Tech Trails

Click the photo to see it on Flickr.

Click the photo to see it on Flickr.

These two photos come to you from the Tech Trails, Michigan Tech's world class ski, mountain-bike, and hiking trails. The top photo is on the Isle Royal loop (named for the mine which used to own the land). The bottom photo is snow near the Hobbit Loop. The Hobbit Loop is just one of several similar loops set off in their own part of the trail. Others are the Troll loop, the Ent loop, the Elf loop, the Dragon loop, and -- of course -- the Ring loop, to which they are all attached.

Sisu Skifest Fire

Click the photo to see it on Flickr.

The Lovely Sarah and I volunteered at the Sisu Skifest again this year (I also volunteered last year and posted a photo for my 365 project). The Skifest takes place at the ABR ski trails in Ironwood, Michigan. The race actually ends in the middle of Ironwood's downtown, on streets specially covered with snow. It's quite spectacular to see skiers poling around the corner of a road, right in the middle of town! This photo shows the sides of the custom-cut metal fire pits which are used for the race. This one was right in the middle of main street!

Under the Hoist

Click the photo to see it on Flickr.

A tunnel underneath the Franklin Junior #2 (Conglomerate)'s "new" hoist. This is the only hoist I've ever seen with a fully covered tunnel running through it -- an unusual find.

Colorful Snow

Click the photo to see it on Flickr.

Campus, lit by sunrise and sodium-vapor lights -- a beautiful winter combination, as it turns out!

Texture Smörgåsbord

Click the photo to see it on Flickr.

More texture than you can shake a rusty piece of metal at! This is part of a "skip" behind the Osceola #13 mine near Calumet, Michigan. A "skip" was a metal rail car which rode rails up and down a mine's shafts. It would be loaded with rock, brought up to the surface, and dumped. The metal bar and scratches here show the rotating action it went through when it was dumped.

Icy Leaf

Click the photo to see it on Flickr.

Nothing more than a lonely leaf... after almost a year of no leaves, I'm back at it again!

Marquette Rocks!

Click the photo to see it on Flickr.

Rocks in Marquette, Michigan, recently exposed by the construction of a new parking lot at Buffalo Wild Wings. Marquette is known for being on one of the first major iron ranges in the US, and these rocks seem to confirm that!

Minimalist Trees

Click the photo to see it on Flickr.

Trees at the Tech Trails, growing out of a midwinter snowbank.

Snowshoeing through the pines

Click the photo to see it on Flickr.

The Lovely Sarah snowshoes through the pines, as we practice for our 10k snowshoe race! It was a magical snow-covered forest out there.

94 Steps

Click the photo to see it on Flickr.

"94 steps" it says on the sign down to Tahquamenon Falls. According to some friends, they lie! Luckily, the steps are kept quite clear in winter.

Tahquamenon Tree

Click the photo to see it on Flickr.

A view of Tahquamenon Falls from above, with an ice-coated tree in the late afternoon sun. This tree is quite a ways from the falls (at least 95 steps, as the sign at the lookout tells me!), but the mist from the falls still coats it with ice. The ice is all yellow-tinged, from the tannins in the water (which you can also see in the falls themselves).

This was taken about 20 minutes before my earlier Tahquamenon shot, which was taken from the lower deck.

Crossings

Click the photo to see it on Flickr.

The remaining snow makes criss-crossing patterns in the field, following the paths of last summer's tractors. This almost-golden-hour shot was taken behind my parents' house, in flat flat FLAT lower Michigan.

365/365 - Hark! The herald angel sings!

Click the photo to see it on Flickr.

Hark! The herald angel sings
Dave's done with the 365 thing!
Be joyous, there is no sorrow,
Dave won't have to take a photo tomorrow!

Thanks so much to everyone who helped me through it -- with comments, support, and messages throughout the year. It's been one heck of a ride!

364/365 - 797

364/365 - 797
Originally uploaded by dcclark

The day after the family Christmas party, the Lovely Sarah and I visited the excellent Henry Ford Museum. If you live anywhere near Detroit and haven't been there -- go!... NOW!

364/365 - 797

364/365 - 797
Originally uploaded by dcclark

The day after the family Christmas party, the Lovely Sarah and I visited the excellent Henry Ford Museum. If you live anywhere near Detroit and haven't been there -- go!... NOW!

363/365 - Frazzled

363/365 - Frazzled
Originally uploaded by dcclark

So, today I went to the Lovely Sarah's family Christmas party in Detroit.

I had a great time -- meeting over 30 new people (all of whom hugged me), but boy does that require a lot of brainpower.

Along the way, I decided that it was probably best not to be the crazy new guy running around with a camera. Things didn't wind down until quite late, and this is what I looked like when I finally got a moment of peace and quiet! :D

362/365 - Bokehmas Tree

362/365 - Bokehmas Tree
Originally uploaded by dcclark

A stereotypical holiday photo, I know, but one I've never done before!

361/365 - Snowbanks

361/365 - Snowbanks
Originally uploaded by dcclark

Another lovely afternoon of snowshoeing around the flat, flat, flat fields of Gratiot County.

This is a drainage ditch running through some of those fields. Ditches collect a lot of snow in the winter, and I grew up sledding down these kinds of banks. Nowadays, they make wonderful late-afternoon shadows and shapes!

360/365 - Snow Ripples

360/365 - Snow Ripples
Originally uploaded by dcclark

After several days of wind (but no new snow), the late afternoon sun made our snow into an abstract piece of art.

359/365 - Jane

359/365 - Jane
Originally uploaded by dcclark

A somewhat better (and straightforward) attempt at a portrait -- my aunt Jane, at our house today for Christmas.

358/365 - Boarded Up

358/365 - Boarded Up
Originally uploaded by dcclark

Not very Christmasy, but -- I snowshoed over the fields around my parents' house today, and ended up at a long-abandoned house about a mile away. The house is thoroughly falling apart -- so much so that even the boarded-up windows are falling apart! More to follow...

357/365 - Polk Road

357/365 - Polk Road
Originally uploaded by dcclark

The view from my parents' house.

Current phrases used (by others!) to describe this scene:

"Quiet desperation" -- my dad
"Utterly forlorn" -- my dad, again
"Nuclear winter" -- GarenT24
"Who LIVES there?" -- my mom

356/365 - Trees on the Horizon

356/365 - Trees on the Horizon
Originally uploaded by dcclark

Four trees on the horizon. Would you believe that this was the view from the torture seat in my dentist's office?

355/365 - Solstice Bonfire

355/365 - Solstice Bonfire
Originally uploaded by dcclark

Have you ever wondered what fire looks like at really fast shutter speeds? Now you know -- coming to you from the traditional Clark family winter solstice bonfire!

354/365 - Tahquamenon Falls

354/365 - Tahquamenon Falls
Originally uploaded by dcclark

The Lovely Sarah, The Lovely Sarah's Lovely Parents, and I spent Tuesday snowshoeing around beautiful Tahquamenon Falls (pronounced "tah-KWOM-in-on"). The falls are quite big (and very popular tourist traps). We snowshoed around the area, enjoying the tannin-colored falls.

353/365 - Christmas Tree Hunting

353/365 - Christmas Tree Hunting
Originally uploaded by dcclark

The Lovely Sarah, and the Lovely Sarah's Parents, and myself, hunting for a real Christmas tree. I haven't done this in years!

The photos were not exactly winners, but I had fun playing with some editing here.

352/365 - Library Mural

352/365 - Library Mural
Originally uploaded by dcclark

A sunshiney mural outside our local library -- which also sits directly on the local snowmobile trail. (I had to dodge some snowmobilers just to get this shot!)

351/365 - Santa Miner

351/365 - Santa Miner
Originally uploaded by dcclark

This sculpture of a miner going to work guards the entrance to downtown Houghton. It's a magnet for weird accessories... Burger King crowns, entire car bumpers, and today... a full santa suit! (The hat is hanging on to his headlamp.)

350/365 - It's a hard life

350/365 - It's a hard life
Originally uploaded by dcclark

As I mentioned yesterday, the lovely Sarah and I are training for a snowshoe race in January. Today was a bit harder than yesterday... we got lost, the weather turned suddenly, the wind whipped around us, we had no hot cocoa... sometimes you've just gotta lie down!