Lake Effect: Along Superior’s Shores

by Erika G. Alin

The 2,900-mile shoreline of Lake Superior offers some of the most beautiful scenery in the world: stunning juxtapositions of shape, color, and texture, from the birch and evergreen forests of Minnesota's north shore and the maple-clad slopes of Wisconsin to Ontario's granite outcrops and Michigan's sandstone shelves. Inhabited by hundreds of species of mammals, birds, and insects, the diverse ecosystems around Superior have also experienced human habitation for millennia. In Lake Effect, writer Erika Alin explores both the natural and the human landscapes of Lake Superior, meditating on the rich geological, historical, and cultural events that have shaped the region. She begins her journey around Superior at the mouth of the St. Louis River near Duluth and continues along the shores of the lake to Temperance River State Park, Grand Marais's Artist's Point, and Lake Superior Provincial Park. Following the Michigan and Wisconsin coasts, Alin visits the Keweenaw Peninsula, the Porcupine Mountains, and Chequamegon Bay, before concluding at the south shore's Brule River. Inspired by these and other places on the lake, Alin's engaging essays delve into such diverse topics as the origins of river names, early Native American settlement, the exploits of seventeenth-century French-Canadian voyageurs, the breeding habits of ring-billed gulls, the contributions of women botanists, Canada's Group of Seven painters, and aboriginal rock art. A holistic and deeply personal reflection on Superior's shoreline, Lake Effect reveals a profound sensitivity to the natural world and a penetrating historical imagination.

Genres: Nonfiction

160 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2003

Reviews

[Anne Nerison · Rating 4 out of 5]

This deceptively slim volume is packed full of observations from Lake Superior and the area around it. There's more to it than that, though, as Erika Alin dives into history about geology, plants, the first people to live on the lake, and the first white people to arrive in the area. She also weaves in personal experiences on the lake and from her childhood in Sweden. The essays are somewhat meditative, and immerse the reader into the scenes. Would highly recommend for anyone who loves spending time on Lake Superior watching the waves or hiking along the coast.

[Kay · Rating 5 out of 5]

I felt like I was visiting new secret places and old favorites. Alin's writing style with a mixture of geography, botany and history was informative and entertaining.

[Barry Stoch · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found that it is quite difficult to uncover info about Lake Superior so I looked forward to reading this book, as I was planning on doing a road trip circumnavigating this beautiful large body of water.

I found a lot of sections where the author talked about the geology & history of Superior to be very interesting, but finished the book wishing I had gained more info about the places she visited.

While the book was not intended to be a travel guide, I felt a lot of times, that there was too much emphasis on flora, geology & history at the expense of understanding what the locations presented of interest today.

Still, I enjoyed the book, I just felt it could have been so much better had there been more focus on areas of interest for readers interested in visiting this majestic lake