Mark Washburn Photography

Lake Superior’s North shore is a tough, battered coastline on the largest of the Great Lakes. On this particular morning, it was a quiet, serene moment that could be enjoyed in peaceful satisfaction. Tomorrow could be completely different, with 30 mph winds, and waves 15 to 20 feet high.

Split Rock Lighthouse was completed in 1910 at the cost of $75,000. Most amazing is how it was constructed…roads didn’t exist back then to this particular location (like they do today) so everything had to be boated in and lifted to the top of the 133 foot cliff by crane.

I just got word that the Canadian Pacific Holiday Train will come through Muscatine again this year. November 25th, around 7:45 pm. This is a fun event with some great music and it raises money and goods for local food banks. This train is an eye catcher after dark…no doubt about it.

I woke up early on this morning…early enough to see the sunrise was going to be something out of the ordinary. I see a maple leaf in the clouds…what about you?

Along the North shore of Lake Superior (MN) you’ll find a lot of interesting stops. Beaches, waterfalls, and enough hiking trails to keep you busy for a lifetime. This is Gooseberry Falls. A great place to sit and relax and just enjoy the sound of the water. We found out this is a pretty popular…

In looking over some recent images, I came to realize that there were a few good aurora events that I never posted on here…this one is from September 30th, 2025. Some of these shows don’t last very long…like just a few minutes and then they fade away. Of course there’s no way to catch them…

Over the stretch of 4 or 5 days, we had the International Space Station pass over Iowa. On two of the occasions the duration was just over 6 minutes from horizon to horizon. On this evening, I went out to a local marsh to see if i could pick it up and use a method…

Another night out at Cedar Bottoms…this one was kind of nice with fog building up in the low-lands and some wonderful colors above. Maybe Bob Ross had something to do with this one.

I may have seen a lunar halo once or twice over the years, but this one kind of stood out to me. Very well defined and clear to the naked eye. So…I had to try and take a picture. The halo is caused by the refraction of moonlight though ice crystals in high-altitude cirrus clouds.…