Berserker 2003
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Day 1 - Before the Berzerker we took a little (10 mile) hike around Pictured Rocks. This is Chapel Beach looking East. |
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Day 1 - Just north of Chapel Beach looking toward Grand Portal. If Greg Johnson is looking a little worried it is because the rock here is very weak and unstable. Not to mention the 200' drop. |
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Day 2 - The first day at the Sands was spent exploring and setting up the infrastructure. This is the little dam that we built on the mine stream. You can see the water intake and the black PVC pipe leading down to the Sands. |
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Day 2 - The tent was set up with less trouble this year since we knew how all the parts fitted together. Though the weather was great (clear and cool) this tent was a great place to get out of the sun and rest between Berserker activities. |
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Day 2 - Lower dam on the Mine Stream. This dam has been built and rebuilt a number of times in the past five years. The spring flow knocks the rocks aside but they don't travel far so it isn't too difficult to gather them together. By the end of the first day enough rocks had been gathered together to raise the water level two inches and cause the water to flow through the spillway. |
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Day 2 - Guy looks at the remains of last years birthday cake. There was a lot that didn't burn. |
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Day 2 - Looking south from the Sands. As people arrived a little tent city grew up in the area between the old road down to the Sands and the new one. |
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Day 3 - The bridge over the Mine Stream. As the traditional camping area began to fill up it was suggested that the area on the other side of the Mine stream be used. A few rocks were put down so that the stream could be crossed. |
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Day 3 - The lower dam (much improved). The first order of business this day was to improve the dam and bridge the spillway. One of the problems was that water would flow through the sand if a purely earthen dam were built and it would flow between the stones a rock dam. Combining the two, however, worked great. We were able to raise the level of the lake about a foot and the flow through the spillway was great. Next year I want to put a water wheel there. |
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Day 3 - The bridge over the Mine Stream (much improved). Remembering that anything worth doing is worth dong to excess I built a little bridge over this stream. But, not satisfied with this, I also built a path up to the sands complete with switchbacks. |
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Day 3 - The Mine Stream is often mistaken for Owl Creek by newcomers. Owl Creek is actually further to the West and (as shown here) much dryer in July. There is actually a little water down by the tree line but nothing like the flow in April. |
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Day 3 - Sunset over Eagle Harbor. This is the closest town to the Sands (about 20 minutes) and has two nice small motels. It also has a working lighthouse, which is just barely visible at the far right of the picture. |
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Day 4 - Smoke trail from a normal rocket engine (F series). |
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Day 4 - The golf-ball cannon being fired at a plywood target. This shot (like all too many others) was too low and the ball can be seen bouncing toward the target after hitting the ground. The problem wasn't range since it was very easy to overshoot and end up in the woods. |
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Day 4 - But when the ball hit it usually went right through the plywood. This hole was made by a specially cast lead golf ball but the regular ones usually also went through - they didn't continue into the woods like this one though. |
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Day 5 - First test of the Smoky Rocket. The idea was to inject oil into the exhaust of a rocket to make the trail more visible. Regular motor oil was used in this test. This worked but the nozzle, which had been sealed with wax, did not fully open. |
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Day 5 - The can crusher set up on the sands - we lacked the Tesla Coil this year but the crusher made up for it. |
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Day 5 - The results of a successful crushing. The last, and most powerful, test not only crushed the can but sent the top part flying across the sand. Next year we may see the coin crusher in action. |
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Day 5 - The Smoky Rocket does its thing. This time the nozzle opened up fully and the rocket left quite a trail. Another feature tested on this rocket was using a Sonalert to locate the rocket after landing. This worked like a charm even though the rocket had no recovery system at all. |
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Day 5 - The Smoky Rocket after landing. The Sonalert is to the left, the white PVC tube was filled with oil and the engine was in the middle. |
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Day 5 - A glider does a loop. While this Berzerker saw some huge gliders they didn't seem to fly quite as far. |
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Day 5 - "Oh, the humanity!". Using hydrogen filled garbage bags as targets teaches you why bottle rockets never became practical weapons of war. |
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Day 5 - AOL discs can raise the temperature but only to 130 degrees. Some people believed that the problem was that the sun was moving too fast (or people were adjusting the discs too slowly) but I think we just needed more discs... |
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Day 5 - A flash of pink and another glider zips by. |
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Day 5 - Jeff goes bowling. First, add one pound of black powder... |
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Day 5 - ...then a 20 lb ball ... |
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Day 5 - ...and it's a strike! (somewhere) |
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Day 5 - Guy pours LOX on a fire and people go about their busness. Just an ordinary day at the Berzerker. |
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Day 5 - 20 lbs of road flares and a pound of Guy's "Red" makes a nice volcano. |
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Day 5 - Or perhaps you would prefer thermite... |
