Thanksgiving Weekend on Lake Erie
/I was lucky enough to spend Thanksgiving on Lake Erie this year. The drive wasn't the best with all the snow bands coming off the lake, but we did wake up to 4 inches of fresh snow on Thanksgiving morning. We had hoped to have a bonfire on the beach that day, but it was so windy we ended up having a fire in a pine stand on the abandoned property near the mouth of Canadaway creek.
Mouth of Canadaway Creek on Lake Erie with Point Gratiot in Background
A cold and wintry scene on the beach with Point Gratiot (near Dunkirk, NY) in the distance. The snow on the beach had been blowing all day and created a "wind whipped" look to the beach.
View of Abandoned Property
Like an idiot, I didn't get any pictures of our fire, but this is a shot of the abandoned property looking out from under the pine stand we were in when the snow stopped for a short time.
Mouth of Canadaway Creek on Lake Erie
Canadaway creek from a vantage point overlooking the mouth and lake beyond. The grey snow clouds were to the north and that squall just missed us.
Gulls in the Wind
There are always a lot of seagulls at the mouth of the Creek and they always seem so annoyed when I step out the very tip of land to get pictures. The winds were so high on Thanksgiving that they simply went airborne and hovered there instead of flying down the beach as they normally do.
Watefall
This waterfall is nothing more than a trickle most of the year, but in the winter it amazes me how it becomes encased in thick ice. The light in the picture is pretty flat, but it really gives an idea of how grey and overcast the day was up there.
Lake Erie with Point Gratiot in Background
Saturday on Thanksgiving weekend finally gave us clear skies, low winds, and some sun. Even though most of the beach was still covered in snow, the waves kept the shore clean. Point Gratiot in the background again.
Rcok Ledge overlooking Lake Erie
Looking to the west from a shale ledge overlooking the beach, this is one of my favorite spots to sit and watch the waterfowl and other creatures that call the lake home.
Freeze Dried Aster Blossoms
I'm pretty sure I photographed this Aster plant during the fall and it was one of the few that I saw that still had intact flower buds. The plant was tucked away in a small wind break and the flowers looked to be naturally freeze dried.
Bluffs on Lake
Photographers talk about the "golden hour," that last hour or so of sunlight on clear days where the light can be especially beautiful. The "golden" aspect of the light is especially obvious in this photo of the pine-topped dirt bluffs I hike past often.
To be cont'd...