Ramp-ant beauty

More observations and reflections from the UP trip...we tallied 70 bird species including american white pelicans soaring over Route 41 in northeast Wisconsin...I was hoping for a more remote campground, but Bay Furnace was fine. It's right off a state highway, but the views were so nice it was easy to forget that. The privacy wasn't exceptional, but it was good enough. We gathered enough collateral material on the trip that now we know where the other good spots are. Across the highway, Christmas, Mich., had the requisite Christmas gift shops, but some had fallen into disrepair--as evidenced by a giant headless Mrs. Claus...A NASCAR race was really popular in the steakhouse there and in the campground. Radios blared the call all night. It shows how far Indy racing has fallen that this was the marquee event on the day of the Indy 500...Our kayak outfitter, Northern Waters, was great. Our trip was unfortunately shortened because of a seasick member of our group, but I learned a lot and felt that we were all prepared for the experience. My rudder was jammed at one point and taking me out to sea and our guide, Carl, calmly paddled over, reached into the kayak and fixed the problem...Seney National Wildlife Refuge really is a pestilential, malarial place. As one would expect of a huge swamp in the middle of the UP in May, it's super-buggy. I don't think an extended visit there is really possible this time of year...I was fighting a cold during most of the UP trip, but it was easy to forget. The forest floor above the Pictured Rocks was carpeted with ramps and wildflowers. Warblers were calling everywhere.

Pictured swans

Kayaking under a cavern in Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore. More photos are now available.

Swan refuge

Today was rather like the first few chapters of "Trumpet of the Swan." Seney National Wildlife Refuge is a natural wonderland of bogs and swamps in the middle of the UP. Trumpeter swans, unlike anywhere else east of the Rockies, are everywhere here--we saw 48 on one pool alone. Other sightings included an osprey, on nest, ruffed grouse, common loons and pine siskin.

May ice

Kayaking in Lake Superior, we had a stunning realization. The rock wall above us wasn't draped with quartzite, but with ice. Our guide spoke of a Memorial Day a few years back with ice floes on the lake.

It's hard to put into words what we saw today, but of course I'll try. Emerald waters, multi-hued sheer rock walls, sea caves, waterfalls plunging over stories of rock.

Blue water

There's no doubt that this trip is perpetuating the world demand for petroleum, but the scenery so far has been worth it. In Munising right now, camped in nearby Christmas right on Lake Superior. There's a merlin in our campground, and they sell sake at the local supermarket.

Late spring

Blogging live from Green Bay, Wis., where summer still seems a long way off. Most deciduous trees still don't have leaves (though it's quite balmy tonight and probably over 50). We're headed even farther north tomorrow--to Munising, Mich., and Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore. Hope to have a chance to blog from there.

Field glasses

Today, after 18 years of using the same field glasses, I received a new pair of binoculars in the mail. The new nocs have an 8x objective lens and 42 mm field of view. I can already tell that the binoculars will improve my birding--images are incredibly crisp, the 8x42 setup allows for much more light and detail in dim conditions and the field of view is bigger than what I had before.

Also, the Lower 48 low for yesterday was 23 degrees in Tomahawk, Wis., about 325 miles north of here. There's a chance I could be reporting from a similar latitude this weekend. More to come...