• Monday-What'sUP October 9 - 10:11 pm

This past Thursday, Oct. 5th, there were a few reports of the freighter Algolake arriving in Houghton/Hancock to unload a cargo of salt for the area's winter preparations. Our "eye in the sky", E. Neil Harri, snapped a series of spectacular shots as she made her way through the Upper Portage Entry, amid a colorful array of trees announcing that autumn is truly here. At 730 feet long, with a beam of 75 feet, it amazes me that she can glide through the irons with no wake in sight. The last photo from Trisia Kappler was taken later, in the early evening. The Algolake was just finishing the process of unloading her cargo. If you look closely, you can see the pile of white salt on shore, to the left of the boat.

Neat pics!

that's a great series of images...awesome.

Do they still use the houghton side for a beach. Just wondering...isn't that sand full of chemicals and stuff?

Wonderful pictures, thanks.

actually, looking closer at the pics, it appears the sand is now all grassed over ????

All of Neil's pictures are absolutely awesome.

Wow, these pictures are awesome!

Outstanding Shots!!!

WOW!

As a boatnerd who follows these ships daily, your shots are most appreciated. These aerial shots are wonderful! Thanks!!!

What kind chemicals are supposed to be in the Houghton side? Nice pictures!

Yet another desktop background courtesy of Pasty.com!

as a boatnerd from green bay I say these pics are just super. greatt job.
Jim

Great Pictures, This is one cool site of the life in the upper

Wow! I never tho't about how the entrance to the Portage looks. Now I really know. Great photos!

Dotti, tell me more about following the ships on Boatnerd. I've been to the site but only seem to find info. on what happened several days before. I would like something current.

AWESOME!! You can almost smell that sweet fresh air. Makes me wish I were standing on her deck.

Eugenia! I would love to share my love of the freighters/lakes. Since I live in WV, I have never even seen one - I go to many sites to "see" the ships (web cams) and refer back to boatnerd, and duluth shippingnews.com to help identify. I am new at this but love it. I also have a Pasty Cam fan for about 2 yrs now and that has also made me a keen fan of the Great Lakes. I will send you off some more info when I can. (back to work...)

David, regarding the beach on the Houghton side on Lake Superior. They covered up the "stamp" or "waste" with what looks like a clay and sand combination and planted some type of saw grass. I went down there in late August to build a fire on the beach and take a swim in the lake and was amazed at the difference. Very nice once you get used to it. The water was "stimulating"!!!
Gordy

David -

Also, there were no 'dangerous' chemicals in the sands - it was mechanically processed rock leftover from the copper mining days. Still had traces of copper and other metals in it, but only those already found in the native stone to the area. Since the metals were more 'exposed' (having greater surface area open to the environment), the sands were eventually capped over. The same process has been done to most of the exposed stamp sands around the Keweenaw - especially around Torch lake - Mason, Lake Linden, Hubbell, etc. It's been a big project ongoing since about 1998-99 or so, with a great deal of planning before then.

-Melissa

Looks like those props are mighty close to the bottom after it got inside the breakwalls. Make good egg beaters but I wouldn't want to be on the eggbreaking team, that could be a long time doing. Probably a Paul Bunyan story there with a freighter doing laps in the bowl beating the eggs for french toast shooting cinnamon and a little nutmeg over the side with its boom spicing the mixture!

Hummmmmmmmmm I wonder who is flyin while Harri is snappin..........??????

Awesome pictures!!!!! I always wondered where all the salt came from.....?????? Was a troll most of my life.....what do ya want eh..........


God Bless.......

Helen (Heleninhubbel):
"...I wonder who is flyin while Harri is snappin?"

Contrary to popular opinion - largely from some old Hollywood movies - no furious and continuous "working" or manhandling of the controls is necessary.

Once the aircraft is properly "trimmed", it pretty much flies itself, untouched by human hands.

After attaining that condition, the pilot's primary duties are monitoring the instruments and keepin' the eyeballs out the windows, watching for other traffic, unless a course correction or altitude change is required.

Hey Neil great pictures, when are you coming south?

Photo shooting is mostly practice, especially out of a plane. I used to shoot a hundred or so rolls of film a year which was about 2-3 thousand pictures. Now with digital, I shoot about 10-12 thousand a year.Most get deleted.I flew a Nat'l Geo photographer a couple times many years ago. He told me their secret was to shoot lots of film. This guy shot 65 rolls of film and used one aerial picture of Isle Royale.So now I do the same. Works for me.Jerry, I will be there when I get some time. Neil

Oh my gosh! Those are awesome!!!!

on the chemicals..thanks for filling me in on that part. I know there was a problem with cancer in a lot of the fish up there from leaching chemicals. What I had read led me to believe it was leaching from the stamp sand and other rock that was dumped into and near the lakes.

Neil,
You sure seem to have conqured the haze problem that has plagued my earlier aerial photographic efforts, especially in da yoop!

That and i guess "Lots 'of photos + ruthless editing = beautiful photos".

Just business as usual for E. Neil Harri!

Hurray for digital photography, too!

Dotti...you should try to plan a vacation either to Sault Ste Marie (the locks) in the eastern U.P. or Duluth, Mn. and see those lakers in real! Been to both places, many, many times, and still can't be there enough!

Beautiful pictures, Neil. You do GOOD WORK!!!

Janie! My hubby has offered to take me on a trip up there next summer. I am hoping to figure out an itinerary that is short on time and on a tight budget! I plan on asking for any suggestions along these lines in the future! I can feel your enthusiasm too! Thanks!

Does it look like the ship's screw is kicking up a little silt or sand in the 4th pic? The water must be shallower inside the breakwalls, 'eh? Never saw this area from the air before. Nice work, Neil! Kiitos, kiitos.

Well worth the wait Mary ;> Great pictures Neil!!

I dunno about those sands - wasn't there a bit about how they contained not only mechanically processed sand, but also additional chemicals?
Either way, only because stuff is (eg) in the rock naturally doesn't mean it is a good idea to have it in your water, not to mention food chain - were it so, we'd have no pollution at all.
Copper is toxic, too, which is utilized in underwater paint for boats. Could have an effect on mammals, too.
While I'm at it: the word is derived from the latin, cuprum, meaning "metal from cyprus".

Actually, we as humans could not survive without copper in our bodies. Copper forms part of 13 different enzymes, which promote energy production, prevent anemia and bone disease, battle cell damage and assist in fetal and infant development. Some foods rich in copper include oysters, cholcolate, avocados, peanuts, and beef. There is even talk that wearing copper bracelets can help ease the effects of arthritis.

I was totally in awe when I saw these shots. "Threading The Needle" was a great name for the shot. Beautiful, makes Lake Superior look like She's always in charge!

We watched the Algolake make this trip last year for the annual salt supply. It was amazing to watch this huge laker TURN AROUND and return the same way it came in! Like most lakers, it has bow thrusters which help it make very tight turns, like the one required in the Ship Canal.

Two questions:
1] Specifically where along the canal is the salt off-loaded?
2] Where in the canal did the Algolake actually turn around?

Good photos. I like Great Lakes freighters.