Woods & Waters

06/22/2024

Instead of doom scrolling this morning, read our new blog post!

There are three simple rules in kayaking. Rule #1 is don't freak out. Rule # 2 is don't freak out. Can you guess what Rule #3 is? Nope! Rule #3 is to have fun!

06/21/2024

Print isn't dead! We had the pleasure on the longest day of the year to welcome this awesome couple who were inspired to visit the Les Cheneaux Islands based on an article in the Travel Michigan insert in their Sunday edition of the Chicago Tribune (link in the first commentI). Thanks for making the trek — we hope you had as much as we did on the water. And by the way, we do allow people to bring their own sea kayaks on guided trip if they are suitable to our waters and conditions (and given a small discount too).

06/20/2024

We are still working to get the word out about this awesome opportunity that we are offering with the support of Islands Wildlife. We are able to continue adding more dates as the word gets out. Kids of summer residents can also participate, but are not eligible for the special rate. If your student, or friends, attend another EUP district, please reach out to us direct to chat. 888-502-8373

06/18/2024

UPDATE: Well, the weather gods have spoken…. It rained and we are sitting right in the edge of the front so it may rain even more and it’s going to be a muddy mess. Cancelled 😞

22.4 mile gravel bike ride (80% unpaved) is on the docket for Wednesday evening (we will post on Facebook if weather forces a cancellation). Meet at the Italian Hill Cemetery where St. Ignace and Webb roads intersect.

06/18/2024

Woot woot!

06/17/2024

The 🐨 are here!

06/17/2024

This Friday night, there’s an opportunity for a special « Friday night lights » paddle with the FIRST full moon of the summer! The Strawberry Moon rises the day after the solstice. Who’s coming?

The June full moon falls just one day after the summer solstice, which means it will have a particularly unique quality for viewers.

06/14/2024

Evolutionary biology! Pretty cool research in soaring birds.

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Soaring birds — like osprey, eagles, falcons, even vultures — can stay aloft in the air seemingly forever, rarely flapping their wings.…

06/13/2024

Here’s pics of one of the used boats still available … this Targa 130 by Wilderness Systems can be paddled by either 1 or 2 people as the lawn-chair-style seats can be shifted into different configurations. You can even position the seats to face one another which can be fun to ponder the meaning of life while fishing. Comes with a cooler.

Super stable. Listed for $950.

We have other new and used available but they are getting picked up. Sold 3 boats last week and one paddle board this week thus far.

06/11/2024

Summer heat is right around the corner…. Kayaking seems like the perfect escape with the incoming heat wave. The EUP looks like a great place to be!

NOAA has placed the Great Lakes region in an area where excessive heat could occur soon.

06/11/2024

UPDATE: Atlas has been re-united with his Mom. Thank you all for spreading the word!

Lovely friendly young lab running loose and now at the shop… who knows who this is? Please help!

06/10/2024

This week's Wednesday night ride will meet at the Italian Cemetery and be an awesome 19.3 mile loop for gravel bikes. Let's hope the weather cooperates this week!

The ride can be previewed by following this link:
https://ridewithgps.com/routes/47066548

06/10/2024

Thimbleberries are blossoming! Did you know that these plants aren’t really supposed to exist in Michigan? They are technically a botanical disjunct — appearing outside of their normal range here in the Upper Peninsula (and Isle Royale) because it’s likely the glaciers (and birds, people, and water) brought their seeds from the mountain west and they liked the cool and moist terrain found here. Who could blame them?

06/10/2024

Creative thinking!

Two Marquette-area entrepreneurs who sell restaurant-quality, fresh mushrooms have also received a big grant to further their research into how fungi could be a solution to the nationwide PFAS prob…

06/05/2024

If the weather holds, this 12.2 mile mixed terrain ride will meet near the ball field at the airport. We will ride pavement, gravel, and mixed-use trail — all suitable for bikes with minimum of 2"/50mm tires (hardtail, mountain, all-around, or fat tire). See you 6:45.

06/04/2024

05/31/2024

What a beautiful day to paddle to Aldo Leopoldo’s stomping grounds on Les Cheneaux Club to learn more about him, his family, the Club, and the homes on Club Point with Club Historian and gracious host Charles Fels. We love this special annual tour offered during the Aldo Leopold Festival — but do know if you are an Aldo fan we can paddle the waters and show locations and stories, we just can’t land. Call to request!

05/30/2024

And there’s the Shop hop going on at several businesses too during the festival.

We just finished running a smartphone photography workshop today (hope my students learned lots). And doing a naturalist mapping class in Saturday. There might still be room in that class…

The is happening now in Les Cheneaux, and we're proud to be a sponsor of this event, which celebrates the legacy of one of America's most famous naturalists, who just happened to spend months in the Les Cheneaux Islands during his formative years, when the family came here from the 1890s through early 1900s. Aldo Leopold actually made hand-drawn maps of the trails he wandered, and drawings of the natural features he encountered on his wanderings. You can learn more about Leopold and his time in Les Cheneaux at a historical talk tomorrow night. Spots in some sessions remain. Visit aldoleopoldfestival.org for info or to register!

One of the reasons I got involved with this event when it was launched is because Leopold's story resonates so much with me. I think a lot of us who love Northern Michigan have similar stories of running wild through the woods, building stick forts, breaking trails, and gazing in wonder at the trails of stars scattered throughout the veil of the visible Milky Way above our heads on summer nights.

Ours was a childhood of endless discoveries, like the delicate surprise of encountering baby rabbits nested in the ground, seeing deer outside our window every morning, or tasting our harvest of wild strawberries warmed by the sun.

Places can shape you as much as anything else, and my own experience here in the summers formed a hard-core nature geek. I loved my summers trying to identify as many bird songs as possible, and reveled in the endless thrills of learning new plants, picking rocks and hitting the fossil jackpot, or finding crayfish under submerged rocks along the lakeshore.

Whether you're here for the Aldo Leopold Festival, here for the summer, or here for life, I hope you're able to reclaim your own sense of wonder in the small, daily miracles that nature provides. The Upper Peninsula has so much to offer, and the Les Cheneaux region remains a haven for nature geeks. You'll find good company here.

05/29/2024

It's Wednesday — tonight's planned ride is a gravel bike ride will be approximately 20 miles — suitable for gravel bikes. You can choose to ride a shorter out and back on a mountain or fat tire bike.

Meet at the Italian Cemetery which is where Webb Road T's into St. Ignace Road. We hope to see you tonight!

05/28/2024

New stickers just arrived!!!!! My 5th grade self is ELATED.

05/25/2024

HEY! Tomorrow, Sunday, we will have our first demo day of the season and the weather looks great (for late May!).

C'mon over to Hessel Beach between 9:00 am – 12:00 pm to test paddle either sit-on-tops or sea kayaks. We have many models available for sale to kick your season off in the LCI. Don't dilly dally on snagging a used boat or scoring new.

Shop is open 7 days per week if you can't make it and want to see what boats are available for sale. We have some used paddling gear for sale too (and bikes).

05/16/2024

What do you think of my new hat???

05/14/2024

Which color scheme is your favorite for this new sticker design to arrive in time for the Aldo Leopold Festival?

05/12/2024

In other nature news — cicadas are emerging. Here’s a brilliant video of humans reinacting the life cycle. At least entertaining while waiting to see if the northern lights return tonight.

Streaming now at https://abc7chicago.com/watch/live/11064984/.Forestry workers in Illinois donned insect costumes and put on award-worthy performances in a h...

05/11/2024

The elusive chase will be on again tonight with clearing skies predicted!

People — you need a tripod to get the best photos using your phone or a camera. And ideally a remote trigger (Apple watches can do this too).

If anyone in the EUP desperately wants a smartphone tripod, DM as we have a few for sale at the shop and I can meet you there even though we aren’t open yet for the season.

05/10/2024

Unfortunately tonight most of northern Michigan and UP is likely going to be overcast and rain…. But it’s possible aurora will also be present Saturday night which is predicted for clear skies… the sun is in an incredibly active mood. Fingers and toes crossed!

There it is! Some strong data coming in with very strong IMF numbers in the +40s and very strong negative bz readings in the -30s! (Stereo A) Big Big! DSCVR should be showing the CME impact within the hour, wish it would have held off closer to dark, but with so many CMEs forecast earthward, this should be a multi day auroral event! Oh, and since my last update... we're up to SEVEN earthward directed CMEs- we're going to be seeing the effects of those for days ahead... - making plans now to get to a clear sky location.

So what does all that mean? In real simple terms, the strength is there for an incredible aurora display, the timing is early for the first arrival (it will arrive during the day) and we need a negative bz for the strongest auroras to be visible at the lowest latitudes however with such a strong IMF (if that holds) we will see plenty with an unfavorable bz. There is so much coming our way over the next few days, I would just plan to be out if you have clear skies and check to see what's happening!

UPDATE G4 storming in progress. Too bad Norway has too much daylight now :( Hoping some of this holds on for us tonight here in the states! UPDATE: Hemispheric power is 325! Kp approaching 9! IMF around 50! Bz around -50! G5 storming may be possible!

I'll see if I can turn on the aurora cam remotely once it is dark enough -it will be here and will have a red "LIVE" button visible https://www.youtube.com//streams

05/10/2024

Damn it’s good to be back! Stellar sunset tonight! I can also attest that the tiny non-biting midges are out and eager to crawl in your ears 🤪

05/02/2024

Another underwater discovery.

The Adella Shores, loaded with salt and carrying 14 crew members, went down in a spring storm.

05/01/2024

New brand of sit-on-top boats coming in for the 2024 season — we’re excited to get these Swell Watercraft boats out on the water! Been following this brand for a few years as they’ve been adding to their line-up and getting their Iowa manufacturing facility up and running. We’ve order the Scuppers in 12', 14', and the new 16' ! Stay tuned for when they arrive! We will have some in the rental fleet and limited inventory for retail.

Swell Watercraft kayaks are coming soon to Woods & Waters on Lake Huron in Hessel, MI. Call to schedule your demo.

05/01/2024

The annual moose-wolf study report was released for ISRO.

For the first time since new wolves were introduced in 2018, more of the island's moose are dying of predation rather than starvation.