October 2019
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Fall Hikes For Body and Soul
I’m not a hiker, but I love to saunter. When I amble down a Michigan forest path, especially in fall, I’m the one wandering a bit slower than the crowd, contemplating the way light hits the trees, setting colorful leaves aglow. I revel in the crunch of my shoes on the leaf-covered path, love trailside fun like racing leaves in a flowing stream.
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Riding High
Record water levels create hazards for boaters in harbors and marinas. Four years ago, most boat owners were easily able to step aboard their vessels by barely lifting their feet. Today, with Lake Michigan water levels more than 5 feet above the record lows of 2015, and Lake Huron equally brimming past capacity, many are finding it difficult to climb aboard. Boats along the state’s coastline are riding high.
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Pathways For All
Land conservancy building accessible trails in northwest Michigan. In 2017, the Grand Traverse Regional Land Conservancy opened its first universally accessible trail, and for the first time in 43 years, de Bruin was back in her old stomping ground, propelling herself along the 0.6-mile Overlook Trail near Mount Baldy and toward the second of two scenic overlooks where she could scan the dunes and feel the lake breeze.
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Landscapes with a View
Michigan’s beautiful landscape, with its rolling hills, inland lakes, and patchwork of farms, fields and forests, encouraged entrepreneurs to build sightseeing towers that
offered tourists a chance to see expanded scenic views from a height reached by paying a small fee. -
The Cider Mill Effect
The sweet magic of fall cider draws thousands each year to historic mills where water once powered apple presses. As if under a spell, Michiganders from all over join with family and friends for a pilgrimage to the cider mill. Sweet cider, warm doughnuts and fresh produce take center stage with caramel apples, old-fashioned candy and home-baked pies.
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Heirloom Tomatoes Growing in Popularity
“People are looking for a food that has more taste and is offering more nutritionally, that’s the draw for most people. People like the fact organic heirloom tomatoes are different. Even though they’re ugly (whole), they’re prettier on a plate.” – Kate Poirier
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Carving a Niche
The way Bob Batchik tells it, it all started when he and his wife moved into a home with a wood-burning fireplace. He’d sit by the hearth carving wood shavings from kindling to get the fire going, and once it was burning well, he’d continue carving the sticks into small figures — often fish — that eventually went into the fire, too.
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Bathing Beauty
One way to maximize a waterfront property is with a deluxe bathtub that faces a lake, a river or any other soothing scenery. Whether you’re planning a renovation or a new build, this striking feature offers a modern take on an old classic that’s back in the game for good reason.
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The Lay of the Land
Twice I’ve been approached by people I didn’t know… who confessed shyly and with kind intentions that they had uprooted their families and moved to northern Michigan because I had written so glowingly about the place in my books.
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Sunken Treasure
In 2015, “sink logs” — timber that fell to river bottoms or lakes when floating en route to mills — were dredged from Muskegon Lake. Perfectly preserved specimens of this prized lumber found their way to Gabriel Currie, the brains and hands behind Echopark Guitars.
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Changing Times
Old Mission’s historic establishment delivers relaxed farm-to-table dining.
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Gifts From the Monks
On any busy summer day, visitors fill the tiny Jampot shop in Eagle Harbor waiting patiently to purchase wild berry jams, hearty fruitcakes, savory baked goods and confections handmade by the monks of the Holy Transfiguration Skete, Society of Saint John.
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A Life Indefatigably Lived
After a Memorial Day tornado tore through our neighborhood a few years ago, the skies had scarcely cleared when a chorus of chainsaws and generators echoed through the land. Just like that, my indefatigable brethren were out in force.
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Wild Cranberry: A Food of the Ages
Commercial cultivation of cranberries is on the rise, and wild food enthusiasts are heading out into bog land in search of its wild counterpart. Thousands of years ago, glaciers scraped across the land, carving deep crevices that filled with water and glacial debris. Those crevices became the bogs we know today, which is where you will find the wild cranberry.
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Fall Signals Change
Autumn is the season of tidings. We know in our bones that winter is coming. Summer has passed and the days have grown cooler. Migrant birds are leaving for southern climes, and darkness comes earlier and earlier each week.
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Fall 2019: Contributors
Meet the authors, photographers, and contributors who helped bring this issue of Michigan BLUE Magazine to life.
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Magic Moments
Kristina Lishawa was just a young girl when her grandfather recognized her appreciation for wild beauty. He bought her a camera, something simple, and introduced her to new worlds.
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Wild and Scenic River Protection
If you want to fish for river-run salmon this fall or enjoy a canoe trip at the height of color, the U.S. Forest Service has a message for you: Pick up after yourself and keep the rivers clean.
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Fall Color By Rail
Generations ago, train travel was a primary means of transportation around Michigan. Yet, many children today have never experienced the adventure of riding the rails with the clacking of the wheels on the tracks, the faint smell of the locomotive’s exhaust and the feel of wind in their hair while aboard the open gondola car.
