Photography has been one of my biggest hobbies for several years now and it was a few years ago when I started following one of my favorite ongoing photography projects, The Gigapxl Project.
I was fortunate do a pretty cool project of my own starting two years back when I left on a 50-state tour for a year. For that year there were a number of small world connections and strange coincidences. One of my favorites and most unbelievable of the entire trip was when I was being given a tour of the Montana State Capitol.
Today marks the 19th annual running of the U.P. 200 Dog Sled Race. The 2008 race will beginning in Marquette at 7:10 pm Friday evening. The Midnight Run begins in Gwinn at 6:00 pm. The race continues over the weekend with several viewing spots for spectators.
Mushers will head to Grand Marais before coming back to Marquette to finish on Sunday afternoon. For more photos, checkpoints, and viewing locations visit UP200.org
Last night was without doubt one of the greatest storms we’ll have this summer. As I say in my apartment in Marquette the rain kept pouring down while lightning and thunder came and went for several hours. Eventually the rain stopped by the lightning was still constantly lighting up the sky in the distance.
[Photo courtesy of Farlane on Flickr](http://www.flickr.com/photos/farlane/2380180020/ "Mackinac Bridge Freezes Over")
For the trolls out there who are scared to cross the Mighty Mac during the winter months, we understand. This winter was particularly rough for the bridge. The last of the ice chunks are still melting during this week of hot weather.
Thank you Farlane for your creative imagery. We can only imagine the winter that this would be.
“Picnic Tables Awaiting the Spring” by Aunt Jojo on Flickr
After the lingering winter it stills remains more and more promising that spring is around the corner. Parks are clear of snow and starting to take down their “closed for the season” signs and opening their gates.
This photo is taken at Hagerman Lake, nine miles southwest of Iron River. The photo was snapped on April 24th, 2008.
Spring is coming, I’m sure of it! The Upper Peninsula saw one more big snow storm this winter, hopefully it will be the last one for the season. After a number of warm days all the accumulated snow seems to be gone. But trust us, spring will come.
We have been anxious to get to some spring photos as we move into a new season, but when we came across this photo we had to do one last winter photo from the Upper Peninsula.
Michigan’s Upper Peninsula is a vast region. By the way, did you know that the Upper Peninsula is wider than the Lower Peninsula is tall?
I love exploring Google Maps and finding aerial views of my favorite places in the Upper Peninsula as well as the rest of the world. Here are my top findings from the Upper Peninsula. If you would like to add any more just leave a comment. Click the photo to open the map in a new window for a higher resolution image and to explore that area.
I have been wanting to share this photo with readers for a while. Since I just drove over the Mackinac Bridge on Tuesday I thought this would be an appropriate time to share this photo.
This was taken on the final evening of my 50-state tour. Actually, now that I think about it, it was the first full year span of my life where I hadn’t gone across the bridge.
It’s official, Yooper Steez is up and running, and for our 3rd Photo Friday we’re featuring the very first of our “Steez Photos“. The shoveling must get done, and what better to represent than the Yooper Scooper, a classic icon of the Upper Peninsula.
Take a photo wearing your Yooper Steez shirt across Michigan, United States, and all of planet Earth! We want to see the U.P. represented in front of the Eiffel Tower, Great Wall of China, Statue of Liberty, Grand Canyon, and anywhere else. Whatever the photo is, if someone is wearing a Yooper Steez shirt we want to post it on the site.
Today we are celebrating leap day! We’re very fortunate that Leap Day falls on a Friday, and we can celebrate with our weekly Photo Friday.
We wanted to celebrate by bringing you a photo that was taken on the last leap day. This was no easy task! Our idea was to search Flickr for a perfect photo taken in the Upper Peninsula exactly four years ago. However, Flickr wasn’t even founded until a few months later.
This week across the Upper Peninsula it was rare to see a temperature below freezing. A lot of snow and ice melted this week and once again the ice fishing season will be coming to a close soon.
There aren’t many places in the United States where you’re driving along and see a frozen lake that’s full of ice shanties. It’s a rare thing that Yoopers take for granted a few months out of the year. It seems to be a favorite site among tourists and locals alike, to see the small villages of ice shanties.
Every spring, summer, and fall thousands of people make their way to Canyon Falls. Not as many people make it back to the falls during the winter, which is one of the most impressive times to see it. The best is if you can make it right after a big snowfall, where you’ll see pillows of snow broken by the flowing Sturgeon River.
If you plan to stick to the trail you won’t be needing snowshoes. The trail stays well-packed throughout the winter. Most of the time you’re able to cross to the other side of the river, but will want some snowshoes for this so you don’t sink down.
During the last several weeks Yooper Steez has reached a large and growing demand for Steez. Now, we’re even representing turtles. Let us introduce you to Aristotle Esio Trot…
“I am a well rounded Greek tortoise living in a fab pad in Northern Michigan with a dotty woman, her husband, their yappy Yorkshire terrier and a parrot. As long as I have my lettuce and my weekly soak I am content. If that man ever thinks of unplugging my special heat lamp and full spectrum lamp, I plan on taking him out…as soon as I warm up.”
Spring is finally here, we’re quite sure of it. In fact if there is another snow storm you can blame it on us.
Spring is consistently anticipated for the warm weather and the green grass. It gets better when you can leave the window cracked at night, have a nice breeze, and listen to the spring peepers, one of the most distinguished sounds of the year.
Hmmm, what is a spring peeper?
I look forward to the peepers every spring, but I have never really known what they are. Thanks to Wikipedia and Flickr I know a little more about them now.
The Portage Canal is somewhere I’ve driven past hundreds of times in my life, but never have I seen it like this. This snow falling in the photo gives it a second effect of it being a grainy photo, adding that to the tone gives it a fantastic vintage look as if this photo was taken in the early 1900s. However, it was snapped just two weeks prior on May 3rd, 2008.
Looking for some Memorial Day weekend site-seeing? If you can spare a day, or a few hours if you live closer, make a trip the Scott Falls. You’ll find Scott Falls about 7 miles west of Munising, just to the east of Au Train, conveniently located right off highway M-28.
This type of waterfall is known as a “curtain waterfall” meaning the following water does not make contact with the surface, the water falls off a ledge, and it’s taller than it is wide.
“We camped in Union Bay of Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park for 2 nights. It was long way from Detroit Metro(10 hrs) but Porcupine Mountains area was very nice with big nature. Definetly it worth to stay there.”
This should inspire you to take that trip to the Porcupine Mountains State Park this summer. The Porkies make a perfect setting to watch a sunset, facing to the west where you can watch the sun fall below the horizon. Most of the Upper Peninsula watches the sunset fall below the tree line, so head to the west shore for your best Lake Superior sunset photos.
Anyone who has ever driven on US-2 five miles west of St. Ignace has seen the famous Mystery Spotsign. There’s no missing it, and there’s no missing which direction to go to find the Mystery Spot.
According to their website the story of the Mystery Spot goes as follows:
In the early 1950’s, 3 surveyors named Clarence, Fred and McCray came from California to explore the Upper Peninsula. They stumbled across an area of land where their surveying equipment didn’t seem to work properly. For instance, no matter how many times they tried to level their tripod, through the use of a plum-bob or level, the plum-bob would always be drawn far to the east, even as the level was reading level. As they continued their research of this land, they noticed a constant feeling of being light-headed. Later, realizing their queasiness and problems with the surveying equipment only occurred in an area about 300 feet in diameter, they felt they had discovered a “Mystery Spot”.
This weekend is the annual Bridgefest in Houghton and Hancock. We thought there would be no better way to celebrate than sharing 13 (after all it is Friday the 13th) stunning photos of the historic Portage Canal Lift Bridge joining the cities of Houghton and Hancock. Enjoy.
[Photo by Moron958](http://www.flickr.com/photos/14645250@N03/1501447440/ "Lift Bridge at Dusk")[Photo by hyperboreal](http://www.flickr.com/photos/bgivens/10956834/ "Life Bridge Train Tracks")[Photo by We Are CS](http://www.flickr.com/photos/kjrokos/864572235/ "Portage Canal Bridge")[Photo by We Are CS](http://www.flickr.com/photos/kjrokos/152117837/ "Beneath the Portage Canal Bridge")[Photo by We Are CS](http://www.flickr.com/photos/kjrokos/63769701/ "Lift Bridge Silhouette")[Photo by We Are CS](http://www.flickr.com/photos/kjrokos/64680769/ "Hancock and the Lift Bridge")[Photo by T.shirbert](http://www.flickr.com/photos/tshirbert/2156189299/ "Lift Bridge from the Ambassador Restaurant")[Photo by Calvin](http://www.flickr.com/photos/calvin_gsc/2193818725/ "Keweenaw Bridge Snowmobiel Trail")[Photo by Turkguy0319](http://www.flickr.com/photos/turkguy19/1665029650/ "Lift Bridge long exposure")[Photo by Calvin](http://www.flickr.com/photos/calvin_gsc/2194612994/ "Hancock United States Flag")[Photo by Johnvbs](http://www.flickr.com/photos/justjohn/893976110/ "Houghton/Hancock by Night")[Photo by logista](http://www.flickr.com/photos/logista/2048537074/ "Cloudy Sunset with Lift Bridge")[Photo by We Are CS](http://www.flickr.com/photos/kjrokos/1746177000/ "crescent moon by We Are CS, on Flickr")
A few weeks ago we posted a photo where Bugsy wrote “Michigan” with a flashlight in front of the Mackinac Bridge. Our friends Holly and James have topped that.
They snapped these 4th of July themed photos at the Mackinac Bridge using sparklers. A much more interesting effect than a flashlight. While James is credited with the photo mastery, it was Holly who wrote Yooper.
This week Yooper Steez received an incredible photo in the our e-mail box. Our new friend Joe from Houghton (who is now living in Littleton, CO) found the Upper Peninsula in the sky above him one day.
“This picture has not been edited and is proof that God is a Yooper. ”
-Joe
Thanks for the great submission Joe. Strangely, this is actually a better map of the Upper Peninsula than some other maps out there.
On April 13th, 2006 the famous landscape of Miners Castle changed forever.
One of just two National Parks in the Upper Peninsula, Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore attracts thousands of visitors year after year. Miners Castle has always been a favorite photos of tourists, photographers, and postcard photos.
When I came across these photos on Flickr there was no question that I had to use them on the site. Pictures speak louder than words sometimes, and no more words are needed here.
[“The Weather Outside if Frightful”](http://flickr.com/photos/12946248@N02/2059932607/in/pool-yooper-steez) by Siskokid
I couldn’t resist. Sorry. But yes, winter will be here soon. You see, I’m very excited for winter, more excited than I have been in a long time. For the first time in my life I will be living five minutes from the ski hill (Marquette Mountain). And if I truly want to snowboard every single day there is nothing stopping me. I have never had that luxury before. I sacrificed snowboarding while at MSU for five years and of course you can’t snowboard too often while on a 50-state tour.
The Estivant Pines is one of the great nature sanctuaries of the Upper Peninsula with 508 acres of forest in Keweenaw County.
The nature sanctuary, which is now maintained and preserved by the Michigan Nature Association, holds some of the oldest white pines (Michigan’s State Tree for those of you visiting from outside of Michigan) in the state, some as old as 600 years. Many of these trees tower overhead upwards of 130 feet high.
UPDATE: For those of you who want to visit the Big Boy Graveyard and for more information visit the latest post here.
During the spring of 2001 three friends and I headed out with cameras with a big destination in mind, our mission: find the Big Boy Graveyard. We heard of its existence and even had a nice aerial map to pinpoint it’s location.
To be honest, it was quite obscure. It’s not often you come across a molded fiberglass version of one of your favorite childhood cartoon characters tipped over in the woods — with a big hole in the side of his head. Not to mention there were three Big Boys. It was evident upon arrival that this was indeed a graveyard.
With the coming launch of our new product, Lake Superior t-shirts, I thought it’d be a appropriate to celebrate the power of Lake Superior a little more. In addition to that, I thought it’d be good to mix things up a little bit. Rather than posting some photos, how about a few videos for Photo Friday. For more information on the power of Lake Superior you can read a previous post of Why Lake Superior Kicks Your Lake’s Butt.
[View full size](https://upsco.imgix.net/upsco/ys/uploads/2009/02/statue-1.jpg)
Michigan Tech University’s annual Winter Carnival wrapped up this weekend. This year’s theme was “A Frigid Place Gets a Blast from Space”.
As always it was another exciting week of events including a beard competition, broomball, crowning of the queen, curling, human dog sled races, ice fishing, ice bowling, snowshoe races, snow volleyball, Stage Revue, tug-o-war in the snow, and of course all the traditional winter festivities. And of course the highlight is always the mammoth snow statues.
Photo by Andy Nelson-Zaleski of the Mining Journal
In what local law enforcement are referring to as ‘Typical Yooper Fashion’, a Marquette man has marooned his 1995 Buick LeSabre on a downtown snowbank. Apparently the incident spiraled out of control when Mr Toivo Mukada decided to take climate control into his own hands, following Phil the Groundhog’s prediction of 6 more weeks of winter.
“Hey der, guy, it just ain’t right. We’re all sick of da winter, wish it would just leave us all be. You can only go WalMart and walk long lap so many times. Plus, I jus picked up a new 2 stroke ‘zuki brapper.. jus can’t wait for dat spring time brappin’.” – T. Muckada.
The U.P. 200 Sled Dog Championship wrapped up on Sunday with Eric Morris from Port Wing, WI taking home first place. Behind him in 2nd, 3rd, and 4th place were Ryan Anderson, Tim Calhoun, and Rebekah Chapman, respectively.
Each year the race attracts over 15,000 visitors to Marquette and the surrounding towns for a combination of three races. In addition to the U.P. 200 there is also the Midnight Run from Gwinn to Wetmore and the Jack Pine 30 from Gwinn to Marquette.
1 helicopter. 1 broken snowboard. 1 broken leg. And a whole bunch of whoa.
Every year a few dozens of the Midwest’s best snowboarders and skiers take to Marquette Mountain and showcase some of the best talent around. It’s impressive to see the kind of talent there is locally.
Here are some photos from the big air competition, courtesy of yours truly….
(click the photo for a larger version, and if you competed in the comp or are looking for more photos, get a hold of me and I can set you up with files or prints)
The Upper Peninsula is no epicenter to skyscrapers and highrise buildings. When driving through Marquette or Houghton you’ll count just a few buildings that scratch the sky around 10-stories. But if you want to see the real deal, the omega of Upper Peninsula skyscrapers, make your way to Escananba to see the tallest building in the Upper Peninsula.
As you can see it’s perhaps not the prettiest building in the Upper Peninsula. It probably won’t be gracing the cover of architecture magazines anytime soon. But none of that matters. We’re here to celebrate the tallest building in the Upper Peninsula. And in the left corner, measuring in at 18 stories…. Hhhaaaaarrrbor Toowwwweerrrr.
