Picture of the Day for September 30, 2014

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I was joshing with a relative of mine about the ugly pictures I post, and she stated none of my posted pictures were ugly. Well today I will prove her wrong as today’s picture is about as ugly as a photograph can be and about the sorriest looking lighthouse and ugliest island that exists.

No one would vacation on this 3.51 acre island as there wouldn’t be a dry spot if a big wave rolled in and the lighthouse wouldn’t be turned into a bed and breakfast. Even the cruise ships taking people to tour the other nearby lighthouses, don’t pass by this lighthouse even though near the northern point of Michigan Island which has two pretty lighthouses (except under certain circumstances which might change the boat’s course as was the case for me since it did go by this ignored lighthouse).

As as the name suggests, Gull Island has thousands of nesting gulls and even those servicing the fifty foot lighthouse don’t like to visit due to the dive bombing birds and the stench from all the bird droppings. There wasn’t many gulls on the island the late fall day as I passed by but other birds like the cormorants were resting on the shore.

But since this skeleton tower, which originally serviced a light in Pennsylvania, was first place in service on Gull Island (the smallest of the Apostles Islands in Lake Superior) on September 30, 1929, I will post an ugly picture for today as it did serve to protect boats with an acetylene light which could be seen for thirteen miles as it displayed a white flash every ten seconds to warn sailors of the three and half mile underwater ledge protruding from the tiny island.

Gull Island Light

Gull Island Light

Picture of the Day for September 29, 2014

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You never know what you will see when wandering back country gravel roads. While not nearly as old of a vehicle that I like to photograph, especially since it is younger than me, it was very different looking and one which I hadn’t seen before. And one reason is that only around a hundred of them were built (different sources say between 97 to 103) so that is why it hadn’t cross my path before.

The Checker Marathon MediCar was built from 1969 to 1970 and was intended to accommodate the needs of those in wheelchairs or even patients on stretcher gurneys as it had an elevated roof and doors which swung open nearly 180 degrees.

Checker MediCar 

Checker MediCar

Picture of the Day for September 28, 2014

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While no longer serving the spiritual comforts of its former parishioners, it appears that at least the old St. Mary’s Catholic church in Port Wing, WI, which was closed in 1999, is providing some kind of comfort yet and not totally abandoned to fade into ruins. I wonder if the bell tower is high enough to see over the other buildings to watch the Lake Superior waves rolling into the bay. It could be an interesting spot to watch the sunrise and sunsets from.

Still Providing Comfort

Still Providing Comfort

Picture of the Day for September 26, 2014

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Upstream from Wednesday’s picture in the Houghton Falls State Natural Area is an area called Echo Dells (also known as Lover’s Glen).  It is a picturesque pre-Cambrian sandstone gorge along the Lake Superior shore comprised of a series of water carved rock cliffs and caves with small waterfalls as the half mile stream meanders towards Lake Superior and drops sixty feet to a sandy cove at Houghton Point. A second falls can be seen  in the background as the stream makes a curve around a harder piece of sandstone.

The dramatic formation has been a popular recreation and picnic spot since the late 1800’s and normally the water level is very low in the fall which allows the stream bed and the caves to be explored. But my first visit to this area was in the winter and I wasn’t about to climb down the ice and snow cover cliffs and chance breaking though the ice on the backed up water. And my recent visit was just after a big storm so the dry creek bed was filled with water and since it was still raining, the slippery rocks prevented access again. Maybe one day I will get to explore the rock formations and caves on a drier day.

Echo Dells

Echo Dells

Picture of the Day for September 25, 2014

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The cloudy and drizzly day didn’t provide the sunlight to reflect off the changing leaves but the sheep (plus a llama and goat) were more interested in green grass than orange leaves, at least until I interrupted their grazing. And they have their winter coats on already as they also probably figure winter is coming early (although the goat might need a knitted wool sweater).

Sheep Ignoring the Colors

Sheep Ignoring the Colors

Picture of the Day for September 24, 2014

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The arrival of the railroad in 1883 to Washburn (south of Bayfield, WI) stimulated quarrying and logging activities. There was three quarries located in the area known as Houghton Point and the railway carried the brownstone building material to Chicago, Minneapolis, St. Paul and Cincinnati.

The Houghton Point quarry opened in 1892 but the brownstone industry quickly ended by 1903 as the stone was replaced by concrete and other building materials. And eventually, the rail service was discontinued and abandoned. The old railway cuts through the Houghton Falls State Natural Area and the old railway culverts over the creek still exists, although I wouldn’t want to have derailed by the deep ravine as the creek drops sixty feet as it makes it way into Lake Superior.

Old Railway Over Plunging Creek

Old Railway Over Plunging Creek

Picture of the Day for September 23, 2014

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Autumn officially started last evening at 9:29 pm for my area but it was too dark then to see if the day was the same length as night, but the sun is out shining on the first full day of autumn highlighting the autumn leaves turning color early. And it is definitely fall as some of the leaves have fallen already. Autumn, by the calendar, is supposed to go until December 21 when winter begins, but winter will arrive much sooner than that here so it is a rip off that autumn always draws the short stick! So I guess I better enjoy the autumn colors since they won’t last long.

First Full Day of Autumn

First Full Day of Autumn

Picture of the Day for September 22, 2014

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I don’t think last Monday’s tow truck will be towing any cars to this garage for repairs. Weathering too many storms, or just too many years, has put a toll on this former business, soon to be forgotten and probably will disappear from the side of the road soon.

The Cloverland Garage in Cloverland, WI doesn’t have a page on Wikipedia, nor is on the National Register of Historic Places like the Cloverland Garage in Cloverland, WA does. One letter change means one building important and the other forgotten, except for the people who once passed through its doors. I wonder what make and model was the first car worked on in the garage and what was its last vehicle.

Cloverland Garage

Cloverland Garage

Picture of the Day for September 21, 2014

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I was going to post an old church picture, which I often do on a Sunday, but the picture I took of an old abandon church during the storm on Lake Superior had a rain drop on the lens which I didn’t notice at the time. I had to wipe the lens off a lot that day but apparently not enough times.

So instead I am posting a very quiet waterfall (since it was before the storm and not after) called Twin Falls for this Sunday’s picture. This two step waterfall is sometimes referred to as Lower Twin Falls as there is another small waterfall higher up the cliff and maybe why it was named Twin Falls.  For me, I think the name came from the almost equal drops from one ledge to the next ledge where the water falls twice.

Twin Falls

Twin Falls

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