Mackinac Island

    Mackinac Island (pronounced like Mackinaw City is spelt) has long been a vacation center for Americans. Home to the Michigan governor's summer vacation home and not one, but two old forts (on a <5 sq. mile island!), Mackinac is a car-free bicycle paradise. It is only accessible by ferries, but those are frequent, easy to book, and have departures both from the Upper and Lower Peninsulas. Some of the ferries even include a detour for a better view of the bridge connecting the two parts of Michigan - the Mighty Mac. I only had a day trip to the island, but there are hotels and BnBs for those who want a longer stay. 

     It's a quint little place with its lack of motorized transport. Instead, bikes and horse-drawn carriages abound. Actually, I'd say that there was an excess of horses, but that's largely because I would rather be breathing the fresh air from Lake Huron than smell horse manure.

As for what to see and do? The nature is really beautiful on the island including some special rock formations that are easy to find because of the thorough signage. Just wandering around, or lapping the 12.9 km circumference of the island is very enjoyable. Secondly, there are two forts - one that British built and the Americans took over after the Revolutionary War, and a second, a reconstruction of the one the British built after retaking the island during the War of 1812, and which the Americans subsequently took over after the cessation of hostilities.  

Oh, and there's an absolute obsession with Mackinac fudge. I'd heard of it, but I didn't expect it to be that big of a deal. According to the tourism board this stems from the Victorian Era's tourism, however, the thirteen fudge shops import 20,000 lbs of sugar a week to maintain production. 

If you spend the whole day on the island, and travel back as the sun sets, you are treated to a great view:

Would I travel from out of state just for it? Probably not. But if you're passing nearby it's worth spending a day on it. It's a enjoyable little island. But, as a tourist destination and an island, yes, everything on it is up-charged.

Racing through the Rockies

The US is home to the world's first national park - Yellowstone. So, it was time to go check it out. Since Grand Teton was along the way, it made it into the itinerary as well. Unfortunately, time constraints rather limited my ability to spend as much time there as I would have liked and the 4th of July weekend probably was at least partially contributing to the number of people, but this was an amazing trip. 

 Three quick notes before I go on: as the sun sets, the temperature drops quite a bit. During the day it was ~20°C, but at night that would drop to about 5-6°C. So if you're camping with someone who is more sensitive to cold, as I was, keep that in mind. Secondly, at 2000+ meters above sea level, the sun has a bit more bite to it. A fair bit more than I expected. And last but not least: Lake Yellowstone is a lot colder than I expected. My swim was rather short.

Grand Teton:

 14k foot mountains, snowy peaks in July, glacial lakes, etc. Must I say more?

Ribbon Lake Loop:

Jenny Lake Loop:

Yellowstone - Thermal Pools:

During my undergrad, I had the chance to take a course on geosciences. It was a really fun course and taught by a fun and informative professor. Among other things, he mentioned that the Yellowstone caldera is the result of an eruption hundreds of thousands of years ago, evidence of which is found as far as California, Texas, and Saskatchewan. The current magma chamber, if it erupts, will cause incredible devastation in the surrounding area, likely raining ash as far as the east coast. However, this provides an energy source to feed an intricate system of hot springs and geysers.

Old Faithful:

 

Prismatic Pool:

  

Mammoth Hot Springs:

 

The colors in the pool are indicative of the temperatures, with the hottest being blue/clear, while the coolest is brown. As the water temperature drops, more organisms can survive there, from thermophilic bacteria in some of the hottest sections to algae in the brown.

Yellowstone - Canyon:

Yellowstone River has carved a deep gash in the volcanic rock through the northwest section of the park. There are also two waterfalls in it – aptly named the Upper and Lower Falls because one is a bit upriver of the other. Not particularly creative, but very to the point. These aren’t the only waterfalls we saw, but were the most magnificent. In fact, the Lower Falls are about twice as high as Niagara. And it's possible to get right above the falls, looking down into the roaring water.

View from Inspiration Point:

  

Oh, and it inspired this haiku:

Icy snake flowing
Emerald water below
Eating at the rocks

Lower Falls from Red Rock Point:

 

Views from North Rim Trail:

 

Yellowstone - Animals:

The aforementioned hot springs are also important for the well-being of the park's animals. They provide warmth in the winter and apparently, some hungry bears tend to visit the springs when waking up from hibernation to scavenge for carcasses. I wasn’t able to get a good picture of the bear that we passed, but other animals, like bison and elk, proved quite photogenic. The squirrel, however, was actually from Teton, but here it symbolically takes the place of the countless chipmunks that I saw in Yellowstone and couldn't get a good photo of. The chipmunks are actually a bit odd there - very dull colors, almost grey, and smaller than the east coast ones.

 

 

Courage

I've reached the point in my saga

When I must stand up and go.

I've been observing far too long

And I must start to grow.

I don't mean physically this time,

Emotions matter too...

Step one is gaining confidence

No hiding like a shrew.

Courage should come from deep within.

I can't retreat inside.

The world can handle the true me.

I'll be myself with pride.

March 19, 2024