Photo Challenge: Michigan Monarch Pines’ Last Stand

 

The heritage of Michigan’s old growth forests is preserved like an ancient insect in amber  in  one magnificent last stand  at Hartwick Pines state park.  Detroit has been the Motor City for 100 years now, and Michigan has become famous for auto assembly lines.  But, before Henry Ford was tinkering in his garage, lumber was Michigan’s great industry.  The vast forest primeval  was clear cut to a desert of stumps to the sounds of saw and ax, and towns across America’s Midwest sprang up, built of Michigan wood.  Purely by chance,  these trees at Hartwick Pines escaped logging.  Some have stood since before Detroit was a French fort–300 and more years ago.

Photo Challenge:  Heritage   

Hartwick Pines, Michigan

Hartwick Pines, Michigan

18 thoughts on “Photo Challenge: Michigan Monarch Pines’ Last Stand”

  1. sustainabilitea

    A wonderful part of our heritage, Tom, and one that must be protected. I have to marvel at the way you can always find a fitting response that has to do with both Michigan and the outdoors, no matter the theme. 🙂

    janet

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Tom Schultz Post author

      I would put Hartwick Pines on your list of potential spots to visit in Michigan. The pines are so tall, it’s like walking through a cathedral of trees. It’s in the northern Lower Peninsula, near a town called Grayling, and only a few miles from I – 75 for easy access. There’s a logging museum in several buildings recreating the loggers’ lives, if you like museums. And you’re only about an hour-and-a-half from the Mackinac Bridge! 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

  2. aleka2016

    I find this to be an appealing aspect of our collective heritage and I think it’s an authentic representation of your political sensibility (as I understand it).
    Thanks.

    Liked by 1 person

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    1. Tom Schultz Post author

      Thanks, Maniparna. I have some great personal memories of this woods, too, since my grandparents took me there as a boy. Quite impressive for a little kid to look up at 150 foot high pine trees.

      Liked by 1 person

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