January 21, 2017 by Cynthia Traun (Mackowick)

Autumn on the North Shore – Part Deux

Life is a great big canvas, and you should throw all the paint on it you can.
~ Danny Kaye

Dan and I spent the next few days in and around Grand Marais, MN. I still remember traveling this area and running into the beauty that Autumn can provide, not to mention the wildlife (still no Moose sightings though) 🙂 The best part, I think, is that the weather cooperated and we were able to capture the sunrise twice during our stay using the Grand Marais Lighthouse as our backdrop. When photographing a sunrise or sunset, I find that a certain peace surrounds me as I watch the colors dance with the sky; each one never the same. Just a little reminder that when we take the time to stop and appreciate your surroundings and the people you are with, we can throw so much color onto that great big canvas we call life.

~Enjoy~

Grand Marais, MN Lighthouse

Grand Marais, MN Lighthouse

Seagull

Abstract

Fox

Fox

Ruffed Grouse

Fox

Cascade River State Park

Abstract

Grand Marais, MN Lighthouse

December 1, 2014 by Cynthia Traun (Mackowick)

Judge C.R. Magney State Park

In 1963, the park was renamed Judge C. R. Magney State Park in honor of this late advocate who helped establish 11 state parks and wayside rests along the North Shore. Over the years, many parcels of land have been added to the state park, which now totals over 4600 acres.

Dan and I were excited to see what this park had in store for our viewing pleasure. We were not disappointed, however, I would have to say this 2 mile round trip trail, which includes over 200 ascending and descending stairs, is for advanced hikers but will lead you to the most famous formation on the Brule River… The Devil’s Kettle.

Half of the Brule River plunges 50 feet into a pool as it continues on its way to Lake Superior; the other 50 percent disappears into what we call the Devil’s Kettle. The famous cauldron is rumored not to have a bottom. Researchers have dropped brightly colored dyes and other objects into the Devil’s Kettle without result of finding the water’s outlet. This formation is another example of the amazing wonders Mother Nature can create.

Information taken from the MN DNR website about the geology of this area may explain a wee bit, but the mystery of Devil’s Kettle will remain hidden for the time being.

The bedrock exposed along Lake Superior’s North Shore has a geologic history that goes back some 1.1 billion years. During the dramatic volcanic activity of that time, molten lava poured through great fissures that developed in the Earth’s crust. One particular flow complex, the Devil’s Kettle rhyolite flow, visible along the Brule River, is thought to be as much as 770 feet thick. As these flows accumulated, the land along the rift zone sank to form a great basin, into which huge volumes of sediment were deposited after volcanic activity ended. A long period of erosion followed. The local Sawtooth Mountains of the Grand Marais area are the remnants of these great, tilted lava flows. Much more recently, glaciers took their toll on the area as massive ice sheets gouged out the Lake Superior basin, mainly from the post-volcanic sediments, and scoured the bedrock surface. In Cook County, where the park is located, the glacial action eroded more earth and bedrock than it deposited.

We enjoyed this day immensely and may have even shed a few pounds that day. Please enjoy the views from in and around Judge C.R. Magney State Park.

Devil’s Kettle, Brule River

November 23, 2014 by Cynthia Traun (Mackowick)

The Meeting Place: In and around Tettegouche State Park

According to the MN DNR website:

The Landscape

Established in 1979 to preserve an outstanding example of the North Shore Highlands Biocultural Region, the 9,346 acres of Tettegouche State Park contain a unique combination of natural features: rugged, semi-mountainous terrain, one mile of Lake Superior shoreline, six inland lakes, cascading rivers and waterfalls, and an undisturbed northern hardwood forest.

There are a number of hiking trails in the park and located at mile marker 57 off of Highway 61 is Palisade head. We have not spent much time in either area and I would love to be able to spend a few days photographing the surroundings.

On this particular day we were traveling north to our destination, Grand Portage. We stopped at Palisade head to see the views from the 350-foot cliffs that overlook Lake Superior. I was wearing my favorite “hiking shoes” as they are super comfortable and help to stabilize the ankle area. Okay, these hiking shoes are really riding shoes and since the traction on the bottom of the shoes have worn down; they can be somewhat slippery when the ground is wet. We arrived at Palisade head and started hiking around the area to take is some views. The morning was extremely foggy making all surfaces wet and slippery. As we moved closer to the edge of the cliffs, I slipped and fell. I was nowhere near the edge, but close enough to evidently scare the hell out of Dan. He turned to me and marched right back to the car, and I followed. He then handed me shoes with good traction and informed me that we were not leaving until I changed. 🙂 I changed, and we moved on into Tettegouche State Park.

After a while, the fog lifted to reveal the glorious sun and it turned out to be a beautiful day! We walked the park trails and crossed the metal suspension bridge. We were able to see the falls from the top, but unfortunately we did not make it around to the other side where the 60 foot falls can be seen in its entirety. This waterfall is deemed the tallest waterfall completely located in MN… We will be back one day.

Please enjoy some of the images I took from this day. Dan also captured some wonderful images from that day and I have also included them as well.