calling the four directions

[edenfalling]

Four views from the end of our dock.



1. Looking north toward O'Neil's Point (aka Anderson's Point). There is a UU camp over there, between the east portage and the point, called Unistar. I have always vaguely wanted to attend even though that's kind of silly when I am already an islander... but hey, I'm a UU too, right? And it would definitely not be the same as spending a week in my family's cabin.



2. Looking east across the lake toward the mainland. You can see a few fishing boats toward the right of the picture. This was a pretty calm day, just a light breeze, so the waves are quite small. We had some other days where the lake was as still as glass, but that's quite rare overall. Whitecaps are sadly more common.



3. Looking south toward Ah-Nung Point (aka Starr's Point). Cedar Island is technically in this picture, but it got lost against the backdrop of the mainland. Alas for my cell phone camera's imperfect focus.



4. Looking west toward the stairs up to our cabin. The stones at the base of the bluff are not natural; they are part of a riprap anti-erosion project that a whole bunch of cabin-owners collectively paid for after wrangling permission from the Forest Service, back when a series of high water years were threatening to carve the ground out from under our cabins. You can see the project extending along the shore in the northern and southern views.

These pictures were all taken within a minute of each other, despite the dramatic difference in perceived colors in the final photo. Light has funny effects sometimes, doesn't it? *wry*

Comments

[branchandroot]

Exceedingly cool. And that's an adorable boat, too.

Looks like the rocks are doing their job, at any rate; the trees down at the water line look good and upright.

[edenfalling]

Yeah, the riprap has definitely stabilized the bank, though it has also eliminated all chance of a beach -- we used to occasionally get about two feet of visible beach in very low water years and that is now impossible since the riprap extends a couple yards out under the waterline. Conversely, we now have a little bit of flattish dry land up above the rocks, under the lower section of our steps, which in some ways makes step repair and staining easier.

Our old boat was red and white and kind of tacky looking. We've had this one for... fifteen years now, maybe? The upholstery and back cover are only about two or three years old though -- the old ones split and shrank and had to be replaced -- which contributes to its relatively classy appearance. :-)

[heliopausa]

I have been admiring these photos for weeks, but never getting around to saying how beautiful your lake is! Wonderful, wonderful water! The best element! :) Thanks for sharing these; they're a joy to look at.

[edenfalling]

Cass Lake is indeed a beautiful lake! It is on the very upper end of the Mississippi River, and was briefly thought to be the headwaters... until the white explorers found where the river flowed in, whoops. So they headed on upstream to Lake Andrusia, and Wolf Lake, and eventually to Lake Itasca, which is the official headwaters of the Mississippi. You can't get from Cass Lake all the way to Itasca by motorboat -- in fact, I'm not sure you can get even as far as Lake Bemidji by motorboat; the river gets awfully shallow, marshy, and mazy between the various lakes -- but you could definitely canoe to, oh, a few hundred meters downstream from where the Mississippi spills out of Itasca. Regulations permitting, of course!

My family went to Lake Itasca once when I was a kid. We waded in the lake, and then walked downstream in the river for a bit. I remember there were tadpoles as big as my fist swimming around our legs as we slogged through the water -- of course, I was only about eight or nine years old, so my fist wasn't very large, but they were still quite startling!

So nice to see th island!

[(Anonymous)]

I just found your blog and photos from Star Island. My grandparents built a cabin on the west shore in 1958 or 1959 and my parents started bringing me up there when I was a baby (1963). Later, we shared a cabin with an aunt and uncle on the east shore. Judging by your photos, our cabin must have been very close to yours (Creevy and Bachelder are/were the last names).

Both cabins were sold as each side of the family spread out and away from Minnesota, but I still dream about Star Island and think about it almost daily (in fact, I have the latitude and longitude of the island tattooed on my wrist). Your photos are so wonderful to see - thank you!

Re: So nice to see th island!

[edenfalling]

The current Creevy cabin (I am not sure how long it has been in the family) is indeed close to my family's cabin. I am glad you have enjoyed my posts and photographs. :-)