Hard Water

Several years ago I blogged for Pure Michigan about the ice formations that are found on Lake Michigan. At the time it was no big deal. In fact the post did not receive too much traffic. However, this year it seems the Big Lake's ice features have been receiving rave reviews. 

When I was younger exploring the lake ice was a yearly occasion for me. I remember spending quite a bit of time out there the first winter that I had my driver's license. I thought that as I "grew up" the excitement of the ice on Lake Michigan would lose its majesty as most memories of youth tend to do; fortunately, that was not the case.

Every year I find an entrance to the icy playground, and every year it's just as much fun as the first time.

This is what a beach is supposed to look like; in 3-4 months there will be a few hundred people staggered along this section of beach.

While these are only about 1/2 to 2/3 the height of those in Leland I did not have to brave any sort of crowds or wait for parking to experience these.

The weather is quickly warming up and the season of playing on the ice is drawing to a close. If you haven't made it out there yet you probably have missed your chance. Better to play it safe and wait for next year than to wind up in the frigid drink.

I am eagerly looking forward to next year's ice season.

-J

Dusk Snowshoeing

Always look for the extra in what would otherwise be an ordinary day.

Get out there and do something.

-j

Just two dudes, jumping off a dune

Thought I would upload a few pics of Matty and I jumping off of a little grass clump.

More to come soon.

Back in Nor-Mich and loving it. Expect to see new posts from all the usual places and a few new ones 

Yesterday my friend Matt came for a visit so I had to show him my new favorite spot, Old Baldy. After the half-mile barefoot hike we descended the face of the dune. The thrill of rushing down the dune, bounding almost weightless and at tremendous speeds is somewhat overshadowed when you finally reach the bottom by the sudden realization that lingered in the back of your head the whole way down, "oh my God, look how high we have to climb."

Though the ascent was challenging it was not impossible and I urge any of you who make your way out to the end of the trail to make the extra effort to let your inner child out by barreling down the sandy chute.

On another note, while walking around at nearby river we saw a few salmon. Maybe this week I could hook into my first one!

Wish me luck.

-J

(PS. Gosh it feels good to be done with this semester's classes)

Don't forget your MITTENs!

Sweet companies, yeah Michigan has some of the coolest cats you could find! We have Michigan Awesome, Bell's Brewing, Cherry Republic, M22 and Great Lakes Proud. But there is a new group to the scene: The Awesome Mitten, a great company that is focusing on their 365 Days of Awesome campaign where they feature one super dooper cool thing about the land shaped like a hand each day! We are not talking about a little blurb, we are looking at solid copy on something new and awesome each day, how sweet it is!

Through correspondence with Alex Beaton, Business Development & Marketing Director for The Awesome Mitten, over the past week I have gotten the goods on what makes The Awesome Mitten so sweet:

1.       Where did the idea for the Awesome Mitten come from?

Well, this is the long-short version of it. I moved back to Michigan in September 2010 after living in Nashville, TN. When I decided to move back, my Tennessee friends didn’t understand why, which I understood, because most of them had never been north of Kentucky. What I didn’t understand, was why my Michigan friends were asking me why I was moving back. Since I had left, I had heard about all these cool things happening in Michigan; incubators were popping up all over the place, as were co-working spaces. There seemed to be tech movement of some kind going on in Detroit, TEDx events were happening all over the state, Grand Rapids now had Art Prize and seemed to position itself as this progressive hub -all of this stuff plus so many others I thought was incredible! So in a frustrated fury, I wrote a letter to the editor voicing my confusion: why weren’t Michiganders proud of all these things going on? How did we expect the rest of the nation to speak positively of us, if we couldn’t even muster up anything good to say? It’s kinda like the self help bullshit that I scoff at: “You have to first believe in yourself before you can expect anyone else to believe in you” - but its true. So one sleepless night in late September I bought the domain AwesomeMitten.com, started up a Facebook & a Twitter and went from there.

2.       What kind of products are you currently offering?

Just t-shirt and pins. We really aren’t aiming to make retail our primary business, but  instead focus on the content. Retail is merely a way to fund our adventures!

3.       Do you support any local projects or groups? 

We support anybody who supports MI!

Lilac Festival (Photo by Mel Libby)

4.       Favorite piece of Michigan lore?

The story about the Sleeping Bear Dunes! About the mama bear and her cubs! This just made me realize I don’t know that many Michigan tales. Hmmmm, I feel a new section of the website being born...

5.       Best Beach:

Empire. North of Traverse City. Hands down my favorite! Though I am also partial to an awesome beach along Highway 2 in the UP!

6.       Best Meal:

How can I choose?! I can’t, I just can’t. It literally changes every month! And depending on the city. I travel so much! Right now: In Traverse City, I’m a huge fan of the bruschetta at Stella. In Lansing, the pesto chicken club at Tavern of the Square. In Grand Rapids, the grilled cheese The Electric Cheetah. In Detroit, the mac n’ cheese at Cliff Bells.

7.       Best MI Beer:

I’m such a girl, I don’t drink beer....but my favorite Michigan wine (so far!) is Chateau Grand Traverse Late Harvest Riesling.

Founders Fest in GR (Photo by Chad Cramblet)

8.       Favorite Great Lake:

I’m very biased on this one. Lake Michigan. I grew up in Traverse City!

9.       Favorite outdoor activity in Michigan:

Are campfires an outdoor activity? Because I’m a big fan. I’m outside all summer long (as much as my schedule allows), usually on a lake!

Balloonfest in Howell (Photo by Brittany Green)

10.    Favorite Michigan based product:

This one is so hard!! My current obsessions are Great Lakes Potato Chip Company’s Sea Salt & Vinegar chips and Michigan Ice Cube Trays. The ice cube trays are so ridiculously cool! (no pun intended)

11.    Best advice you have been given about your company:

Have journalistic integrity. Anyone can pay to be listed on a site, but what we’re offering is free promotion of thing we genuinely enjoy doing! That same person told me, don’t try to do it all right off the bat - don’t be afraid to launch sections/features/products after your initial launch. That I really appreciated because I am such a type A personality, that until that point, in my mind I had to have this SUPER product at launch. And it was going to be perfect. But as a user of a great many websites and web apps, I enjoy the upgrades! They make me feel like the company is listening to my feedback, and cares about creating a better, more useful product for me. 

12.    What music do you guys jam to when you are packing boxes?

I wish I could rattle off some awesome Michigan artists, but I’m currently working on discovering them (with the help of our Music Director, Jon Miller)! So right now its the Black Keys.

(Photo by Jon Miller)

13.    Largest order filled to date:

This depresses me. I feel like it should be some outrageous number! We’ve only been selling for three weeks! 10 - a person bought them for all of their visiting family.

14.    Where is the farthest that you have shipped an order?

            Denver, CO

15.    If you were a pizza topping what would you be?

Feta, cuz feta makes it betta!

16.    Advice you would give others in starting your own business:

I think you can’t be afraid to talk about your business, no matter what it is or where it is in the development process! I have made so many truly valuable connections and met some awesome people, all because I reached out to talk to them. I might not have even known exactly why I needed to talk to them when I first reached out, but it yielded some great results! Also, find someone to do it with you. Ask for suggestions! Two of our most important things were suggestions - the t-shirt logo, and the “365 Days of Awesome” campaign. The campaign was such an incredible suggestion because it really helped us articulate a clear, concise goal for year one. Also, starting a company by yourself sucks - I’ve done it (not the Mitten), and its hard. Its so important to have someone who shares your vision and is there to collaborate with!

17.    Have you considered making Awesome Mitten Patches?

YES! We have so many ideas of the type of products we’d like to do! Retail is a icky business though, and requires cash to maintain inventory. Therefore we’re taking baby steps and testing the demand.

18.    Future plans for Awesome Mitten?

Too many to count! We’ve got an events calendar launching early next week, and a “Little Mittens” (stuff to do with kids) section coming in July. We’ll be hosting a launch party in September. Events are going to be a pretty regular thing for us starting in late 2011/early 2012. Obviously we would like to expand our merchandise offerings. We are also hoping for an optimized mobile site. I could go on and on with our plans, but we’ll leave it at that for now.

19.    Do you guys have a website, Facebook or Twitter account where people can check you out?

            www.awesomemitten.com, 


            www.facebook.com/awesomemitten,  


            www.twitter.com/awesomemitten

I would like to thank Alex for taking the time for this pseudo interview. We cannot wait to see what the next campaign is. (while thoroughly enjoying this one of course)

Please check out their daily blog: www.awesomemitten.com, it is chock full of great stories from all across this great state. You will be hooked in no time.

-J

Are you Proud?

Do you live in Michigan? Wisconsin, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York or any other state connected to the Great Lakes?

Are you proud to live in this awesome area?

Well then, the folks over at http://www.greatlakesproud.com/ have a great decal for you! If you head over to their website you can pick up this sharp decal that showcases your pride and love for this diverse area.

So people of the Great Lakes area, throw your flag up! Stick these things on your vehicle, water bottle or any other place where others can see your pride!

The stickers are 3" by 5" and the lakes are a beautiful blue. 


GO, BUY 5,000 now and stick them on everything!


Buy me one too!


-J

Snowshoeing Extravaganza

Guys and Gals, you asked for it, and heeeeeere it is!

Over the last view days we have been taking to the woods in the fashion of the hare. Yes that's right, we evolved from mere booted hikers to wide-footed stompers. I am talking about snowshoes kids. Snowshoes, quite possibly one of the greatest winter inventions of all time!

Pack the truck!

The snowshoes were a sort of impulse buy on my part last year, but I am very glad that I made it now.

Chels and I headed East to the Tippy Dam Recreation area, a beautiful mass of land whith the North Country Trail running through it. Without the ability to safely make it up the road on foot we decided to hike a bit along the western portion of the river.

As the bank was quite slippery, we opted for the trail the runs along the bank; a safer route indeed.

The ice covered backwaters were calm and the air was filled with nothing, just nothing, not even a passing car could be heard. I spotted a wild photographer while rounding the bend:

Notice how she sheds her stompers when approaching civilization.

We found the trails around Tippy to be overrun by snowmobiles, packing them down to the hardness of a sidewalk, not at all good for shoeing. So we headed home for snacks.

After some much needed nourishment, we again strapped on the snowshoes, this time we headed out on Chels' Grandparents.

One major difference between public land and private property is that the latter is undisturbed and you snowshoes are able to float atop the pristine fluff.

As you can see in places like this the only things with which you share the snow are the animals. Their runways are much like our freeways; there exists a main path, where all the animals travel and inroads and off-ramps where each animal customizes the path to suite his needs. It is really amazing.

The true beauty of the snowshoe is that it allows you to access many places that are very difficult to reach, something that I love, get me away from everything.

Though the snow was not fresh, it was deep enough to support the weight of a hiker with ease. I would really like to wake up one of these mornings to a fresh dumping of lake-affect. Oh how I would tromp and hop around.

Clomp and stomp where no one else has been and you will find true happiness!

What a day of snowshoeing, such activities can leave on so exhausted that they just fall where they are:

... ok, to be fair she was not napping, she was getting the perfect angle for her shot!

The aforementioned animal highway!

What a splendid day indeed.
__________________________________________________________________________________

Day two of snowshoeing called for  hopping on the property behind my childhood home.

The sky was cloudy so not too many quality photos made it out, but the hike was great. The shoes again floated on the snow, which is beginning to become a little crusty. We walked upon a pot where my family has been piling brush for a while and Chelsea and I found that it appears to be a rabbit motel!

Welcome to the Rabbit hole!

Chelsea thought about hanging with them for a while, but they were not home.

Onward we trudged, through the thick pine trees, up small hill after small hill until we reached the top of the hill behind my house:

I can see for miles and miles and milessssss......

Without the snowshoe this little trip would have been nearly impossible.

On our way back to the house I walked Chelsea around our property, by the areas where I played as a child, where I rode dirtbikes, and where we used to cut Christmas trees down.

Just before we came to the barnyard we happened across one of the main reasons that we go snowshoeing;

Look, in the middle, this little little guy in the middle, a rabbit at the base of a pine tree.

I love being outside for many reasons; fresh air, exercise, friendship and entertainment, but by far one of the best reasons for enjoying the out of doors is the chance of encountering animals. It is such a rush to see even the smallest of animals.

I have to say it again: Nature Rocks!

Hope you enjoyed this SnowShoe Extravaganza!

There will be more fun-ness to come!

-J

A familiar trip

After an endless late night drive north we made it to our lodgings. We were treated to snacks and drinks by my parents. The cats acclimated to their new surroundings and began to establish the pecking order for snackage.

We retired early and drifted off while watching Seinfeld, a tradition while at home.

In the morning we were treated to a beautiful blanket of fresh snow.

Harboring the inspiration that I get on mornings such as this, I quickly fried up some eggs and toasted bread. Chels and I ate and discussed the best plan of attack for the day.

We decided on what is becoming our new spot; Old Baldy.

Arriving at the parking lot we were greeted by an un-groomed path and lot. Our tracks were the only ones around. We packed the cameras, water, tripod and mittens and headed down the trail.

While chelsea was busy snapping some of her great work, I rushed ahead to see what was in the middle of the trail ahead.

Here she comes!

It appears that though we were the first humans on the trail that day, we were not the first life-forms, beaten by bunnies!

The trail was snow-covered, lightly, but still covered. My old standard hikers, the Keen Targhee model, help up well in the snow and subsequent not-yet-frozen sand dune. I am very glad that I got those a few years ago.

Snow slowly fell as we made our way through the woods to the blownout dune. Our anticipation of the view to come would not be overshadowed by the weather.

But alas, as we made it to the stairs leading to the dunes the sky emerged a gorgeous blue as if we were being welcomed by the lake:

The view from the top of these stairs is as close as you will get to perfect:

We hiked to the Northern lookout of the dune were I noticed a wall of snow heading our direction, however I snapped this before the snow came:

We played, frolicked, shot our Christmas card photo and hiked to the highest point we could find! Most of all we enjoyed each other's company.

Here are a few of the more memorable shots from the trip:

Setting up for the Christmas Card! ------>

Hello Lake Michigan! (Hey Tim Allen was right about Michigan's Beauty hey? P.S. Pure Michigan still lives!)










This was a great hike, I cannot wait for the snow to become so deep that the average hiker lays up his hikers until the spring. At that time I will strap on the snowshoes and head back to Old Baldy, it has got to be even nicer draped heavily with thick, lake-effect snow!

Bring it on mother nature! Enjoy the snow friends!

-J

P.S. dropped the new Olympus Stylus Tough in the snow halfway through this trip and it continued to take great shots! Long live everything-proof cameras! New review coming soon!