Northern Elevations

08/19/2026

SDunn Aerial Pictures did a great job capturing the Algoma Compass unloading stone in Ashtabula, OH

08/18/2026

Steamship Alpena, welcome back to the lower lakes! She timed her passage through the Soo perfectly, coming through just as the sun was setting. A beautiful backdrop for a beautiful boat! Those at Rotary Park in the US tonight had a treat getting a salute from her steam horn, as well as the James R Barker upbound soon after.

I recorded the Alpena's steam salute but there was a skidoo going by at the same time so it wasn't a great recording unfortunately. It was a beautiful night, and I met up with a fellow boatnerd who also captured the Alpena which is always fun!

I'll have to go through the video footage another day (these 'pictures' are just screenshots from the video file), but until then check out the last time I caught the Alpena - nearly a whole year ago! https://www.facebook.com/reel/1807793769834571

08/13/2026

⚠️Footer Alert⚠️ Walter J McCarthy Jr cruised through on a fine July day and I can't wait to share this one with you guys! I still can't get over how nice of a day it was. Great lighting, and the perfect breeze - enough to move the clouds, but not too gusty for my 'Bird' (drone). Anyways...

Walter J McCarthy is one of 13 Footers on the Great Lakes, and she passed upbound through the Soo on July 9, 2026. I must have been busy this year, somehow I missed that when Rand Logistics sold off LLT (Lower Lake Towing) to Algoma Central Corporation, they changed their name to Mainstay Maritime! Anyways, the ASC (American Steamship Company) fleet is still in tact, unchanged.

I used lots of timelapses in this video, as beautiful as the boat is my eye kept wandering to the skies. Maybe that's what happened when I missed a big wave from a crew member! I can't count the number of times I've missed a wave while flying, only to see the footage on my computer screen. I always feel like I left them hanging 😭 There's lots I'm paying attention to while flying - not just where the drone is, but the area around it for hazards, and trying to frame a decent shot while focusing on being steady on the sticks. Whenever I catch a wave, I'll give them a little double bounce (up down up down) back 👋

I'm hoping to get through some more footage I've already got - July was crazy busy for me. My August is shaping up to be more reasonably paced (unless it isn't - but I can't comment on that yet 🤐), so hopefully I'll have time to catch up on editing and share some more footage with you all!

08/11/2026

So cool! Here's all my pics of the SS Meteor tour - the last of the whaleback boats! Please read the captions on the pics for details...there's way too much info to put in this description here.

The SS Meteor is the world's last whaleback ship - a series of 44 ships constructed between 1887-1898. The Meteor was launched in 1896, and sailed until 1969 (73 years!). This funky design was one of the first to have all crew accommodations and pilothouse in the rear, and when fully loaded sat very low in the water, resembling a whale's back.

Constructed as the Frank Rockefeller, she cost just over $180,000, or roughly the equivalent of over $7million today. Over her long life, she changed names to South Park between 1927-1942), and has been known as the Meteor ever since.

These whaleback ships were very different to other boats of the era: because of their low, rounded design they handled harsh wind and waves better. Instead of waves crashing against a steel wall, they just lapped up and over the deck. That’s not to say they didn’t have problems though…because of that rounded design the cargo hatches were smaller which made it take longer to load and unload. The hatches were also prone to leakage over time which was far from ideal.

She's 380ft long, 45ft beam, 26ft depth, and had a gross tonnage of 2750 tons.

I'd highly recommend the tour, these pictures hardly do this ol' gal justice. She's a very cool piece of unconventional freighter history. You can see the Meteor on Barker Island, in Superior, Wisconsin.

08/10/2026

Glensheen Mansion, a 1905 masterpiece nestled on 12 acres of waterfront in Duluth, MI. Here are some clips from the tour my friends and I took on August 1. There are guided tours, self tours, and of course tons of history in such a storied estate. There were even a couple of murders in the mansion in 1977 - if only those bricks could talk!

I've finally got a bit of time to properly go through footage, next up: the historic SS Meteor whaleback ship, which predates Glensheen by 5 years!

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08/06/2026

Finally caught the retired Sundew - US Coast Guard Cutter, WLB-404! They left their berth in Duluth (I think for the first time)…just when I was making my first trek over there! I did catch a brief glimpse of them when they were downbound August 26, but I was a couple miles downriver thinking they would cruise on by but instead they tied up near the locks for the evening. Anyways, it was very cool catch the historic Sundew!

The Sundew was launched in 1944. Perhaps most notably she helped rescue 2 survivors from the Carl D Bradley sinking. Retired in 2004, she was given to the city of Duluth to continue service as a museum ship. 5 years later, she was sold to private owners who have continued her life as a museum ship.

They are cruising back to Duluth after meeting up for the Grand Haven Cost Guard Day celebrations held on August 4. Also in this clip is the Original Soo Locks Boat Tours’ Bide-A-Wee cruising past on one of their regularly scheduled tours.

This was captured around 4pm, Aug 6, 2026 on the St Mary’s River. The backdrop is Sault Ste Marie, Ontario where you can see the Bushplane museum, and just to the left of that Purvis Marine.

08/04/2026

Next stop on my Duluth tour, I lumped together the Glensheen Mansion and the Enger tower.

Glensheen Mansion is a massive estate built in 1908 with 39 rooms! Every room is decorated to the nines, beautiful furniture throughout, and the hallways are filled with elaborate wood paneling. You can catch a glimpse at what peak luxury was just over 100 years ago.

Enger tower is perched on a hill overlooking the Duluth Harbor. It’s a very interesting building, dedicated by the Prince of Norway. There’s a Japanese style peace garden next door, although I barely photographed that instead just taking it all in. I did get a recording of a massive bell that folks were able to ring, I’ll have to share that later.

This leaves only one more stop I’ll be posting about, the SS Meteor - the last remaining whaleback ship! Start tuned for that post soon.

08/04/2026

Ely’s Peak was a great hike! We ended up taking the rock-climbing way up, and the scenic route down. Would recommend the scenic route personally, but to each their own 😂 There’s a cool old train tunnel as well - we did that before the peak, but it had a real nice breeze going through it so I’d recommend peak first, tunnel after.

08/03/2026

Pictured Rocks! Last night we hopped onboard a Pictured Rocks tour boat and cruised past amazing rock cliffs, formations, and colours. Captain Dave showed off one of his magic tricks, and his commentary was funny and educational. This is truly a tour best seen in person, hopefully these pictures I took do it some justice.

We just got back into town late last night - it was a quick but very awesome trip. I met up with my cousin living in Fargo, as well as a couple of friends from in-town. There’s still more from this trip I’ll get to sorting through, but really wanted to get these pictured rocks pictures up!

The formations and layers are mostly due to the way the glaciers compacted and tore up the land thousands of years ago. The water level in the area fluctuated by hundreds of feet in the years after the glaciers, then settled out a few thousand years ago and levels have remained fairly constant ever since. The colours come from different minerals deposited by groundwater runoff - the blues and greens are copper, reds and oranges iron, browns and blacks are manganese. For more information, check out Alexis Dahl’s fantastic video here: https://youtu.be/3gIe8oW2dgg?si=4vVviwdTbXDsir4i