Surf's Up

I had heard people do it on Lake Michigan, but never did I expect to see it nor did I ever expect to see it on Lake Superior in the month of October during a sleet storm.  But I did.  I stopped at a beach area to shoot some rocks where the water/waves were breaking against pretty hard.  As I approached the rocks, I looked out and saw a couple of people sitting out in the lake on their boards.  I thought right away they were surfers.  Then, I doubted my initial thought (realizing where I was and what time of year it was), and then I saw them start paddling and getting up on those boards and riding the waves.  What a sight!  The waves were by no means "California" waves, but they were sizeable enough to go for a good cruise. While watching and shooting, one of the surfers took a break and stood on the rocks with me and he informed me that what I was watching was really nothing compared to the area of Marquette, Michigan.  Its a college town, therefore, you have a higher population of nuts with no regard to living a safe and healthy life yet.  There motto is "Just have fun".  I made my way to Marquette (wasn't really planning on it, but, hey, what was stopping me?) and sure enough, I found their beach for hanging 10. There was about a dozen or so crazies out in the middle of a large bay just waiting for the big one.  The big kahuna.  And at this point, the waves were much larger than at my first stop and the weather was much nastier.  Sustained 35 mph winds and nice dose of sleet coming down.  MMMmmmmmmm....my kind of surfin' weather (at least, no worries of sunburn).  It was a sight to behold and one of the best sights of my entire trip.