BAY CITY, WI – Sunrise 2019-10-20
Witnessed and capture a beautiful Bay City, WI sunrise.
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I neglected to post the sunrise shot from my visit to Fort Snelling State Park yesterday. This particular landing on Snelling Lake doesn’t afford a direct line to sunrise at this time of year. It does offer a view of the Hwy 55 Mendota Bridge along with reflections from its lights; with some clouds in the sky, it is a rather picturesque view.
I also skipped over posting photos from the previous day when I scouted out Pike Island. I arrived at noon and the park was pretty quiet. I met one photographer returning to the parking lot as I headed out. He said he photographed a few bucks. That’s all I needed to hear. I found one buck out on Pike Island along with a doe and a several turkeys. All good signs that the trip tomorrow morning would no doubt be action-packed; it was. Here are some photos from the 2 hours I spent on Pike Island on Friday afternoon.
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Today marked another successful trip to Fort Snelling State Park. To be in the presence of and photograph magnificent Whitetail deer is exhilarating. Last year was my first time at the state park hunting deer with a camera. The experience this year was very similar to last. The weather was much warmer and the timing a week later in November. I could ramble on about the deer I saw and wild turkeys that where everywhere, but I’ll let the photos speak for the experience.
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Day 3 was the day – the morning actually – the sunrise shoot we had hoped for back in July when we planned this trip. I love it when a plan comes together! Hollow Rock was right outside our cabin; a mere 100 yards or so to the shooting location on the rocky beach. That morning was absolutely gorgeous. Everything came together nicely. The clouds, color and sun all working in perfect harmony.
After an epic sunrise experience we set out to explore forest roads between the Gunflint Trail and Grand Portage. The color around Grand Portage [although past prime] was better than Grand Marais. I’ve never seen so many Ruffed Grouse in my life. I seen as many birds on this trip as I had all the years I used to upland hunt. We were also searching for the third waterfall, Partridge Falls, on the Pigeon River and eventually found it. We were unable to find a decent falls vantage point down river for a good photograph, but enjoyed the location just the same. It is quite peaceful out in the middle of nowhere. Natures beauty really consumes and carries you around from one location to the next. At one point our travels were impeded by the handiwork some busy beavers.
One bit of advice whilst out and about in strange lands and big wilderness – study a map or two before you set out. GPS, on more than one occasion, failed to provide adequate direction. A little bit of mystery is fine, but having a general idea of where you will be traveling – starting and ending up – is paramount to a good trip. “Ready to Navigate” displayed on the GPS, although humorous, is not helpful at all. As you can see from the Lightroom Map Module below from GPS data, we covered some ground over three days. It was a fabulous trip and experience with my betrothed.
Here are some photos from Day 3.
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Day 2 on MN North Shore began exquisitely. We made our way down to waters edge for the Sunrise @ Grand Marais shoot. Nature cooperated nicely. From there, we back-tracked a bit to Cascade River State Park for a beautiful morning hike up the river gorge among the picturesque cascades.
Years ago, the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) had a camp at the Cascade River. The men in this camp worked on a variety of conservation projects. Today, you can see some of their handiwork on the trails that wind along the river. One enrollee told how they cut and moved the large pine logs from Cascade down to Gooseberry Falls State Park to finish buildings in that park. From the beginning, Cascade was thought of as a state park, but it wasn’t until 1957 that it was officially designated as such. -wikipedia
Next we got off the beaten path (Hwy 61) and made our way towards another destination (Hollow Rock Resort). After checking in we were off on the Gunflint Trail to drive a loop through the forest in search of Devilfish overlook. We got closed, but missed a road and stumbled on a Red Fox – cute little bugger; then just continued on our way. We decided to take another run at a sunset at Honeymoon Bluff that overlooks Hungry Jack Lake off the Gunflint Trail. The second attempt yielded better results than the first.
Another full day on the MN North Shore. Love this place. There is a surprise around every corner.
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