice on the river...

The river....

And Munising Falls. Normally this time of year the falls is much more massive. The warm temperatures show..

What is a Snowflake?

2012-01-25T08:31:00.000-05:00

A flake of snow is a feathery ice crystal, typically displaying delicate sixfold symmetry. Snowflakes and snow crystals are made of ice, and pretty much nothing more. A snow crystal is a single crystal of ice. A snowflake can mean an individual snow crystal, or a few snow crystals stuck together, or large agglomerations of snow crystals.

Snowflakes are not frozen raindrops. Sometimes raindrops do freeze as they fall, but this is called sleet. Sleet particles don't have any of the elaborate and symmetrical patterning found in snow crystals. Snow crystals form when water vapor condenses directly into ice, which happens in the clouds. The patterns emerge as the crystals grow.

Have you ever looked at a snowflake and wondered how it formed? Snowflakes are a particular form of water ice. Snowflakes form in clouds, which consist of water vapor. When the temperature is 32° F (0° C) or colder, water changes from its liquid form into ice. Several factors affect snowflake formation. Temperature, air currents, and humidity all influence shape and size. Dirt and dust particles can get mixed up in the water and affect crystal weight and durability. The dirt particles make the snowflake heavier, and can cause cracks and breaks in the crystal and make it easier to melt. Snowflake formation is a dynamic process. A snowflake may encounter many different environmental conditions, sometimes melting it, sometimes causing growth, always changing its structure.

In more detail, here is the story of a snowflake. Each flake of snow begins with water vapor in the air. Evaporation from oceans, lakes, rivers, transpiration from plants, and exhaling from animals. Even you, every time you exhale, put water vapor into the air. When a mass of air is cooled, the water vapor it holds begins to condense. Right at the surface of the earth, water vapor condenses onto surfaces, such as dew on grass. In the atmosphere, water vapor condenses onto dust particles. A cloud is nothing more than a huge collection of water droplets hugging dust particles, all suspended above the earth. As clouds gets colder, the droplets in the clouds start to freeze into minute ice crystals. Liquid water vapor in the cloud then attaches to the ice crystal embryo in a continuous process causing the snowflake to grow.

Common snowflake shapes include:

Generally, six-sided hexagonal crystals are shaped in high clouds.
Needles or flat six-sided crystals are shaped in middle height cloud.
A wide variety of six-sided shapes are formed in low clouds.
Colder temperatures produce snowflakes with sharper tips on the sides of the crystals and may lead to branching of the snowflake arms (dendrites).
Snowflakes that grow under warmer conditions grow more slowly, resulting in smoother, less intricate shapes.

Why are snowflakes symmetrical (same on all sides)? Actually, not all snowflakes are symmetrical. Several things can distort the shape of a snowflake including uneven temperatures, dirt, and other factors But in most cases snowflakes form in an orderly and symmetrical manner. This is because when water freezes, the shape of the ice crystal reflects the internal order of the water molecules. When molecules freeze into the solid state, the bonds or connections between the water molecules are very weak. During crystallization, the water molecules align themselves to maximize these bonds as much as possible. Consequently, water molecules arrange themselves in a chemically predetermined manner that tends to maintain symmetry.

When we were kids we always heard that no two snowflakes are the same. This is not necessarily true. This may be true if you were able to examine each snowflake down to the exact number of water molecules, arrangement of electrons, etc. However, on the macro scale it is possible for two snowflakes to look alike. Over the history of the earth, it is also likely that duplicate snowflakes have been produced.

If water and ice are clear, then why does snow look white? The main reason is that snowflakes have light-reflecting surfaces that scatter light into its component colors, so snow appears white. Another contributing factor is that there are tendencies in the way that that human eyesight works. The human brain compensates for a light source. Thus, even though sunlight is yellow and scattered light from snow is yellow, the brain automatically subtracts the yellow wavelengths causing you to see white.

Interesting Photos -- What are They?

2012-01-24T10:17:00.000-05:00

Yesterday it was raining with temperatures in the mid 30s. In fact, it was raining hard. It condensed and partially melted the little bit of snow we have But then when I woke this morning, I looked out to a white out. From day to day this winter it is hard to tell what to expect.

So I did not get out since I refuse to go out in that type of weather. So for today's blog posting, I am including a series of interesting photos. Please check them out and guess what you think they are. Some of the photos are not obvious, but the exercise of guessing will hopefully stimulate your thoughts. At the end of this posting, included is information about what the pictures in fact represent.

Photo 1

Photo 2

Photo 3

Photo 4

Photo 5

Photo 6

Photo 7

Photo 8

Photo 9

Photo 10

Photo 11

Photo 12

Photo 13

Photo 14

All of the pictures were taken from the Science Channel's program called How The Universe Works. The timing of the show was perfect for me since I have been working on my speech for the Celebration of Agates international show coming up the end of July in Minneapolis, MN. My speech's title is: The Story of Silica--Cosmic Source through Agate Genesis.

Photo 1 Simulation of the beginning of an exploding supernova

Photo 2 A cosmic structure formed by a giant wall of galaxies, called a galactic filament. It is the
largest known structure in the universe. Scientists have been mapping the known universe using specialized equipment to measure cosmic microwave background radiation. They were surprised that all of the galaxies in the universe a connected in a filament arrangement.

Photo 3 A simulation of the impact point of an early planet building collision.

Photo 4 An illustration of the earth's magnetic field.

Photo 5 A simulated picture of a star that is five million times larger than our sun, which is nearly a million miles in diameter and 93,000,000 miles away from the earth. You can fit a million earths inside our sun. There are other stars that are even bigger. The largest star ever discovered is VY Canis Majoris, which is a billion times larger than our sun. It is located 4,900 light years away.

Photo 6 A nebula, which is left over star dust from the death of a large star that exploded in a supernova.

Photo 7 A simulation of what it looks like on the surface of our sun.

Photo 8 The active zone in a man-made fusion reactor Scientists are simulating a star's energy source -- in a lab near Oxford, England -- to control the power of fusion.

Photo 9 A simulated picture of photons created in the fusion of hydrogen atoms. These atoms naturally repel each other. But if you heat them up, such as what happens in the core of a star, heat equals motion. When the atoms move fast enough, they cannot avoid hitting each other and they hit and fuse to create a new element -- helium -- along with a small amount of pure energy released as photons.

Photo 10 A simulated picture showing photons escaping from the surface of the sun. It takes thousands of years for photons to travel from the core of the sun to the surface. It then just takes eight minutes for photons to travel from the surface of the sun to the earth.

Photo 11 A simulated picture showing the declining fusion in the center of a sun near the end of its life cycle.

Photo 12 When a small star, like our sun, uses up all its hydrogen in the fusion reactions, there is not enough outward pressure. Gravity trying to get the star to contract will win the war against the fusion reactions that try to explode the star outward. At first, gravity will crush the star in on itself. This contraction causes what is left in the star to heat up again, making it to expand outward. When this happens to our sun between 5 and 7 billion years from now, our sun will swell up until it is 100 million miles in diameter and become a Red Giant. But then the Red Giant will self destruct as the core becomes unstable. Since there is no more hydrogen to use as fuel, the star will begin fusing helium to carbon as the star begins destroying itself from the inside out. The massive explosions blast energy toward the surface blowing away the star's outer layers. Slowly, the star will disintegrate. All fusion reactions will stop. All that remains is an intensely dense hot core that develops into a white dwarf no larger than the earth. At the core of a white dwarf, scientists believe there would be a giant crystal of carbon, that may in fact be a big diamond. The picture shows what this giant diamond may look like.

Photo 13 Larger stars have a different end to their life cycle than what occurs with smaller stars like our sun. They have enough mass that when all the hydrogen is used up as fusion fuel, and then all the helium is used up to make carbon -- they continue smashing bigger and bigger atoms. This photo simulates the progression of fusion fuel used by a star. The last in the line is iron. Once a star manufactures iron, that is the end of the line. Iron cannot be used as a fusion fuel.

Photo 14 This last picture represents the moment of a supernova explosion when a large star disintegrates and basically turns itself inside out. In the extreme heat and force of the explosion, heavier elements are forged and then projected into the universe. It is this material from exploding supernovas that is recycled to make everything in the universe, including us.

Winter Weather -- Sort Of

2012-01-23T08:59:00.000-05:00

Late last week and over the weekend we finally had a stretch of winter weather. The school was closed one day and in total we received several inches of snow. This morning, however, it is 30 degrees with freezing rain.

First a couple of shots of the white out.

Then the next day I had to snowshoe my trails to human groom them for cross country skiing.

For the second year in a row, not all the apples feel from the trees in the fall.

Usually this time of year the snow drift that forms on the south side of my house is usually up to my windows. We are not there yet, but the storm late last week started the snow level to catch up a bit.

Drain the Great Lakes -- Post 3

2012-01-22T14:00:00.000-05:00

Today I will post the remainder of the pictures from the National Geographic program called Drain the Great Lakes.

In the eastern part of Lake Ontario, scientists discovered something unusual.

To the south east of Charity Shoal, which is marked by a small lighthouse, there is a circular depression on the bottom of the lake bed.

Charity Shoal lighthouse....

When they examined the depression, they realized that it is almost identicle to the meteor crater in Arizona.

So the scientists have tentatively concluded that the depression is in Lake Ontario is also a meteor crater.

The last segment of the program discussed the artifacts on the bottom of Lake Superior. There are more than 6,000 different wrecks.

The most famous being the Edmund Fitzgerald that sank in 1975.

Drain the Great Lakes -- Post 2

2012-01-21T12:52:00.000-05:00

Today I'll continue a review of some of the awesome facts presented in the National Geographic program Drain the Great Lakes.

The next segment in the show featured Lake Huron.

Around 6,000 or 7,000 years ago when the levels of the lakes were still low, there was a land bridge that formed across what is now Lake Huron.

Underwater imaging has indicated that in the area of this one-time land bridge off the coast of Alpena, MI, there is a linear line of rocks that stretches for dozens of miles. Scientists found what they believe are hunting pits, camps and rock structures called caribou "drive lines" on the bottom of Lake Huron.
Drive lines, also called drive lanes, are walls built of rocks that hunters used to lure caribou into ambush. A peculiarity of the deer species is that it readily follows linear cues, even though the rock walls are short enough to step over.

The next segment of the program moved south to Lake Erie, the shallowest of all the Great Lakes. On the north shore there is this weird peninsula called Long Point that sticks out into Lake Erie around 25 miles. This point is a remnant of the lower lake levels that still existed around 5,000 years ago.

When the lake levels were low, the Niagara Falls area certainly was much different. Today, up to 36 million gallons of water flow over the falls per minute.

When the lake levels were low, there was but a trickle.

Another interesting anomaly found at the bottom of the Great Lakes are these pop up ridges that are scattered on the bottom of Lake Ontario. Scientists have determined that they are compression fractures caused by tectonic pressure along fault lines.

Drain the Great Lakes -- Post 1

2012-01-20T11:15:00.000-05:00

Last night I watched a companion show to the one I watched a couple of weeks ago about draining the oceans. This show aired on the National Geographic Channel was Drain the Great Lakes.

The program featured all five of the Great Lakes and some interesting things that scientists have found on the bottom of the lake beds. I admit that I am biased, but the show started and ended with Lake Superior -- which I love.

There is more than I include in one post, so I'll summarize what the show presented in a series of blog updates.

In the first segment of the show, they drained the water out of Lake Superior.

Northwest of Grand Marais, there are a series of parallel canyons. I remember back in the 1970s when Jacques Cousteau researched Lake Superior, that he was the first to find these mysterious canyons. Here is what one would look like, according to this documentary.

Of course the Great Lakes were geologically formed by the glaciers. Some scientists think that there may have actually been a series of seven glaciers to scour the northern part of the Americas.

I just love the next two shots. The documentary shows what the Chicago sky line would look like in scale to the glaciers that the show says were a mile high. I have read accounts that the glaciers may have been up to three miles high.

What they figured out is that when the glaciers were last retreating north, as they passed through what is now the Lake Superior region, they stalled enough to allow large glacial runoff rivers to form perpendicular to the direction of retreat. The channels we now find in Lake Superior are the river beds left over from these glacial rivers.

The next story the documentary covered is about the Straits of Mackinaw. Today there is the Mackinaw Bridge that connects the two Michigan peninsulas. It is interesting that for reference, the show left the bridge in all of their graphics.

Apparently around 6,000 years ago a significant drought lowered the level of all the Great Lakes a significant amount. At that time, the five lakes for the most part were not connected. But first, let's drain the water from under the bridge.

Near the Bruce Peninsula in Canada, which separates Lake Huron from the Georgian Bay, scientists found evidence of just how low the level of the Great Lakes was 6,000 years ago. In fact they have found underwater escarpments in the area that during that period were huge waterfalls, some even larger than Niagara Falls today.

Also during that time of low lake levels, they think there was only a small channel connecting Lake Huron to Lake Michigan that still exists today.

Downtown Grand Marais and School Forest Ski

2012-01-19T09:13:00.000-05:00

Yesterday was a beautiful day in Grand Marais. The early morning clouds dissipated and the sun came out. Temperatures were in the 20s and perfect for cross country skiing.

As I drove to town I decided to take a few pictures driving down "the hill" as we locals call it. First the Grand Marais sign posted at our bay. Click on the photo to see a larger version that can be more easily read.

Now the curve above town.

Driving down the hill...

A couple of shots of the bay...

By the time I drove four miles east, the sun came out. Here is a shot of the Sucker River.

More shots in the 1,300 School Forest.

School Forest Ski, Lake Superior Water Temperature, and Sunrise Glow

2012-01-18T09:32:00.000-05:00

Yesterday I skied a great loop in the school forest. I parked at H58 and skied down the School Forest Road to the bridge. Then I skied down Deer Lane to the first intersection, where I headed to the west. Around a half mile down I stayed to the left and kept staying to the left until I reached Sandy Lane and then back to the car. All in all it only took two hours, but it was exhausting due to the slightly sticky snow. What a work out!

A couple of weeks ago I took a picture of the wide bend in the Sucker River when there was mostly open water. As you can see below, the cold temperatures this last week or so has caused the river to ice over.

It is cloudy in Grand Marais, but it must not be south of us. Here is the sunrise glow through my trees.

I checked the water temperatures again for Lake Superior in the Grand Marais area. The latest image available is from January 3rd. The previous image from December 20th showed that the lake's water temperature just off shore averaged around 42 degrees. On January 3rd, the average temperature was around 36 degrees. So at this point there is still no shore ice.

Alll About Snowshoeing

2012-01-17T12:01:00.000-05:00

I received a request from a photo blog follower to post an update about snowshoeing. When I first moved full-time to Grand Marais in 1994, I almost exclusively cross country skied. Once in a while we would snowshoe if the skiing conditions were poor, or if there was somewhere we wanted to go that could not be done safely on skies. Last year the skiing conditions were horrible in Grand Marais due to the lack of snow causing icy ski conditions, so I probably snowshoed more than I skied. Now I must admit that I love both.

Snowshoes are footwear for walking over the snow. They work by distributing the weight of the person over a larger area so that the person's foot does not sink completely into the snow, a quality called "flotation". Early hunters and gatherers who lived in northern climates tried to mimic how animals were able to navigate through deep snow.

Snowshoeing is known to have been practiced in present-day central Asia about 6,000 years ago. It is believed that as these ancestors to the Inuits and Native Americans, migrated from Asia to North America, they brought the snowshoes with them, which were modified slabs of wood. It was not too long before this evolved into the white ash framed snowshoes with the raw hide lacing that we associate with snowshoeing today.

In the past, snowshoes were essential tools for fur traders, trappers and anyone whose life or living depended on the ability to get around in areas of deep and frequent snowfall, and they remain necessary equipment for forest rangers and others who must be able to get around areas inaccessible to motorized vehicles when the snow is deep. However, today snowshoes are mainly used for recreation, primarily by hikers and runners who like to continue their hobby in wintertime. Snowshoeing is easy to learn, and in appropriate conditions is a relatively safe and inexpensive recreational activity.

Traditional snowshoes have a hardwood frame with rawhide lacing. Some modern snowshoes are similar, but most are made of materials such as lightweight metal, plastic, and synthetic fabric. To prevent snow from accumulating, most snowshoes have latticework. The design allows enough support for "flotation" but openings to allow snow to fall through. Keep in mind, however, that snowshoes do not keep you completely on top of the snow -- especially if the snow is deep. If you snowshoe in heavy wet snow, you can get a workout lifting the snow that does accumulate on top of your shoes with every step.

The wooden snowshoes are generally categorized in three different styles or shapes. The oval shaped bear paw was designed for use in forested conditions where maneuverability was most important. The truly long (46+ inches) Yukon snowshoe was developed for traversing deep powder-covered open areas, common in the Northwest. The beavertail seemed to take advantage of the best features of both the bear paw and the Yukon, and has been utilized in all types of snow conditions. The disadvantage of the old wooded shoes is that there are no crampons in the bottom to help prevent slipping in elevation. They also do not provide as good of traction. The bindings in older wooden snowshoes are sometimes problematic, too, since it sometimes is difficult to keep them on. Finally, the wider wooden snowshoes require you to "straddle walk," which brings on the feeling of tired hips after a few miles of steady walking. Very few snowshoers today are using the traditional shoes.

The modern snowshoes were first developed by Gene and Bill Prater in 1972 in Ellensburg, WA to overcome some of the deficiencies they encountered with wooden snowshoes while doing winter mountaineering in the Cascades. Tubbs Snowshoe Company, owned by Ed Kiniry in Stowe, VT introduced the Katahdin and Sierra in 1991 after extensive research and development work coordinated by Rick Howell. Tubbs has helped grow the sport as snowshoe sales have increased up to 20% per year. More than 5 million Americans are thought to now enjoy snowshoeing each winter.

Over thirty manufacturers currently market aluminum-framed snowshoes, led primarily by Tubbs, Atlas (owned by Tubbs), Redfeather, Sherpa, and TSL. Snowshoes today are divided into three types:
--Aerobic/running (small and light; not intended for back country use);
--Recreational (a bit larger; meant for use in gentle-to moderate walks of 3–5 miles (4.8–8.0 km)); and
--Mountaineering (the largest, meant for serious hill-climbing, long-distance trips and off-trail use).

Sizes are often given in inches, even though snowshoes are nowhere near perfectly rectangular. Mountaineering shoes can be at least 30 inches (76 cm) long by 10 inches (25 cm) wide; a lighter pair of racing shoes can be slightly narrower and 25 inches (64 cm) or shorter.

Notwithstanding these variations in planned use, larger users should plan on buying larger snowshoes. A common formula is that for every pound of body weight, there should be one square inch of snowshoe surface (14.5 cm²/kg) per snowshoe to adequately support the wearer. Users should also consider the weight of any gear they will be packing, especially if they expect to break trail. Those planning to travel into deep powder look for even larger shoes. Many manufacturers now include weight-based flotation ratings for their shoes, although there is no standard for setting this as of yet.

Modern shoes have a series of straps, usually three, are used to fasten the foot to the snowshoe. Some styles of binding use a cup for the toe. It is important that a user be able to manipulate these straps easily, as removing or securing the foot often must be done outdoors in cold weather. When putting on snowshoes, left is distinguished from right by which way the loose ends of the binding straps point: always outward, to avoid stepping on them repeatedly.

All modern snowshoes have crampons on the bottom to help with traction. Since 1994, snowshoe manufacturers have included a second traction device under the heel, to complement the traction device under the ball of the foot, near the toe cord or hinge rod. This heel mounted cramp-on or traction device has again aided on lateral traverses, ice covered ridges, as well as ascents and descents. The dual crampons are now a standard feature on most models sold. Buyers beware, though, because some of the inexpensive snowshoes still only have one crampon. Some modern shoes even have three sets of crampons. As far as I am concerned, the more the better. One other thing to think about is the size of the "teeth" in the crampons. I have observed that those with smaller crampon teeth tend to cake up with ice.

Sizes: Most aluminum snowshoes are either 8” X 25” or 9 X 30,” while several other sizes are also available. Consistent users have found that these sizes, although typically smaller than traditionally thought necessary, will best meet the floatation needs under most conditions. It is possible that in the dry powder conditions found along Lake Superior and similar areas with deep snow may require larger snowshoes than the conditions usually found in the east. Each region has its own distinct snow density and moisture content, which both play an important role in floatation. For ease of use, smaller is better. For deep snow, bigger is better.

Another thing that helps with snowshoe safety is the use of poles. Although many snowshoes now come with telescopic poles, I personally recommend not using these. I have been in situations when no matter what you do to keep the sections of the poles tight, the telescopic joint sometimes loosens and gives out. Of course, this always seems to happen when you most need the poles for support in rough terrain. One advantage of the telescopic poles, however, is that they can be adjusted for snow depth and terrain, and can be shortened to be easily adhered to a backpack when not in use. If you use telescopic poles, constantly check to make sure that they are tightly secured. I recommend instead that you use solid, one-piece poles that feel comfortable when you walk. Cross country ski poles are usually too long for snowshoeing.

In terms of what footwear you should use, there are choices. Many people use regular hiking boots, but these can get wet. Regular snow boots often do not give enough support for your feet. If the boots are a little big, your feet can slide around in the boots which can lead to blisters. Another consideration is the shape of the heel. Some boots have an indentation or a ridge where the snowshoe strap insets, preventing the strap from slipping off. Keep in mind that you do not have to fall victim to marketing and buy "snowshoeing boots." If your straps are properly secured, any boot will work.

Since you are most vulnerable when you first start out and put your snowshoes on, it is best to maybe have on an extra outer coat and use thin gloves to protect your hands. Touching the cold aluminum frames and exposing your fingers to attach the bindings can be a rude experience. Once you have your snowshoes on, loose the extra layer and put on a warmer pair of gloves.

One more thing to think about when snowshoeing is staying warm, but not too warm. When snowshoeing in challenging terrain, you can burn up to 700 calories an hour -- even more than cross country skiing. The tendency is to over dress. For most weather conditions, snowshoers will be most comfortable with fewer clothes than most observers would expect. A layer of synthetic polypropylene or bi-polar underwear (tops & bottoms) will protect the snowshoer from evaporative heat loss, while a wind barrier layer will protect from convective heat loss (wind). Both layers will be all that is required for most half day (up to six hour) snowshoe outings. It is helpful to have an additional insulated layer such as fleece stored in a backpack for the stops along the trail, or for emergencies. Otherwise, the caloric expenditure of snowshoeing is usually more than sufficient to maintain body temperature.

When you are snowshoeing, the tendency is to not think about hydration. It is important to constantly be aware of the need to stay hydrated, especially during the dry winter months. Many summer hikers use the popular water bladders. The problem with these in the winter is that water in the tube freezes. So either have water bottles in your backpack and make a point of stopping frequently (at least every half hour) to take a drink. Or better yet, invest in a water bottle holder that allows you easy access without having to stop and open up your backpack which is not easy especially in the cold if you have to take your gloves off. Select a water bottle that can be opened with your gloves on.

Where to Go: The beauty of snowshoeing is that you do not need a trail or pay a user fee to enjoy an hour or a day. Any area with public access that is covered with snow is a viable snowshoe adventure. Snowshoers are able to traverse areas that would be all but impossible to traverse during other seasons, as the snow depth and frozen water provide the floatation necessary for the snowshoes. Snowshoes also allow you to go places that cross country skies would not.

In most cases you do not have to be concerned about impacting wildlife. Snowshoeing actually provides a welcome relief to non-hibernating animals, as the snowshoe trails will harden up overnight, making it easier for animals to traverse a region the following day. The slow speed of snowshoers does not seem to startle wildlife in the same way as cross country skiing and snowmobiling.

It is safest if you snowshoe with a friend. If you bushwhack and are not on a designated trail, make sure you know the terrain. If you get turned around, one advantage of snowshoeing is that you can always turn around and follow your own tracks back to the starting point. When you travel in groups, it is helpful to switch off the person in the lead position. It is always hardest to break trail.

Whenever you are adventuring in the woods, especially in the winter, it is important to be prepared. Always have emergency equipment in your day pack including: compass, headlamp, whistle, food, lighter or matches, and perhaps an emergency blanket. If you are in an area where there is cell phoone service, it is helpful to bring your phone along -- just in case.

Agate Want To Be Minerals

2012-01-16T08:59:00.000-05:00

In the past for blog postings I have used close up crops from pictures in my book agates Inside Out. Today I decided to crop the photos included in the book of some of the agate-want-to-be minerals. After operating the museum for the past thirteen years and interacting with thousands of people, I have seen the dissappointment when I honestly report that people have found an agate-want-to-be. Although I know that everyone is in search of the elusive agate, perhaps we should all appreciate the other minerals a bit more.

Please enjoy some of the incredible and beautiful detail of a few agate-want-to-be minerals. Notice that some of the specimens do have sections with agate banding.

First -- Australian Tiger Eye.

Petrified palm root from Louisiana.

Fossil reeds from Michigan.

Mary Ellen Jasper from Minnesota.

Poppy Seed Jasper from California.

Fossil Ammonite from Madagascar.

Fossil Red Horn Coral from Utah.

Fossil dinosaur bone from Utah.

Binghamite from Minnesota.

Fordite from Michigan. For those of you who do not know -- this is actual paint residue from a car factory paint booth. I have actually seen pendants made from this material for sale at shows and labeled "agate."

Onyx from Mexico.

Rhodochrosite from Argentina.

Grand Marais Bay Sunset After Glow

2012-01-15T10:20:00.000-05:00

Yesterday I felt like working on my speech for the international agate meeting in July. The title of my speech, as some of you know, is: The Story of Silica -- Cosmic Source Through Agate Genesis. I must admit that I am enjoying putting the speech together.

I did not get many pictures yesterday. While I was down town to pick up my food coop order, I was amazed at the color over Grand Marais bay. I pulled over and took a couple of photos.

First Real Cold Winter Day

2012-01-14T13:14:00.000-05:00

I am glad that I stoked the fire in my wood burner before I went to bed last night, as well as half way through the night. At my house this morning it was two degrees (F). South of Grand Marais temperatures were below zero.

Yesterday I did go on a long snowshoe, but I didn't take any photographs. So this morning when I drove to town to the post office, I drove around and took a few shots.

First, a shot of the channel leading to Grand Marais bay. I took the shot from the top of the hill on Airport Road.

With the cold temperatures last night, we actually have the first hint of ice on the bay -- only at the marina end of the bay. The shiny section of the bay below is a covering of ice.

I didn't notice it at first, but as I drove around the bay I noticed the seagulls sitting on the ice. I cannot believe that they were resting out in the exposed area on the thin ice.

Then I decided to walk out onto the boardwalk to see what the beach looks like. This place will always be special to me since my youngest son, Jonathan, was married on the boardwalk.

From the boardwalk, I captured this picture of the lighthouse. The other day when I took a shot of the lighthouse from a different angle, there was some ice built up on the lighthouse's structure. The warm temperatures and wind during the last few days melted and blew the ice away.

The final shot I took from the boardwalk is looking west. Notice how little snow there is on the beach as well as the beach walker.

Dune Snowshoe

2012-01-13T08:20:00.000-05:00

Yesterday everything turned to ice. It got cold the previous night, so all the melted snow and puddles froze solid. Since we still didn't have much snow, I decided to just drive to the falls from my house, down part of H58 that is not maintained in the winter by the road commission. The distance is only a mile and I made it, but my car went sideways on the road in a couple of places.

The trails were not much better. I had to snowshoe next to the trail, alternating between the right and the left side of the trail -- which ever was passable.

Since the conditions were so horrible, and because I had a lot to get done yesterday, I didn't stay out that long. I also only took four pictures. But first a few sunset pictures from the night before. Sometimes the color in the winter sunsets are even better than the color in the summer.

It was still a bit foggy in the morning. Just as I finished hiking, it started to snow. We originally were supposed to get eight inches. As I look out this morning, I'm not sure if we received two inches.

There still is no shore ice.....

There also is not much ice on Sable River.

Log Slide Snowshoe Hike

2012-01-12T08:06:00.000-05:00

I have lived in Grand Marais since 1994, but have had relatives who have lived here for over 100 years. As far as I know, there was never before a winter that you could drive seven miles west to the Log Slide area on January 11th. Well I was able to do just that yesterday. The incredible lack of snow permitted the drive. Since we may get eight inches of snow starting tonight, I decided to drive to the Log Slide area as long as it was possible. Then I hiked the two miles to the lighthouse at Au Sable Point and back.

When I parked in the Log Slide parking lot, I had to document my car with a snowmobile parked near by.

The dune above the log slide....

As you can see, the warm temperatures resulted in fog. Here is a shot looking west toward Au Sable Point.

Looking east toward the Grand Sable Banks.

Here is a picture looking straight down. There is still warm water just off shore so no ice has yet formed.

The two mile hike takes you through several different types of forests. Here is a photo of a section with white birches.

The closer I go to the lighthouse, the less snow there was.

As I was snowshoeing west, the fog continued to get thicker. Normally from this angle you can see the Grand Sable Banks. Not yesterday.

As you can see, there was almost no snow at the lighthouse.

The fog became even thicker...