Just a few miles off M66, there are some memorable locations up here for night sky viewing. Great clearings, forests, and lakes. All quite dark! However there will be light pollution on the horizon of course…..but not bad.

I drove out to Lake Michigan at Charlevoix; Found several deer, and a rafter of turkeys. I found some beautiful spots for sunset pics but it was very cloudy tonight, so maybe tomorrow!

This is what northern Michigan looks like today. Some color, but definitely not peak color.

And now for the fungi photos. I have no idea what the real names of these are but I've had some fun putting names to the beautiful formations and colors of nature. I hope you can enjoy these as much as I did!

DISCLAIMER: THE NAMES ARE ALL MADE UP!

We took the scenic route over to our lunch spot at Walloon Lake. On the way we stopped when we saw a flock of Sandhill Cranes. Their sound is so strange!

Today was more of the same, weather-wise. Cold, gloomy, and rain. The weather station just mentioned we're in the middle of a cloud pattern that doesn't look like it will break until Thursday night. But then on Friday we go across on the ferry to Beaver Island, so I'm hoping mother nature will cooperate and give us some gorgeous weather! Fingers crossed.

Julie arrived! After she got settled and we ate a bite of dinner, we went out because the sky was super clear. We just sat and looked, mesmerized at the beauty and vastness of the night sky. Later, I went out and took a few shots of the milky way in the yard.

They loaded Julie's FJ and all the other boats and cargo onto the large ferry in very orderly fashion.

We're underway! They raise the drawbridge 2 times an hour and we left at 11:30 am. Out past the bright red lighthouse and onward for 2 1/2 hours to Beaver Island.

We could see the 6.5 miles across and 13 mile long island for almost the whole trip, but as we got to the northern tip we were super close into this perfectly protected harbor. The town of St. James is on the northern tip and is a beautiful scene, especially with today's bluebird skies and 65 degree temperatures!

In keeping with my normal food photography, here's our first night's meal in the Beaver Island VRBO. Mushroom pasta and salad. All fresh!

Below is the view from the third floor sitting area. No better views on the island!

We took a walk tonight down the two rut road that goes to our rental house and beyond. There are very few houses down there but one that is being built is a palace. Looks like a French chateau! Not really sure how they got work trucks back there......

Also in the same area of the forest, we have:

Random beautiful views around the island.

I love dramatic clouds! Shown here on Iron Ore Bay Beach on the South Shore.

Julie took the sunset shots below. What a beautiful place and an amazing photographer!

Below you will see my favorite shot of the night. A fireball meteor that streaked straight downward! I was just lucky to capture this in a 20 second exposure I was in the middle of shooting when it happened. With the Milky Way off to the right of it, and Jupiter looking like a light on the house, it's a fun composition all around!

If you're interested, take a look at the two images below. The one on the left was taken at about 11 pm; the one on the right was taken around 3 am. On the left you can see the yellow glow that makes a horizontal line at the bottom of the frame. This photo was completely unedited, right out of the camera. The one on the right is later, so the position of the MW has changed (actually the position of the Earth changes!) You can also tell there is haze creeping in - which we later discovered is smoke from the fires out west. So sad for all the people living with this latest 2020 disaster; also a bit sad for us because unless we get a good wind shift, our night sky photography might be doomed for the week. Stay tuned, we sure did scope out some good viewing areas for future reference!

Beaver Island History lesson:

Did you know that Beaver Island was once the home of the only King who ever ruled in the United States of America? Yes! It's True! After the death of Joseph Smith, James J. Strang was in line to become the leader of the Mormon Church, but Brigham Young was chosen instead. He sought safety in Wisconsin, then needing to further himself and his congregation, he traveled over to Beaver Island and claimed it as his own. In 1950 he crowned himself as King Strang, and was actually once recognized by the USA as the king of this island. Strang(e) history, huh? In 1856 he was shot by a couple of conspirators and didn't survive. The rest of his 2,600 followers were kicked off the island and the island reverted to the locals.

Around the turn of the century (1900) Irish immigrants settled on the island and remnants of it's culture remain today. In fact, it's called the Emerald Isle!

An additional history lesson: Aside from King Strang, probably the most famous hero from Beaver Island was Feodor Protar, who came to Beaver Island in 1893. He was a follower of Leo Tolstoy and believed much like he did in taking care of the people. He served as a local doctor but because he was self-taught, didn't like to be called a doctor. He was friend-to-all while living as a recluse in the cabin pictured below in the interior of the Island. Protar died in 1925 and he is still talked about today as a great man and hero of the Beaver Island people. We visited his homesite and gravesite today.

Discovered only 10 years ago, the Beaver Island Stone Circle is an interesting artifact on the island. So interesting, that we really weren't impressed! Here's what I know about it:

The stones were discovered by accident, and seemed random and largely unrelated to each other. Then some of the larger boulders were found to have markings on them; some had lines, holes, and scratches that were definitely human-made. One drawing was found that was of a sheath of feathers. After that discovery, it has been known as the Beaver Island Stone Circle, or the Lake Michigan Stonehenge. This is rather comical because as you can see, the largest boulder is no larger than a horse, so the name is really a misnomer. Interesting nonetheless, a to-scale map and telemetry drawing has been made that show relation to the sun and the solstice, etc. Interesting. But if I didn't know what it was, I'd just say it was a rocky area! The prevailing theory is that the circle had Native American ceremonial use back well over 1,000 years ago.

Tonight after dinner we went for a walk down to the place on the lake that the road is washed out. It's about 1/2 mile from our house. We thought we might find a sunset but seriously the smoke is really bad and messing with our stars! I really shouldn't complain though because our complaints are nothing compared to the people out west directly effected by the fires.

We were surprised to see evidence of PEOPLE! That's a rarity down here. Haven't seen more than one or two people the whole time!

A beautiful merganser playground on the waves this morning!

Cable's Creek Beach is on the south side of the island. We hiked all the way in to the dunes area. What a gorgous forest and dunes! Quite a few interesting fungi shapes and colors, too.

Here's a classic island car. Look closely at the first pic....the hood ornament!!!

These guys are everywhere on the island. They're kinda friendly, too! At least they don't scare super easily.

Little Sand Bay is on the east side of the island. You can see land from there - Probably Petoskey/Charlevoix area if you look south east or the Tunnel of Trees if you look straight east.

Late lunch/snack at Daddy Frank's hot dog stand. OH and the ice cream! My choice today was Fried Cherry Pie ice cream. SO yum!

Above & below....just some random beach pics from my walk this morning.

So....THIS happened. Probably the best night of Milky Way viewing of my life. The smoke cleared out and the stars were unbelievable. After shooting these pics at the beach on the south end of Beaver Island, we went home and hung out in the hot tub for a while and continued communing with the Milky Way. An absolutely unforgettable night under the stars!

OH MY GOODNESS the night sky did not disappoint tonight! Our last night on the island brought us the best photo ever! Took some planning and conditions to be exactly right, but.... we did it!