The Gallery #2

 Today begins the 100 Days of Wonder project.

Our first prompt is "forest" so I thought I would include some old photos from the Michigan Upper Peninsula when I worked for the Forest Service.

This is how I imagine my Heaven would look.
Trooper waiting expectantly for me to arrive.

This was from a small bridge near where I lived,
and one of my favorite winter photos.

This is a photo I've been looking for for many years.
I knew I still had it somewhere, but it was not in any of my current archives.
I'm not sure why Trooper looks so small among the trees.
He really wasn't that far away from me, and the trees were not that large.
I think it maybe shows how small he felt at the time.  It was our first winter in the UP.
His first time seeing evergreen trees and snow.

This is one of my favorites.  The first fall in the UP.
I'd seen the colors of fall leaves before, but never against the white birch trees.

There weren't many others from the UP that I saved when I downloaded those archive photos.  But some may appear in future galleries.  It's not an indication of how I feel about that time in my life.  As a whole, my time in the UP was simply amazing.  The people were unforgettable.  The skilled craftspeople are incredibly talented. The scenery was breathtaking.  There are places I would like to go back to visit someday.

Black River Harbor  [<link] was the most amazing place to search for rocks and geodes, and just to sit and listen to the waves on Lake Superior.

The drive to and from Eagle River, Eagle Harbor, and Copper Harbor.

It is definitely, however, somewhere that you want to be adequately prepared for a road trip or camping.  The gas stations can be few and far between.  Cell service can be spotty.  If you run out of gas somewhere, it can be hours, or even days, before another car comes by depending on where you get stranded.  In the winter months, you want to be sure to have a winter emergency bag in your car that could help you stay warm or dig your vehicle out of a drift.  Winter in the UP is no joke.

This image is from the Pure Michigan Pinterest page