I took a trip to Michigan to do some photography. I went without much of a plan. Just to see what I see. About halfway to Michigan I decided to drive straight through to Mackinaw City. I got in at about 9:45pm and went straight to The Headlands International Dark Sky Park. It is an amazing place that is always open and is setup for night sky viewing and astrophotography. Only red lights are allowed and you are not even supposed to have your cell phone screen on. It ended up being one of my favorite places. There is an observatory there for special viewing events.

On Saturday I took a trip to the Upper Peninsula to get some pictures of the fall colors and the waterfalls at Tahquamenon Falls State Park. The upper falls is one of the largest waterfalls east of the Mississippi at 50ft high and 200ft across and flows at 50,000 gal of water per second. The amber color is from tannins leached from the cedar, spruce, and hemlock in the swamps drained by the river. On the way back to the hotel I got some pictures of Lake Superior with Canada in the distance. Then I stopped to get some pictures of the Mackinaw Bridge and finished the night with another visit to Headlands Dark Sky Park.

On Sunday I took a trip out to Mackinac Island. It was a lot of hiking up a lot of hills. I made it to Fort Mackinac, Arch Rock, and hiked about halfway around the shoreline. I got some sunset pictures from a small public beach just north of Wilderness Park. Stayed there later to get some star pics, then went back to Headlands to get some night pics of the observatory. I finished up the night getting some night pictures of the Mackinaw Bridge with it's colorful lights.

On Monday, I started heading south along Lake Michigan. I took a lot of the smaller highways through the countryside stopping at a bunch of small towns along the way. I did the scenic drive through Sleeping Bear Dunes Park which had some of the most amazing views of Lake Michigan. I got some quick pics at Arcadia Dunes and Fifth Avenue Beach because it was raining. I decided to stay the night in Holland, MI which was close to the Big Red Lighthouse. The storms moved out and it ended up being a pretty good sunset.

On Tuesday I got started early and wanted to make one stop at South Haven to see one more lighthouse before I headed home. I got there before sunrise and the wind gusts were up to about 30-35 mph. The lake looked like an ocean. I was only able to get these 2 pics. It was an amazing trip. Michigan has so much to see that I will need to go back sometime.