• Wednesday-What'sUP August 15 - 09:06 pm

Today's photos are from George Hoyem, who says they were taken near Stone Quarry Lake in the Jacobsville area. I'm not certain where exactly this location is, but the water is some of the clearest I've seen, even for Lake Superior. Just look at the photo of the smaller sandstone rocks, the water is so clear, you can barely tell it's there. Amazing!

Someone was busy being artistic on the shoreline, too, with a sandstone and driftwood creation. That's quite the balancing act on top of the driftwood for starters, but no easy feat to get those rocks to stay in place while piling more on top of each other. I'm sure everyone will see something different in that last photo, but even after looking back time, after time, I keep seeing the face of a sock monkey in those rocks and some long gangly arms and legs. No matter what you see in this creation, the artist did a nice job, for sure.

Absolutely Superior!!!

Breathtaking! I love the richness of all the colors in the first photo.

Colorful.

I agree with all of the above and I love the calmness of the lake...very soothing.

Good Morning. I love today's photos, especially the top three! I'm curious: are the flat rocks slippery, or can you walk on them without worrying about slipping and falling?

The U.P. and Lake Superior, endless beauty!

Beauty!! Mary, I not only see the sock monkey, I see an abstract-art duck in the 4th one.;>

Would that be considered "Art-Ducko" then, Shirley?? ;-)

I believe I know where these photos were taken, but it's hard to explain. It's at the old quarry that sits very close to the shoreline after you go though what town exists and curve back north. If I had time I'd try to explain with a Google Earth image, but I'm needed out in the field shortly....

LOL...Couldn't have said it better myself, Capt.;) You're quick!

Awesome!

GORGEOUS photos today! We have so much beauty all around us here in the YOOP!

I so remember those kinds of rocks when swimming in Superior as a kid. I don't ever remember them being slippery at all. None of that kind of mossy "ick" you find in warmer waters. That's the nice part about swimming in Superior. If you can get past the hurtful cold part, it's a wonderful water to swim and play in!! Great pictures that brought back a lot of memories for me.

Kinda looks like an infamous Lake Superior octopus to me.

We are heading to the U.P. At the end of the month. I can
hardly wait. We usually spend time in the summer but this
one was too hot to travel the 1500 miles with my M.S. Mary
we will stop to see you. Your Cuz. Theresa

Capt. Paul, that Art Duck-o period must have been sometime between the precambrian and the Art Deco periods. lol

Actually, when was the Jacobsville Sandstone formed?

There is an exhibit, going on right now, at the Carnegie Museum in Houghton that talks about these Jacobsville Sandstones and the time frame they were formed and the various types of sandstone. It is interesting. If memory serves me right, I seem to remember sometimes those flat sandstone rocks seemed slippery when I walked on them; but most often the wave action cleaned off any mossy stuff that started to grow when the lake warmed up (which was NOT often).
Great photos!

A recent study in 2010 of the Jacobsville Sandstone puts the age at between 940 and 910 million years old, or just after the formation of the Portage Lake Volcanics and the copper deposits within them.

Sue Haralson sent me the following information about the sandstone and driftwood creation:

That sandstone statue looks like an inukshuk. The traditional meaning of the inukshuk is "Someone was here" or "You are on the right path."

The inukshuk was the 2010 Winter Olympics logo, named Ilanaaq.
If you google it, you will find fasinating stories of the inukshuk. Last year when Duane, Lynne, Bob and me were traveling along highway 10 in Ontario, we saw many of these hand built statues on rocky mounds along the roadside. When I got home I googled Highway 10, Ontario stone statues and this is what popped up.

Thanks for the info, Sue!!

Very nice photos