Signs of spring
The shipping season began this week with the March 25 opening of the Soo Locks in Sault Ste. Marie. The John G. Munson (pictured below) left Duluth on Monday, bound for Gary, Indiana, via the Soo. (The Mesabi Miner sailed from Duluth on Monday, too, heading up the North Shore to Minnesota's Taconite Harbor.)
The Munson, though aided by the U.S. Coast Guard vessels Alder and Mackinaw, still hadn't reached the locks when this roundup was published on Friday. Though western Lake Superior is mostly ice-free, extensive ice cover remains in the east.
The upbound vessels Edwin H. Gott and Roger Blough locked through late on the 25th. They're currently fighting through the ice near Michigan's Whitefish Point that has stymied the Munson.
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Linda Nervick / Lake Superior Magazine
John G. Munson, Twin Ports' first departing laker of 2015
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Paul L. Hayden / Lake Superior Magazine
John G. Munson, Twin Ports' first departing laker of 2015
In Bayfield, Wisconsin, the Madeline Island Ferry is back on the water:
Madeline Island Ferry Line
Gordy's Hi-Hat, the 55-year-old burger joint just west of the Big Lake's shores in Cloquet, Minnesota, re-opened for the year on Wednesday. It's become a rite of spring.
The spring melt is on:
Shawn Malone / Lake Superior Photo
And milder weather means it's maple sugaring season. Try it yourself this weekend at Michigan's Tahquamenon Falls State Park.
+ As we reported in our February/March issue, the Lake Superior Binational Forum will no longer receive funding from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency once its grant expires early next month. Visit the forum website to learn more about the organization (a 24-year-old, basin-wide outreach and stakeholder group) and how you can support its mission going forward.
+ Isle Royale researchers reflect on the mainland wolves that crossed the ice last month but left the island soon after.
+ CBC: Lynx spotted near Terrace Bay post office [with video].
+ Bayfield's Big Water Coffee Roasters has new ownership – its employees.