Here in the Keweenaw we’ve had a number of Gale Warnings over the past several weeks. Gale Warnings mean high winds on Lake Superior, which in turn creates some dandy waves, too. Debbie Jarve took advantage of the warnings one day recently and headed out to Big Traverse Bay, also known as Superior Grand Traverse Bay, to check out what the wind and waves were up to. She was not disappointed as you can see from her first two impressive shots here, where the waves are splashing up and over the irons at the mouth of the Traverse River. Debbie’s third photo shows the calm of the Traverse River, where the wind and waves aren’t reaching and by the looks of it, would never know that outside the irons that protect the river and shoreline, the Big Lake was rocking and rolling.

Debbie’s fourth photo here today was taken further out past Gay, of the Tobacco River that was running strong and hard that day, frothing along the edges as it heads on its way to join Lake Superior. That rushing water meeting the already rough and wavey waters of the Big Lake must be like a bit of a wrestling match where they converge together.

We have an interesting bit of Michigan history here today from the Restless Viking as he visits the Meridian Baseline State Park to explore the story of this state park and what caused Michigan to have two initial surveying points. Michigan was first surveyed in 1815 and it was a wet year. Did that cause a mistake that makes Michigan the only state to have two initial surveying points? Maybe...

Awesome photos! Those first 2 are
amazing! And I always love going
to the Tobacco. Nice job!

Beautiful pics. I love when Mom Nature gets a lil'
fired up!

And I LOVE the Restless Viking...you ALWAYS learn
something from them!

Nice set! I recognize the woman in
the first pic…Sue Nami.

Took me a few seconds Alex but it finally flooded into me . . !

I don't care who ya are. That's
funny, Alex!

I see her too Alex.
And her 3 sisters are in the 2nd pic.

Interesting video. I never knew a State Park existed commemorating the Meridian & Baseline intersection.

The Michigan Baseline is also the infamous 8 Mile Road in Detroit.

Because the Earth is a globe, all baselines are theoretically forever parallel to one another. But all Meridian Lines eventually intersect at the North Pole. Since Townships are laid out generally as perfect squares instead of the more trapezoidal that they actually are, all Meridian lines are only accurate enough for a limited distance north and south. Therefore, a new Meridian line is required every so often in order to keep the error from accumulating too much.

Great pics and informative video. Alex my friend,
you had us all laughing I'm sure, I almost spit my
water all over my laptop. :-)