Backyard wildlife

I've seen the sandhill cranes several times lately. Unfortunately, it seems the chick didn't make it - it's been nowhere in sight any time that I saw them, and they're usually out in the open near the house. I'm glad I got to see it when I did. It's still exciting to see these dinosaurs browsing in my backyard!

So that's why they call them CHIPmunks!

I’ve been seeing chipmunks along the edge of the parking lot at Miner’s Castle. I’d seen them occasionally, but recently the elm tree near my parking space released its seeds, and a lot of them have blown up against the edge of the grass and the parking lot. This is an all-you-can-eat buffet for the chipmunks, who don’t even have to dig through the grass for the seeds!

Today, however, they were going for something more than seeds. I was almost to my car when I spotted two chipmunks a couple of spaces over. One seemed to be foraging for seeds, but the other one was wrestling with the wrapper from a snack-sized bag of Doritos! The other one came over to investigate, and crunched the wrapper – causing the first one to jump in terror and flee into the grass! Then he came back and they were squabbling over the prize. I watched for a minute before going over and confiscating the chip bag, sending it to be forever out of reach in the bear-proof trash can.

It’s a shame someone didn’t throw their trash away, but at least I got a cute performance out of it!

Taking the Plunge

Today it finally got hot again.

It was hot for several days about a month ago – that was when I first went wading out at Sand Point – but since then it’s cooled off, and this week up until today has been almost chilly. But today definitely felt like summer! I don’t know what the actual high temperature was, but it was predicted to be around 85° F, and that may have been a modest estimate. It was humid, too – muggy all day. Usually the visitor center stays fairly cool even when it’s warmer out, but by the end of the day it was getting pretty warm inside. I had the fans on, so it wasn’t too bad, but when I stepped outside I really hit some heat.

I had planned to hike the Miner’s Falls trail after work again, and had brought clothes to change into. But I changed my mind on that after a while, and by the end of the day had talked myself into another plan – going swimming!

Junior Rangers!

Today marked a milestone for the summer: I promoted my first Junior Rangers! Like most national parks, Pictured Rocks has a Junior Ranger program. Kids can get an activity booklet at one of the visitor centers, and if they complete a certain number of activities – depending on their age – they get a shiny gold badge that declares them to be Junior Rangers. Some kids get really into this and get them at every park – I’ve seen kids wearing a special vest covered in badges and patches! I got more than a few Junior Ranger patches myself growing up, but I think it’s gotten to be a bigger program since then. Still, I look at those kids and how enthusiastic they are, and it makes me think of myself back then – and if they’re that passionate, they may well end up doing what I’m doing in another ten or fifteen years. It’s definitely a great way to get them to care about the parks.

I’ve given out a number of booklets already, but today was the first time I had some kids come in with the packet completed! I check them over – not grading answers, but looking to see that they did the activities, and commenting on the various answers they put down. I write their names and mine on the special certificate on the back of the booklet, and then I have them raise their right hand and repeat the Pledge (which someone in a previous year wrote down and taped up near the desk.)

I promise

To help preserve and protect

Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore

And to help keep it beautiful

For those who come after me.

And to have fun!

(I always add that last line!)

Climbing the lighthouse

Today I hiked to the Au Sable Light Station. It’s a mile and a half each way from the Hurricane River picnic area, but it’s along an old road so it’s an easy walk. It was a beautiful day.

Swallowtail butterfly! I saw quite a few of these.

The road ran right alongside the beach.

More family time!

Only a week after my parents were here, I had more family visiting! My aunt and uncle were visiting friends in Wisconsin and realized it wouldn’t be that much further to come see me up at Pictured Rocks. We had dinner together last night, and today we did a driving tour of the park. First we walked over to the beach near my house, then we walked the marsh boardwalk loop. It looked about he same as when I was there with Mom and Dad, but some of the flowers were a little further along, the cattails a little taller…

Our next stop was Munising Falls, of course. 

In uniform

Friday was a rainy day, so we had a lazy morning and then drove to Marquette to see a movie. Problem: we hadn't looked carefully enough at the online map, and couldn't find the movie theater! We stopped and asked for directions twice; the first time, we went the right way but turned around before we got there because we thought it must be wrong. The second time we tried it again, went further, and found it! We ran inside, bought our tickets and popcorn (since we hadn't had lunch yet!) and made it into the theater just before the previews ended!

The movie was "Jersey Boys". My parents had been to see a live production of the show in St. Louis last year, but I had missed it - so I knew almost nothing about it going in. I just knew the music was going to be good. And I was right! It's kind of a strange story in places, partly because it's telling about real-life people, but also partly because they can't include everything from the peoples' lives, and some of the cutting-and-pasting of events was kind of abrupt and hard to connect mentally. Still, it was great music, and the final number during the credits was fantastic!

Saturday I had to work again, but I met Mom and Dad for breakfast at Hardees first. They were going to be leaving later that day, but I saw them one more time - when they came to Miner's Castle to see me at work! We took the opportunity to get a couple of photos of me in uniform. So this is me behind the desk at the visitor center!

Pictured Rocks at Sunset

Today was the second day of my parents’ visit. I had to spend the morning getting recertified in CPR and first aid. But I was able to take the rest of the day off! We had lunch at my house, then drove west of Munising to check out the Bay Furnace site in Hiawatha National Forest. I’d been there during training but hadn’t gotten any photos of the massive stone smelting furnace on the lakeshore.

We walked down onto the beach there and just stood watching the water for a while. Dad tossed a stick in and pointed out how even as the waves moved it in and out, it kept moving along the shore at a steady rate, showing there was a current there. It really is a lovely spot.

From there, we kept driving west. We ended up driving a big loop, heading inland along the Au Train River and then back to Munising from there. We got back with just enough time to grab a quick supper, and then we had to go wait for the boat tour! We were going on the Sunset Cruise, and I was very excited to see the cliffs in that late-day golden light. We lucked out on the light – the weather was perfect, with a clear sky! We also lucked out in getting some of the last seats on the top deck, out in the open. I hadn’t realized how good a spot I had when I went on the tour during training – this time I had a harder time framing shots without peoples’ hands or the boat railing blocking the view!

The person doing the narration over the speakers was definitely the same as before – I recognized the jokes! The ride was a little different though – the lake was kind of choppy, and the boat was really bumping along, up and down, up and down, as it cut through the waves. Dad had taken dramamine but I didn’t think it would be a problem. I was feeling a little queasy at one point, but made it through the tour all right.

The sun on the cliffs was perfect. It was amazing how the colors looked so different in that light. I didn’t take quite as many pictures as the first time, but I still took a lot! I also took a lot near the end, trying to capture the spectacular sunset. I couldn’t have asked for a better cruise.

It wasn’t quite as cold as the cruise I did in May, but all that wind in the face really does wear you out! We were ready to crash in front of the TV by the time it was done.

Family visit

This week was pretty special because my parents came to visit! I knew they were planning to come out but I had been surprised to find they were coming so early in the summer – last year when I was at Yellowstone, they visited me much later in the summer. But it worked out really well.

They arrived in Munising on Tuesday evening, and we met and had supper at Pizza Hut, then went back to their motel to hang out. We talked about their drive up, and what had been going on at work, and what we might do over the next few days. We decided that they would come to my house for breakfast on Wednesday and we’d go from there.

Wildlife in the Workplace

Today we had a very exciting visitor to the Miner’s Castle visitor center! It wasn’t our first case of wildlife getting in – on our first day open, a chipmunk came inside but was only two feet from the door when I went over to head him off – and the door was where he ran back to in order to get away. Still, other than mosquitoes we haven’t had any indoor wildlife incidents.

Today I was working in the partitioned-off area at the back, organizing a system to keep track of all the brochures and handouts we have for visitors. (Day hikes, lakeshore geology, kayaking safety, rules about pets, hiking maps…) It wasn’t very busy so Marc and I were chatting when no one was inside, when suddenly I looked up and noticed there was a hummingbird trying to get out through the skylight!

Wildlife video

I took my camera with me when I was walking around between the overlooks during work today. I got a slightly different angle of Miner's Castle, got some more flower photos - and snuck up on a chipmunk! I had stopped to get out my phone to check the time, and heard or saw something out of the corner of my eye. A little chipmunk, a few feet from the path - maybe eight or ten feet from me - was digging in the leaves of the forest floor. He was very intent on his task, but at the same time very alert: dig-dig-dig-dig-dig pop-up-and-look-around! dig-dig-dig-dig-dig pop-up-and-look-around!

He was so intent that I was able to sneak up on him while he was digging! I was going to try and get a photo, but his popping up every few seconds was so funny that I decided to try for a video! Of course after that he stopped popping up, but it's still pretty cute! Here's a link:

Chipmunk video

And here are some of my photos from Miner's Castle.

Sneaking a peek at the Castle...

Climbing the dunes

I didn’t get out of the house until afternoon again – this time because I needed to get some things done. I was making barbecue pork in the crockpot, and I wanted to make some rolls to have with it. I had already made the dough up the night before. (I’ve been making my own bread for about two months now, using the book Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day, which uses a different technique which requires no kneading. It’s quick, cheaper than buying bread, and tastes a million times better than store bread!) It didn’t take long to shape the rolls – I was actually surprised at how quick it went. While they were rising and baking I did some cleaning up – swept the floor, cleared the dish drainer, scrubbed mosquito smears off of the bedroom wall. At some point during all that, Paul let me know that there were cranes in the yard! I looked out the kitchen windows but didn’t take any new photos. Instead I thought to try getting a photo from outside. I snuck around from the back door, but they got nervous before I was close enough to get any pictures better than what I had gotten yesterday. Still, it was a thrill to see them! Little fuzzy was still wandering around with them!

 Little fuzzy was apparently hiding in the bushes when I took this.

Best-laid plans

I planned to go for a bike ride on my day off. I wanted to check out the Valley Spur trail system near Munising. It took me a while to get going in the morning, but I didn’t have any trouble finding the place. I wasn’t expecting the trails to be sandy dirt – my bike is a hybrid, with tires wider than a road bike but not as big as a real mountain bike. Still, I was getting the hang of it – when I hit a bump. Not even a big bump! But all of a sudden my seat was not angled the way it was supposed to be – it had leaned back, so that the front of the seat was up too high. I even heard it click into place.

I looked it over. I am not that familiar with the mechanisms of my bicycle – my dad has always been the one who does all that. But I could pump up a tire if I had to, and I know how to raise and lower the seat. That just needs to unlock a lever. This, though, was beyond me. I called my dad – luckily I was near the highway still so I had bars on my cell phone – and he confirmed that it would not be something I could fix right then. I would need an allen wrench of a particular size.

I had only gone about a quarter of a mile, so it didn’t take too long to walk my bike back. My ride ended just as it had barely begun! (If my parents weren’t going to be visiting me in just a week, I would have asked around at work if anyone had an allen wrench I could try, or found a bike shop. But since my dad was going to be there in just a few days, I figured I would just ask him!)

Talk about a bummer.

I went back to the house, changed out of my bike clothes, and sat around awhile reading. Suddenly Bill came in the living room and said, “There are sandhill cranes just outside the kitchen window!”

And sure enough, there were!

Drive carefully!

My housemates have told me that there are sandhill cranes right around our house – that there is a pair with a chick that keeps showing up in our yard! I was sure they were messing with me, but today I saw two cranes along Sand Point Road, not far from the house! I wasn’t sure if I saw a chick or not – I was looking, and I thought I saw something smaller moving behind them in the trees, but I couldn’t tell. Still, that was amazing! I never saw them so close before – just a glimpse, way off in the distance, a couple of times when I was in Idaho and Wyoming. I was on the way to work so didn’t have time to do anything except try to take a picture out the window – and it did not turn out at all. Hopefully there will be another chance!

That wasn’t the only wildlife I saw on my drive. I wasn’t much further along when I saw something moving by the side of the road – dark brown. I was expecting a woodchuck, but I got a glimpse as I drove by – and it was a beaver! Now, there are lots of places I would expect to see beavers around here, but this was just in the ditch, without much water around except for Lake Superior. Go figure!

Bill later told me that he saw a mother beaver carrying a kit in her mouth and trying to herd several more, by the road near Munising Falls. Maybe she was moving them to or from that creek, or just to a new location along it.

Going out after work

 went for a short hike after work today. I’ve been wanting to do that kind of thing more often, but by the time I drive home, and change out of my uniform, I somehow have no energy left. The most I’ve done is just walking over to the beach by my house, which is only three minutes’ walk! I had decided to bring clothes to change into and just do something right after work.

The Miner’s Falls trail is just over half a mile long, one way, and I had been wanting to walk it again – I hadn’t been in that part of the woods since the first day of training! Also, it was on my way out, so it didn’t take much extra time to drive there. And it is a really nice trail, a wide path of packed gravel that has gradual ups and downs but nothing extreme. Just a nice brisk walk.

It had to be brisk, because the mosquitoes were out! Not quite as bad as when I hiked along the North Country Trail at Miner’s Castle, but bad enough that I had to keep moving. It had been very cool all day, so I was wearing a sweatshirt and windbreaker, and that helped quite a bit. I actually had bought a bug net at the hardware store in town the other day – something like a beekeeper would wear, with a mesh net hanging down from a wire ring all around my face. I tried it out in the parking lot, where the bloodsuckers were mobbing me as I tied my shoes, and it definitely did the job – and it’s surprisingly see-through, being very fine mesh in a neutral light tan color.

There's my shadow... I look like I'm wearing a spacesuit!

New flowers!

On days when both Marc and I are working at Miner's Castle, we take turns staffing the visitor center and roving - walking around between the overlooks, talking to visitors, etc. I've also started carrying my camera in my pocket, because I am planning to put up some flower photos in the visitor center to identify what is currently blooming out there. You never know what you might see!

More Canada violet. The curled-up one shows the purple underneath nicely!

Seeing the Pictured Rocks

Today was the last day of training. It was looking at various safety issues that might come up while working here. Of course, since this was for all park employees, some of it didn’t really apply to me – I don’t expect to ever be required to hook up a trailer properly, for instance. But I was definitely glad for the information about ticks, poison ivy and wild parsnip (an invasive species with sap that can give a very nasty chemical burn.) And it was fun getting to practice shooting off a fire extinguisher!

The afternoon was much, much better though. It was time for the boat cruise! And all the ice was gone from the bay, so there was no trouble there! I sat up on the top deck. It got cool as soon as we got out on the water – I was wearing a sweatshirt and windbreaker, and a bandana on my head, but even so I got pretty chilly!

It was really exciting to be out on the lake, seeing the cliffs from below. This is how they were first described by explorers, coming in by boat. There are very few places along the shore where you can get any view of the cliffs – Miner’s Castle is one, because it is on a point sticking far out into the water, so that you can look over and back to see the cliffs. That’s why it’s such a big stopping point for people driving through the park. But you really cannot get the scale of the cliffs until you are looking at them from the water.

We were traveling east along the shore, and it was bright and sunny with a blue sky – and then I looked back at where we’d come from, and it was dark gray! There was a thunderstorm in Munising while we were out! The gray eventually caught up with us, and shortly after the boat turned around it started to sprinkle. There was a mass exodus from the top deck to the sheltered area below, and I was not the last one to leave. I’d already gotten quite a lot of photos from the top, but I got a few more through the open window as we headed back.

By the time we got back, it was sunny again! In fact, it was perfect weather for the potluck barbecue!

Here are some highlights from the photos I took - you have no idea how hard it was to narrow them down to this! Just pretend you're taking the tour. At least this won't take two and a half hours!

This is the type of boat we were riding in.

A brisk stroll in the woods

Training was over at 4 pm, so I had decided to go for a short hike afterwards. I drove up to Miner’s Castle and headed out on the North Country Trail, heading west. It was amazing how dark it was under the trees.

More training, more touring!

We’ve been having some more training this week, and today’s training involved yet another tour of the park! This one was on a small bus, so the whole group of ten people fit in with no problems.

I joke about yet another tour, but we did see some places the four of us didn’t get to on our first drive through. We did all the main stops, including Miner’s Castle. It looked a little different - no ice! All the icebergs had gotten blown back north – whatever hadn’t melted, that is. I’ve no doubt some of it is still out there.

The cliffs of Grand Island aren’t part of Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, but it’s the same formation.

Fuzzy wildlife!

Look who showed up on the road outside my house! I've no idea what species, but he's certainly a furry little caterpillar!