FAVORITE MEMORIES
Days just don't get much better than this.
Sitting on our dock watching the sights and sounds is mesmerizing. When the ice is off the lake, the frogs come out of hibernation and the loons return, the evenings are like nature's symphony. First the peepers start singing, then the bullfrogs join the chorus, and finally the loons start calling. It's unbelievably soothing.
When I hear loons calling at night it tells me all is right in the world.
Taking pictures of loons is hard because cameras correct for red eye which you don't want to do for loons since their eyes are red.
Loons need more space to take off then other birds because unlike other birds loons don't have hollow bones. That's what allows them to swim underwater. To get airborne they sort of run across the lake.
In the early spring red polls swarm our bird feeders.
We've seen this eagle so many times that he seems like an old friend. This night we were out fishing on Van Vliet Lake when he landed in a tree about 20' from us. He sat there like he wanted to have a conversation.
It's not easy to take pictures of hummingbirds. You have to sort of shoot where they'll be not where they are and hope they fly into the picture at the right time. It's even harder to catch one with its tongue out. Our youngest son had the patience to take this picture.
In the fall we had a young black bear who insisted on coming onto our deck. We would play sounds of dogs barking and gun shots and that would scare him off but then he'd come back in a couple days. He was awfully cute (we named him Boo Boo after the Yogi Bear cartoon). The adults get to be over 500 lbs. so you don't want them liking your house. So we finally set up Boo Boo's house of horrors which had a cat that was motion activated that hisses and flashes bright green eyes. He took one look at that and headed for the hills. We haven't seen him since so hopefully this did the trick. Turn on your sound for the video.
This display is on the wall of the emergency room at Howard Young Medical Center. We've been fortunate so far not to add to the collection (knock on wood).
Clouds reflecting off the water on a still night create some unbelievable images.
The Van Vliet hemlocks put on quite a show in the fall.
4 trumpeter swans stopped by Pipke Park for a week during their migration south last fall. They are unbelievably graceful.
We love sunsets. We must have 1000's of sunset pictures but they are like snowflakes, no 2 are exactly alike.
Lake of the Clouds is located in Porcupine Mountains State Park near Lake Superior. No development is allowed on the lake and no motorized boats either. You can take a canoe but you would need to portage most of a mile. Fishing is allowed but only catch and release. The lake is 130 acres. Overall the park is 60,000 acres and there are over 90 miles of hiking trails.
It's quite a challenge getting to the overlook for the lake. There is a sign warning you not to fall off the cliff.
There are hundreds of waterfalls within a few hours of Presque Isle. We've just started exploring them. This one is Black River Falls which is a series of falls that eventually empty into Lake Superior.
This is Bond Falls near Watersmeet in Michigan's UP. That's an awful lot of water! The total drop is about 50'.
This is the upper part of Bond Falls.
This is Copper Falls in Mellin Wisconsin.
And of course there is the fishing. We're mostly catch and release bass fisherman but occasionally we stumble into musky and walleye. The bass fishing can be unbelievable. Sometimes it's like we're at a bass convention. We'll have 2 big lunkers on and as soon as we get them off and get our lines back in the water we'll have 2 more on.
Peter Cober