~ October on Lake Superior ~

~ October on Lake Superior ~

~~~~~

Lake Superior is not only very beautiful but can be very dangerous

when storms create waves and swells 15 feet and higher.

Waves that have snapped in half and sunk many a ship the size of the oar boat in this image.

Thankfully on this day these white capped waves were small.

~~~~~~~~~~~ 

Time Again For Sailing Ships ~

This past weekend provided another opportunity to view,

closer this time,

those beautiful sailing ships from times past.

Duluth hosted once more a Tall Ships Festival.

Nine amazing tall masted ships sailed into Minnesota's Duluth harbor, 

attracting attention wherever their masts could be seen.

The first to arrive were the Pride of Baltimore II, a 157' two masted schooner, 

the Norwegian white SS Sorlandet, a fully rigged 210' three masted ship built in 1927,

and the Privateer Lynx, a 122' two masted schooner.

~ SS Sorlandet ~

This ship is the oldest fully rigged ship in the world still in operation.

Built as a training vessel, she helped represent Norway at the 1933 World's Fair in Chicago.

During World War II the ship became damaged, but was restored and read to sail again in 1948.

Her first engine was installed in 1958. 

~ U.S. Brig Niagara ~

198' two masted brig.

This ship is a reconstruction of the brig used by

Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry to win victory in the

1813 Battle of Lake Erie. 

~ The two masted 79' Schooner Hindu shares the water with boats and ships from a more modern era. ~

Trying to capture images of sailing ships only was not easy in the Duluth harbor

busy with ore ships, cruise ships, and various boats large and small.

~~~~~

Need Some Ice?

With all of the scorching heat many are experiencing here in the US, I thought it might be a bit refreshing to post a few pictures of Lake Superior in its frozen form. Thankfully this is not what the great lake looks like today...these images were taken at the beginning of March (2011).

~ Frozen Lake Superior in March ~

~ Hubby and the Ice Pack ~

~ Beached Ice Slabs ~

~ Wishing all who need it much cooler and more comfortable temperatures soon! ~

Late Summer in Two Harbors

~ Two Harbors Lighthouse and the Crusader II ~

~ Two Harbors Breakwater ~

                                                                                          

~ Moon Rising at Lake Superior's Agate Bay ~

Late summer images from an evening of fond memories in Two Harbors, Minnesota.

~ I hope everyone had a beautiful summer. ~

Welcoming Wildlife

~ Little Sandpiper ~

~ Friendly Spitting Mallard ~

~ Golden Evening Whitetail ~

This past Sunday we took a leisurely family trip to Two Harbors, a small town on the Lake Superior shore north of Duluth, to view the area where my great great grandfather's homestead once stood, and to gather images of a fishing vessel the Crusader II, built in 1939 by my great uncles and christened by the Crown Prince Olav of Norway during a visit.

On our pebbled beach stroll we were immediately received by a most pleasant little Sandpiper who nimbly strided beside us. When she finally decided to depart, a friendly Mallard hen quietly glided up within arms length to say hello, as if greeting us back home.

 The sun was setting as we gathered back into our vehicles to head for Agate Bay, and as we rounded the corner, two Whitetail deer calmly gazed up through the golden glow of the evening sun, then slowly and silently glided from view.

The Beauty of Lake Superior

~ Beach Swirls ~

~ Moss Scape ~

~ Gentle Evening Waves ~

~ Future Beach Rocks ~

Lake Superior holds such an amazing and beautiful variety of color and shapes in vegetation, rock, and water.

These early evening images were taken all no farther than a 25 foot radius after I gazed out at the lake to view beautiful gentle waves in teals and greens lightly capped in white. A slight turn to the right revealed swirls of dark blue and black as the water lapped onto a large shadowed shore of stone. At my feet were pebbles large and small in nearly every shape and color dappled in rainbows and slightly distorted from the water's ripples, pebbles waiting for the next Lake Superior gale to create giant waves that would carry them onto the clean washed beach. A final twist to the right found massive grey stone shelves carved and shaped by the water, wind, and ice of time, softly decorated by hardy miniature grasses and ferns, golden lichen, and gorgeous green mosses that thrive next to little reflective pools of water left by rain and waves.

Ships from the Past

~ Sails in the Harbor ~

~ HMS Bounty ~

~ Barque Europa ~

Like many others, I am in love with sailing ships of the past!

The above ships, along with 5 others, entered the Duluth harbor this past Thursday, and departed again 6 days later. In honor of their arrival, a great celebration was planned with days full of music, delicious food, plays, an amazing collection of treasure recovered from around the world to view, touch, and (purchase!), a treasure hunt, merchants of all kinds, and of course...pirates and Jack Sparrow flying the skull and cross bones everywhere.

I, along with a large part of my family and friends, spent 4 full days participating in celebration dressed as sea faring folk, some of us pirates, greeting and entertaining visitors, were captured in photos, and revelled in amazing sea shanties from Michael Beans  and more, plus treasure hunting tales from the fantastic Captains Carl Fismer and Scott Mitchen  .

With such an event, it is hard to pick one best moment, but for me there was something that stood out as very special. A crew of garbed pirates were chosen to board a beautiful refurbished solid wood yacht to greet the tall ships before they entered the harbor and to wave hello to the thousands who thronged the waters edge to view the masted vessels. I was thrilled when I was chosen as one of the crew, having not been on the great lake since late childhood, and had longed for it many times as an adult. I failed to grab the camera in my excited haste to board ship, and later so wished I had, because what a site I viewed as we approached the tall masted beauties in full sail far out on the lake, all 9 of them.  Amazing...absolutley amazing... they took my breath away!

 ~ Even now without a photo, I know I will have a memory of them together that will last a lifetime. ~

The Hypnotized Gull

~ Wave Spout ~

Not even a flinch did this gull make as splashes and spouts of Lake Superior water rose above him.

The Grand Gitche Gumee

 Lake Superior Moon

Sunset Over Duluth

Duluth Lift Bridge

In anticipation of watching the largest and brightest full moon for 2010 rise with its companion Mars over one of the largest fresh water lakes in the world, my husband and I took a 45 minute drive to the shore yesterday afternoon. We missed the moon as it crested Lake Superior, but were still greeted by a beautiful sight as its golden glow reflected off the slowly forming ice and rippling dark water. Our gaze was then directed to the beautiful sunset silhouetting the city of Duluth in Minnesota, and Superior in Wisconsin.

~ What a beautiful end to the day. ~