Empire, Platte River and Point Betsie - Oh My!

  Frankfort, Michigan
Friday, October 5, 2007

I got off to a bit of a late start today. It seems I find myself very tired when I try to chase after the sunrise and sunset both in the same day! My cold is lingering, so I'm sure that doesn't help matters much. So I had sort of leisurely morning about the apartment, and then headed out around lunch hour.

The Cherry Republic was calling to me again, so I stopped this time to ship a few items out for my mother's upcoming birthday. Meanwhile, I had them pack me a lunch of cherry chicken salad on cherry bread, with a tart cherry smoothie to go with it. The smoothie was heaven - I saw them dump a large container of the tart cherries into the blender with a bit of banana. Wow! I took my boxed lunch to the shores of Glen Lake - where I sat at a lovely boat launch area and had a private view. I keep wondering why no one else is out here on a day like today. It was a perfect temperature and there wasn't a cloud in the sky.

The Sleeping Bear Dunes Visitor Center is in Empire, so I stopped there to ask the very knowledgeable park rangers some questions about where I might find some animals to photograph. To this point, I've not really seen much that I can take photos of. Deer, a few turkeys, a squirrel or two - and the porcupine. But I'd like to find a nice quiet lake where some birds are about or beavers are building a dam - some "action" photos vs. animal alongside the road photos!

The rangers sent me off to some little lakes down past the Otter Creek area. Well - it was a nice lake, but nobody was "home. And I headed down a two-track though the woods that took me over half an hour to get out of. It was nice in the forest - but very dry and brown-looking. The effects of the drought are very evident.

I then headed a bit closer to Frankfort, thinking eventually I'd head to the Point Betsie Lighthouse for sunset. But then, I came across the area where there is a "weir" on the Platte River. The weir is a dam of sort to trap the salmon who are coming upstream right now to spawn. The man who was watching over the weir was a very pleasant and informative fellow - he even allowed me to come out onto the weir with him and stand in the middle of the river to watch the salmon. There were literally thousands of them! He told me on some days, they can harvest 2500 fish at one time. They collect their eggs, and send the salmon in good health off for food processing (as in - your dinner!). The ones who don't seem in good health for whatever reason are used for fertilizer. He said this was the best year they've had for harvesting salmon in 25 years.

The eggs are taken up to the main facility further down at the Platte River State Salmon Hatchery, where they are raised, and the spawn are given nutrients, antibiotics and other things to ensure their health. Then in the spring - they swim their way back out to Lake Michigan. They come back when they're about a year and half old. I never knew this whole process could be so interesting!

He also told me there are often eagles, osprey and herons around the weir grabbing their dinners, so it would be a great place for wildlife watching. There are also snapping turtles hatching in the sand banks beside the weir. I just might have to head back here. If you're wondering if I have salmon photos - I don't. The setting sun was pointing right into our faces - nothing but glare. The gentleman told me mornings are great for being able to see the salmon and take photos. I might take the boys there tomorrow to see it.

Oh - yes - Russ and the boys are coming up for a day-long visit on Saturday. They miss me (and I miss them as well). One week would have been fine, but two weeks is a long time not to see your kids. They'll have a blast up here - we'll probably do the Dune Climb and all of those touristy things one should do in the area.

I made it just in time to Point Betsie for a nice sunset. It wasn't an "interesting" sunset from a photography standpoint as it was cloudless and just an orange ball. But it was a nice evening to be out and about. I snapped a few lighthouse images and headed back to Glen Arbor.

Once I got back - I was soooo sleepy. But - you would not believe how crystal-clear the sky was. You could see every little star and the Milky Way - and far more clear than one does in Grand Rapids with all the light pollution. I haven't seen the sky like this since I was a kid. So, despite being very tired, I headed down to Lake Michigan's edge facing directly north towards the Manitou Islands and tried a bit of star photography. It's something I've always wanted to try, but you need the right conditions and the right cable release. Since I had both - I got to try a shots. It requires a bit of patience and trial-and-error. If I get another clear evening, I will do a few more.