Grown dissatisfied with the state of things on my native prairie and
itching to do real work, I chased spring north. At the eastern edge of Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore spring
even now edges into summer, which comes late to the Northwoods and most years,
doesn't stay long. I arrived just in time.
This was strictly a hit and run working trip intended to fulfill a longstanding
promise I'd made to myself. No time to recreate. I worked hard and nailed it. Will
show & tell more, later.
Tiger Swallowtails were courting, en masse. More than I'd ever seen in
one place. Biting flies and mosquitoes swarmed. Fresh life was thrown everywhere,
in abundance.
Upon hearing rumors of trout working their way up the Hurricane River and even though I wasn't carrying my fishing gear, of course I went to
see for myself. Never pass up a chance to watch fish do their fishy thing, I
say.
Behold, a true wonder of nature:
It's inestimably rare, to catch a fish with only my camera.
Intent on spawning, these trout are working their way up their natal stream
as far as they can go, which on the aptly named Hurricane is likely a set of
falls not far upstream from this. They push forward relentlessly and having
labored mightily to get only this far, are desperate to not fall back.
Notice how the biggest fish in this trio taking a breather is nestled
in behind the smaller fish, making his task easier:
As this fish gasped for breath in the short rushing river, its upper
jaw threw a spray of current a full foot or more into the air. I've never seen
the like.
Predawn along the Adams Trail Saturday morning last, wolves sang in
the fast fading dark while myriad birds and frogs offered up voices in song.
Later, coyotes yipped and yapped. With full sun, Trumpeter Swans and
Sandhill Cranes called.
And for a little while of transcendent time on a Monday morning at the
cusp of summer beside a wild Northwoods river, fish were the definitely the thing.
Far as I know, those don't sing. Or if they do, it's in voices we don't hear.
At any rate, one can't always have everything, but sometimes in the Northwoods magic
happens and like a gift you get what you need. Even when you didn't know you
needed exactly that.
