Still frozen channel

The channel between Bayfield and Madeline island is still frozen. The ferry has made a path to the island with the help of the Coast Guard but other then that river of a path the channel is still solid ice.

Super Moon 2011

About a week ago we had the SUPER MOON shining on Chequamegon Bay.

On March 19th, a full Moon of rare size and beauty will rise in the east at sunset. It's a super "perigee moon"--the biggest in almost 20 years. "The last full Moon so big and close to Earth occurred in March of 1993," says Geoff Chester of the US Naval Observatory in Washington DC. "I'd say it's worth a look." Full Moons vary in size because of the oval shape of the Moon's orbit. It is an ellipse with one side (perigee) about 50,000 km closer to Earth than the other (apogee): diagram. Nearby perigee moons are about 14% bigger and 30% brighter than lesser moons that occur on the apogee side of the Moon's orbit.

Bayview Beach

The ice heaving on the sand and shallows makes interesting shapes to explore on Bayview beach just south of Bayfield. A favorite spot in summer is also popular for fishing. The Steelhead will be running up the Sioux River to spawn about now. Sometimes up the river at a campground called

Big Rock you can see them in the river when the water is clear and not muddy from runoff.

Ice on the bays

Lake Superior is free of ice but the bays are still frozen. Click on the map and you can see Chequamegon Bay is still solid and people were still driving on it last weekend. The Soo Locks are open for the new shipping season today. Spring is here! The Madeline Island ferry is plowing thru the ice back and forth to Madeline Island. A coast Guard ice breaker was in the channel last Friday cutting a path. The lack of postings recently was due to me wandering around the Lake Superior Region. A ski trip to the U.P and a small trip up the Minnesota coast. Spring break is a wonderful time to start the travel season. Winter is over and soon it will be Bayfield in Bloom time again.