Early May Up North

I traveled north and spent the weekend camped at the D.H. Day Campground at Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore.  This gave me an opportunity to both in the early morning and around sunset.  I started my day on the Grasshopper Loop of the Brown Bridge Quiet Area trail south of Traverse City.  I spent some time waiting in a meadow for the sun to rise to get this shot.  As I anticipated, the rising set this amazing larch tree on fire!Brown Bridge Quiet Area 7934-s

From the meadow I walked along the board walk.

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I seem to be intrigued by roots these days.  This next set of roots appears to be reaching out to me.

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Dutchman’s breeches along the Kettles trail in the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. The U.S. Forest Service site reports that the flower has many different common names around the country. One is ” Little Blue Staggers,” so called because the plant is known to induce a drunken stagger when cattle graze on it because of narcotic and toxic substances in the poppy-related genus.

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Cedars along the shore of Tucker Lake.

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A view of Glen Lake from the Pierce Stocking Scenic Drive in the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore.

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Some shots atop Sleeping Bear Dune at sunset.

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The weekend was the weekend of the new moon.  The sky was perfectly clear, offering the perfect opportunity for my first attempt at astrophotography, a photo of the Milky Way.

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