Great Lakes Cities

[Crawford]

Guys, look at a map. The Porcupine Mountains and Isle Royale are 9+ hours from Detroit. We might as well talk about side trips to DC and Nashville (which are actually much closer). Even NYC is slightly closer per Google maps.

Michigan has some dramatic and wild scenery, but that scenery is most concentrated in the furthest western part of the Upper Peninsula, and on an island that's hours from the tip of the Upper Peninsula. A tour isn't gonna cover Detroit alongside Isle Royale and/or the Porkies.

[Steely Dan]

^ I'm not talking about side trips from Detroit, I'm talking about why cruise operators on the great lakes focus a lot of their itineraries on the splendor of lake superior, the greatest of the great lakes.

[Bonsai Tree]

The NPS allows private yachts to dock at Rock Harbor and the resupply ferry that comes in from Houghton is quite large as well (the Ranger III). But it's only 165 feet long, about 1/4 the size of the Octantis. Not sure that Rock Harbor could fit a cruise ship of this size but maybe something smaller. Even if Viking wanted to anchor the ship I'm sure they'd run into problems since the surrounding 685 sq miles of water are also protected NPS property.

Also, if you haven't been to Isle Royale yet I highly recommend it! It's probably one of the most remote places you'll find in the lower 48.

[Steely Dan]

Originally Posted by Bonsai Tree

Also, if you haven't been to Isle Royale yet I highly recommend it! It's probably one of the most remote places you'll find in the lower 48.

One of my dreams is a backcountry week up on Isle Royale with my kids when they get older. Well at least with my son; the jury is still out on whether my daughter possesses any outdoorsy mettle.


In other news, here's a nice shot of Viking Octantis passing under the Hoan Bridge on her first ever visit to Milwaukee. Apparently she docked in the inner harbor for her first port call in brew city.


Source: https://www.cruiseindustrynews.com/c...s-program.html

[jmecklenborg]

Originally Posted by Steely Dan

It's just straight up awesome that the NPS was able to get their hands on 100% of it to protect all of it, including all 400+ minor islands and islets in the archipelago.

I assume that it wasn't dotted with vacation homes in the late 1800s and early 1900s for the reasons already mentioned - it's so damn far from Chicago and Detroit, and there is tons of remote lakefront land on Lake Michigan and Lake Huron.

[edale]

Originally Posted by jmecklenborg

I assume that it wasn't dotted with vacation homes in the late 1800s and early 1900s for the reasons already mentioned - it's so damn far from Chicago and Detroit, and there is tons of remote lakefront land on Lake Michigan and Lake Huron.

Isn't the water also freezing up there? That probably kept vacation activity low, too.

[The North One]

Originally Posted by edale

To you, anything that isn't blind Detroit boosterism is trolling.

Okay Ohioan.

[Steely Dan]

Originally Posted by edale

Isn't the water also freezing up there? That probably kept vacation activity low, too.

yes, lake superior waters stay chilly throughout the summer.

even at their peak in august you'd still be lucky to be in 65 degree water (which is very cold for swimming).

and with isle royale being out in the middle of the lake and subject to more currents bringing colder water from the depths up to the surface, i imagine surface water temps there are even chillier than that most of the time in the summer.

a swimming beach paradise it is not.

[iheartthed]

Originally Posted by Steely Dan

yes, lake superior waters stay chilly throughout the summer.

even at their peak in august you'd still be lucky to be in 65 degree water (which is very cold for swimming).

and with isle royale being out in the middle of the lake and subject to more currents bringing colder water from the depths up to the surface, i imagine surface water temps there are even chillier than that most of the time in the summer.

a swimming beach paradise it is not.

That's like the same as California coastal water temps lol.

[jmecklenborg]

Originally Posted by Steely Dan

a swimming beach paradise it is not.

There are many lakes on the island that are popular with kayakers - in fact a lot of people hike with their kayaks on routes that connect the various lakes. I imagine that the water in these shallow lakes is relatively warm.

Sea kayaking around the island is very dangerous, by all accounts, since there are many sheer rock faces where a kayak cannot land in the event of sudden pop-up storms.

100 years ago, about a dozen wealthy Cincinnati families bought small islands on the Canadian side of Lake Huron:
https://www.google.com/maps/place/La...3!4d-82.485094

They all took a 2-week vacation at the same time each summer for 20+ years and had a lunch or dinner on a different family's island each day. This is how they intermingled the families. I was told by a descendent that his family (one of the Proctors of the Proctor & Gamble company) still owns their island because it has some sort of valuable rock that could be quarried if the family ever goes completely broke.

[Steely Dan]

Originally Posted by jmecklenborg

There are many lakes on the island that are popular with kayakers - in fact a lot of people hike with their kayaks on routes that connect the various lakes. I imagine that the water in these shallow lakes is relatively warm.

oh yeah, not including leech-filled little marsh ponds and other such backwaters, there appear to be about 2 dozen proper lakes on isle royal itself (including siskiwit lake which is a fairly substantial lake in its own right at over 4,100 acres), and i would imagine that the summer sun warms many of them up to much more swimmably comfortable temps than the waters of lake superior.

[jmecklenborg]

Originally Posted by Steely Dan

oh yeah, not including leech-filled little pond marshes and other such backwaters, there appear to be about 2 dozen proper lakes on isle royal itself (including siskiwit lake which is a fairly substantial lake in its own right at over 4,100 acres), and i would imagine that the summer sun warms many of them up to much more swimmably comfortable temps than the waters of lake superior.

This is a good example of how biodiversity happens - there is inevitably going to be more and different plant and insect life in a relatively warm pond in an island that is surrounded by a relatively cold lake. This activity at the bottom of the food chain influences larger insects, larger plants, birds, etc., even if a particular small plant or insect is only active for a few weeks or even days out of the entire year.

[Velvet_Highground]

Both good points the lakes aren’t a true paradise but they have their moments and the California comparison is one I make too and there’s always trade offs the same cool currents make the Mediterranean climate.

You gotta put in some work to keep up with the weather here beaches tend to have a short shelf life’s due to human or environmental forces but with 10,000 plus miles of shore its not too find what your looking for. Might have to put in more effort but the return on enjoyment is also higher being at a truly pristine beach when the air and water are just right makes it worth the effort.



Love + Lichens - http://loveandlichens.com/blog/huron-islands

Huron Islands are remote for the UP which is saying something but the trip best if split into 2 days from Detroit or Chicago is well worth it when the heat index hits 100 down south.



muhammad zailani - https://www.istockphoto.com/search/2...=beaver+island

Beaver Island and Mainland shores are prime wildernesses but not no cell service remote of the up highlands. Good for swimmin’ the shallow sandy waters warm up quicker and stay warm longer other areas effected by upwelling after a big storm.




Flash Packing America - https://www.flashpackingamerica.com/...ng-bear-dunes/

[pj3000]

Was in Erie over the weekend and checked out some activity at the port.

Singapore-based dShip Carriers' new heavy-lift vessel "MV Charlie", registered out of St. John's, Antigua and Barbuda, was unloading a shipment of eighteen 250-ft long, 26-ton wind turbine blades from Motril, Spain.

Pretty cool to watch them unload this massive cargo.

[Steely Dan]

^ I just drove through the vast meadow lake windfarm in NW Indiana last weekend. With 414 turbines sprawled across sections of 3 counties and a total capacity of 800MW, it's the largest windfarm in the Midwest and 6th largest nationally.


source: https://www.newsbug.info/monticello_...b18b26419.html

[Velvet_Highground]

Very cool indeed I’m glad to see increasing scale of wind farms around the lakes the Great Lakes and Great Plains are to wind energy as the south and west are to solar. Lake Erie in particular is ideally situated for offshore wind farms with its SW to NE configuration is in alignment with prevailing winds especially during big events.

Hopefully lake front communities can come to an understanding wind farm developers it’s understandable to a degree that for someone who was spent millions on a lake front home that they may be unhappy to have view turbines and worry about property values. One such plan was scuttled in Lake Erie as the wealthy home owners on Grosse Ille and In Rockwood were vehemently opposed to the plan which was eventually dropped.

It hasn’t been until the past few years that climate change was viewed as something that could be anything but really a benefit for the GL Region. Higher water levels caused millions in property damage then more to fortify the shore line. Homeowners may be starting to rethink their opposition to this renewable source of energy with the double threat of higher water levels combined with meteotsunamis.

A major downside is that storm fronts cause meteotsunamis was a bit of a shock to the research community there was a international conference a few years back in Ann Arbor to create a warning system because large events can be deadly. In 1959 a 9ft tsunami hit Barrian County and Chicago causing 12 fatalities. Just like tsunami on the ocean the water pulls back the same amount it’s going to rise up. For anyone along the lake going out to check what’s happening this is extremely dangerous in ‘59 the 18 feet of water rushing in was deadly and it’s not the only case like this.

These aren’t isolated events even the big ones on Michigan in 2018 at 12ft that washed over the Ludington Pier and on Erie in 2019 that caused minor shoreline damage.

[Crawford]

Re. Great Lakes beaches and proximity to major metros, there are some really nice, empty beaches on the Upper Peninsula side of Lake Michigan. Twenty minutes after the Mackinac Bridge, and you can be on really wild beaches.

Still a ways from Chicago or Detroit, but not a crazy drive.

[Velvet_Highground]

It’s a pretty good bargain all things considered Straits is over crowded and the US 2 parks are too close to the “highway”. Wildness State & the International Dark Sky Parks are a good balance between accessibility and seclusion Wilderness is on my list for this summer.

[Steely Dan]

Originally Posted by Crawford

Re. Great Lakes beaches and proximity to major metros, there are some really nice, empty beaches on the Upper Peninsula side of Lake Michigan. Twenty minutes after the Mackinac Bridge, and you can be on really wild beaches.

Still a ways from Chicago or Detroit, but not a crazy drive.

the major downside being that the water in northern lake michigan doesn't tend to get as warm it does down at the shallow southern end of the lake in summer.

gorgeous, yes, but not exactly ideal for those who actually want to swim and frolic in the water.

[Velvet_Highground]

I might have just gotten lucky my last trip to the UP ended up stopping along US 2 west of St Ignace it was like 85 in Munising a very hot summer. Very interesting beach very shallow water far out with horizontal sandbars .. definitely a swim at your own risk zone you could feel the rip currents pulling on your shins.