Tuesday, September 1, 2009, 10:12 AM - Jeep
I had a very busy summer this year. Unfortunately, most of that busy-ness revolved around job related activities. Very little of my time had been spent on the more enjoyable activities I prefer to spend my summer on, and I was feeling burned out. Every once in a while, I like to take off on a kind of monster road-trip, to see new places and scenery, and just get away for a while, but I haven't been able to do that the past couple of years. I felt overdue for a break, but due to work obligations, I couldn't take the standard three weeks I wanted, so I ended up settling for a couple of smaller vacations.
I spend a lot of time in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, but since I'm usually up there on Michigan Karst Conservancy business, I don't get much time to just look around and have fun. I mean, I usually have fun, but it's usually in the same places over and over again. I figured this first mini-vacation would be a good time to see more of the U.P.
One of the places I'd heard a lot about but never had the time to check out is Drummond Island. I'd kept hearing about the great offroad opportunities there, and it's really not too far from MKC's Fiborn Preserve, a little over an hour maybe, but it is an island and the ferry trip has always been a point of contention for me, so I'd never bothered to go there before.
Fossil Ridge
As it turns out, the ferry was fairly cheap ($12 for vehicle and 1 person), and the ride went quick. After only about five minutes or so, I found myself driving my jeep off the ferry and onto the island. Cool.
In anticipation of our stay, I'd rented a cabin for our two nights on the island, and my brother Kevin, along with our friend Jim, went directly over to settle in before heading out on the trail. It was decent as cabins go - three bedrooms, full kitchen, and partial bath (no shower) - but it was also rustic: dead flies on the floor and funny smell rustic. No matter, after sweeping the flies up and opening the windows the cabin proved quite comfortable.
After settling in, we decided to do some trail riding. We didn't have a specific destination in mind at this point, but eventually we wound our way up to Fossil Ridge. There are some pretty interesting limestone ridges up there, and of course lots of fossils. Some of the ledges project out into the water, so if you don't mind getting your feet wet, it's worth a walk out there. The one I examined slowly got deeper, to about four feet, before dropping straight down about another ten or so. Very interesting. I'll have to bring a mask and snorkel next time.
On the tee at The Rock
The next day, we got up early and went over to The Rock - one of the two golf courses on the island. One of my many loves is golf, so I was looking forward to this. I'm new to the game - just started last year - but I understand now why so many people are obsessed with it. Since the first time I picked up a club, I've worked hard to improve my game. I've come a long way in two seasons of golf, and I'm proud to say I no longer go through an entire box of balls in the course of 18 holes.
I'd been looking forward to The Rock, and it was no disappointment: Remote and scenic fairways, deer frolicking in the rough, trees and rocks on either side, and some nice greens at the end - I had a lot of fun.
I also nearly broke even on the ball count.
On the trail
Later that day, Kevin and I decided to head out to do some serious offroading while Jim went off on an obligatory souvenir hunt to get gifts for the family. Kevin and I worked our way over to the east side of the island, with our eventual target being Marble Head.
Most of the trails on the way in were easy, just very bumpy. We stopped at Glen Cove briefly to look around, then headed south to some tougher trails.
The cliffs at Marble Head
The way in to Marble Head was mostly just bumpy, but then we got to the stair-steps. Kevin and I took a few minutes to look at the obstacle, and we determinied I might be able to get down it with my stock Rubicon Unlimited. My Unlimited has a longer wheelebase than my brother's normal Rubicon, so we were worried I would catch my skidplate on the way down.
That's exactly what happened.
I had no trouble backing out of the obstacle, but it was obvious (short of piling up rocks, which we were too lazy to do) I wouldn't be riding my Jeep down it that day. I walked down to the bottom of the steps so I could spot Kevin on the way down, and also to take pictures. He had no trouble, of course, with the tighter breakover angle and slightly oversized tires on his Jeep.
Once down, we headed over towards the cliffs. We had to park only a little of the way down the trail however, as there was a sign forbidding motorized vehicles beyond that point, but it was only a short walk to the cliffs from there and the view was well worth the effort.
On the way back to the cabin, we decided to try a different trail on the way out. This one started out merely bumpy, too, but soon worked it's way up to muddy. Soon after, it was muddy with ruts, then muddy with holes. This was a lot of fun, but it was getting late, and neither of us wanted to do an extraction in the dark, so we cut our losses and turned around to head back the way we came in.
Of course, with that trail left unexplored, there's even more reason for me to come back next time.
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Pics and movies here.
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Thursday, April 9, 2009, 08:16 PM - Karst & Caving
Looking up at Kevin from the mouth of the Hendrie River Water Cave
Well, I missed the 5th Annual MIG Snowshoe Trip due to job obligations. Unhappy, but determined, I started planning my own trip. In the end, Jim, Kevin, and I trekked up to the U.P. on February 28th to trudge through the snow in the Fiborn Karst Preserve.
A very slight time exposure with a flash fill.
We arrived at Fiborn to find some pretty deep snow. Fortunately, the road into the preserve had been plowed, so we were easily able to get to the parking area. From there the plan was to head to the cave to check for ice formations, with me breaking trail with my snowshoes so that those un-snowshoe-shod members of the group stood a chance of following.
Just a few of the spectacular formations we found this year.
Once reaching the cave entrance, I took off my snowshoes, and stepped off the trail. It was then I found out just how deep the snow really was, when I sank in up to my hips. We were still able to reach the cave entrance, however, and spent the next hour or so photographing and examining some fantastic formations of ice.
Well worth the effort, we hope to come back next year.
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More pics
here.
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Friday, March 6, 2009, 01:21 PM - Karst & Caving
Cleaning out the last of my backlog: here's a few pics from October 2008, taken in the U.P.
Cut River Road
Early morning frost
A view from the Bay View Inn
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Thursday, March 5, 2009, 09:36 PM - Karst & Caving
Like the NSS convention, OTR is one of those events I try to go to every year. For those of you unfamiliar with OTR, it's an event where somewhere between one to two thousand cavers get together in West Virginia around Labor day to cave and party (though not necessarily at the same time). I usually cave on the first day of the event, then have fun the rest of the time (it's no fun caving with a hangover).
Two dedicated members of the Brew Crew. This year's theme was "Pirates" - Arrrr!
In addition to enjoying the normal festivities at OTR, my friends and I have a tradition of doing something special each year. It usually involves sight-seeing or something along those lines, and this time we decided to check out the Green Bank National Radio Observatory.
The big dish at GBNRO
Now, you may think that since it sounds educational, a trip to GBNRO would be boring, right? However, like I've said before, I have an appreciation for no-nonsense engineering. If you also add to that the fact that I'm an Amateur Radio Operator, you can understand why I was in geek heaven.
Hmm
Being that this place is a radio observatory, the whole area was a "quiet" zone. I found it interesting that the entire visitor's center was essentially designed to be one big Faraday cage.
A rare shot of yours truly
Outside of the visitor's center, in the direction of the radio telescopes, there was a line beyond which we weren't allowed to use electronic items - like a digital camera. On the plus side we were chauffeured on a nice tour of the telescopes in a small diesel powered bus (no spark plugs), but unfortunately I wasn't able to get any close up pics with my digital camera. Still, even the far away ones look pretty neat.
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More pics here.
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Wednesday, March 4, 2009, 10:19 PM - Karst & Caving
I love going to the National Speleological Society's convention each year. Not only do I get to keep pace with the caving world, but it gives me an excuse to travel to places I've never been before.
The 2008 convention was held in Florida, and it wasn't a disappointment.
The campers seemed to favor this shade tree
Granted, the weather was hot, and it rained a lot, but I still had a chance to check out some interesting sights.
This is a Banana Spider. Named such, I suspect, since it looks to be large enough to take down a small gorilla.
Aside from the normal NSS sessions, vendors, and related events, there were a number of nature preserves, sinkholes, and springs to check out.
One of many wonderful springs in Florida
I always love swimming, snorkeling, or scuba diving in springs. The water is so crystal clear it messes with your perceptions. What looks 5 feet away might really be 30 feet away...
Of course, this is sometimes a cause for concern, such as when you're wearing loose fitting swim trunks, and you're not really sure just how big that snapping turtle below you is...
The business end of the most powerful machine ever built
There's always some great places to visit when you go to a convention, and this year was of course no exception. One place I'd wanted to see for a long time was the Kennedy Space Center. I'd visited once about 15 years ago, but it never gets old, so I was thrilled to visit there again. There's something about "no nonsense engineering" that's always attracted me, and I certainly wasn't disappointed this time. You don't get much more no nonsense than a Saturn V.
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More pics here.
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