The Cut River Bridge

 I've been meaning to get to the Cut River at some point.  Since boat traffic was very sparse until later in the day, I decided to head over.

The Cut River Bridge is also called the Heath Michael Robinson Bridge after 2014.  It was named after a Navy SEAL that was killed in Afghanistan.

The Cut River Bridge is a steel deck cantilevered bridge.  It is one of two in Michigan.  The other one is on M55.

It was built in 1947 by W.J. Meagher and Sons.

It spans 300 feet.

It is 147 feet tall.

It looks pretty cool.

I'll have to get over here in the fall, I would imagine it would look really cool then.

Indian Paintbrush

After catching the Clarke and the butterflies, I headed back to the Soo.  I needed to use the facilities and there is a roadside table on the side of the highway.  The roadside table is an earlier version of a rest area.  Typically they are found along the side of state and US highways.

 My mom said this is Indian paintbrush.  People on a site I go to on Facebook say something different.  I'll go with what my mom says.

Whatever it's called, it's pretty.

Catching an Eastern Swallowtail

As I was getting my pictures of the Clarke, I noticed some lilac bushes.  There were some butterflies flying around them.  I tried to get some pictures of the butterfly.

 I will note that I say tried.  The butterfly wasn't being particularly cooperative.  He'd stand still for a brief second but usually it was somewhere I couldn't get a picture of him.

 This is almost my favorite picture of the day.  You can tell that it is an Eastern tiger swallowtail.

 Sadly they would duck behind the flowers and I'd get a stern shot.

I think I like this one the best.

I even tried to get a shot of one in the air.....that was even less successful.

Catching a Lady's Slipper

I'm still working on my backlog of pictures, so please bear with me.  It's not that I don't have time on my hand, it's more that I'm using that time to go out and take more pictures.  When I get home, I don't feel like uploading them because I usually have to put words with these pictures.

Anyway, I decided to head up north on 6/26/20.  I was going to just go up to Mackinaw City and catch the Blough as she passed under the bridge but I saw that the Cort would be passing by the Soo in about the time I could get there.  It also helped that some of the boatnerds were still having their Engineer's weekend gathering, so I decided to head there.

 I ended up heading up to the Soo by way of Detour.  I saw that there was boat docked at Drummond Island and I wanted to get pictures of her.  As I found a park where I could get a decent shot, my mom pointed out that there were some lady slipper flowers there.  I tried to get pictures but unfortunately not the greatest.

this was probably my favorite shot.  Maybe if I cropped it, it would be a little better.

And I was right.  Anyway, I hope you enjoy.

A Stop at Tahquamenon Falls

It has been a while since I've been to Tahquamenon Falls.  So  I was glad to stop there.  As I was pulling into the parking lot, it was full but then I found a space.  There was somebody standing in that space.  Apparently they were saving it for someone.  I didn't realize that you could do that.  My mom told me to move on.  We didn't want a fight, I guess.

 I managed to find a parking spot.  Fortunately, the people were more spread out, so I was able to get some shots of the Falls.  There wasn't quite as much color as I had hoped but there was enough.

 Trying different angles.

 I couldn't slow the shutter speed down enough for my liking but this isn't too bad.

 Pulled out a little more and I got a little more color.

 Went to the next spot over but I didn't like the pictures I got from there, so I went to the next spot.

 I had better luck with the shutter speed here.

 Except I don't think I could slow it down enough.

One more shot before heading home.

A Stop at Point Iroquois

My next stop was Point Iroquois.  It was one of my favorite lighthouses.  There weren't a ton of people there.

 It was a nice sunny day.

 The clouds looked pretty cool, so that made for some nice pictures.

 A shot of the tower.

 A closer shot of the whole lighthouse.

 there was a little more color here.

One more view of the lighthouse before moving on.

Seney National Wildlife Refuge

The Seney National Wildlife Refuge is about 80 miles to the west of Sault Ste Marie on M-28.  It is located at the intersection of M-28 and M-77 near Seney, Michigan.

 It was founded in 1935 as Civillian Conservation Corps workers improved the drainage and dams for the purposes of wetland management.

 It has a little over 25,000 acres and is the home to many species of animals.

 Given that it is pretty late in the season, we didn't see to many animals.  I will have to try to come back here earlier and see if I can see more.

It was still pretty neat to catch.

A Stop at the Mackinac Bridge

So we continued on our way to the Upper Peninsula.  I didn't see anything compelling me to stop in Mackinaw City.   We decided to get pasties in St. Ignace though and I went over to the Bridge View Park to eat dinner and get some pictures.

 I think the pictures ended up being better from this side anyway.  Although, I think I might have missed the Anderson passing by.

 The sky looked pretty nice.

 Another angle.

 There were still some flowers.  I tried to get a picture of the bridge in the background.  I think I should have adjusted the f-stop.

 the Bridge Worker statue.

One more picture of the bridge.

A Stop at Point Iroquois

As I said, it didn't look like I was going to have a good ship day, so I decided to head over to Point Iroquois.

 It's a pretty nice lighthouse and there is a pretty nice drive over to it.

 The shot from the front.

 Looking at the tower.

 Looking up at the tower.

 One side of the beach.

 And the other side of the beach.

Looking at the lighthouse from the beach.

Michigan Exposures Hits the Road - Day 1

So once again it is the end of June and once again I am up in the Soo.  Engineer's Day is Friday and that should be fun.  I'm hoping that tomorrow is a good boat day.

The final stretch of I-75 after crossing the Bridge and entering the Upper Peninsula.  The clouds were fantastic and I'll have some pretty cool pictures when I get home.  As always, I just post a picture per day while I'm on the road.  I will post the rest when I get home.

Mission Hill Overlook

After I finished watching planes on Saturday I decided to head up to Sault Ste Marie for a brief trip.  If you head west of Sault Ste Marie to Brimley, there is a drive that takes you from there to Paradise, MI.  It is a pretty nice drive that follows the lakeshore.

 As you take that drive, there is a spot that says "Scenic Overlook" and it takes you to the top of hill.  This hill is called Mission Hill and you overlook Spectacle Lake and Lake Superior (near the back).  I kind of wish I would have got up here a couple of weeks ago because I imagine it looked much better.

It's still a pretty nice view though.