For the third installation of the Pure Nature Sounds series we explore one of five of the freshest bodies of water in the world. Welcome to lake Superior via Grand Marais Minnesota. This binaural field recording was captured in below zero temperatures along the shoreline of lake Superior during the heart of winter. You can witness ice crashing against rocks and the beach embankment.

More about the Great Lakes:

The Great Lakes are the largest freshwater system in the world. The five Great Lakes - Superior, Huron, Michigan, Erie and Ontario - span a total surface area of 94,600 square miles and are all connected by a variety of lakes and rivers, making them the largest freshwater system in the world. Lake Superior is the largest freshwater lake in the world by surface area. Spanning nearly 32,000 square miles, Lake Superior is not only the largest freshwater lake in the world (by surface area) but it is also one of the largest lakes in the world, second only to the Caspian Sea. In fact, if you were to add up all the water in Lake Michigan, Lake Huron, Lake Ontario, and four of Lake Erie it would total the volume of Lake Superior.

More about Grand Marais:

Grand Marais is one of the oldest place-names on the Great Lakes. The name is French for “big marsh”, which is puzzling as there is no marsh here. Historians believe that French mapmakers confused “marais” with another, similar-sounding word found on old maps, “maré”, which means “sheltered body of water”. The early voyageurs definitely sheltered here on their way to the western end of Lake Superior.

The Chippewa fished along the shoreline here for many years before the arrival of settlers in the 1860s. A trading post was established at the eastern end of the bay, commercial fishing boats began to ply the waters, and by the 1880s, the lumbermen were moving in. A rail line was established from Seney, and Grand Marais boomed as a lumber town between 1885 and 1910. At its peak, approximately 3,000 people lived here. By 1911, the boom was over, the tracks were taken up, and the population dwindled to about 200. Lean years followed, until a resurgence of commercial fishing and the opening of M-77 in the 1920s brought more prosperity. Tourists began to discover the natural beauty of the area. Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore opened in 1966, and today Grand Marais is a popular tourist destination.