The Upper Peninsula is full of unique roadways offering scenic views. Some sections are straight as an arrow (lookin’ at you Seney Stretch), one is the longest state highway in Michigan, another is the only state highway in the United States not to allow cars (I’m sure you can guess which). It’s also said that Copper Harbor is the furthest place you can live from an Interstate in the continental United States, a distance of 251 miles from I-39 in Wisconsin. If you’re new to the Upper Peninsula, don’t be fooled, these are not multi-lane divided highways, most are entirely small, two-lane highways.
Many of you have read my previous post of the old post regarding the “Legend of the Big Boy Graveyard”. Since, it has been one of our most popular journal entries, resulting in a lot of search traffic and people trying to find the statues. But we wont’ be giving out any locations here.
First off, a big thanks goes out to Katrina who e-mailed me a new top secret location.
Our friend Stephanie sent us this delightful little poem by Suzanne Kindler, which was penned in 1996 from what we could find. But we couldn’t find much else about Suzanne. If you know more about Suzanne Kindler we would love to find more information on her and the roots of this poem.
Now, go escape to the pine trees.
Up North
It’s the place people go to escape, a place made of cabins, pine trees and lakes. But no matter how far you drive, there’s no sign to say “You’ve arrived.” So just follow your heart til you find, your special place that brings peace of mind. As you breathe in the air and unwind, your cares are all left behind. It’s no mystery where the northwoods start. When you’re “up north,” you’ll know in your heart.
Each day we check the web stats of U.P. Supply Co and what people have been Googling to bring traffic to the site. We thought we could make good use of this information by answering all of the “how” questions that have landed people on U.P. Supply Co. All of the questions below are verbatim searches people used on Google to land on U.P. Supply Co.
For those of you from outside of the Upper Peninsula, here’s a map of Christmas. Christmas is located northwest of Munising, about a 5-minute drive along M-28.
The town of Christmas has booming population of about 400. Ok, perhaps it’s not “booming”, but on a business night at the Kewadin Casino (by far the largest building in town that looks kind of strange and out of place in such a small town) the population probably grows by some pretty significant percentage points.
This post and photos brought to you by two friends of Yooper Steez, Allison Rueff (a native Yooper from Marquette living in Cincinnati) and Kate Rose (from Novi living in San Francisco), former MSU roommates who finally made it up to Isle Royale after years of talking about it. It lived up to all the hype, and they praise God for whatever topographic mistake has yielded this Michigan treasure.
Today we salute you, Mr. Shakyhands-Cartographer-That-Gave-Isle-Royale-To-The-U.P.-Instead-of-Canada. Some people say it was the foresight of our founding father, Benjamin Franklin, who gave us Isle Royale under the Treaty of Paris. But we know better. When you were employed to draw that boundary in 1783, your pencil moved gracefully from Sault Saint Marie and across Thunder Bay…and suddenly you had to sneeze. And in that nasal explosion, you unwittingly gave Michigan a spot of pristine wilderness that would be cherished for generations. Mostly by generations of moose, but hey – that’s the U.P.
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.
For years people have debated what northern Michigan actually means. Simple asked, what point does Michigan become Northern Michgian? Entire clothing lines of t-shirts and hoodies have made thousands of dollars off the “Up North”. This language is more common Traverse City area, rather than the Upper Peninsula.
But we ask, where is Northern Michigan University? In Marquette, on the shores of Lake Superior, far north of Makinac Bridge. Despite this, you have to go 136 miles south of the Mackinac Bridge to find the southern most claim of where Michigan’s “North” begins.
In February 2010, British comedian John Oliver (known for his role as Ian Duncan in Community and appearances on The Daily Show), performed at the Rozsa Center at Michigan Tech during Winter Carnival.
In one of his recent stand-up acts he recalls his visit to the Upper Peninsula.
Leave a comment below and share what you think of his remarks and the video.
On the first Saturday of February in Sault Ste. Marie you’ll find passionate snowmobiling fans gathered to watch the annual I-500 Snowmobile Race. The 500 mile race takes place on a 1-mile track. We’ll help with the math, that’s 500 laps!
The 47th annual featured an overcast February morning. However, by mid-afternoon the snow was falling and visibility was was diminishing. Race organizers called the race after 282 laps due to the poor visibility. Brian Dick and Wes Selby took the trophy home along with $17,677.
From the great Labor Day adventure and being a part of the MQT Plaidurday this year, I learned all about Yooper Steez and its beginnings. As I was finishing school at Northern Michigan University this past December, I became inspired by the Hometown Invasion Tour that kickstarted Yooper Steez. Approaching graduation gave me anxiety about my future and even though I secured an awesome job at Elegant Seagulls, I found myself itching to embark on an adventure like the Hometown Invasion Tour to see more of this wonderful earth. So I made the leap to go on a trip with my best friend and recent NMU grad Jessie Johnson. We bought a one-way plane ticket to Seattle and a one-way ticket from LA and went for it without many plans for the in between.
It’s Memorial Day weekend, which makes the beginning of summer road tripping season. And yesterday was one of those epic Upper Peninsula days. The plan was simple, get a late start and head to Pictured Rocks for the sunset. And it was worth each and every mosquito bite. Truthfully, the mosquitos weren’t that bad as long as we kept moving.
Typically when we post photos to Instagram and Twitter you see photos taken from a beat up iPhone. But the real mission is to take many photos with the big dSLR, many of which never see the light of day. So we’re doing a little photo dump of yesterday’s highlights–some snapshots, some carefully crafted photos, some with corrections, some raw and unedited.
The Mighty Mac! I have driven across countless times, I have been underneath a couple of times, and I was even fortunate enough to go to the top, but one thing I have never done is walk across the bridge for the annual Mackinac Bridge Walk on Labor Day. That’s all I need for the a spur of the moment road trip.
Legend says that the spring was named Kitch-iti-kipi (pronounced KITCH-i-tee-KI-pee) in memory of a young chieftain by that name who died in the icy waters when his canoe overturned during an attempt to impress a young woman. John I. Bellaire, the man who discovered the spring back in the 1920s, told this story to attract visitors to the site. The legend survives today as a tale that adds to the mysterious appeal of this water site.
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.
For a while I’ve been wanting to share one of the greatest views of Michigan, from Michigan’s greatest icon.
Last September I had the rare opportunity to have a tour to the top of the Mackinac Bridge. It was the finale of a year-long 50 state tour, and probably the best finale you could have in Michigan. I was allowed to bring one guest, so I brought my father. These were taken on September 17th, 2007. You can read the full story at my 50-state tour website.
The following post is an interview with the Cattani family from Menominee. A few weeks ago I was in the middle of my morning routine when I started receiving e-mails and tweets that Yooper Steez shirts were spotted on the Today Show on NBC. I thought it would be a fun post to interview them about their trip to NYC and what it was like to be on the Today Show and actually be interviewed by one of the correspondents. Not to mention exploring a city with 27 times the population of the entire U.P., crammed into an area 35 times smaller than the U.P.
Today is the last Wednesday of June, and on Absolute Michigan, that means it’s a Weird Wednesday. Today Weird Michigan author Linda Godfrey has a piece on Shocking but Scenic Seney that features Hemingway and the Ogre of Seney and the seedy history of this town that you’ll want to check out.
Hunt’s UP Guide says that while Seney was once the Upper Peninsula’s most raucous lumber town with a population of 3000 – now just 300 – today Seney is best known as the start of The Seney Stretch:
This is a guest post from our friend Alice Rossignol. She’s a big fan of the great outdoors and her love for the Upper Peninsula is blossoming. You can follow her on Twitter. Photos courtesy of Courtney Shuert.
For as long as I can remember, I’ve always preferred one direction: up.
And I take it as it comes: straight up, upstream (on Cripple Creek, preferably), Up (the movie), what’s up, shut up, up north, or since I moved to Michigan – UP, the Upper Peninsula.
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”.
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.
If you’re a regular reader on Yooper Steez you probably know by now that I grew up snowboarding in the Upper Peninsula, namely Mont Ripley in Houghton.
Last winter Houghton, MI was visited by four of the gnarliest “urban snowboarders” in the world: Peter Line (who’s a legend in the history of snowboarding), Eddie Wall, Pat Moore, and Stevie Bell. The boys saw prime Upper Peninsula weather, with temperatures as low -25 degrees. Even more consistent to the U.P. than a cold winter is there story of kind people. From a waitress at Joey’s Seafood helping them find a generator to Scott MacInnes giving them permission to do their thing all over town.
It’s been talked about plenty on the site, but this is the first post of a map where the Upper Peninsula is completely missing. We have all seen maps like this before, sadly. And despite the recent Upper Peninsula bill it will probably continue to happen. Some would argue that it’s a good thing, so not too many people move to the U.P.
Depending on where your source there are about 12-15 lighthouses in the entire country that double as a bed and breakfast. Two are in the Upper Peninsula.
Having two of these right in the Upper Peninsula is incredible. Of course these re fresh water lighthouses, where as most of the other lighthouse bed and breakfasts are on the ocean in the states of Oregon, California, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, and
For those of you in the Western Upper Peninsula we suggested checking out the annual Houghton & Hancock Bridgefest this weekend. However, that’s a long drive for those of you on the Eastern end of the Upper Peninsula. So another option is the 59th Annual Mackinac Island Lilac Festival.
You better make your plans fast! This weekend will be the end of the 10-day celebration, during Mackinac Island’s biggest festival of the year at the Upper Peninsula’s largest tourist attraction.
UP Overland has a pretty sweet thing going on. If you like adventure and want to see some places in the Upper Peninsula you wouldn’t normally get to see, these are good people to know. This video will give you a nice introduction.
Several months ago while sitting in this location I noticed a funny looking car drive by my apartment window. I followed up with my initial hunch with some research and came to the hypothesis that it must have been a Google Maps Street View car.
It’s possible that my hypothesis was wrong. Several others agreed to seeing the same car, but no evidence yet.
I decided it was time to follow up on the status. In the last several months Google Street View has expanded their range dramatically. However, it hasn’t quite mapped out the Upper Peninsula. But, they have mapped out I-75 and gone over the Mackinac Bridge.
Tourist season is coming! Time to travel, camp, go sight-seeing and vacation in the Upper Peninsula. If you’re a local don’t forget to be a tourist in your own town this summer and visit all the places you’ve read about but have never visited. For tourists and locals alike we put together a list of resources to help you plan your Upper Peninsula vacation, road trip, or afternoon drive.
The history of Life magazine has proved overtime to be one of the greatest archives of the United States history and arguably the most popular periodical of all time. Generally there are three large eras of Life. From 1883 to 1936 it was a general interest and humor magazine published weekly.
During 1936 Heny Luce (founder of Time magazine) purchased Life for $92,000. It’s focused changed to photojournalism and would remain a weekly publication through 1978. At that time it would become a general interest monthly publication.
Photo by [D. Bjorn on Flickr](http://www.flickr.com/photos/dbjorn/3619811393/ "North Shore in the Morning by D. Bjorn, soon off of hiatus!, on Flickr")
Spring is slowly coming. I think we’re all eager to enjoy the warmer weather, get out our bikes, kayaks, or just a lawn chair and lemonade.
With all this in mind, I’d simply like to ask…
What new places do you want to explore in the Upper Peninsula this spring? Leave a comment and let me know.
Houghton and Hancock will host their annual Bridgefest Festival this weekend, June 13 – 15th.
This weekend the Houghton Waterfront, Hancock Waterfront, and Ray Kestner Waterfront Park will be the busiest weekend of the year as locals and tourists fill the parks to participate in the activities.
Here is a list of this year’s Bridgefest activities so you can plan ahead…
[Photo of Marquette Mountain by Rick the Photo Guy](http://flickr.com/photos/rickthephotoguy/2247274307/ "Mont Ripley")
The Western Upper Peninsula is home to 10 ski hills and some of the finest skiing and snowboarding in the Midwest. Among the hills you’ll find great variety… family resorts, backcountry skiing, terrain parks, touristy resorts, and more secluded hills. I haven’t been to all of them yet, so far I’ve been to six of the ten. You can expect to see me as a regular at Marquette Mountain this season.
Our friend Kevin, having spent time in Marquette years ago and being a generation older than me, has done a great job of informing us of what Marquette used to be. He’s mentioned a few things that have gone missing over the years and what he educated me about this afternoon was Bunny Bread.
Kevin told me about a sign that was once famous in Marquette… a sign for Bunny Bread. And apparently the sign was taken down several years ago (it outdates my young memory, I’m only 25). Kevin inspired me to do a little research and find out where the sign went to.
Imagine yourself alone, barefoot on a beach. Imagine your toes sinking into its coarse expanse of small colorful pebbles, worn as smooth as glass by the patient persistence of nature. The warm red hue of the beach permeates the very air you breathe and walk amongst and you notice that there’s not a grain of sand in sight. You welcome the cool breeze off the water that moves swiftly over your face and eddies around your neck, leaving you with shivers that radiate from the top of your spine all the way out to your fingertips. That same breeze works invisible magic on the water, creating waves which crash into the beach with a loud, crisp clamor. An interesting whooshing noise occurs between waves as the water and small pebbles cascade down a short embankment into the lake. The water also drains down through the rocks, causing a quiet but distinct sound akin to a bowl of cereal just after pouring in the milk. And giant pine trees stand erect behind you with the majestic fortitude of silent soldiers, gazing with you out toward the northern horizon over a dark blue expanse. Where could you possibly be?
The Upper Peninsula of Michigan is a spectacular place, indeed. Just ask any Yooper. I wonder, though, how much of the UP an average Yooper is familiar with. I’ve been a Yooper for 23 years and I’ve been blessed with the capability and aspiration to find and explore many of this land’s hidden treasures. Yet it seems there is always a new adventure to undertake or place to see in this great peninsula.
This week I headed to Washington D.C. as part of my quest to have a beer with Richard Branson. One of the biggest inspirations for Yooper Steez was telling everyone about the Upper Peninsula and the Great Lakes while on my 50-state road trip. I still love to share it with people everywhere I go. So before heading out I thought I’d update the Yooper Steez Facebook Page…
Marquette continues to be published as one of the top cities to live in among different categories. Earlier this year we reported that Outdoor Life ranked Marquette the 7th best town in the U.S. for hunters and fishers. Not bad.
This time around it’s CNN Money, and they have ranked Marquette the #1 town in the country to save money with a short commute to work, school, or elsewhere in town.
Recently the Detroit News readers listed their favorite sweet treat stops in the state of Michigan. An Upper Peninsula favorite made the list at #2.
In Baraga county it’s one of the biggest staples known…
The Hilltop Sweetroll
It’s bigger than a baby’s head…
You can find these enormous rolls of sweetness in L’Anse, right next to US 41. If you can’t make the drive you can also find these tasty treats online where you can order a 4-pack.
Naturally, there is going to be a bell curve on this graph. Those who live in Ironwood aren’t going to make nearly as many trips across the bridge as those living in St. Ignace or Sault Ste Marie. Though it looks like most people average between 2 to 5 round trips across the bridge in a year.
If you’re new to the site and didn’t get a chance to vote, feel free to comment below and let us know how frequent you cross the Mighty Mackinac.
