Among my favorite camping memories are canoe trips taken in Michigan and Ontario. On these trips we paddled necklaces of quiet wilderness lakes, strung together with hard portages where we carried the canoe and packs over rocky and marshy trails. The best campsites were on tiny islands, each supporting a stand of magnificent white pines. We would set up our tent on a thick duff of pine needles, then enjoy a quiet campfire. The moon rising through pine needles, with a vast spray of stars overhead. At dawn we awakened to the tremulous wail of a pair of loons. The fond memories bring a mist to my eyes even as I write this.

For this photograph I wasn't canoeing - just wishing that I was. Dawn on Michigan's Imp Lake, in Ottawa National Forest, illuminated this tiny island with a beam of light. The lake enjoyed absolute stillness for a brief time as a loon called in the distance - an ideal prelude to a perfect Indian summer day.

Lee Rentz