Welcome Spring in Northeastern Ohio

It is here! Spring has sprung! And at least to my observation, spring is a couple of weeks earlier than I recall, mostly due to a week or so of 70 and 80 degree temperatures around the first part of April. And for those of you who know me, I regret to admit that I did not make my annual spring pilgrimage to the Great Smoky Mountains this year. I have some other different trips planned including a short trip to see the Smokies Rhododendron which I have (believe it or not) never witnessed. I also regretfully admit to those following here that I did not make my monthly camping obligation in March do to commitments with the kids and general lake of time. I did however make my April obligation (no pictures this time) and plan to make up for March and double-up on another month as time permits.

Following the week of unseasonable warmth the first part of April, more typical (colder/wetter) conditions returned and as a result seem to be prolonging our beautiful spring scenic conditions. The following captions explain it all. I have not had any of my typical “expeditions” but instead captured these images of spring in 30 minute to short morning/evening segments as time permits. Hope you enjoy the images plus get an opportunity to get out and enjoy your spring. I would love to hear what spring blessings that you have witnessed. Here is what I have seen…

Click for Larger Image - Blue Heron in Marsh Tree

February Commitment – 2 of 12 Complete, Warmer, and Dreary

On my 2010 quest to go camping once a month, I fulfill my February commitment at Salt Fork State Park. I am now pretty confident that I can meet my New Year’s Resolution obligation since the cold is mostly behind me now. But I am sure that there will be some rain and bugs coming in the future months but I look forward to the experience and the challenge. This trip was quite a difference over last month since the temps made it to the mid 30s Saturday and floated around 40 on Sunday with overnight temps only around 20. The bummer of this trip was that the sunshine was beautiful during my drive to Salt Fork on Saturday but didn’t last. I had hoped for a beautiful sunset but it didn’t happen as clouds moved in about an hour and a half before dusk. Even though the view was not what I had hoped, the solitude and quiet was absolutely wonderful. The campground is sufficiently isolated from public roads to enable seclusion and I was the only one in the campground. I managed to do a little exploring Saturday but with the cloud cover, it got dark quickly though the moon and stars did manage to show themselves for a brief period.
The next day, I realized how deep the snow is even an hour and a half south of where I live. I continue to encounter deer either on the road or along the road. I suspect that the ease of travel, the salt on the road, and the general lack or winter traffic make this an ideal place for them. The deer I see are quite scruffy and I imagine that this had been a real difficult winter for them.

Click to view larger image.

January Commitment – 1 of 12 and Cold

I don’t often do this but this year I made a New Year’s Resolution.  One of my favorite things to do is go camping and for one of many reasons, this always seems to take second to many other obligations.  So my resolution was to make time this year to go camping once a month even if it was just for over night.  I realized late last week that even though it had been warm (for NEO) in January, last weekend was in the 40s and 50s, I didn’t go camping.  Now the last weekend of the month was upon me and NWS was calling for lows of eight to nine above.  Now I have been camping many times below freezing and a couple of times in single digits.  So I just grabbed a couple of extra layers and headed out to Nimisila Campground.  1 of 12 complete!

Every season has its special characteristics; the sights, the sounds, the smells.  When it is this cold, everything glistens.  The air is much clearer than in the summer time.  The snow and ice just sparkle and has that unique crunch under foot.  And best of all, the lake talks.  Now if you have never listened to a lake; put on an extra layer(s), grab some hot chocolate, and go park, roll down the window and listen.  Listen for the growling, the pinging, and all the other strange noises as the lake expands and moves.  It is completely indescribable.

Well I managed.  The night was a wonderful experience.  There was a full moon and some timely cloud cover.  One weather source said it got down to five, one three, and the thermometer in the truck read four.  I was toasty warm (except for getting out of the sleeping bag and into my coat).

I have documented this January Resolution Commitment in the following photos.  I am amazed that my camera works as well as it does in this kind of cold.  Nothing seems to bother it.  I hope you enjoy.

January 30, 2010 Sunset #1

Cleveland Lakefront State Park

Stopped off here on my way to Cleveland Botanical Gardens to spend the afternoon with Mom & Dad.  The weather was quite comfortable for January on the lake shore of Lake Erie.  The ice was kinda neat but the birds that I hoped for weren’t around.  Anyway, a few pix just for the fun of it.  Hope you enjoy!

The Inlet at Grand Marais Michigan

I have had this image for over a half a year now.  I liked the composition but never have processed the image to convey the mood I felt when I captured the shot.  Grand Marais Michigan on Lake Superior is a treasure of a town that either due to location or other reason has managed to retain the quaint small working town atmosphere.  Grand Marais is a destination for sure because even though I highly recommend it as a destination, I cannot imagine anyone getting there accidently.  The town is located at the eastern end of Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore and currently has only one paved road going in and out of it from the south though an expansion of a current gravel road will provide paved access to/from the west in the next year or so.  The local people and food are wonderful and we shall not soon forget their stories and hospitably.  The fog never lifted this day.  The image was taken a mid day but the fog was so thick that you would never have known.  There was nothing but the slightest of breezes coming off Lake Superior, nearly a sound, the air comfortably cool, and breathing this thick air was more like swallowing than breathing.  The image is highly processed through digital techniques but portrays my feeling of the town and the culture and history of the fishing community.

Sail Boats at Grand Marais Michigan Lake Superior

Thank you for visiting and enjoy!  Take care…

Tribute to George Masa

The image below is my tribute to George Masa.  George-san was born in 1881 in Japan, migrated to the United States in 1915, and settled in the western North Carolina region.  Among his many talents it is his photographic skills and images of the Great Smoky Mountains that we are indebted the most.  He is often referred to by many as the Ansel Adams of the east.  His wonderful images not only give us a perspective of the land before the devastating commercial logging, but these images greatly aided he and his friend and colleague Horace Hephart in promoting the need for the creation of the park.  We are not sure why he migrated here with no other family members.  We also are not sure why he spent every dime and died penniless in 1935 to photograph and survey these great mountains.  But I sure confer in his inspiration.  In recent years there are literally dozens of professional photographers who conduct almost 100 workshops in the Great Smoky Mountains.  Beyond that there are the rest of us who also treasure the land and get inspiration I suspect much the same as George-san did.  I hope if you have not already, that someday you get to be inspired by our remaining great natural land.

Carter Shields George Masa Perspective

Image is a digital manipulation of a photo taken last year.  Happy New Year everyone.

Water, Water, Everywhere…

both in the creeks, and in the air, but for my travels, produce not a care.

Now don’t get me wrong, I am just as happy with warm air and sunshine as the next person.  And in my 25 years of trips to the Smokies I have seen just about everything, from that warm sunshine to snow and ice, from drought to flooding, and temperatures from zero to the 90s.  But one thing that I have definitely learned; don’t plan for the weather, let the weather direct your plans.  Ecclesiastes 3:1 is a favorite passage of mine which talks of the seasons, each in their own right, each in their own uniqueness and beauty.  The southern location of the Great Smoky Mountains combined with an elevation within the park boundaries ranging from about 1300 feet at the Sugarland’s Visitor Center to over 6643 feet at Clingman’s Dome, generate almost endless opportunities for seasons.  Don’t like your current weather, move!  Spring starts on the southern facing slopes in the lowlands and gradually moves up the mountains.  Autumn starts on the high mountain peaks and slowly traverses its way into the valleys.  Believe it or not, there are only about six weeks in the year when there is not some type of flower growing at some elevation.  And it is this water which is a fuel for it all.  80+ inches of rain falling annually in the high country actually meets the criteria for a temperate rainforest.  Then down it flows.  Sometimes it comes down as hard rain, but more often than not, a gentle rain many times accompanied by the sound of thunder tumbling from peak to peak, then ridge to ridge, fading off in the distance.  As it lands, first it fills up the brooks and streams, which produce the peaceful sounds in the endless number of cascades which literally dot the landscape.

Cascade Roaring Fork September 2009 Vertical No. 1

Listening for Echoes from the Past

As much as I am in awe of the overall beauty of the Smokies, I am equally intrigued by remnants from the people who once called the place home.  What were their lives like, what struggles did they have, what did they worry about, what made them happy, and did they have the same sense of peace and contentment that I get from the land?  The Great Smoky Mountains National Park is unique in that it was the first of the National Parks to come into existence from the purchase of private land.  Not like the public land as was the case in the Parks of the west.  Many of the larger tracks of land were acquired from lumber holdings, but the vast majority of purchases were of family farms, homes, and businesses.  The process of purchasing this land from families and individuals was not easy and did not come without incident.  However, I am (and I think we all are) grateful for what these people gave up so that myself, my children, and future generations can share in that same enjoyment, of the land, and now have the opportunity to listen for echoes of the past lives these people lived.  Over the past 25 years of visits to the Smokies, I have had many wonderful opportunities for chance meetings with folks who spent their childhood in these dwellings that I now visit.  I have sat on steps, leaned on railings, sat in pews, looked at old photo albums, and listened to stories.  These people are mostly gone now but they themselves and their stories are treasures to me.  As you look at these photos below, I hope you have the same sense of wonder for what their lives in the Smokies must have been like.

Ogle Cabin from Barn

In Praise of Rain

Ever since I was a child, I have been fond of taking walks in the rain. Now I am not talking about terrible storms with driving rain and wind (which really wouldn’t stop me) but more the steady peaceful type rain. I have always liked the sounds, the solitude that goes with the rain sending others inside, the saturation of colors, and generally the perspective on nature that one doesn’t often observe.

This post is the first of several from my recent four day solo trip to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Stress from many different sources got to the point that I decided I just needed a couple of days away. But beyond that, this is my 25th consecutive year of visits to the Smokies, kind of a 25th anniversary as such. And of greater significance, this is the 75th birthday of the park itself. I have visited the Smokies from one to four times a year over the last 25 years, have not now or will never see “all of it”, never get tired of going there, and consider the place a great blessing for the peace that I always receive from just being there.

I have visited the elk in a remote valley of the park many times since their reintroduction. Most of the time my visits are in the Spring before the calves come out of hiding and when the bulls have little to no rack. This was an exceptional visit for many reasons. One was that the rutt was in progress, two was that the bull elk had developed all their tremendous racks, and In Praise of Rain, the steady rain provided coolness in the valley that brought the entire local herd down out of the trees and within sight. Without a worry in the world, I sat in the rain and watched them for almost four hours. I hope you enjoy these few photos that cannot begin to represent their true magnificence.

Call of the Wild (can you see the rain?) - (Click for larger View)

Eastern Upper Peninsula Michigan Superior Lighthouses

Well it has been a while and yes I got “out of the groove” again. I haven’t been taking many pictures lately but I have taken some since I last posted. Back in the middle of July, we took a trip to the eastern and central Upper Peninsula Michigan along the Lake Superior Shoreline. There were three main highlights of the trip other than the time off and away. Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore and Seney National Wildlife Refuge were two highlights. And here, carrying on Adam’s quest and interest in lighthouses, we managed to visit all of the lighthouses that we know of between Munising and Sault Sainte Marie along Lake Superior. None of the pictures turned out for more than documentary purposes but it still fun to go visit them. Starting west and moving east, just west of Munising is the East Channel Lighthouse which holds the claim of being the oldest lighthouse on Lake Superior. This image was taken of the Pictured Rocks Boat Cruise on the way back into port.

East Channel Lighthouse - Munising MI