Captain of the Manitou Isle
Porthole view of the Sleeping Bear Dunes.
Rough ride.
Made it, now 'Entering Wilderness'!
I make a wrong turn, backtrack a little, and go with Plan B.
I cross the south end of the island. South Manitou in the distance.
The weather starts to clear.
Fredrickson's Place.
Thinking 'bout eternity.
It's the Johnson Place.
Red berries and the feet of your intrepid photographer.
Where I took a break and backtracked to find a dropped topo map.
Finally! Arrive at Crescent City. My wrong turn made a 11 mile walk out of a 5.5 one.
Pop the tent, scarf dinner and enjoy the neighbors.
Water and Fire, wilderness essentials.
Former site of Crescent City, long gone logging town.
The only building left standing at Crescent, 'Swenson's Barn'.
Partial pano of the interior.
Hitched on a star.
Old wagon seat. Early shock absorbers.
Wooden wagon frame.
Make do with what you have.
Dutch door.
Hand made.
Stairs to the hayloft.
Hand hewn tree beams.
Marking years? Bored doodle? Only one guy knows, and he aint saying.
Beam pockets.
Outside looking in.
Holes.
West end detail of Swenson's Barn.
West end overview. Should be boarded up to help preserve it. Come on, NPS, you can afford a little plywood.
After the barn tour, it's down to the shore to collect water.
Not a bad view. See medium size (384k) here. or large (8.6 MB) here.
Crescent City wharf ruins.
Weather is always changing.
Rough water between the islands.
Ninja Chipmunk. Don't camp here, he's very well trained.
Looking north.
It was worth the long walk, don't you think?
And darnit if I forgot to pack a surf kayak.
Start your day with a good breakfast.
More bars in more places.
View of the west edge of the South island.
These were everywhere.
A dayhike to the northwest corner of the island. After a bit of bushwhacking I finally spy the Lake.
Zig Zag cedar.
They grow big and strong here.
One of the open sandy 'blowouts' along the buff. See the full size pano here. (1.58 MB)©
Looking east towards the interior of the island. Lake Manitou. A lake on the island in the island in the Lake.
Blowout pano. See large size here.(959 k)
Ghost cedar trees.
Still standing.
Nicely framed.
Reaching.
It's that steep and more.
Looking south: Sleeping Bear Dunes far left, S.Manitou on the right, North Manitou foreground.
All the world's a stage. Here are the spotlights.
Long way down to the water, think I'll stay on top.
X marks the spot.
Space divisions.
Gave up the ghost.
Thistle.
Bonsai chokecherry.
Here by the sea and sand.
Cold place in the winter. Looking northwest over Lake Michigan.
Elemental.
What can you say? It pays to wait for the light.
The sun returns.
Nice spot for lunchbreak.
Nice blue-green water.
Sleeping Bear far, North island near.
Nice overview of South island.
How wild the wind blows.
Go with the flow.
Cedar stump.
Daisies, Black-Eyed Susans, etc. Back at Crescent City.
Large beetle found trundling along the trail.
Garter snake.
The trail beckons.
Head back closer to the east side 'village' in order to catch the boat tomorrow. Road thru an old orchard.
East side barn.
The old village gas station.
Framed view of the barn.
Barn pano, Lombardy Poplars.See large size here.(934 k)
One of the remaining houses in the village.
Old window in an even older hole.
Not a bad spot.
View from the porch.
Wagon wheels and barn. Everyone takes this same photo.
Hot Monarch Butterfly sex!
Old plow abandoned in the woods. It wasn't always wilderness.
Last photo before the batteries died. East side, looking south at the ferry dock.
A series of textures follows. here is the first one. See large size here.(1.9 MB)
Cedar bark, diagonal. See large size here.(3.2 MB)
Red barn wood. See large size here.(1.7 MB)
Rough sawn barn wood. See large size here.(1.9 MB)
Pitted barn wood. See large size here.(2 MB)
Once white clapboards. See large size here.(4.1 MB)
Still holding paint. See large size here.(1.4 MB)