Beautiful Sunlight on Rengo Road

Beautiful sunlight last night on Rengo Road in Grand Portage, MN!

Brewing Storm over the Pigeon River Valley

Impressive clouds last night building up over the Pigeon River Valley in northeast Minnesota.  I took this photo at the turn-around point for my bike ride, which was the Pigeon River Helipad along Otter Lake Road in Grand Portage State Forest.  

Presque Isle in Two Harbors

Earlier in the week I was down in Duluth for a couple of days and on my way home the clouds were looking good for sunset so I decided to head down to the lakeshore in Two Harbors.  As luck would have it, two of the 1,000 foot ore boats were down there.  One was just leaving; it was rounding the lighthouse and breakwall as I pulled into the parking lot.  The other, the Presque Isle, was lining up and pulling into one of the docks.  I quickly grabbed my tripod and camera and walked down to the water's edge where I made this photo.  It's been a while since I've been this close to one of these big ships.  They sure are amazing pieces of machinery!  

Pigeon River Foam

Taken on my hike to Middle Falls the other night in Grand Portage State Park.  Just a short distance upriver from the waterfall is a very calm section of the river that seems to have very little movement when the water level is low like it is right now.  Along the edge of the river in this area was this very interesting section of foam that had some intriguing shapes and patterns.  I couldn't resist pulling out the camera and making a photo of it.  

August Evening at High Falls

Last night after work I hiked the Middle Falls Trail in Grand Portage State Park, a rugged hike of almost 5 miles that covers a really nice mix of terrain.  On the return portion of the hike I decided to take the short spur up to High Falls, since I hadn't seen or photographed that waterfall in a while.  The water level is definitely getting on the low side as we haven't had much rainfall lately.  The ridge behind the falls was illuminated from the light of the setting sun.  The evening light combined with some nice clouds made for an interesting photograph.

Having fun in the moonlight on the drive home

After spending several hours riding the singletrack mountain bike trails at Britton Peak in Tofte, MN I drove the backroads to get home.  It was a beautiful moonlit night and I stopped along the drive to photograph my car and bike beneath this beautiful moonlit sky.

Sunflower Fascination

Sunflowers are amazing.  Not only can they grow to be absolutely HUGE, but they are very beautiful as well and have some of the most interesting patterns I've ever seen in the head of a flower.  I get mesmerized when I stared at the pattern in the head of this particular sunflower.  I find it endlessly fascinating!

Full Moon over Cascade River

A beautifully serene full moon night on the Cascade River.  I sure do love this spot for night photography!  Awesome views over the river both to the north and the south from the forest road known as "The Grade".  

Moonlit Clouds on Cascade Lake

A beautiful moonlit evening on the shoreline of Cascade Lake in the Superior National Forest.  I had spent the afternoon hiking up to Carlton Peak near Tofte and riding the singletrack mountain bike trails at Britton Peak.  I finished my bike ride right at sunset and decided to take the backroads home. I'm glad I did because I was treated to some really nice views along the way!  In this photo the moon was rising behind me and nicely illuminating these clouds to the west.  

Cloud Gazing on Carlton Peak

It was a perfect afternoon yesterday for gazing at the clouds as they drifted over Carlton Peak near Tofte, MN.

Sunset on the Beaver Meadow (Part Two)

Here is another photo from sunset the other night at the beaver meadow on the Grand Portage Trail in Grand Portage National Monument.  For this photo, I was standing in the same place as the last photo I posted from the meadow but looking in the opposite direction.  In this photo we are looking down the trail in the direction of Fort Charlotte on the Pigeon River.  I've always wanted to capture a nice sunset from the beaver meadow... I'm glad I was finally able to get some photos that I like from this location :-)

Whale Lake

A beautiful view of Whale Lake on my hike to Eagle Mountain last week.  The Eagle Mountain Trail goes right along this lake just before ascending to the summit of Eagle Mountain.  The day I hiked the trail the sky was filled with some really interesting clouds.  It was the kind of gray day that I love because it made for such interesting photographs.  

Sunset on the Beaver Meadow

Last night after work I went hiking for a few miles on the Grand Portage Trail in Grand Portage National Monument.  It ended up being a rather difficult hike as the trail is very muddy right now and I got caught in a downpour of rain for a portion of my hike, making the already wet trail even worse.  My goal was to make it to the beaver pond in time for sunset.  As it turns out I had just enough time to get there right when the light was best.  Thankfully, the rain I hiked through on my way in had quit and the sky was beginning to clear just as the sun was setting.  There was even a small sliver of rainbow up in the clouds.  This was my first time seeing the new boardwalk construction over the beaver meadow.  The new boardwalk is beautiful and super solid.  I found it to be very photogenic as well :-)  All in all I had a great hike despite the rain and muddy trail conditions.  The gorgeous sunset over the beaver meadow made it all worthwhile!

The "Mist of Avalon" visits Grand Portage

It's the annual Rendezvous Days Celebration and Pow-Wow here in Grand Portage this weekend.  This is our biggest weekend of the summer and there are lots of fun and cool things to see and do.  One of the highlights this year is the tall ship "Mist of Avalon" is here and the Voyageur II ferry is making repeated short trips across the bay so visitors can see the ship up close.  Once the weekend is over the ship will be moving on to Duluth for the Tall Ships Festival.  This evening I made it onto the Voyageur II for one of the trips out to see the ship up close.  It really is a beautiful vessel.  Someday I would like to make it down to Duluth for the Tall Ships Festival to see the wide variety of ships that are on display, as they really are fascinating to see up close. 

Surreal Sky - A Lake Superior Fantasy

Wow.... what else can I say?  The evening of August 10, 2016 had one of the most unique transitions from day to dusk that I've ever witnessed.  For the latter part of the afternoon and evening we had pretty thick cloud cover and it was basically a monotone type of day.  Everything was just gray.  As sunset approached, however, the cloud cover must have gotten thinner because all of a sudden everything got brighter and the sky took on this really strange glow with some of the most unbelievable, surreal colors that I've ever seen.  

I was reluctant to post the picture you see here because I didn't think anyone would believe that it's real.  But, it is what my camera saw.  There is no photoshop trickery involved here, this is what the sky looked like.  There were also no filters at all used in the creation of this image, and it was shot on auto white balance which, if anything, usually produces images with a cooler color tone.  I literally do not remember ever seeing sky color quite like this before.  It sure made for a dramatic end to the day!

Summer Clouds over Tamarack Point

I've been on kind of a "cloud kick" lately.  But hey, we've had a lot of cool clouds, so I can't help it!  Seems like every day recently has yielded some incredible cloud formations of one kind or another.  A lot of them seem to be these low horizon clouds over Lake Superior.  I made this photo while on my way home from work the other day.  Tamarack Point on Grand Portage Bay in northeast Minnesota.

An awesome end to a beautiful day

Wow, last night's sunset in Grand Portage was really something!  The weather was beautiful all day, then about an hour before sunset a bunch of really dark clouds moved in.  I thought for sure we were going to get dumped on with rain.  It only rained for a minute or two, though, and only a few drops.  Once the clouds passed over the sun came back out and the view was simply amazing!  As the clouds kept moving eastward they were illuminated by the setting sun making for quite a show.  I watched until after the sun set and the color faded from the clouds.  As day turned to dusk I started seeing some flashes of lightning high up in the cloud.  What an awesome way to end the day!  You can see Lucille Island of the Susie Island archipelago in the lower left of the image. 

Black-Eyed Susans!

The Black-Eyed Susans are blooming and they are so beautiful!  They are another of my favorite flowers :-)

A Subtle Storm

A subtle yet beautiful view of the northern lights on August 3, 2016.  This photo was taken at 2:57 A.M. in Grand Portage, MN.

Dusk on Crescent Lake

It was a beautifully calm evening last night on Crescent Lake in the Superior National Forest.  A fisherman and a couple of paddlers in a canoe were out taking advantage of the calm waters.  Some cool storm clouds to the south really added an interesting element to the scene.

August Aurora and the Spirit Tree

The northern lights have been pretty quiet this summer but last night we had a pretty good display!  This photo was made at 1:27 A.M. in Grand Portage, MN overlooking Wauswaugoning Bay on Lake Superior.

A Quiet Summer Evening

A beautiful summer evening over a small pond in Grand Portage, MN.  I really liked these clouds and simply could not pass up making a photo of them reflected in this pond!