Category Archives: Landscapes

Vol XXII – #16- Airborne

  Nice light and light wind tonight so I went down to North Beach and launched the drone and did a video run from a mile south to a mile north to compare with the one I did when the water level was at its peak. I’ll post that when I make it. Below is a view of the finished… Read more »

Vol XXII – #15- Fishtown Trim

    Fishtown is looking pretty ready for the season! The water level is not as low as it has been recently at 579.5′, but way off the high of just over 582.3′ in 2020. The dredger is running and dumping sand down by South Beach.  Today’s water level: Taken back in 2019 (with seiches, the level easily went over… Read more »

Vol XXII – #14- Trillium Time

  Trillium season is in full swing. I found these at the top of the hill near the open field on the Clay Cliffs trail North of Leland. Looking forward to nice weather all this week for some other shots, maybe some drone footage. The best Trillium display I’ve seen was on the Arcadia Dunes Trail just North of Arcadia…. Read more »

Vol XXII – #13- Wildfire

  Excitement for the day was a wildfire that started along the telephone lines that head into the forest south of Trillium Dr., which is less than a mile South. Looks minor, but with the winds today, could have been pretty serious. Thank you Leelanau Township Fire and Tribal Fire personnel for taking care of this. The Daffodils also thank… Read more »

Vol XXII – #12- Fishtown to Alligator Hill

 Two for one today. Clouds parted for a nice sunny day yesterday, however cold with gale force winds. The Joy is in the water and it looks like the new and higher dock is complete. Today we took a hike over to Alligator Hill which is still healing from the microburst many years ago. Today started out cold, cloudy, and… Read more »

Vol XXII – #11- One or the Other

  I guess we can have warm and rain, or cold and sunshine this week, that’s it. I guess I can’t complain. Top photo is from Bayview and you know the bottom. I can’t pass up a day like this and a Narrows shot. The boat is in good condition now for the Summer and we had a good dinner… Read more »

Vol XXII – #10- Fog and Birds

Cold weather hanging around can’t stop the lake from thawing. But that didn’t stop our friend Elijah from taking his kite skiing rig out on the lake one last time. Per Elijah, “And no, it’s not really safe”. Noted! Today a cool fog bank rolled over the East side. A lone kayaker was communing with the seagulls out near the… Read more »

Vol XXII – #9- No Cruise Ships

It was probably inevitable, but cruise ships have made their way into the Manitou Passage. I’m not talking a small one, mind you, this was a massive one that could inundate our peaceful town with thousands of gawky iPhone-laden tourists all at once! Imagine the lines at the Cheese Shanty after a visit with one of these monsters. And the… Read more »

Vol XXII – #8- Leland on the Atlas

I dropped off some more Leland Report books at Leelanau Books in Leland last week and Paula handed me an Oxford Essential Atlas 8th Edition which has the Leelanau Peninsula on the cover! She has a shelf full of them, so go pick one up. It’s now been six years since I came out with “The Leland Report- 15 Years… Read more »

Vol XXII – #7- Back Up On the Dunes

I headed South toward Gen Arbor and Sleeping Bear Dunes Trail this afternoon and stopped by Sugar Loaf Resort (or what used to be). The main chalet and hotel building is now completely demolished. Only a couple hotel buildings remain and only a single light pole and chairlift pole remain on the hill. From there, I drove down to the… Read more »