We drove north this weekend for a family wedding celebration along the shores of Lake Superior. The bride and groom met while playing co-ed soccer and have a love of adventure and the outdoors. They hike and ski, bike and snowboard, and have a goal to visit all the national parks in the United States. It was only fitting that they celebrate their wedding outside, surrounded by family and friends, with a view of Lake Superior. Although there were a few minutes of raindrops prior to the wedding ceremony, the clouds passed, the sun began to shine through the clouds, and the bride walked down the aisle in her red shoes to greet her soon-to-be-husband. With the support and blessings of their families and the friends that came from all corners of the country and the world, they began their new life together with smiles of joy and happiness. Here’s to a future of adventures and much love!
Lake Superior
Biking along the North Shore of Lake Superior
With blue skies and perfect temperatures we headed north to the shores of Lake Superior. We set out on our bikes on the Gitchi-Gami State Trail which parallels U.S. Highway 61 and has some of the most beautiful scenery in the state of Minnesota. Although the bike trail will eventually run the full length of the North Shore, for now it is complete in sections. We rode north from Gooseberry Falls State Park, through Split Rock Lighthouse State Park, to the town of Beaver Bay a distance of about 14 miles. The trail is anything but flat, with steep inclines because of the rock cliffs that line the shoreline of the lake. Today the water was the most beautiful shade of blue, reflecting the clear and sunny skies above. After an ice cream stop the return trip took us into a headwind, but the scenery and the downhill runs made the effort all worthwhile. This section of Lake Superior is the closest I can come in the Midwest to seeing an “ocean” – the expanse is so large that there is no shoreline to be seen on the other side. Just beautiful blue waters on a picture-perfect day all the way to the horizon.
Wisconsin’s wild lupine
We ventured north this weekend to the shores of Lake Superior. After a miserably cold and rainy week the weather cleared in perfect time for the weekend, and with little to no winds and mild temperatures it was a wonderful time to explore new areas. We wandered the highways and county roads of northern Wisconsin and even went to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. After the wet and late spring we’ve had, the roadsides are now in full bloom. We were first treated to the white daisies and orange hawk weed that were abundant throughout the central part of Wisconsin. Then as we reached the south shore of Lake Superior and continued to the north in Bayfield County, the lupine were in their prime. I had seen photos of the wild lupine in the Bayfield area before, but they appeared to be in a large garden area. I was not prepared for the plethora of blooms that were gracing the sides of the highways. This photo was taken along the side of Highway 13 just north of Washburn. With their blue, purple, pink, and white spikes they were a treat to the eyes and a reminder of how much we appreciate the colors of spring that replace the white of our winter season.
Chasing fall colors in Wisconsin
We’ve just returned from a delightful weekend of fall color in northern Wisconsin. After raining on Friday, the weather was cool and cloudy on Saturday morning and we ventured to Copper Falls State Park outside of Mellen, Wisconsin. The colors of gold, green, red, orange, and yellow were all visible throughout the woods. It was a treat to the eyes and to the senses, as there is most certainly a distinct smell of fall in the air also. Later in the day the sun burned through the clouds and these same vibrant shades of autumn were splashed against a bright and clear blue sky with warm sunshine. Although it’s hard to think of summer as being behind us now, the beauty and brightness of fall seems to be our reward before we delve into the white of winter.
There was a programming glitch with my blog entry from last week. Those of you who normally get an email when I’ve posted a new blog entry were left without notification. Sorry! You might want to go directly to my blog to read the entry from last Sunday — it was all about a very joyous wedding celebration in our family. Go to http://www.lindastaatsphoto.wordpress.com and scroll down to the entry dated September 26, 2010, “A wedding in the family.” (Sorry for the mixup!).
The woods of northern Wisconsin
We spent the past weekend in northern Wisconsin near the shores of Lake Superior. It was a true late summer’s weekend with hot sun and blowing winds. To get a break from the heat, we drove to the southern part of Ashland County. Off a remote gravel road in the Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest is a trailhead leading along Morgan Creek to a cascading waterfall. Here in the forest with the canopy of trees and the gurgling of the creek, we found a welcome respite from the summer’s heat. The trees are still a glorious green, but occasionally we saw a few leaves that were starting to change in anticipation of autumn. With this image of Morgan Creek I wanted to bring together the green of the forest, the blue reflection of the summer sky above, with a few hints of autumn color also visible in the water’s reflection. These are the photos and memories that we will be savoring in the middle of January when our scenery has turned to white and the temperatures have plummeted into winter.
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