Snippitts of Illusions

Lakes

This isn't the blog I was going to write. That'll wait. Go into the rotation as it were. This is a different blog. And for most of you it will be way out of left field. I suspect any blog that is related to geek culture probably does, for one or two of you this may make sense.

I've become obsessed with lakes lately. I like lakes. Always have. Perhaps it's because I like the idea of large bodies of water that I can, theoretically see the other side of at certain points. Ok. Maybe not the all lakes, but most, dare I say 99%. That's a lot. Now this interest is recent.

I get bored at work at times, usually on the weekends. Now when I get bored one of my favorite activities is to "explore the globe" with the satellite imaging site I have to use for my job. It's alright there with a flick of the mouse wheel I zoom in and out and I can go where the cursor takes me. I've looked at the Eiffel Tower, The Temple Bar District, Mount Rushmore, Time Square, all from the comfort of my chair at work. But something that caught my eye fairly early on were two lakes in Canada: The Great Bear Lake, and The Great Slave Lake. Both of these lakes look massive, especially when looked at through the distorted perception of the map due to the fact it's a Mercator projection map, the appear larger than the Great Lakes, but they are not. Through the course of my explorations I've discovered a few things that I find fascinating: Lake Michigan-Huron is a single lake technically. There is a single lake bed that is separated by a narrow channel, that is all one evaluation. Lake Michigan-Huron is also the larges lake by surface area in the world. Lake Michigan by itself is the largest lake by surface area in a single country by surface area, and Lake Baikal, in Russia is the largest lake in the world by volume... and holy shit! While I think all of that is interesting, it's not. Not really, it's goddamned boring and I know it, but that's not why a bring it up.

I'm not an in-shape guy. I think mountains are awesome, and as cool as it would be to try and climb the largest mountain on each continent, that just isn't happening. Not for me. But, visiting the largest lake on each continent is a possibility. Hell all I have to do is drive to lake Michigan and I've got one to check off. Going to Lake Baikal would take some doing. As well as Lake Victoria, Vostok (which is under a mile of ice), Titicaca, and Lake Ladoga.

But there's more than just going to these lakes. I want to see all the Great Lakes, travel through Canada and see the both the Great Slave and Great Bear Lake. Go to Minnesota and see where the Mississippi River springs forth to wind it's way through the country, as well as the Missouri River in Montana. I want to hike around Wizards Island that sits in Crater lake and hang out on the shores of Lake Winnipeg for a week or two. That just covers a little bit of North America.

Someday.
Someday it'll happen. I'll explore the lakes of as many continents as possible. Until then I'll have to sate myself with the lakes around here. Pelican Lake to the south, Browns Reservoir which is a 5 minute drive from my house. Rock Creek, Moon Lake, or even the high lakes that take a hike or horse ride to get to.

Now the reason for this obsession is simple honestly.

Lakes are beautiful.

Labels: Personal

posted by F.G. Shaw @ 1:58 AM