I may have said this before but Silver Islet is one of my favourite places. It is hard to say why exactly but there is something really special about this place, steeped in history and set on the shore of Lake Superior I felt a connection the first time I visited and each time I have been back. I cycled here early one morning a couple of years ago and in the calm of the morning I had seen deer and a fox along the road and a flock of waxwings chattering in the trees.
Years ago it was the site of the richest silver mine in the world, the mine itself being located on a tiny island out in the lake. Here on the mainland a small community of migrant workers, miners from places as far away as Cornwall grew up on the edge of the lake. Many of their cabins are here still used as summer homes and others are lived in year round even though in the winter conditions are harsh as the lake freezes.
On a warm and still day like this at the end of summer it looks idyllic and when I look at these images I just want to be there.
I love the old store and harbour (see my post from Sept 2016 here) which stands behind where these pictures were taken but I also love the cabin on the shoreline. It is a bit of a tumbledown place to be honest but with a little bit of attention it would be the perfect place to live. Just imagine the wonderful views through every season of the year and when it is too cold to go outdoors imagine how cosy it would be snug inside with logs burning on the hearth while looking out at the frozen lake.
In the first image I started to build a stone stack but it evolved into more of an Inukshuk (a traditional stone marker used by Inuit people for various reasons and often seen in Canada and all points North) I think this is a really nice image and I have deliberately used a wide aperture to blur the background and balance the overall image.
The second and third image are the same shot but with different treatment. I really like the split toning in the second image but I know that some people prefer a colour image so the third one is for you. Of course in the colour images you can also see how the leaves are beginning to change.
Can you see why this is one of my favourite spots?
I have posted pictures from Silver Islet before (and no doubt will post more in the future) but one part of the community that isn't generally noticed is the cemetery. This is because it is secluded within the forest at the end of a short trail (approx 1km) and it is overgrown and decaying; a hidden relic of the villages' past.
Some of the graves have headstones and others are marked by simple wooden markers and some of the plots are enclosed by small wooden fences like the one in this picture.
We visited on a hot and sunny day but even so there was a certain chill as we walked among the graves and it was particularly moving as we read the inscriptions on the few stones that were legible, especially when we found the grave of a ten month old child underlining how challenging conditions must have been for the settlers in Silver Islet back in the day.
I like this picture because of the rugged look of the old wood and the mossy growth which adds extra depth and texture.
This fantastic old house used to be the post office for Silver Islet. It is in a great location with views over the lake, it has lots of character and charm and would make an excellent fixer upper. It also makes a good subject for photos.
I was told that this store was quite something, full of character and charm and certainly from the outside it lived up to expectations here in the ghost town of Silver Islet.
Sadly on the two occasions I visited it was closed and shuttered and so I wasn't able to go inside and get the full experience.
It was a really photogenic building and I have posted a number of different views since and each one evokes memories of my visits and is a link to the history of this interesting place.
The shore of Lake Superior is full of little gems with wonderful vantage points and great views like this one from Sibley Cove looking towards Silver Islet. This was a beautiful calm summer's morning and I tried to imagine what it would be like here in the winter with the lake frozen over. That is a sight I would love to see.
Another early morning shot for today, this one shows an old miners cabin on the shore at Silver Islet. I shot this in black and white because I think it gives a sense of how old the place is. Silver Islet is known as a ghost town and is mostly holiday homes now. In camera the shot was slightly over exposed with the sky and lake being a little washed out. It gave the effect that I had originally wanted making this look like a really old photo but I decided to make a slight adjustment in lightroom to bring out some of the detail in the early morning sky.
Also just to follow up on my announcement the other day I now have my new website up and running showcasing some of my wildlife and nature shots so please check it out, you will find it here. I would love to know what you think so please leave a comment or contact me using the contact form on the final page of the site. Thank you.
I had stopped here at Surprise Lake just on the way in to Silver Islet on my early morning cycle ride/photo expedition. I had taken a few shots of the lake with the trees reflected in the calm water and I was about to set of when this guy pulled up in his car, casually got out and walked into the lake and began to fish. I was so impressed by how calmly he set about his business and how he left barely a ripple as he cast his fly. I watched for a little while until he caught a lake trout and then I left him to it. It was such a calm and quiet morning, after this I stood and watched a downy woodpecker and a small flock of cedar waxwings in the trees by the shore and I was so glad that I had made the effort to get up and out by myself.
This was also one of the few spots on the Sibley Peninsula while camping that I was able to get a phone signal and I took a moment to call loved ones back home. It is funny that as much as I was having fun being by myself it was also nice to share the moment.
A couple of week ago I posted a photo, taken using my phone, of the front of the old store at Silver Islet and gave a very brief history of the once thriving mining town here. I really loved visiting the area although it is no longer a bustling mining community it has a very special feel to the place and was probably my favourite spot that we visited during the whole trip.
I liked it so much that one morning while camping in the provincial park I got up early, borrowed a bike and set off on my own for the ten mile round trip to take some photos before other people started arriving. It was warm and the air was quite still so I managed to get some nice shots of the small harbour, a small lake and the islands just off the shore as well as the many interesting buildings which have stood for many years against the harsh weather conditions in this area. I will of course be coming back to share some of these pictures with you and I look forward to doing so.
This photo is a rear view of the old store taken from the jetty, it involved a bit of scrambling to get to this spot as the jetty itself was fenced off but it was worth the effort, for this and the several other shots I took from here.
This isolated community as I say had a special feeling to it and I could easily see myself settling here in a cabin facing out into the bay.
So today we took a trip to Silver Islet, described on some sites as a ghost town. It is now mostly summer residences although there is a small permanent population.
It has its origins back in the 1860's when a rich vein of silver was discovered on an island just off the shore. For about 14 years it was one on the richest mines in the world producing $3.25 million worth of the previous metal before problems with flooding meant it was no longer profitable or safe to continue.
It is in a very beautiful but remote setting and life at that time must have been quite brutal, especially with the harsh Lake Superior winters.
Now, as I say, there is a small community there with many of the original miners cabins along the shore being used as summer cabins.
The village once boasted a post office (now closed) and a general store which was a wonderful place stocking all sorts of provisions. Sadly today when we visited the store was boarded up and so I didn't get to go inside.
I have shared a few shots taken with my phone and over the course of the coming week I hope to go back to photograph some of the other buildings along the lake shore and hopefully there will some worth sharing in future.
