Winter Layup Starts! The last ship of the season, the laker (ore boat) Kaye E. Barker arrived overnight at the Fraser Shipyards in Superior (across the harbor from Duluth)
Click or press upon to get full effect of image … it was cold very early this morning!
A slightly different treatment of the same photograph.
Last night my wife was ushering for a local theater, and I decided to wonder how I might spend a quiet evening at home. Given the dearth of anything worthwhile on TV, I decided to check the status of our local shipping.
Eureka! A saltie had just sailed under the Aerial Bridge. If you are ever in Duluth, or anywhere along the North Shore of Lake Superior there is a great web page (works very well on a smartphone) named Harbor Lookout. This site gives you information of what ships are expected, and their planned arrival or departure times.
Now back to my evening’s entertainment. The Federal Rhine, was slowly being assisted by two tugs to the CHS Grain Elevator to take on a load of wheat. I suspected the harbor ice and night lights reflecting off the ice would make for a beautiful scene. You be the judge.
As a fyi … I took these images with my Sony A6000 and a wide angle lens. Clicking or pressing upon the images will yield the best night arrival experience (expanded view).
Docking at the CHS Grain Terminal
Making a large turn next to the Duluth High Bridge
Molly and I have arrived back in the Northland from Tucson. An attitude adjustment due to Duluth’s cold weather might seem to be required, but I actually am thrilled to be back to Lake Superior.
Sunrise is now much earlier, 6:38 am. As my credo is to get going with the sun, or earlier, my wake-up times are moving towards 5 am. This morning, I wanted to take a bicycle ride up the shore before the forecast winds reached 30 mph. Biking into that kind of a head wind aside from being cold, is real hard work. Thus, with only 15 mph winds I biked up to McQuade Harbor … 38 minutes to McQuade … 22 minutes back with the tailwind!
Although there is over two feet of snow on the ground, the early migrants are working there way along the shores of Lake Superior … Bald Eagles, Crows, Gulls, Mergansers and Ravens. These hardy birds push hard to be the first returnees to the Boreal Forest. Here are a few images taken over the past two days.
Ice Flow Gulls
First Active Bald Eagle Nest on the Duluth Waterfront
Darth Vader Bird