Viewfinders help colorblind visitors see Porcupine Mountains

By ZACHARY MARANO

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Ontonagon - Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park offers a scenic overview of Lake of the Clouds, but some people may be unable to fully experience the view because of their colorblindness. To make the overlook more inclusive to people with color deficiencies, park staff unveiled two scenic viewers with filters that help them see colors on Wednesday.

"Color blindness can make visits to nature less appealing. While people with normal color vision see over one million hues and shades, the color blind only see 10% of them," a fact sheet from the Michigan Department of Natural Resources says. "To see color can be emotional."

The viewers use optical filters produced by the Berkeley, California-based company EnChroma. According to EnChroma's website, their lens technology increases the contrast between red and green color signals. This produces the best results in people with forms of anomalous trichromacy, who represent an estimated four out of five cases of colorblindness.

One of the viewers at the Lake of the Clouds overlook was placed at a suitable height for standing and another was placed at a lower height for young people or people in wheelchairs. Three other colorblind viewers were also purchased and installed at two of the park's other signature attractions: the Summit Peak observation tower and Nawadaha Falls on the Presque Isle River.

The Michigan DNR and park staff invited three guests to look through the viewers for the first time at their unveiling on Wednesday. They included: Justin Farley, a park ranger at the state park; Joshua Smith, a hotel clerk from Marquette; and Patty Steinberg, a retiree from Crystal Falls.

The viewers had a positive effect on each of the guests, with Smith saying that he finally understood what other people were raving about. In attempting to communicate what it was like to look through the lenses and see new colors to other guests without the disability, they seemed to use the word "vibrant" frequently.

Farley, who said that he has moderate colorblindness, was particularly insightful about the effects of the lenses. He used his knowledge as a park ranger to tell the Daily Globe about how he could tell the different species of trees apart.

"The colors are a lot more pronounced. Without the glasses, everything just appears green. But with the glasses, the oaks and maples are a certain green color. And also, the pines and cedars are a lot darker of the green. It's easier to differentiate the colors with the glasses," Farley said.

The guests also had the chance to try on colorblind eyewear that use the same technology as the viewers. Park Supervisor Mike Knack, who attended the unveiling, said that EnChroma will mail a pair of glasses to each of the guests that match their prescription.

Farley said that he plans to use his EnChroma glasses regularly when they arrive. When he hunts wild game, he said that he often has trouble following the trail of red from wounded animals against green grass. He hopes that these glasses will help improve his game.

Smith said that as an artist, his condition makes it difficult for him to choose colors and he often consults a color wheel to help identify which combinations work together. He said he wants to experience how the EnChroma glasses affects his art. He also wants to see the northern lights again, because he could barely see them without the glasses.

Steinberg said she was a statistical anomaly as one of 200 women with colorblindness. She said that she inherited the color deficiency from her father. When her family played board games together, she remembers having similar difficulties identifying colors as him, although she was not diagnosed until her 20s. She said that she hopes the glasses will help her choose matching outfits without asking her spouse.

A fourth colorblind person, Klaus Rechelbacher of Pine City, Minnesota, also heard about the unveiling and was able to experience the viewfinders and glasses on Wednesday. He said that he has visited the Lake of the Clouds overlook before, but using the viewfinder greatly enhanced the experience.

"When I'm looking at it with a naked eye, a lot of stuff just blends in. With the glasses, it's an enhancement of the visual. It gives a depth that I don't see with the naked eye," Rechelbacher said to the Daily Globe.

The five viewfinders were purchased for the state park for $17,000. The Friends of the Porkies nonprofit organization raised the money to finance this purchase.