Michigan UP and Sleeping Bear

[4buckeye]

Now very close to home at this point in our journey, we still enjoyed ourselves thoroughly! Surrounded by huge bodies of water....




Michigan Part 1-

http://www.4buckeye.blogspot.com/2013/10/michigan-yoopers.html


Michigan Part 2 -

http://www.4buckeye.blogspot.com/2013/10/moooooore-michigan.html

 

[Simpleman (shanz3n5)]

Now very close to home at this point in our journey, we still enjoyed ourselves thoroughly! Surrounded by huge bodies of water....

image.jpg


Michigan Part 1-

http://www.4buckeye.blogspot.com/2013/10/michigan-yoopers.html

great pics on link

 

[ski3pin]

That was fun! I never made it up to the UP during the time I lived in Wisconsin (the second time, that is). My aunt's favorite place was Lake Superior and one of my buddies (what a character he was) died in a sailing accident on Lake Michigan. Your sojourn through that country brought back many memories and rekindled the desire to return for a visit. My family (probably about a third of the population) back there would say its about time! Thanks for letting us tag along!

 

[Foy]

Just two weeks ago I returned to the UP for the first time since 1982, when I led a group of 20 geologists, techs, and geophysicists on a diamond exploration project. I had just about forgotten how BIG the UP is. The reason for the return was to watch some of the Lake Superior Performance Rally, an auto race of the European flavor with small cars driving at impossible speeds on gravel roads.

I've already promised the wife to take her along next year, and it'll be her first return since those long-ago days when we were still in our 20s and didn't yet have kids. Nowadays, we've got to tear ourselves away from our grandson to take a trip.

Ski, from what I can gather from your excellent writing, a UP traverse by truck camper would be right up your and The Lady's alley. The uninhabited distances and dimensions pale by Western standards, but it's entirely possible to spend a day or three riding around on forest roads, fishing for brook trout, hiking and mountain biking, and finding a disbursed campsite by a lake or stream, all without seeing any or much of anybody else. The rolling hills to small mountains provide great scenery, and whereever one gets a view of Lake Superior, it's golden.

Foy

 

[takesiteasy]

Love the UP. As Foy says, great topography, woods and water. And as your photo of the snow gauge shows, snows almost every day in the winter up there. Epic snow. Locals talk about two seasons- winter and the 4th of July, haha. Thanks for the report.

 

[Foy]

2 seasons: Winter and the 4th of July. We heard that many times in the 2 April-October field seasons we worked and lived up there.

We thoroughly enjoyed both the outdoor environment of the UP and the "Yoopers" themselves. So happy were the denizens of Crystal Falls for a break from the weather that the town still observed "VJ Day" (Victory over Japan Day) as a standing holiday, complete with a parade, softball tournament, etc. The explanation was "we had a lot of miners and loggers serving in the Pacific during WWII, and it gives us a fine reason to take a day off work during August!" Theirs was said to be the last local observation of VJ Day in the US. Their June and July parade days were Flag Day and Independence Day, and Labor Day was huge in September due to the mining union heritage. A summertime day reaching the low 80s was a "scorcher". We'd have a fire in the woodstove at least 2-3 nights in both July and August, and 2-3 nights a week in June.

Foy

 

[4buckeye]

Ski- I agree with foy, not quite the type of hiking you and the lady are accustomed to, but I believe you would still enjoy it and have a beautiful write up!

Takeiteasy and Foy- I love how parts of the UP still take you back in time. While in Copper Harbor we met a lady who described how small the school is there; 14 in the whole school, yep K-12. She walked to school from her mothers gift shop every day. Then ended up driving down to Houghton for high school to have more opportunities. Said they are pretty good about keeping the roads clear of snow in the winters too!

 

[takesiteasy]

One of my favorite UP memories is watching the movie Grumpy Old Men in the theater in Escanaba on a Saturday afternoon. I was by myself (in the area for work) in a theater full of families, kids running around, old folks and young folks laughing like crazy at the movie which only people from the northland could really appreciate. Truly a great day. Of course eating a UP pasty comes pretty close as a great experience.

 

[Foy]

Of course eating a UP pasty comes pretty close as a great experience.

Oh Yeah, I made sure to find a local pasty shop in Hancock in order to treat my racing buddy to a hot "miner's lunch" while we stood by the rental Jeep nursing a Keweenaw Brewing Lift Bridge Brown while watching the Subarus and Volvos and Beemers fly by. It was great--we arrived at the pasty shop just as they opened at 11:30 and got two 16 ouncers straight out of the oven. The line was out the door by the time we left, and all in it were blonde-haired local Finns.

Foy

 

[4buckeye]

Have yet to try a pasty....

 

[Casa Escarlata Robles Too]

Thanks for your story and pictures.Last fall we visited friends in Minnesota and spent a week on the upper western shore of Lake Superior and up to Grand Maris.Had a great time and your report brought back that good time.Our friends want to plan another trip maybe next year.
Frank