One more satellite shot

Yes I am fascinated with satellite shots. You can see Chequamegon Bay,Munising Bay and Huron Bay in Upper Michigan still have ice. On the ridge that you drive on the way to Copper Harbor Michigan there is still snow. Also in the Huron Mountains there is snow and the lakes near the Huron Mountain Club are still frozen. The higher areas in the snow belt of Michigan still have snow also. But the spring is here and early, I don't believe we are going to have any late blizzards this year in Marquette like in the past. They have been known to snow blow their driveways there in April. You almost feel like a James Bond spying on Lake Superior with these daily shots. It's simply wonderful to keep tabs on what is happening to the big lake.

Early spring meltdown

The streams on the North Shore of Minnesota are in flood. This is early but always exciting.

Pictured above is Gooseberry Falls.

The event has been in newspapers and web sites alot this year. I really wish I was there to see it and drive all the way to the border viewing all the rivers. Affluence to me isn't money, it's the time to do these special things. Time is the new money I've read recently. All the money in the world is worthless if you have no time to do anything special like viewing the glory of nature in full mode.

http://www.perfectduluthday.com/2010/03/15/happy-early-spring-on-the-north-shore-things-are-breakin-up-out-there/#more-13036

Sam Cook has some nice photos part way down his blog of the rivers:

http://www.duluthnewstribune.com/pages/samcook

http://www.duluthnewstribune.com/event/article/id/163431/

Daily Satellite fly over

The Satellite does the fly over daily and takes a nice shot of Lake Superior. Often blocked by clouds but sometimes very clear.

You can see the ice still in the bays and inlets. But the lake itself is all open and free of ice. The lake level is below average still and likely due to alot of evaporation in the wintertime.

When I study a map or satellite shot I look at the different areas on the picture and can visualize those areas I've visited. Black Bay way north of Thunder Bay or the tiny Copper Harbor at the tip of Upper Michigan. Chequamegon Bay is still locked in tight with ice but I got a report today that there is a bit near Long Island that is open.

And for those looking for more images:

http://coastwatch.glerl.noaa.gov/modis/modis.cgi/modis?region=s&page=1

You just have to love NOAA!

And this, not politics but science reported by the Duluth News Tribune this week:

For the past generation, Lake Superior has been warming even faster than the climate around it, according to a study by several professors at the University of Minnesota Duluth. Attributed to reduced ice cover because of milder winters, the warming has caused the lake's "summer season" to begin about two weeks earlier than it did 27 years ago. "It's a remarkably rapid rate of change," said Jay Austin, an assistant professor with the Large Lakes Observatory and Department of Physics at the UMD, who co-authored the study with UMD.

Just a fantastic view

Just a wonderful shot of a glass smooth Duluth canal entry from the live cam.

This is April weather not March. Just a few people down at the canal enjoying the view.

I think it's very beautiful when the lake is calm like this, hard to believe frankly after you

have seen the storms and normal waves. They call it the Zenith City for a reason.

Dolmen in Upper Michigan

Recently while reading a history book about Upper Michigan I ran across some information about a Dolmen on Huron Mountain Northwest of Marquette. I had never heard of a Dolmen

much less known what it was? The fact there is one on Huron Mountain and another in Northern Minnesota is fascinating. Who put them there? What are they? How did they move that big rock on top of the smaller rocks? Were there people here before the native Indians? The book author believes people came across the Atlantic after the Copper in Upper Michigan. The bronze age was the period this occurred. My thought was how did they know about the copper? The questions are many.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dolmen

Some info about the Dolmen in Minnesota:

http://www.jewellhistories.com/ancient_mines.htm