Sulphur Island off Alpena, Michigan
Jul 10, 2014 19:35:21 GMT -5
rockpickerforever, panamark, and 3 more like this
Post by Jugglerguy on Jul 10, 2014 19:35:21 GMT -5
Last summer, another teacher and I took our kayaks to an Island off of Alpena (where I live). The Island is about a mile off of Partridge Point. There were some cool rocks out there, but I forgot to bring a camera, so I've been itching to get back out there. The area is pretty remote and the water is freezing, so it's sort of scary heading out there in a kayak.
Today was nice and calm, so my son Bryan asked if we could go explore the island. We headed out around 8 am in an attempt to beat the wind. It was only about 55 degrees out this morning, but it was a beautiful day.
There's the island about a mile off shore behind Bryan.
We arrived safely. This is looking back toward the mainland.
I'm not sure why the island is called Sulphur Island. I would have named it Shale Island. There is shale everywhere. Along the beach here it's black. It ends just a few feet out in the water.
The stuff that doesn't get wet is tan colored.
Every piece is perfect for skipping!
Did I mention that there's a lot of shale? The first time I saw this place, I thought someone had hauled a bunch of wood chips to the island. It's crunchy to walk on.
What I didn't realize last summer is that this is where seagulls come from. As we walked around the island, we started seeing more and more seagulls. Then we could hear them in the distance. It was almost scary as we approached the noise.
Everything on the ground where the seagulls were sitting was dead and stinky.
Bryan was very worried about being targets for the flying rats.
I couldn't help but think about this Far Side comic.
There were hundreds, if not thousands of birds on and around the island. I wish we would have gotten a video so you could hear it. The smell was not pleasant. There were young birds that were about the size of adults, but couldn't fly yet. The adults were not happy.
Around this side of the island the shale was in the water as sort of bedrock. There were some fun formations like these too.
I read that this shale will burn because of the oil content. We found this small oil slick on the water and Bryan wondered if it was from the shale.
My favorite part about the island is the concretions in one area. They're everywhere.
The seagulls liked this one.
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Bryan perched on it too. He opted not to poop on it.
This one looks like it's erupting from the shale.
The water had calmed down even more for the ride home. According to a book I have called, "Lake Huron Rock Picker's Guide" there are stones similar to lightning stones or septarian nodules in the water around the island. I haven't had any luck finding them though.
The water was crystal clear so we decided to go look at some ship wrecks in Alpena. Alpena is on Thunder Bay, which is now designated as a national marine sanctuary for the many shipwrecks here. There are several right near the harbor that were deliberately sunk back when that was an acceptable way to dispose of old ships. By the time we got the kayaks loaded up and drove back to town and unloaded them, the wind had picked up so there wasn't much visibility into the water anymore. Bryan has a GoPro camera that he has attached to a stick that he held underwater as he drifted over the shipwreck. All we could see from above is a big black blob, so we had no idea what kind of video he would get. It turned out really well, all things considered. This wreck is called the Bay City. Bay City is a city a couple hours from here, so I assume that's where it got its name.
Today was nice and calm, so my son Bryan asked if we could go explore the island. We headed out around 8 am in an attempt to beat the wind. It was only about 55 degrees out this morning, but it was a beautiful day.
There's the island about a mile off shore behind Bryan.
We arrived safely. This is looking back toward the mainland.
I'm not sure why the island is called Sulphur Island. I would have named it Shale Island. There is shale everywhere. Along the beach here it's black. It ends just a few feet out in the water.
The stuff that doesn't get wet is tan colored.
Every piece is perfect for skipping!
Did I mention that there's a lot of shale? The first time I saw this place, I thought someone had hauled a bunch of wood chips to the island. It's crunchy to walk on.
What I didn't realize last summer is that this is where seagulls come from. As we walked around the island, we started seeing more and more seagulls. Then we could hear them in the distance. It was almost scary as we approached the noise.
Everything on the ground where the seagulls were sitting was dead and stinky.
Bryan was very worried about being targets for the flying rats.
I couldn't help but think about this Far Side comic.
There were hundreds, if not thousands of birds on and around the island. I wish we would have gotten a video so you could hear it. The smell was not pleasant. There were young birds that were about the size of adults, but couldn't fly yet. The adults were not happy.
Around this side of the island the shale was in the water as sort of bedrock. There were some fun formations like these too.
I read that this shale will burn because of the oil content. We found this small oil slick on the water and Bryan wondered if it was from the shale.
My favorite part about the island is the concretions in one area. They're everywhere.
The seagulls liked this one.
[/url]Bryan perched on it too. He opted not to poop on it.
This one looks like it's erupting from the shale.
The water had calmed down even more for the ride home. According to a book I have called, "Lake Huron Rock Picker's Guide" there are stones similar to lightning stones or septarian nodules in the water around the island. I haven't had any luck finding them though.
The water was crystal clear so we decided to go look at some ship wrecks in Alpena. Alpena is on Thunder Bay, which is now designated as a national marine sanctuary for the many shipwrecks here. There are several right near the harbor that were deliberately sunk back when that was an acceptable way to dispose of old ships. By the time we got the kayaks loaded up and drove back to town and unloaded them, the wind had picked up so there wasn't much visibility into the water anymore. Bryan has a GoPro camera that he has attached to a stick that he held underwater as he drifted over the shipwreck. All we could see from above is a big black blob, so we had no idea what kind of video he would get. It turned out really well, all things considered. This wreck is called the Bay City. Bay City is a city a couple hours from here, so I assume that's where it got its name.
