Safe

A long abandoned (and looted?) safe hiding near the Mesnard mine.

Baltic Tramway

The supports of some sort of tramway at the old Baltic stamp mill, near Redridge, Michigan.

This is a bit of a mystery ruin. The coarse sands all around this ruin are stamp sands -- the result of repeatedly smashing copper-bearing rock with giant hammers, to release the copper. The stamp sand is the waste product, and it forms giant cliffs along the beach in front of the old mill. In fact, it is quite a nuisance, as currents move the sands up and down the coast, filling in coves and creating new shoreline. This structure likely helped the mill workers move that sand out away from the building, and dump it closer to the lake shore.

This shot was taken on a hot, humid, and misty day. You'd never know it, but that's Lake Superior in the background!

Looking up to the top

Another view of the sheaves at the Centennial #6 headframe (seen from below here). The small ladder leads to the old lightening/flag pole at the very top. No, I did not climb the ladder. I didn't even walk around the sheaves themselves -- the metal decking was getting more than a little dodgy, after so many years of neglect.

St. Stefan

St. Stefan's church in Irsee, Germany. Irsee is best known for a large monastery and church, which is built far down the hill from this smaller church. St. Stefan's church is at the very top of a steep hill, surrounded by its walled cemetery.

This is a panorama stitched together from several shots, resulting in a strange effect -- the church doesn't look real to me! Perhaps it's because it looks too small, or I don't believe that something could have this field of view without perspective distortion.

Bavarian Countryside

A storm rolling past in the countryside near Irsee, Germany.

I spent a week in Irsee during June, attending a conference on my particular branch of mathematics. I also had an opportunity to walk through the picturesque town of Irsee, which exists due to a local monastery. That monastery is now a conference center, so in fact I was living like a monk for a week! This shot comes from just outside of the monastery, showing the beautiful countryside just out our windows.

Starflower

A starflower: a beautiful, small wildflower which blooms in the early summer. This one was hiding in the woods near the Garden City Mine.

Bumble bee

A bumble bee pollinating some apple blossoms. I was attempting to get the bee while it was on the petals, but missed -- and got this interesting shot instead.

Sheaves

Looking up at the massive sheaves at the Centennial #6.

Sheaves are wheels with a groove, intended to guide a rope. In this case, these sheaves are twice as tall as I am, mounted 100 feet about the ground at the top of the Centennial #6 rockhouse. Thick hoisting cable would run into the building from the hoist (behind me), over these sheaves, and then down the skip road into the shaft (down and to the front).

Let's Roll

A doorway leading into the Centennial #6 shaft house.

The beams overhead (through the door) were used to help move heavy skips (metal boxes for moving rock or people) on and off of the "skip road", heading down into the shaft. The shaft is just below them, behind the fence. There is also a rather dodgy wooden flooring area just in front of the fence, leading into a sump.

These buildings were, for a long time, used as a hangout for local kids. There is graffiti everywhere, and a lot of broken glass. More recently, the shaft house has been used to store wood chips for a furnace!