Grand Marais Bay Photos

I am doing my best to get the blog update done each day, but some days this summer it will get away from me. Yesterday I was busy all day and did not get time. I'll do my best.....

The other night I decided to walk along the bay east of town. I was able to get some great shots. The iris flowers were in bloom along the edge of the beach.

Although the piping plover signs are still out, apparently the crows got the babies within a day of their hatching.

One of the piping plover parents was still hanging out near the nest site.

Beach art (not done by me).

Seagulls were everywhere.

People out on the breakwater on this beautiful summer evening.

Sunset over Coast Guard Point.

July 4th Celebration

I hope that everyone in the U.S. had a great July 4th celebration. The weather here in Grand Marais was perfect during most of the day with sunny skies and temperatures in the 70s. By late afternoon, clouds starting rolling in. We had a few rain drops just before the fireworks, but they didn't disrupt the festivities.

We have an old fashioned July 4th celebration. Due to having to work the museum, I was not able to participate in some of these activities. Although I originally did not plan on carrying on the museum founder's tradition of wearing the 1885 bear coat in the parade, friends Gerald and Jill invited me to ride on their golf cart.

Anyone who wants to be in our parade is allowed. The line up starts at noon with the progression beginning movement around 1:00. This year the line up was longer than I remember.

Here is a shot of some of the parade participants lining up on Brazel Street.  The line up went all the way from Main Street to almost the end of Woodland Park.

Crab Orchard Hunting Camp had their usual crew, headed by Dr. Lee Britton playing with his "friend."

Jill modelled the bear coat.

The Coast Guard always leads the parade.

Here are some shots I took while riding in the golf cart.  The parade was so long this year that the procession took up the entire parade route. 

As I walked around after closing the museum (which had a good day as you would expect), I spotted these kids down the beach playing on the merry-go-round.

I didn't even notice until I was going through my pictures that there is an ore freighter in the background.

Someone living on the south side of the bay had this huge 20 foot high tepee fire.  We used to do the same thing as teens on July 4th every year.

For several years now local contractor, Tim Swift, and his friends "ride on water."  For those of you who have never seen it, snowmobiles when they travel fast enough can actually ride on the surface of water.  Four sleds participated this year.  I didn't have an angle to take a picture of them on the water, but I caught them getting up the speed needed on the beach.  Everyone made it safely.

The fireworks this year were spectacular as always.  Thanks to George Curtis for inviting me to watch the fireworks from his house, which is located on the south side of the bay.

Night Hike and Shipwreck Photos

Happy July 4th to you all.  As promised I'll include some of the photos taken during the head-lamp hike the other night. A friend and I started at Muskallonge State Park and walked east of Deer Park to catch the North Country Pathway Trail.

From the campground area, we first checked out the sunset.  We left on the hike around 8pm and returned around 1am.  In total we walked around 7 miles -- taking time to also just hang out on the beach and enjoy the peacefulness.

As we walked through the small village of Deer Park, I decided to take a picture of this Americana driveway/residence marker.

On the east side of town, the north country pathway trail resumes.

Those who know me are aware that I am not fond of spiders -- although I appreciate them.  I almost walked right into this huge web with a big spider in the center.  The main part of the web was around 4 feet in diameter.  It was an incredible architectural feat in that the web anchors spanned a space between trees and bushes that was more than 10 feet across.

While I was trying to get a picture, the flash from my camera attracted a huge moth. I think the spider was quite thankful.

After walking east on the trail, we doubled down to the beach to return to the campsite.  For the most part we walked the moonless night just by the light of the stars.  We decided to turn the head lamps off to let our eyes adjust to the small amount of ambient light.  I did occasionally snap off a few flash pictures.

Grand Marais native, Bruce Erickson, saw the posting I had a few weeks ago of the shipwrecks on the beach east of Grand Marais.  He sent me the pictures below that he took last year.  Apparently the sands are now trying to cover the shipwreck. 

School Forest Hike

Sorry about having a few days without posting. One of the days I returned home from an early morning windy hike and had no power. Thankfully the museum still had power. Friday night I decided to go camping and head-lamp hiking and did not return yesterday morning with enough time to post a blog update. But here I am back on it......

You can certainly tell that it is a holiday weekend. The museum was busier than it has been all year.

In addition to the head-lamp hike Friday night (pictures to come in the next update), I went out first thing in the morning to hike the north country trail in the school forest.

How about if you go along for the hike, starting at the bridge in the school forest, hiking east for about a half mile, and then turning north and north east to the lakeshore.

The beach from the bluff, looking northeast.

The beach looking east....

I love the view of town looking west from around five miles east along the beach. Of course the zoom on my camera helps.