Hiking, web development, best practices, and general awesomeness
There's something to be said about a good ol' stumble-of-a-trudge, the type of hike when your legs begin to complain about bending properly and you refuse to stop for a break in the fear that your legs will rebel against you. When the weather and the terrain and the distance all conspire against…
Presque Isle is one of those delightful city parks with some neat and unique spots that I usually avoid on my adventures. While it is a bit removed from the hustle of Marquette, perched on the north shoulder far from the main byways, the sounds and smells of city still float through the park like an…
Ghostly fog crept over the dark road, repeatedly slowing me on my early morning drive. It was an uneasy reminder of a trip only a few months ago when my hike was cut short by a solid wall of mist on a bluff out by Irish Hollow Cemetery. Today's first adventure depended heavily on good visibility and…
Mining ruins are not my normal hiking destinations. It's not that I don't find the old sites interesting or that I'm not drawn to the Copper Country's rich mining history, it's just that I find the natural beauty of the Upper Peninsula more appealing. Well, that and ruins are more difficult to…
Waterfalls were my first love in the Upper Peninsula. I'd walk miles and miles searching out little known drops deep in the woods, guided only by rumors and intuition. Most of these quests resulted in discovering an unnamed wonder far from the beaten path, even if it meant returning several times to…
Near the southeastern end of the Keweenaw Ridge a series of named peaks rise up, one last push towards the sky before Lake Superior swallows up the land. Mount Horace Greeley is the highest point in Keweenaw County but is on private property, with an old Air Force base perched on its peak. Mt…
Dense fog broken only by scattered showers made my early morning drive to Rockland a stressful journey. There was no stars or moon to break the darkness, only thick, cloying whiteness and occasional city street lights. It wasn't until I was within ten minutes of my destination that the sun began to…
On a small point of land north of Ontonagon, MI sits an abandoned lighthouse. Built in the 1890s to help guide traffic from Houghton to Ontonagon along the unmarked coast this lighthouse was in commission for over fifty years before it was snuffed out. In 1984 a fire consumed everything but the…
Forbidden land stretched out in front of me. I was within a mile of the Huron Mountain Club property, standing on an unnamed outcropping southeast of Burnt Mountain, looking north along the eastern guardians of Mountain Lake. For years I had been trying to see this huge lake within the Club's…
The morning air was crisp enough to draw a shiver from me as I searched for a path. I had parked on the end of a forest road east of Old M-64 on a spring morning and wondered if my double shirt and jean jacket would be enough to protect me from the cold. Finding the sign that marked the start of the…