NOTE: More Grand Marais scenes are posted often on my blog at www.agatelady.blogspot.com and on my main personal Facebook page listed under Karen Ann Penegor Brzys.
For this webpage update, I have selected some of my favorite pictures that I took in the Grand Marais area between the end of March and mid-July.
First, here are a few early spring photos. The first one was taken from the break wall at the end of Coast Guard Point. The second was taken from a bluff in the Grand Sable Dunes.
During late spring when I arrived home, as I drove up my driveway I was greeted by a fawn.
In June we had a lot of rain. One Sunday Grand Marais received five inches. Driveways were washed out, my road was closed due to a sinkhole, other roads were washed out, and the cemetery east of town flooded.
As of mid-July, the level of Lake Superior is 602.89 feet above sea level. This is ten inches above the all-time average for July and only two inches below the all-time recorded high level for the month of July (1950). The current level is 31 inches above the all-time recorded low level for the month (1926). The high water level combined with the increasing number of wind events has caused extreme erosion to the shoreline. East of Grand Marais some of my favorite beaches are no longer accessible since the erosion has formed sand escarpments.
The Grand Marais July 4th celebration was again a great success. The weather cooperated with sun and temperatures in the upper 60s. It was cool enough to allow me to wear the 1800s U.S. Postal Service bear coat and mittens in the parade. The museum founder, Axel Niemi, wore the coat every year, but I only do it when it is cool enough. The firework display was also fantastic!
We have had a lot of great sunsets already this year. In the picture below I used my zoom lens to get a close-up.
I have been doing a better job this summer getting exercise than I have in past summers, but I still do not get out enough. I have gone on several hikes in the Grand Sable Dunes. The following photo was taken from near Sable Lake looking north to the big lake.
In mid-July, I went on a solo hike in the Log Slide area. Unfortunately, the erosion problems took out the platform at the Log Slide. So far the National Park Service has not made repairs. Although the trail to the platform is not open, the North Country trail east and west of the Log Slide is open. The Log Slide itself is also open, but people should take extreme caution going down since there are sections with clay escarpments. The photos below were taken during my Log Slide hike.
CITE