Hiking, web development, best practices, and general awesomeness
A cold wind swept off of Lake Superior and swept the trees around Kathleen and me. As the sand stung our eyes and the sound of crashing waves pounded our ears we exchanged an uncertain look. Little Presque Isle was not exactly an easy destination to reach, especially through a turbulent great…
It's been a few years since I climbed Sugarloaf Mountain. The area is one of those spots I tend to skirt around, with marked trails and frequent visitors, even though the views of the Marquette shoreline are very impressive. This evening seemed like a good time to stop by. It was late enough to…
Eyeing up the sign in front of me I continued forward to Wetmore Beach, snowshoes in hand. Apparently the state owns this land and visitors are required to have a recreational pass. I didn't have one. I also wasn't in my car where one would slap this sticker on. The road to Wetmore was buried in a…
My Saturn Ion shot through the late-summer woods along a narrow two-track. The road to Echo Lake Nature Preserve, a walk that had taken my tired legs hours to walk last winter, was an easy drive for my little sedan. There were a few mud puddles, a few splashes to cake the sides of the car, and then…
An unseasonable warm gripped the Marquette area. I stepped out of my car in short sleeves and looked around curiously at the snow drifts piled up against the woods. I was parked just north of Sugarloaf Mountain at an old gravel pit. There were no signs marking anything special here but I was one of…
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…
A bent blue gate marked the beginning of my afternoon hike. I had just drove down the confusing Holyoke Trail, northwest of Marquette, and was itching to get started. Stepping around the game I set off north along the two-track, wondering what this hike would have in store for me. I knew there were…
Mount Mathew is located just north of Three Lakes within a few miles of Marquette, Michigan. Less than a thousand feet in height, it is dwarfed in both stature and awareness by Sugarloaf and Hogback to the north. Even the Three Lakes area is only known by its closeness to the Dead River Falls…
The wide path down Hogsback Mountain led me back to the railroad grade a short distance south of where I left it earlier. While the path continued ahead of me something of interest drew my attention to the right. The large, swampy Wetmore Pond stretched out to me along the railroad grade, luring me…
The sound of crashing waves slowly died away as I headed inland away from Wetmore Beach. Taking the parking lot route out to County Road 550, I was unsure of how I would make it to Hogsback Mountain until I noticed a small two-track across the road from Wetmore's parking lot. It was marked as part…