The spring 2020 shipping season on Lake Superior started this past Sunday as vessels began leaving port again. Today the H. Lee White, a 704 foot freighter, arrived in Duluth for the first time this season after a winter layup in Sturgeon Bay.
Arrival of the H. Lee White
Any day reaching 40 in February is a plus and it was warm enough for me to wash some of the salt off my vehicle. I could have used some wave action to help wash all the dirt and salt that the winter roads have left behind but with more winter days, it will be coated again soon.
Superior Waves
The sunshine and a temperature at the freezing mark should have felt good today after the prior cold days but the wind was whipping the snow around making it feel arctic. The recent cold days still wasn’t enough to form a stable ice layer to see the caves near Meyer Beach as in past years.
Ice Walk to the Caves
The higher than average snowfall around Lake Superior this year makes great a snowshoeing season. But instead of snowshoeing for fun, it was a major method of travel in the winter for Father Frederic Baraga, who spent nearly 40 years traveling throughout Wisconsin and Michigan beginning in 1830 and became known as the Snowshoe Priest. In summer, his travel was often by canoe and in 1846 after learning of an epidemic afflicting the Ojibwe village in Grand Portage, he set out from Madeline Island. An unexpected storm pushed his canoe more than 100 miles off course and landed at the mouth of what is now the Cross River, a name bestowed in honor of the small wooden cross Father Baraga and his guide erected shortly after their safe landing. This granite cross replaced the original tree branch cross.
The Snowshoe Priest
There was a big change in temperature from yesterday’s -20 temperature to today reaching just above freezing. And even though there was several cold days, January was warmer than normal so there hasn’t been a solid ice layer on Lake Superior near the sea caves. The lack of stable thick ice has prevented access to visit the ice caves this year so far, but I prefer the warmer temperatures even if that means no icy formation sightseeing.
Escaping from the Ice Monster
A cloudy autumn day might feel chilly but still warmer and more colorful than today’s cloudy and snowy day.
Autumn at Hunter’s Point
A few snowflakes fell this afternoon and so it was another gray day but a year ago, the last week of January was a very cold one with -55 wind chills and the high stayed below zero. This icy and snowy scene has a frigid look even with the sun out.
Chilly Ice
The snow showers moved in again today, which has me thinking of summer white clouds and white flower blooms, even little white clover blossoms in the lawn.
Summertime White
With the rain and warmer temperatures earlier in the week, the ice that was forming on some of the shores of Lake Superior have melted. But unfrozen beaches will not last all winter and will soon be iced over again until spring.
Unfrozen Beach
With ice forming in the harbors along Lake Superior, very few sailboats are still in the water as the cold winter weather is settling in for the long haul. This sailboat wasn’t too far away from a 1909 shipwreck. And on this day in 1941, many ships were sunk during the attack on Pearl Harbor.
Sailing on Lake Superior
