Sparkling, Rushing Water

Hello!

Except for today, it's definitely springtime.

But that makes sense -- the today thing.  You know that saying that includes, "Red in the morning, sailors take warning?"  This morning, when B woke me up, I looked out the window to a spectacular sunrise.  Oh, man.  Red and magenta beamed from the sky.  I considered taking a picture, but the power lines were in it, and pictures just never do it justice. 

In general, though, the weather has been sunny and pleasant.  My cheeks are getting rosy from getting out pretty much everyday!  Here are some highlights.

April 12th, I believe, the ice left the harbor.  She was all open and sparkling like a freshly opened bottle of champagne in the sunset.  I don't know which is better.  Wink.  Here is proof!

Open water from Third Street Dock

The waterfalls are pretty great right now.  Well, I'm assuming they are.  I've only been to Manganese Falls so far, but it was sweet!  Here's a video from Friday, April 17th.

It's always enchanting there when the sound is loud, the air is wet and the ground turns green and woody.  I love to watch the mist suspended above the rushing water.  Surreal, you know?

Another cool thing about that day was that I got to go there with three other friends.  Kind of cool how our little group hike randomly came together for a magical experience.  We got up to Lake Manganese and the serenity continued.  At the mouth near the creek leading to the falls, we paused (mostly because the bridge was no longer adhered) and chatted away.  Who did we scare up?

At least 200 geese.

A fraction of the geese on Lake Manganese

Suddenly they flew east past us in many different V (and some not-so-V) formations.  We stood there in awe.  "Woah," exhaled from all of our bodies.  These geese then circled back west and east and west again.  Then we watched them land on the southwest end where they must have took off from.  

Silly humans, riling up the peaceful geese.

People must be coming up to see the falls because I feel like there are more people around than usual this time of year.  Usually it's just us local folk.  But people who come up this time of year often don't have high expectations for a little town that's half shut down.

I knock on wood as I say this, but I seem to be getting this mom thing under control.  Nap times are somewhat on a schedule.  Solid foods help the boy sleep longer.  We have not had a medical emergency in a month.  Life is good!

What's my point?  Well, don't hold me to this, but I hope that this may be the beginning of a break for me.  A break in favor of my writing.  I miss it so much, and even this blog helps me feel like a whole person again.  

So I hope you enjoyed this post with actual media besides my rambling words.  And stay tuned because I have some news for you...

Prime Color Time!

Well the weather certainly didn't cooperate for all the tourists this weekend.  I'm sure that packing for 50 - 60 degrees of fog, rain and high winds didn't make their suitcases feel loved.  But they came any way.  They came to mountain bike, ride Bohemia's chair lift and look at the colors.  The locals and I still shake our heads in amazement at all the traffic still in town.

Color Report

But the leaves are primo right now!  If you can capture colors through the mist and fog, you have it made.  Today my friends Hannah, Tiki and I hiked around the trails, so I could find some color for you.  Though Brockway Valley is still pretty green, here is a shot to show you Aetna Ridge by the Burma Road.  You have to look into the distance of this picture.

Colors behind Lake Manganese toward Aetna Ridge

It was a bit too gray and foggy for my GoPro to expose the colors justifiably.  But Hannah and I stared with dropped jaws by the lake.  Tiki, well, she didn't care because she's colorblind.  At least that's what I hear about dogs.

Come on up this week to see the rest of the colors.  As far as forecasts go, though I am not a believer in them, this next week should be like a dream vacation.  Colors, nice weather and still a chance to get your Harbor Haus dinner!  Don't wait any longer.

We saw quite the mushroom spectacle in our hike too.  They grew nearly half way around the trunk of this tree!

Tree-hugging mushrooms

I need to get out on a few more adventures before the snow flies.  I hope I can find the time to cross them all off my list.  After this next week, that won't be too hard as long as I manage my time well and stay focused on my goals.  Wish me luck, and you'll reap the benefits!

Temperature Dip

I guess I shouldn't be surprised that while last week I was sunbathing on a rock, this week I need to layer long johns.  At least today is sunny.  The last four overcast days in a row really closed the damper on my energy level.  But I am back!

Just yesterday, I saw that a local friend posted pictures of Lake Manganese with water up to the picnic tables!  I've got to get up there!  But yesterday was also hella windy from the north, and I really didn't want to be in it.  Not even to look at the waves (which were not abnormally spectacular anyway).  

Manganese Road was clear and dry all the way up to the lake.  I pedaled my commuter bike and Duce ran beside me.  What a good pup.  But when I got to the lake, it was the same level as it was the last time I took my big Manganese adventure.  There were a couple different things, however.

All the ice was melted from the lake.  There he sat, glistening in the sun.  Ahh.  And, that little bridge that I took a picture of had seaweed on top if it.  I missed all the good stuff!  Shoot!  Yes, the shores of the lake's exit was all washed out, and the seaweed on top mocked me.  I was going to take a picture of it for proof, but I thought, who wants to see a picture of dried out seaweed on a little bridge?

So I went down to the falls to get some more majestic pictures for you.

The top of Manganese Falls

Just below

And a little video

On my way down the hill, I came across some beautiful maple buds.  If I remember correctly from last spring, these are maples.  I am not one to figure out how to get a clear close-up shot with a point and shoot camera, so just enjoy the best you can.

Maple buds

I guess we'll see where everything goes from here!

A Manganese Journey

It's my spring break right now.  Yippee!  I don't bartend more than one day a week, and I get the whole month of April off.  That leaves me more time to go on adventures and write about them for you (though I have been slacking on the latter)!  While I have been out on adventures the last few days, I've been thinking, man, if I never had to work, I could just travel all over the Keweenaw Peninsula and make videos and take pictures and write about it.  Maybe some day I will get paid to do that!

Thursday's adventure took me first along the John Lincoln Green Trail beside Lake Fanny Hooe.  I wanted to cross the lake, but she looked pretty mushy.  Plus I asked advice from the locals and was told not to try it.  Darn advice!

My goal of this trip was to check out all the Manganeses: the falls, the road, the lake and the creek.   No snowshoes were worn on this trip, since most of the grass was showing when I went out behind my house.

My first stop was the bridge over the falls on the JLG Trail.  Not bad for the ides of March!

The bottom of Manganese Falls from the bridge

I climbed up the cliffs alongside the falls.  Oh, it was beautiful and fresh!  I got two videos for you in different spots, but their quality was so bad, that I'd rather not embarrass myself by broadcasting them. The cave walls were dripping, and the top of the falls was spraying mist.  I wish you could have been there with me!

Manganese Fall from the top lookout.

Before I got up to the Manganese Road/Snowmobile Trail 134, I found another little "falls" area that I had never seen before!  It was a little miniature -- so green, lush, mossy and wet.  I reveled in it for a few minutes.

The minifalls.

From there I walked up Manganese Road, which doubles as the snowmobile trail in the winter.  This is what it looked like that day.

Trail 134... still rideable that day!

Then up to Lake Manganese.  I was surprised to see how much ice was still on it.  Possibly could have traversed it, but the shore was really mushy.

Lake Manganese on March 15th

And here is how much water was pouring under the bridge.  Not as much as I would have thought, but I can't really have expectations for Mother Nature.  I've seen it rushing over the bridge before.

Mr. Butters on the Lake Manganese Bridge

Then we went down Manganese Creek.  There is a bike trail that meanders close by, called Mango, but I tried to stay right along the edge of the creek whenever possible.  Here is a good example of what it looked like most of the way.

Manganese Creek on March 15th

Walking on the trail, the snow was knee deep for the most part.  Walking along the shores, however, was a different story.  I would have to cross fallen trees to make it out of really we areas.  At some points in this part of the journey, I really could have used my snowshoes.

Thigh high snow along Manganese Creek

Then, the most unusual thing I saw along the way were some woodpecker holes.  Now, I've seen holes before, but not rectangular ones!  This guy was making woodpecker art!

Rectangular holes pecked out in the cedar

When I got back to the road, I was so glad.  No more walking in thigh deep snow!  And today, I can't even imagine there is any snow on that road.  It surely feels like summer in da Keweenaw.