While perusing New York Times' science site, one would find some blog posts that speaks to the heart of most outdoors men in this state: Scientist John Vucetich writing about the environment and habitat of the wildlife on Isle Royale.
Michigan's most-prized outdoor gem, Isle Royale is an isolated ecosystem, being 54 miles from the Michigan shoreline and 6 miles from Canada, it has a unique blend of wolves and moose on the island.
The blog posts are an inside look at the island, the only national park not accessible to visitors during the winter. They read like journal entries, but still are informative.
I remember seeing several moose on the island when I was there in 2005. No wolves, but I do remember hearing them howl when we were camping at Chickenbone Lake. Incredible creatures. I don't have any photo albums from that trip in my apartment where I'm writing this, but I do plan to share some in the future (the photo up top was found via Flickr).
Meanwhile, take a look at the posts written by Vucetich here.
The Detroit Free Press published a story today based solely on Gov. Rick Snyder's line about regulations requiring seats be put down in outhouses across the state.
The governor used the analogy to demonstrate the multitude of regulations on the state of Michigan. But the analysis reads that no such regulation requiring Michiganders to "put the seat down," just that outhouses must be covered when not in use.
Not many news stories stem from jokes made during a speech, but the concern shouldn't just be for keeping the seat down; it should be to keep the outhouses open.
When reading the story earlier today, it reminded me of the outhouse at the Sand Lakes Quiet Area we ran into at the end of the trail when we were there in May. Several of us went to use the outhouse, only to find that we couldn't because it was locked. This sign was on the door:
Besides the fact that Snyder got his facts wrong (while his spokeswoman minimized it, journalists would be chastised for the exact same action), the fact that many outhouses aren't even in service renders his point moot.
I won't usually post items of events happening in a downtown area, but this was too cool to not share.
I moved to Lenawee County a year ago, and stumbled across last year's Tecumseh Ice Sculpture Festival by accident. This year, I made it a point to attend.
My fiance and I trekked down to Tecumseh mid-Saturday afternoon, and watched as several sculptures worked their craft and created works of art in the ice.
It's been a trip I've been taking since I began doing more rustic camping: a weekend every January at Island Lake State Recreation Area near Brighton with the group from St. David's Episcopal Church in Southfield, the same group that I traveled with to the Sand Lakes area last May.
It's a trip I've taken almost every year since I was 9, and it's usually taken place at Island Lake, though one year we went to Bald Mountain up near Auburn Hills. We go out Friday night and return Sunday afternoon, doing all sorts of wintry activities that can be done with a group of 15+ males.
We almost didn't have the white powdery stuff, though. Early forecasts in the last week had no snow. Luckily, with some help (and a few prayers), we had about 4 inches to work with, perfect for sledding and cross-country skiing. The DNR even offered some help.
@davidveselenak We'll do the snow dance for you, David! This weather is driving us nuts, too.
The lodging is done at the White Pine Cabin at Island Lake, one of two rustic cabins deep into the park. No electricity, no plumbing, just a gas stove for heat. A bunk room of about 20 beds and a main room with two large tables and a counter top for gear and storage.
We've always used gas lanterns for light, using about six throughout the cabin, and cook using stoves. We draw our water from a pump which draws from a well. It's quite the perfect set-up for a camping trip in the winter.
Sledding commences on a hill in the late-night hours Friday, a trip I didn't take after being completely exhausted that day. But if you've never sledded at night by lantern light, you're missing out.
We take a break on the trail, where we can see the shopping
center in Brighton, along with US-23.
Several hills dot the trails around the cabins, which makes for great cross-country skiing. It's the only weekend I do ski, and the combination hills and flat surfaces make for a good mix for beginning skiing. Even some of our younger campers were able to stay on their feet once they got used to the skis. Some spills happened (including a faceplant by this writer). And if you've never skied, it's a great workout; I'm still sore as I type this.
Since Kensington Metro Park's hills were closed to sledders, we improvised by sledding at the hills around Spring Mill Pond, a nice alternative. No crowds, fast hills and a great view of the snowy hills. Aside from some hunters, not a soul was seen.
Overall, a successful weekend was had for the first camping trip of 2012. Enough snow, no injuries, and a fun time. To explain it better, I'll allow the following quick video interview to tell about the weekend, along with some added statements and visual from some fellow campers of mine:
The big list of items recommended by the Michigan Natural Resources Trust Fund was released earlier this evening. Containing 99 projects for funding, here are some of the more interesting ones to me I found:
The City of Detroit is recommended to receive $600,000 for renovations and improvements to two city parks, which includes relocation of several athletic fields and renovating walking trails.
Kensington Metro Park is recommended to receive $94,000 for a pond overlook, seawall and interpretative signage, among other items.
Kent County is recommended to receive $300,000 for a bridge for M-6 trail users.
Petoskey will be recommended to receive $300,000 for a 10-foot concrete path and parking, among other items, for the city's Downtown Greenway north segment.
Newberry is recommended to receive $300,000 for the development of a complex with an outdoor skating rink and hockey facility.
The trust fund is recommending the spending of $3 million to purchase an area near Manchester and rename it the River Raisin Recreation Area. More on that here.
The brouhaha is as follows: an image shows up on a Wisconsin tourism site of the state of Wisconsin shaped using a mitten. Kalamazoo Gazette picks up on the story, and mad Michigan chaos ensues.
Many Michiganders are upset seeing an item that many associate with us being associated with those cheeseheads over across the lake (sorry, had to).
It's sparked dozens of posts on news sites. Tweets and Facebook posts abound. Even the Pure Michigan campaign has jumped in, hosting a poll that asks which is the Mitten State. You can probably figure out how that's going right now.
It's been interesting to watch how this has developed throughout the day. And the more it goes on, the more I realize this little debate is worthless and should end.
The only real argument is that Wisconsinites use their hand to identify where they come from, much like us Michiganders. I doubt this, unless they all have deformed hands in Wisconsin. I tried getting my hand to bend the way the mitten is bent, but couldn't do it too naturally. But that's all we can bicker about.
The site isn't trying to lay claim to this concept: it's simply using a mitten as a winter piece for its website. Apparently, it had leaves shaped like Wisconsin during the fall. The mitten isn't a dominant force on the site, its an element as a part of a rotating carousel of different items. It's an element, not a complete attack.
Even the state's Department of Tourism is admitting it's not a tactic to take the title of Mitten State away from us (Even though the next line says Wisconsin's trying to be the "fun state," whatever that means). But we've launched into full-attack mode ourselves. Fun-poking is one thing, but there's going to be some that will fight this in the morning. Michigan.org even has whoistherealmittenstate.com launched with said poll above. It's slightly overboard, to say the least.
I compiled several tweets this morning on this subject for work, and compiled them below. Take a look:
I need to compile my thoughts a bit more on the subject, but the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, along with the Pure Michigan campaign, is hosting a live chat today on hunting on its website.
I'm no hunter, although I'd like to eventually give it a go. More on this later, but thought I would share the live chat link earlier as opposed to later.
