Our first ski trip of the season took us to Ironwood Michigan. The drive over to Ironwood was OK but just outside of Ironwood it started snowing. It was snowing so hard that we had trouble following the road to the ABR Ski Trails. The trails had been groomed the night before but by 11 am they had received 7 inches of new snow. It was beautiful on the ski trails but the wax was not working good and it was tough going.
On our way back from our Highway 2 trip we decided to drive over to Root Beer Falls. There was quite a bit of water running and the colors were OK.
Bond Falls is know as a great place to photograph in the fall and is known for its iconic Z which is photographed with fall color reflections. However it also a great place to photograph in the winter because is always has open water flowing. It is located just below a dam so the falls area never completely freezes.
After skiing at After Hours we decided to drive over to Ironwood and ski at ABR in Ironwood, Michigan. It had been a couple of years since we had skied their trails. We were not disappointed. They had even more snow than After Hours. While we enjoy skiing we love to take in the breathtaking scenery. More photos from ABR can be found on my website.
This fence is always a popular spot to stop for a few photos. Another group of skiers passed up by while we were photographing the fence.
At several places on the trail we passed trees with ski poles hanging from the branches.
We discovered there were quite a few new ski trails since our last visit and some of the old trails had been changed. We decided we really need to make another visit.
Whenever we are in Munising we always drive out to Hiawatha National Forest. We were up early in the morning to catch the sunrise. In fact we were up a little too early. I was already in the car ready to go when my wife came out and noted that it seemed awfully dark out. We double checked the time and found we were an hour early so we headed back into the motel for another our. We then headed out to Hiawatha National Forest. We drove around to photograph some of the lakes in the forest. We didn’t see a single photographer which is highly unusual.
Thornton Lake
Thornton Lake
Pete’s Lake
Twin Lakes
Doe Lake
We spent some time driving around Seney National Wildlife Refuge on our last trip to the U.P. It doesn’t have the best wildlife but it is a beautiful fall photography location. It was created during the depression when no one else wanted the land. It now has a variety of wildlife including a large number of Trumpeter Swans.
More photos from Seney National Wildlife Refuge can be found on my website.
One of our favorite places to photograph fall colors in Hiawatha National Forest just south of Munising, Michigan. We have a route that we drive that passes a number of beautiful lakes. Sometimes the route changes a bit depending upon the number of photographers we find at any given lake. This area is a favorite destination for photography workshops so you can expect to find large groups of photographers a some locations.
More photos from Hiawatha National Forest can be found on my website.
Our first stop is usually Pete’s Lake.
From Pete’s Lake we drive back toward Munising stopping at Moccasin Lake. There is a pull off right along highway 13. This is also a trail head for Bruno’s Run Trail which loops past a number of these lakes.
After photographing at Moccasin Lake we continued back toward Munising stopping at Thornton Lake. The turnoff for Thornton Lake is not well marked and difficult to spot if there are a lot of leaves on the trees. On this visit it was standing room only because a photography group was just packing up to leave.
Continuing on toward Munising we turn off on Buckhorn Road and connect to Doe Lake Road. Just after turning on to Buckhorn Road you will encounter Twin Lakes.
We then drove on to Doe Lake ending our fall tour of Hiawatha National Forest lakes.
After spending the morning driving around Hiawatha National Forest we decided to spend the afternoon waterfalling. Our first stop was Au Train Falls. We had actually visited this falls a few weeks earlier but thought is was worth another visit because of the variety of waterfall photography opportunities.
Au Train Falls consists of a number of waterfalls. This is the main falls photographed from near the power station.
On this visit we walked down the river below the bridge to photograph the fall colors.
In addition to the main falls there numerous smaller falls that are produced by springs that flow out of the hills above the river. These were taken from a spring just below the main parking lot.
More photos from Au Train Falls can be found on my website.
It’s been five years since I first visited Rock River Falls. At that time there were no signs to the falls and the parking lot was a wide spot on a one track road. I would have missed the falls it it wasn’t for another photographer who was parked along the road. Things have changed. There is now signage along the road and a nice parking lot. It appears that some of the states are realizing that waterfalling is a growing and popular sport and they are making more of an effort to provide directions and parking to these attractions.
I hadn’t been back to the falls because of the terrible road. At the time I first found it I was alone and driving my Subaru. On subsequent trips my wife was along and we were driving a van. I didn’t think the van would be able to get down the road but the improved directions and roads made it possible.
More photos from Rock River Falls can be found on my website.
There was quite a bit of water flowing over the falls. The hike in was exciting because of the muddy trail. We met a number of people that were attempting it with tennis shoes on. My wife and I always wear our Muck Boots when hiking to waterfalls and they really came in handy on this hike. Rock Falls is not all that large so after photographing the falls I spent some time taking intimate photos of the area surrounding the falls.
On our way out we managed a few photos. In-spite of the narrow road it was a beautiful drive through the forest.
After a long day of photographing waterfalls and driving through Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore we decided to drive through Sunset Seney National Wildlife Refuge just as the sun was starting to set. It was cloudy out and I didn’t expect much of a sunset but as it turned out it was spectacular.
