Another early morning. Another gorgeous sunrise.
There is also a picture of some sort of mystery mushroom (?) that was in the middle of the trail. Does anyone know what these things are?
Category: White Lake, Muskegon County, Michigan
This little darling was floating on her flower in the middle of White Lake. Rather than take her chances with passing fish and boats, she accepted a ride to shore on the deck of the kayak.
The sun rises over Muskegon County’s White Lake on August 1, 2008
Marker number seven on Muskegon County’s White Lake on the morning of June 27, 2008
The sun rises over Muskegon County’s White Lake on the morning of June 27, 2008.
The sun rises over the field at the corner of Michillinda and Lamos in Muskegon County, Michigan.
In the summertime, this corner is a really fun place to watch deer, which can be seen most hours of the day happily grazing away.
The morning view from a kayak heading in from the channel on Muskegon County’s White Lake.
The sunrise is reflected off the hull of a kayak heading across Muskegon County’s White Lake.
From a sunrise paddle on Muskegon County’s White Lake.
As is normal for our weekend mornings, Chris once again decided that life is far too short to spend too much time getting too much sleep – especially if there is a possibility that someone might be irritated and irrigated into taking her out for a hike.
With the (very) early start, we made it to the big lake in time to catch the setting of last night’s beautiful full moon.
Don’t let those small speckles in the photo trick you into cleaning either your glasses or your monitor. They are the navigation lights of just a few of the many boats fishing off the channel this morning. So many, in fact, that it seemed as if the stars were testing the startling new concept of shining both above and below the horizon.
And not all of the fishing action was off-shore. While the boaters were out chasing their salmon, both the north and south walls of the channel were filled with anglers hoping to add perch onto tonight’s menu.
If you walk the beach even occasionally, you realize that this size of crowd isn’t normal, but then neither are the number of perch. The schools are so inordinately large that most of the fishermen are simply doing a quick visual reconnaissance over the wall before dropping their lines right into the middle of a lot of fish. Not quite as easy as dragging them from a barrel, but it could be worse!
Lest anyone think that this sums up the pre-dawn (!) action, at this same time, on the eastern end of the wall, the crew of the dredging ship, Carol Ann, was heading out. Their work is the reason for the large black pipe that you will find stretched across the south wall. It will be moving sand from the bottom of the waterway onto the beach.
Chris was surprisingly unimpressed by all the early AM activity and insisted on heading home for breakfast. Said insistence being equivalent to a wave insisting on going ashore, we departed. Shortly after leaving the channel, the sun finally showed up and seemed no more moved than Chris by all of the action.
The White Lake Jump and Click Your Heels Tournament proved to be a huge success this past Saturday. The contest is a longstanding tradition in the area, which has played host to the event for many years.
To those unfamiliar with the “click-off”, as it is called among competition veterans, the rules are no more (and no less) complicated than those for stone-skipping or leap-frogging, both of which are often played in conjunction with the Jump/Click.
In Jump and Click Your Heels participants leap to a height sufficient to allow the clicking together of their heels before the gravity of the situation ends each round of play. Points are then self-awarded for any number of factors, including vertical lift, volume of “click”, and, especially, aesthetic form.
It is understood that some area residents missed this weekend’s tournament. Understandable in that it was (as always) both unscheduled and spontaneous. For those wishing to attend or contend the next bout, another lovely Michigan weekend is only a few days away.
Friday morning found us at White Lake sans dog. It offered an opportunity to skip the usual lovely walk and partake in a lovely paddle instead.
The lake couldn’t have seemed more different. It was probably a combination of the long shadows of the sunrise and total absence of other boats.
This was the view heading out towards the White Lake channel at about 6:30 of marker 7.
This morning’s sunrise over White Lake seemed more dramatic than usual. It was almost as if the sun couldn’t get any closer.
Happy Solstice!
Looking east along the shore of White Lake on the morning of June 7, 2008.
Looking past the White Lake Yacht Club docks at the May 25, 2008 sunrise over White Lake.
The WLYC is housed in a beautiful building just inside of and south of the White Lake channel. My understanding is that it has been there for over 100 years. For a little more background, here is the text from the club’s state historic marker:
By 1897 most of White Lake’s bustleing sawmills had given way to small hotels. Promoters advertised the area’s cool temperatures as a relief from the summer heat of cities and drew thousands of people to the area, many from Chicago.
During the winter of 1902 – 1903 the White Lake Yacht Club formed. The club hired Chicago architect Robert Rae, Jr. to design the clubhouse which opened in 1906 with a large ballroom and bays for boats.
By 1922 summer tourists were traveling more by car than boat, and golf surpassed sailing in popularity. The White Lake Yacht Club fell into disrepair.
In 1925 Henry Sturtevant saved the building, mostly with his own funds, and Clarence Pitkin brought national power boat races to White Lake. Interest revived and the club reopened, offering a sailing school, boat races, swimming lessens, and social events to members and their families.
Sunrise from Muskegon County’s White Lake channel on September 29, 2007.
The full moon over the White Lake channel on October 7, 2006.
The harvest moon over the White Lake south wall on October 7, 2006.
The full moon over Lake Michigan just south of the White Lake channel.
Nero and I left early that morning to check out the moon shadows. Unfortunately, about five minutes after shooting this picture, Nero decided he should also check out one of the local skunks.
The rest of our walk was just as smelly as it was beautiful.
The White Lake channel marker on the morning of July 23, 2006