All of Jacob Emerick's posts, page 45 of 57.

Panorama Hills - The First Visit

Random outcroppings on the green hills

Finding good hikes in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan is not always easy. I prefer to stick to remote areas that, by their very nature, don't get a lot of traffic. Reading history articles or essays can sometimes uncover mentions of interesting features worth exploring, and it was while researching…

  • Category Hiking
  • Posted August 14, 2012
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Snake Creek Hills

Hiding outcroppings in the fall colors

Several years had gone by since I last drove through Dodge City on the Northwestern Road up past the Yellow Dog Plains. Back then I had been hunting for Hogsback Falls, the only named drop on the Salmon Trout River that is not on Huron Mountain Club property. There is a logging road that extends…

  • Category Hiking
  • Posted July 30, 2012
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Writing Code for Humans, not Computers

One thing that all programmers and developers fear is working in someone else's code. Whether it is adding a feature or tracking down a bug, going through a foreign chunk of code can be confusing and frustrating at best. The intent of any script is best understood when it's created and quickly…

  • Category Web Development
  • Posted July 19, 2012
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Bob and Paul Lakes

Two-track ford on the Yellow Dog near the station

Standing on the shore of the Yellow Dog River I took a deep breath, letting the cool fall air fill my chest. This was a familiar spot, where a remote USGS station measured the river a few miles upstream from Pinnacle Falls. The two-track had taken me from the AAA road to here, the southern edge of…

  • Category Hiking
  • Posted July 6, 2012
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Northern Boise Creek Valley Explorations

Bare trees and lonely tracks in Boise Creek Valley

Boise Creek Valley is an awkward, sand-filled depression just north of the Dead River Basin. There are four main creeks that flow through the valley: Clark Creek flows in from the highlands to the west, Wilson Creek seeps along the towering eastern cliffs, Deer Creek drains a large swamp to the…

  • Category Hiking
  • Posted June 14, 2012
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Hiking Mt Benison

Mt Benison rising to the east

Rising up like a large, gnarly growth, Mt Benison stretches from Mountain Lake to Little Huron River and from Howe to Cliff Lake. Similar to Ives Hill far to the east and Superior Mountain just to the west, Mt Benison is not a simple peak with a distinct shape or defined outcroppings but a whole…

  • Category Hiking
  • Posted June 3, 2012
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Life and Death of a Developer

After working with web programmers and developers over the last four years (and being one myself) I've noticed a disconcerting trend. The average lifespan is very short… that is, the lifespan of interest in their job. This is not true for every single worker in this industry but results from…

  • Category Web Development
  • Posted May 26, 2012
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Western Alder Hill

Many outcroppings on the south face

Both Alder Hills are located in a prime area for promising views. Being near the northeast corner of the Huron Mountains lends potential for vistas of Big Bay and Lake Independence with enough elevation to glimpse the edge of the Yellow Dog Plains. One could easily expect grand views and…

  • Category Hiking
  • Posted May 16, 2012
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Eastern Alder Hill

First view of the southeast Alder Hill

County Roads 550 and 510 stretch northwest from Marquette, roughly parallel and never more than five miles apart, eventually meeting near Big Bay. Between the two roads lie a number of public and private peaks of the Huron Mountains. There are a few that spill out of the road's embracing circle, but…

  • Category Hiking
  • Posted May 10, 2012
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Return to Mulligan Cliffs

Up at one of the bluffs

The cliffs along the southeast wall of Mulligan Plains is one of the most rugged and tempting hikes I've found since I first viewed them in late 2008. Towering hundreds of feet above Mulligan Creek, often with sheer rock faces that are rare in the Upper Peninsula, they promise of awesome views of…

  • Category Hiking
  • Posted April 6, 2012
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Activity Stream

  • Read 'Salem's Lot by Stephen King.
  • Read Elantris (Elantris, #1) by Brandon Sanderson.
  • Read It by Stephen King.
  • Read Mistborn Trilogy (Mistborn, #1-3) by Brandon Sanderson.
  • Read Tress of the Emerald Sea by Brandon Sanderson.
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