Landscapes Archives - Lost In Michigan

Finding Michigan Benchmarks

Posted on March 23, 2021 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Landscapes, Lighthouses .

Traveling around the Great Lakes State I visit a lot of historic and iconic places and landmarks. On occasion, I come across these round disks about 4 inches in diameter. They are survey markers placed by government agencies such as USGS, the Coast Guard, or NOAA. The markers, also called benchmarks, have the name of the location, a number, and some other information engraved into them. I have found them near lighthouses like this one at the Marquette Lighthouse. I am no expert in them but I believe they are used by surveyors as a reference point. It is one of those things that after you find a few of them you start noticing them more and more. Like the one in the Sacred Rock ( click HERE ) I also found a marker at the summit of Bundy Hill. ( you can see my post HERE)

I enjoy finding these survey markers by happenstance, but if you want to go out and look for survey markers you can find their location on this website HERE

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Michigan’s Buried Treasure at Lake Benton

Posted on March 8, 2021 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Forgotten Places, Landscapes, Nature .

Northeast of Hesperia, deep within the Manistee National Forest, is Benton Lake. It is a small lake completely surrounded by wilderness other than a little rustic campground. As legend has it, back in 1874, a stagecoach was transporting gold coins to a nearby logging camp. The coins were to be used for payroll for the lumberjacks, but along the way, the stage was robbed.

The story that has been told for generations is the bandits feared they might be caught and be beaten or killed by the lumberjacks. They hid the gold in an old cast iron stove and then buried it between two stumps along the shoreline of Benton Lake. They supposedly never came back to retrieve the stolen loot. It is claimed that the gold coins would be worth about a half-million dollars. I am not sure if the legend is true, but if you want to look for the buried treasure, you can check out Benton Lake which is part of the National Forrest. I am not sure what the regulations are for digging on national land but in my opinion, the real treasure is the peace and solitude you will find there.

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Out To Pasture

Posted on August 29, 2020 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Barns and Farms, Landscapes .

I saw these old combines sitting in a field on the back roads somewhere near Shepherd. It looks as if they have been sitting there a while. They remind me of the bull in the movie Cars.

Since I don’t have a story I want to take the time to thank everyone who commented on my post about hay in the Upper Peninsula. I never realized it was such a big crop and is shipped around the midwest. I am always amazed by what I learn from the comments.

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Shoe Tree

Posted on March 2, 2020 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Landscapes .

I came across this tree filled with hundreds of pairs of shoes hanging by their laces. It was a strange-looking sight and to make it even weirder it had an enormous leopard-skin high heel stiletto tied up to one of the branches.

I wondered who would make a giant shoe and where did it come from, then I found a shoe chair on Amazon HERE

I saw the shoe tree south of Belding on Zahm Road. It is rather odd to see the tree filled with shoes instead of leaves but this is not the first time a came across a tree filled with old footwear.

About 20 years ago my friend and I were exploring the ORV trails around St. Helen when a two-track lead us out of the woods to a paved road. Across from us was this giant old tree filled with shoes. It was a rather spooky and unexpected sight. It is one of those things where you see something strange and it just sticks in your memory. This was before digital cameras and smartphones and I always wanted to go back and get a pic of it. Shortly after I saw it, I found out someone had cut down the infamous tree and it is gone now.

Anyways, I found this one and I know there are a few more around Michigan, Maybe I will see them someday on my travels. If you know of any leave a comment below.

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The Michigan Grand Canyon

Posted on May 31, 2019 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Landscapes .

I was reluctant to post about this place since I was not too fond of the photo I had taken while I visited it. I figured I should share it anyway since I will probably never be able to take a photo that can capture the grand scale of the worlds largest limestone quarry. I probably would have never stopped to look at it if I hadn’t seen the hand-painted sign on Petersville Road south of Rogers City that simply read QUARRY with an arrow pointing to a driveway. At the end of the driveway is a steel platform with some stairs. From the platform, you can see across the massive quarry. You can see what appear to me tiny little trucks making trails of dust but then you realize they are the Tonka looking trucks that are the size of a two-story house. Next time you are in the area be sure to stop and take a look and like the Grand Canyon it is impossible to capture the size of it in a photograph.

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The Crosses Alongside the Road

Posted on May 24, 2017 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Landscapes .

While I am out traveling around the Mitten State, I notice the crosses and memorials next to the road. While I was out in the Thumb, west of Peck, at the intersection of Peck and Shepherd roads I notice a group of crosses that reminded me of how fragile life is. I don’t want this post to be a public service announcement, and would rather post uplifting and positive stories, But I have to post things I notice. It seems like a fitting post with Memorial Day coming up.

The Breathtaking Beauty of Iargo Springs

Posted on October 24, 2016 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Landscapes, Waterfalls .

Lying off of River Road National Scenic Byway in the Huron National Forest west of Oscoda, Iargo Springs provides a panoramic view of the Au Sable River. Used as a drinking water source since pre-settlement times, dams were constructed on the springs by early loggers before the turn of the century. The dams were useful in diverting water to the logging camps nearby. Most of Cooke Pond was dry land then.

Europeans have visited the springs for recreation since the 1920s. A trail to the springs was constructed by the Civilian Conservation Corpsin 1934. Early photographs show the dam being repaired and reinforced by the CCC’s. The dams lasted until 1981 when a storm took them out. The site was renovated in 1991. Steps were added and boardwalks along the springs, as well as the dams being rebuilt.

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Michigan’s Most Famous American Flag

Posted on June 14, 2016 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Forgotten Places, Landscapes .

The people on the west side of the state probably won’t recognize this flag, but the people on the east side of the state that travel I75 will recognize this brick flag that stands along the highway near Bay City. It has the 50 state design on one side and the bicentennial design with the circle of stars on the other. For some, it marks the dividing line of ” Up North” on the way north, and for others, it means they are almost home when heading south. The flag was built in 1975 by local Bay City businessman Jim Graham as a way to promote an amusement park he wanted to build called ” Little Michigan. The park was supposed to be in the shape of Michigan with ponds in the shape of the 5 great lakes. The park never did get built, but the flag still stands waving at motorists as they drive by.

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Dreaming of Summer in February

Posted on February 22, 2016 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Landscapes .

After a warm February weekend, I did not feel like posting a winter pic, so here is a summer sunset from the Sleeping Bear Dunes a few summers ago. I gotta say I earned this pic after climbing my lazy fat rear end up the dune climb. It’s nice to have a break from winter for a little bit but I am behind on getting pics this winter, I have some places I wanted to go to get pics of the snow before the winter ends. Looking at my weather app on my phone it looks like we are supposed to get more snow this week.

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