Upper Peninsula, Michigan

[dbhguru]

ENTS,

  Monica and I are in Michigan's UP. Here are some scenes from the day. First two shots are from Whitefish Bay. The first is of driftwood.

               

                       

                                       

               

               

                       

                                       

               

 The next image id Jack Pine flowering

               

                       

                                       

               

 The next shot is Upper Tehquomenon Falls

               

                       

                                       

               

The last shot is of a whopper giant white pine. It measures 15.75 feet in girth and 120 feet in height. I figure it has at least 920 cubes, maybe more. A nearby pine has almost the same dimensions. The two huge pines are said to be 185 years old. The surrounding forest is old growth, about 1700 acres. The sign next to the first tree claims there is enough wood in the two trees to build a 5-room house.

               

                       

                                       

               

 In terms of the waterfalls, The lower falls aren't much to look at, but the upper falls are definitely impressive. I'll have more to report about Whitefish Point and the Bay and Tehquomenon Falls State Park in a future communication.

  From the road,

Bob and Monica

[edfrank]

Nice post Bob.  I am looking forward to more accounts of your adventures on the road.

[dbhguru]

Ed,

  Here are two more flowering Jack Pine images. I'd never thought of Jack Pine as particularly attractive, but what I've seen over the last couple of days has given me a different perspective.

               

                       

                                       

               

               

                       

                                       

               

Bob

[jamesrobertsmith]

Wow! You're hitting some interesting spots! This nation has some great places in our various state park systems. 1700 acres of old growth forest is impressive!

[James Parton]

Truly awesome pines, Bob.

I have always pictured Jack pines looking quite a bit like Pitch or Virginia pine but maybe shorter and shrubbier. But I have never been far enough north to see one.

[dbhguru]

James, Robert, Ed, et al.

    Today, we leave the eastern side of the UP and head for the Porkies. If the rain will ever let up, we should be able to get some good images over there. Yesterday we returned from our excursion like a couple of drowned rats. I love the UP, but look forward to clear skies and dry air.

     Here are two final scenes from the area we're in. The first is of the lower falls and the second is of a jack pine community.

               

                       

                                       

               

               

                       

                                       

               

Bob

[Larry Tucei]

Bob,   That beach shot reminds me of Minnesota Point, at Duluth on Lake Superior.  I measured some nice Red Pines there back in 07. I'm enjoying all of your post from your travels. Bayfield Wis, was as close as I have come to the UP, the area is so beautiful up there. Larry

[mileslowry]

Gee, Bob... I would never have known that that was driftwood! ;-)

[Lee Frelich]

James:

The short scrubby jack pines Bob shows in Michigan are characteristic of the south (from the point of view of the boreal forests, Michigan is 'the south').  In the boreal forest it is a tall slender tree, as shown in these pictures in northern Minnesota ('the north').

Mature jack pine forest in the Boundary Waters, MN, Photo by Bud Heinselman

               

                       

                                       

               

190 year old jack pine being invaded by cedar (olive green along water edge) and black spruce (photo Lee Frelich). Forests this old are unusual and succession is starting to occur.

               

                       

                                       

               

Here is the interior of a mature jack pine boreal forest with feather moss about 10 inches deep on the forest floor.

               

                       

                                       

               

And, since this is a fire dependent forest type, with high intensity crown fires every 50-150 years (unlike the scrubby jack pines further south which are not serotinous), here are pictures after the fire. Note the cones on the lower branches (look like small knobs) and high in the crowns, which create considerable density in the crown even after the needles have fallen off. (Photos by Bud Heinselman).  

               

                       

                                       

               

               

                       

                                       

               

Here is a jack pine forest 3 years after fire (Photo Bud Heinselman). Note that the forest came right back from a black moonscape to dense regeneration.

               

                       

                                       

               

Non-boreal (Bob's pictures from Michigan) and boreal jack pine (these pictures) are very different in growth form, ecological function,  and adaptation to fire.  The forest Bob showed probably has open cones, more frequent fires and more variety of jack pine tree ages.

Lee

[James Parton]

Lee,

The growth form of those northern Jack Pines is better than that of most Virginia Pines I see and better than many a Pitch Pine. There is certainly a lot of difference between the northern and southern forms of the Jack Pine.

Thanks for giving me more insight on these trees.