Just in case you didn’t know, 906 is the only area code for the entire Upper Peninsula of Michigan. In addition, 906 is the largest area code in Michigan.
On March 19th, 1961, area code 906 was created as a split from what was then area code 616. Currently, according to Wikipedia, the area code is not expected to be exhausted until 2042.
Since 2012, September 6 has been designated as 906 Day for its resemblance to the date 9/6. On 906 Day, Yoopers and Upper Peninsula fans alike, are encouraged to take a sauna, buy a pasty for a friend, play a game of cribbage, go for swim in Lake Superior or Lake Michigan, or pay for the person behind you at the Mackinac Bridge.
Outside of the Midwest, The Upper Peninsula seems to a mystery to much of the U.S. population, and surprisingly, even to some of those in the Midwest. It’s quite common to think that the Upper Peninsula is part of Canada and sometimes textbooks don’t know what state the Upper Peninsula is in. More than anything, most people assume that the Upper Peninsula is part of Wisconsin.
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.
We love the Upper Peninsula. We love the Great Lakes. We love Yoopers. And we love Valentine’s Day!
Valentine’s Day doesn’t need to be full of roses and romance and the pressure of the perfect gift. We think it should be fun and lighthearted for everyone to enjoy, especially if you love the Upper Peninsula and the Great Lakes.
And because we heart Yoopers, these valentines are for you! They are meant to be shared on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and anywhere your heart desires. Most importantly, make sure the Yoopers in your life know how much you like them, appreciate them, admire them, enjoy them, and love them!
Today is Michigan’s 186th birthday! To celebrate we’re giving a bit of history lesson. We hope you’ll learn as much we did putting this together.
We’ve compiled highlights from every year since Michigan’s admittance into statehood in 1837. But as we know, this just a small piece of Michigan’s rich history. Please share your additions in the comments below.
Things to do in Michigan today…
Eat a pasty, or a coney dog
Visit Lake Superior, Lake Michigan, Lake Huron, or Lake Erie
Visit Presque Isle, or Belle Isle
Drive across the International Bridge, or the Ambassador Bridge, or the Mackinac Bridge, or the Portage Lift Bridge
Cheer for the Huskies, or the Wolverines, or the Wildcats, or the Spartans
Watch Escanaba In Da Moonlight, or 8 Mile.
Stay awesome, keep exploring, and do all the fun things in Michigan.
Do you ever wonder where all these awesome satellite images of the frozen Great Lakes come from and where to access them?
With Lake Superior and the Great Lakes set to reach record levels of ice cover this winter, there has been an abundance of satellite images passed around on news and social media sites. However, there hasn’t been much information on where these impressive images came from. Our curiosity piqued and we set out to do a little research.
Throughout the history of Major League Baseball, there haven’t been many players who grew up in the Upper Peninsula. However, there have been fourteen MLB players born or raised in the Upper Peninsula, and that’s pretty impressive! Especially considering how short summers can be. As you can see four of them were born in before 1900. The most recent player to see MLB action is Mike Bordick who played 102 games with the Toronto Blue Jays as recently as the 2003 season. And to much acclaim, Kevin Tapani is the only member of the list to win a World Series.
All of the events below have been provided by michiganfireworks.com which has done an awesome job of gathering information on all the fireworks shows across Michigan.
There are over 25 fireworks shows scheduled in the Upper Peninsula over the 4th of July and throughout the summer. We sorted them by county below. Find one nearby and bring some friends and family. Click the title of each event for more information.
Grand Marais Fourth Celebration
Thu, Jul 4, 2019 Grand Marais, Alger County Location: Over the harbor
A great old-fashioned family fun day, with a Parade, Games, Contests, Street Dance, and the fireworks at dusk. It’s a great time to visit Grand Marais and Burt Township!
. Get more details.
Without doubt, across the Upper Peninsula today there are people talking about the legend of the St. Patrick’s Day snowstorm. Though sometimes a couple weeks early or late, many Yoopers insist that the St. Patrick’s Day snowstorm is an annual occurrence.
We looked to local weather expert, the Upper Peninsula’s favorite meteorologist, the one, the only, Karl Bohnak.
According to Karl Bohnak’s book, So Cold a Sky, the myth of a March 17th storm goes back to at least 1870. Unfortunately, National Weather Service records only go back to 1949. From So Cold a Sky …
For the last two weeks, people across the world have tuned into the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics. We have marveled at their incredible accomplishments, cried together over their adversity and comebacks, and screamed in joy as we share their excitement.
On Saturday, while the world was infatuated with the closing ceremonies, there was another group of elite athletes preparing for competition on the other side of the world.
A couple weekends ago, my friend Sara and I, fellow nostalgia addicts and antique aficionados, spent hours at Lambs’ Gate, an antique store in Old Town, Lansing. We spent more than an hour hunched over a large crate propped up to waist-level that was full of old postcards. We marveled over the dates and handwriting and content on them and read the most interesting/funny/illegible ones out loud to each other. The postcards were conveniently sorted by region, with Michigan having its own section. Naturally, that was where I concentrated my search efforts.
Two wrongs may make a right, but two meteor_wrongs_ certainly don’t make a meteo_rite_.
And here’s why.
Well, first — let’s rewind.
To one day in 1889 when a six-year old boy named Peter Peterson (yes, this was actually his name) was helping his father clear rocks from a field near Iron River.
Things were proceeding as usual (I’m assuming) when little Peter noticed that one rock was much heavier than others of the same size. He showed the 3.13-pound whopper to his father who told him to toss it like the others.
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 is a favorite past time for many people in the Upper Peninsula from the shores of Lake Superior to Lake Michigan to a small strip of Lake Huron, and the many inland lakes. Not to mention a favorite past time of people across the world. Personally, I have skipped stones as far away from the Upper Peninsula as Seward, AK and Lochranza, Scotland. To call me a stone skipping expert would be blasphemy. However, to say that I’m passionate about stone skipping would be a large understatement.
A month ago we posted a blog entry about Why Lake Superior Kicks Your Lake’s Butt, a look at several fun facts about the world’s greatest lake that the Upper Peninsula is so fortunate to share.
After posting the entry Dan left a comment asking about the difference in length between Michigan’s and Minnesota’s shoreline on Lake Superior. Thanks for asking, Dan!
The Mackinac Bridge has become a sort of personal symbol for me in recent years, representing how my heart is divided between my homeland of the U.P. and my current home in Grand Rapids. It seems I still have the same excitement crossing the bridge today as I did when I was a child. I grew up crossing the Mackinac Bridge for the occasional trip to lower Michigan or Indiana, but I also grew up watching Full House, a now guilty-pleasure TV show set in San Francisco, with an opening sequence that often made me wonder how great the Golden Gate really was when compared with the Mighty Mac.
UPDATE: You can now rent and download The Michigan Ice Film. If you like local folklore, adventure, winter, or simply live in Michigan, you need to check it out. Much respect to Aaron and his crew for putting this amazing film together during the coldest winters on record.
Let us introduce you to Aaron Peterson. Aaron is the driving force behind Cold & Clear Cinema. Last year his team brought us Cold Rolled (you can watch Cold Rolled here), a film featuring Marquette’s one of a kind snow biking trails. Now, a new project is underway, The Michigan Ice Film, with the mission of highlighting ice climbing in Alger County.
This is our third installment of Fish Frydays. On a not-quite-weekly but more-than-monthly schedule, we will patronize a new fish fry location in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. These outings will take place on Friday evening, with a review posted the following Monday. The goal is simple, try as many fish fry locations across the Upper Peninsula as possible while in the presence of good company. Have a suggestion? Please leave your suggestions in the comments below.
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.
This is our second installment of Fish Frydays. On a not-quite-weekly but more-than-monthly schedule, we will patronize a new fish fry location in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. These outings will take place on Friday evening, with a review posted the following Monday. The goal is simple, try as many fish fry locations across the Upper Peninsula as possible while in the presence of good company. Have a suggestion? Please leave your suggestions in the comments below.
Today we introduce a new feature, Fish Frydays. On a not-quite-weekly but more-than-monthly schedule, we will patronize a new fish fry location in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. Naturally, these outings will take place on Friday evening, with a review posted the following Monday. The goal is simple, try as many fish fry locations across the Upper Peninsula as possible in the presence of good. Have a suggestion? Please leave your suggestions in the comments below.
The Upper Peninsula is so frequently left off maps that when our demonym, Yooper, shows up on Jeopardy, it’s a pretty big deal.
dem·o·nym : the name used for the people who live in a particular country, state, or other locality
Coincidentally, the definition example on dictionary.com mentions Michigander and Michiganian, but they don’t mention Yooper. Most demonyms are reserved for states and countries as a whole. Few demonyms exist for smaller defined regions like the Upper Peninsula. Outside of those states and countries it’s hard to find borders as defined as the Upper Peninsula. It’s one reason we’ve always celebrated Upper Peninsula’s silhouette. It’s unique, recognizable, and well, just straight UP awesome.
That’s what I was asked once while on my 50-state Hometown Invasion Tour. I don’t want to drop any names of who it was, but clearly someone a long ways away from the Great Lakes Region. This adult was someone who I saw as well educated, and I believe any U.S. citizen should be able to answer this question with ease. However, that’s easy to say for those who live only a few hundred yards off the shore of Lake Superior. Throughout my trip I was frequently educated people on the Great Lakes and wanted to share…
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.
Recently, while pondering possible material for the Yooper Steez blog, I found myself wondering what the oldest building in Michigan might be. I was pleased to discover through Google search that I had already stood inside the building holding this title during my latest trip to Mackinac Island. Built in 1780, the Officers’ Stone Quarters in Fort Mackinac is the oldest surviving building in Michigan.
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.
On Saturday, February 28th, the Trenary Outhouse Classic overtook the small town of Trenary for its 16th year. I have probably heard about the Outhouse Classic every year since its inception, but had never gone to watch. However, during my last semester of college, I began researching some of the U.P.’s most beloved idiosyncrasies for a writing project. I suddenly became fascinated with this one-of-a-kind Yooper racing event, and hoped to be there this year. I suppose a Sweet 16 celebration is as good a time as any for a gal to attend her first outhouse races.
There are 148,939,100 square miles of land surface on Planet Earth…
42,610 of it belongs to the Upper Peninsula. That comes to 0.029% of all the Earth. And if you prefer fractions, that’s 1/3,449th of the Earth’s surface. We are just a speck.
The total surface area of Earth is 510,065,600 square kilometers. It’s a big place.
The Upper Peninsula is home to some very unique places on earth. I’ll refer you to Mississippi State’s website, where a group actually made the trekall the way to the Upper Peninsula to discover our unique geology.
This year Outdoor Life ranked Marquette as their 2nd best town in the United States to experience the great outdoors.
“Another repeat Top-10 finisher from last year, Marquette jumped five spots from number 7 in our 2008 list. Located on the banks of Lake Superior on the Upper Peninsula’s northern shore, Marquette is the ultimate Great Lakes town. Outdoorsmen are blessed with abundant year-round activities, including awesome steelhead and salmon runs; phenomenal smallmouth, walleye and muskie fishing; great grouse gunning; and a whitetail-hunting culture that is second to none. Public access to grouse and woodcock, deer, ducks and turkeys is near at hand on the spacious Hiawatha and Ottawa national forests.”
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.
Officials at Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary have spoken, the word Yooper will now appear in the dictionary. The news was announced on Monday, March 24, 2014. We owe a big thanks and about 67 pasties (call us Steve!) to Steve Parks of Gladstone. For ten years he has been campaigning to have Yooper added to the dictionary after a discussion that ensued while playing Yooper during a friendly game of Scrabble. Success! Steve will join a cast of people who have contributed to the history of the word Yooper.
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.
Our first Steez Drop happened on December 1, 2013. While driving across the Upper Peninsula we stopped in downtown Marquette, carefully picked a location, and dropped an Upper Peninsula hoodie on a bench with a note, “Finders keepers”. 22 minutes later it was gone. Since then we’ve had fun making drops from Ironwood to Mackinac Island, giving back to customers, fans, tourists, and a few random passerbys with packages of Steez. We always include a hoodie or sweatshirt, t-shirt, and a random assortment of other goodies. But on July 5th, we were caught entirely off guard.
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.
Every 4th of July people gather on the south side of Mackinac Island at Windermere Point for the annual Mackinac Island Stone Skipping Tournament. A few hundred people assemble, building up the noon tournament of stone skipping professionals.
For the amateur division, anyone can enter for just $5, with proceeds going to the Mackinac Island Hospice. Each contestant can pick a selection of six stones from the beach or opt to bring their own, as the professionals do. This is still a high-debated practice among the purists, as covered in the Wall Street Journal. With stones in hand, the contestant finds a judge who carefully counts the number of skips and records it on the scoresheet. The judges are highly trained professionals, many have been coming to the Mackinac Island tournament for a decade or longer. All you need is one good throw, your highest skip-count is recorded and the rest are thrown out. The person with the highest number of skips.
Have you been to Mackinac Island? If so, did you venture beyond the fudge shops and beaches to the untamed interior? As a lover of all things that bloom, I felt like I was in paradise once I made it to the island’s internal trails.
If you’re into wildflowers too, you may know that timing dictates the species. I visited in early June this summer, so the initial bloomers were popping up all over. Colorful petals and fresh, shiny leaves kept my nature-loving friends and me captivated.
Mike Rowe is no stranger to Mackinac Island, having filmed segments of Dirty Jobs on the Mackinac Bridge and the island (Click here more on climbing the Mackinac Bridge). His latest comes from a little promo for Somebody’s Gotta Do It, his latest show on CNN.
We’ve long used the slogan, “Nice shirts for nice people”. Fact is, we like when people say nice things, especially when it’s about where we’re from, whether that be the Upper Peninsula, Mackinac Island, Detroit, or Michigan as a whole. Let’s say more nice things.
After walking up Sugarloaf Mountain to enjoy the sunset, I had built up an appetite. Where else to go for dinner than to Jean Kay’s for a pasty. Before feasting, I thought to myself, “Why not make a hyperlapse video of this?” The entire pasty took 11 minutes and 37 seconds to eat, or about 37 seconds in hyperlapse mode.
When I got home I realized it needed some music and began some research. I found this amazing song titled “Something About a Pasty” by Brenda Wootton. Brenda was a Cornish poet, folk singer and an ambassador of the Cornish culture. Our favorite album would have to be Pasties & Cream.
During this last week, if you’re in the Upper Peninsula, there’s a good chance you may have seen this photo circulating on Facebook.
Talk about a throwback! That photo has been around since February 2008, but only a few people have seen it until now. Seeing it myself had me reminiscing and thinking I should share some details about the origin story including this photo and the humble beginnings of Michigan’s original Upper Peninsula apparel brand.
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.
Earlier this morning a shark was photographed swimming in Lake Superior near McCarty’s Cove in Marquette.
Larry Beckwith contacted Yooper Steez to give us an exclusive first look at the photos he captured.
I was at McCarty’s Cove early this morning to get some photos of the dawn sunlight on the Marquette Lighthouse. It was about 9 a.m. when I headed back to my truck–I noticed something sticking out of the water out there. I grabbed my big lens. I immediately knew I was looking at a shark! It swam off real quick. – Larry Beckwith
You may have heard that Kid Rock’s latest music video was shot in the Upper Peninsula. You can clearly see Picture Rocks, but wondering if the scenes in the field were shot nearby as well.
And in case you like karaoke…
“Born Free” by Kid Rock
Fast on a rough road riding High thru the mountains climbing Twistin’, turning, further from my home
Young like a new moon rising Fierce thru the rain and lightning Wandering out into this great unknown
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 town of Trenary, rather Mathias Township is approximately 554 people. A little gem of a community that must be darn near the geographic center of the Upper Peninsula. However, on the last Saturday of February the town’s size likely quintuples, if not more.
Yesterday, Trenary hosted the 22nd Annual Outhouse Classic. If you haven’t been to the Trenary Outhouse Classic, you just don’t know what you’re missing. And why wouldn’t such a thing exist? Without question, it provides some of the finest Yooper ingenuity.
Astronaut Sam Cristoforetti, of Italy, has been living on the International Space Station and tweeting up a storm. She regularly posts photos of her view from ISS including this gem she recently posted of the Eastern Upper Peninsula surrounded by Lake Michigan and Lake Superior.
“You know what I’m always curious about? The Upper Peninsula.” – David Letterman
After some banter about hunting, fishing, and drinking Letterman goes on to ask Jeff Daniels why the Upper Peninsula is not part of Wisconsin. We were surprised that Mr. Daniels wasn’t able to answer the question. Well, we have an answer for that!
They followed with some chat about Mackinac Island (yes, it’s pronounced MackiNAW, not MackiNACK, and not to be confused with Mackinaw City) and the “longest porch in the history of porches”. That would be the Grand Hotel. A frequent question we get is, “Is Mackinac Island considered the Upper Peninsula?” And yes, it is. They have a 906 area code across the island and it’s actually at a higher latitude than the Mackinac Bridge.
Destination mountain bike trails weave through the terrain of the Upper Peninsula. The Keweenaw itself hosts over 100 miles of sweet singletrack trails for riders of all skill levels. Copper Harbor and Marquette have each been deemed a Ride Center destination from the International Mountain Bicycling Association. Ontonagon has trails and a race through the old mines in that area.
But now gravity is taking over.
It used to be that only ski hills with running chair lifts in the summertime could provide the transportation needed to run a successful downhill mountain bike operation. But the Keweenaw Adventure Company (KAC) in Copper Harbor has changed that.
“Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower.” ― Albert Camus
“I’m so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers.” ― L.M. Montgomery
“I would rather sit on a pumpkin, and have it all to myself, than be crowded on a velvet cushion.” ― Henry David Thoreau
“Fall has always been my favorite season. The time when everything bursts with its last beauty, as if nature had been saving up all year for the grand finale.” ― Lauren DeStefano
A few years ago, big wave surfer Jamie Sterling came to Lake Superior for some surfing. He grew up surfing big waves in Hawaii since a young boy. And well, it’s pretty rad. Not much more we can say, just enjoy the beautiful footage!
Somehow this one slipped through the cracks, as it took place in 2011. Thanks to our buddy Teddy for sending the footy over this way.
It has been amazing to see the growth of surfing in the Great Lakes in recent years and people are coming from different ends of the earth to make use of what the Great Lakes and Upper Peninsula have to offer. Earlier today, amongst the storm, there were a number of surfers out. Nothing but respect for what they are all doing.
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.
One requirement for being an Ambassador of the Upper Peninsula is whirlwind road trips across the U.P. Road tripping is [nothing new](http://hometowninvasion.com "50-state tour") to me, and a proper road trip includes a number of my road tripping guidelines. Some of those guidelines include, but are not limited to:
Listening to “Total Eclipse of the Heart” with the windows down and the volume up
Spontaneity, such as not knowing where you’ll be sleeping in the coming night and taking impractical routes
Eating at local diners.
Avoiding hotels and staying with people you have never met before
The trip started in Marquette at 1pm Thursday afternoon and concluded on Saturday evening at about 6pm. In the span of those 53 hours, nearly a quarter of it was spent driving, covering 648.4 miles. And yes, I certainly jammed out to “Total Eclipse of the Heart” more than one time.
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.
Have you seen the Northern Lights dancing across the starry skies? The U.P. offers a good opportunity for viewing Auroras. I want to share some tips for successful Aurora chasing.
Step 1: Kp Numbers
The Kp number refers to the strength of the Auroras. Auroras with Kp 5 and higher are considered storm level and can be seen farther south. Use the map below (from NOAA.gov) to find the Kp number needed for your area.
Kiteboarding is making its way to the Keweenaw Peninsula and Lake Superior. Off the shores of McLain State Park in Hancock, to Keystone Bay near Copper Harbor, kitesurfing and kiteboarding are on a roll.
This past winter, the locals in Copper Harbor hosted their first annual Superior Gales Kitefest, held the first weekend of spring. About a dozen enthusiastic kiters came from Michigan and Wisconsin to shred the frozen, snow-covered lakes.
Water cooler conversations at offices around the country have been full of chatter about this epic 2014 winter. What an awesome winter it has been. And from local news stations all the way to the NBC Nightly News, people have been talking about Lake Superior being 95% frozen over, and especially about the ice caves around the Apostle Islands. But that’s out out of our jurisdiction!
Recently, we were fortunate to catch up with Weldy Olson, a Marquette native who was a member of the USA gold medal winning team at the 1960 Winter Olympics. Before we share a little more about Weldy (gotta love that nickname!), let’s take a brief look at some hockey history in the Upper Peninsula.
Hockey is a long standing tradition in the Upper Peninsula. A tradition rich in history, and the birthplace of professional hockey in the United States, that started in 1903 with the Portage Lakers. Just weeks ago Calumet celebrated the 100th anniversary of the Calumet Colosseum, with a rivalry that dates back before indoor hockey even existed.
Saturday kicked off the 2nd annual Marquette Downtown Showdown rail jam. Snowboarders and skiers threw it down once again at the end of Washington Street. From young kids to seasoned veterans, these boys and girls had to be kicked off the hill before they gave up on their best slides, jibs, and whatever else the cool kids are calling them these days. This is one snowboarder who is out of touch with the current lingo. Maybe next year I’ll find the courage to strap on the ol’ board and see if I can hit a rail or two without breaking my face or knees.
If you were in or around Marquette County this weekend you likely saw some mushers, dog sleds, and a whole lot of cute dogs! The weekend was full of dog sled racing.
The U.P. 200
The longest of the three, the historic U.P. 200 stretches 240 miles. The annual races leaves from Marquette, making a round trip to Grand Marais. The races is limited to no more than 40 teams, each with 12 dogs. To ensure the safety of dogs and mushers there are a series of checkpoints and a required 16 hours of rest time. The inaugural race was in 1990. Annually, as many as 10,000 people will line the streets of Marquette on Friday night to watch the mushers take off.
We just caught wind of this awesome montage from Justin Armstrong. These clips were shot in fall of 2013 in and around the shores of Marquette including Presque Isle, Blackrocks, and Sugarloaf Mountain. You can see more of Justin’s work on his Facebook Page.
It’s time for a new mountain bike, one fitted for snow and ice.
Marquette has been on a number of lists for best outdoors town in America. Everyone is familiar with the vast options for kayaking, skiing, snowboarding, mountain biking, and the list goes on. There is now an upcoming group of snow bikers and this 5-part documentary was put together showcasing what they’re up to on the trails.
Cold Rolled is an action documentary from Clear & Cold Cinema, Salsa Cycles and TravelMarquetteMichigan.com that will explore the history and progression of winter cycling culture in the small Lake Superior harbor town of Marquette, Michigan.
Pretty cool, but we’d rather be outside facing the elements! If you’re new to the Yooper Scooper go order yours today from Silver Bear Manufacturing.
While speaking of Yooper Scoopers, does anyone else have a scar from one? I remember being a little kid running around the yard pushing the Yooper Scooper when the front edge hit some uneven ground. And since about age 10 I have always had a scar in the middle of my chin from the handle of the Yooper Scooper.
There are few rivalries in sports that date back as far as the Calumet Wolverines and Portage Lake Pioneers. The claim has been made that it’s the oldest rivalry in hockey, and we’re sticking to that belief. That rivalry is so old that it existed before there was a place to play hockey indoors. Local hockey legends have made their mark. Countless teeth have been lost. And there have likely been as many Gordie Howe hat tricks as scoring hatt ricks.
This post was contributed by Lucy Hough, a freelance writer from Marquette. She’s also a master’s student at NMU. You can follow her on Twitter at @yes_lucy. Photo courtesy of Michigan Tech archives.
From an early age, we learn that to needlessly yell “Fire!” in a public space is dangerous, and, more, against the law. This law has groundings in the tragic incident that happened in Calumet in 1913, 100 years ago this December. The Italian Hall was having a children’s party on Christmas Eve when someone came in the front door and shouted “fire!” Predictably, people ran to the doors but the chaos made it difficult for people to escape the building. Seventy-three people died, many of them children. There are some accounts of the event that the doors opened inward and people were crushed as others tried to exit, but some historians have refuted that idea.
This video shows highlights of Ken Block and Alex Gelsomino testing in the Upper Peninsula leading up to this weekends annual Lake Superior Performance Rally. The race kicks off today and goes through the weekend. If you’re looking for an adventure get out there and watch.
Cheer on for Keweenaw locals Moyale Racing and FY Racing. We don’t think Ken Block has a chance against the hard working teams from the U.P.
Since 2002 Northern Michigan University and Michigan Tech University have battled for the Miner’s Cup Trophy, awarded to the annual winner of the historic Upper Peninsula football rivalry.
Michigan Tech won the inaugural Miner’s Cup in 2002 and currently holds an 9-3 record over Northern Michigan. The traveling trophy has stayed at MTU since 2009 when NMU last won it, the longest winning streak for the annual trophy.
Though the Miner’s Cup has only been awarded since 2002, the rivalry dates back 1920. The two teams have met a total of 87 times since. As of Michigan Tech’s 2013 victory, the series is split even, 41-41-5 record.
The Upper Peninsula is the cooler peninsula. It cannot be argued, it is embedded in the factual temperatures recorded by the National Weather Service for more than one hundred years. So we all know it’s literal, but is it figurative? Of course we’re a little biased at Yooper Steez, but we’d love to hear your arguments.
Last night I was digging through some old photos from the U.P. and it got me thinking how cool the Upper Peninsula is. Of course, there’s a lore more reasons than eleven, but here’s a rough cut of some photos I went through.
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.
The State of Michigan has seen 47 governors since 1837 when Michigan was admitted as the 26th state of the union. Of those 47 governors only one has been a Yooper.
Chase Osborn became the 27th Governor of Michigan in 1911 and to this day remains the only Michigan Governor from the Upper Peninsula.
Governor Osborn was born January 22, 1860 in Huntington County, Indiana. While in his 20s Osborn moved to Sault Ste Marie where he operated The Sault News and in 1889 became the postmaster of Sault Ste Marie.
Though not as prolific as Ancient Greece or Rome, the Upper Peninsula does boast its own mythology. Maybe we don’t have a slew of gods and goddesses, but we do have Heikki Lunta, the Finnish snow god.
The name is now often associated with an annual winter festival in Negaunee, but it’s creation is linked to an annual snowmobile race held in Atlantic Mine. In 1970, the U.P. was having one of those winters where it doesn’t snow as much as we might like, which was threatening the success of the race. To increase support, radio salesman David Riutta wrote the “Heikki Lunta Snow Dance Song.” This song created the fictional Heikki Lunta as a creature that lived in the backwoods of Tapiola, twenty miles south of Houghton, and would perform a dance to make it snow. The song went on U.P. airwaves and was a success, and incidentally it did snow that year, causing the snowmobile race to be postponed on account of too much snow.
It’s widely known in the area that the U.P. has the largest Finnish population outside of Finland, with 16 percent of Yoopers having Finnish heritage. For this reason, it makes sense for FinnFest 2013 to be held in the Copper Country.
The Keweenaw wasn’t the first place Finnish Americans called home. Finns came to the U.S. long before coming to Michigan with the founding of Delaware in 1683. In a more modern wave of immigration, the first Finns came to the Keweenaw Peninsula in 1864, and then spread to Marquette County and the Gogebic Range within the next ten years.
There are a lot of reasons why the FinnFest USA 2013 organizing committee started planning three years ago. The 5-day event which takes place in the Copper Country from June 19-23 is more than just a fun celebration. It’s a cultural phenomenon, it’s a lifeline and it’s coming home, for some. That’s why the event spans a myriad topics and an entire region of the Upper Peninsula.
History
This region has an incredible amount of Finnish-American history that celebrates an important anniversary this year. A hundred years ago, labor disputes in the mining towns changed how immigrants, including Finnish-Americans, were treated. Also 100 years ago, 73 people died in the Italian Hall Disaster, 55 of whom were Finnish-American. These historic events, which took place here in the Keweenaw Peninsula, are a part of what make Finnish-American events, where these people come together and celebrate their culture, especially meaningful. Finnish-Americans share this common history and, with the 100th anniversary, it makes sense that FinnFest 2013 would take place in this region.
At Yooper Steez we’re kind of obsessed with all the tiny towns in the Upper Peninsula. We’re not talking about the tiny towns like Pelkie, but the even tinier towns. The towns that are the “suburbs” of Pelkie, as we like to say.
In honor of FinnFest USA we started with a few Finnish towns with more versions to come. Let us know what towns you’d like to see a version of.
20,432 images rendered into the 6,810 final images! That’s just crazy. The video was put together by Jason Hulet Photography, be sure to give him some love on his Facebook Page for his hard work.
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.
Today, Google is featuring a Google Doodle paying tribute to the legendary graphic designer and filmmaker Saul Bass. What does Saul Bass have to do with the Upper Peninsula? One of his most famous title sequences (above) was for the film Anatomy of a Murder.
In addition to Anatomy of a Murder director Otto Preminger, Saul Bass also worked with Alfred Hitchcock, Stanley Kubrick, and Martin Scorsese, just to name a few. In addition to his famous title sequences he created several iconic logos for Continental Airlines, United Way, Quaker Oats and AT&T.
On top of Brockway Mountain in Copper Harbor, there is a researcher with his or her eyes toward the sky. He or she probably has a pair of high-tech binoculars and maybe even a shelter to shield from the occasional bursts of winds that sweep across Brockway. It’s a month or more before the typical tourist season, but it’s the birds’ migration season. Specifically, for raptors, birds of prey.
I’ve been there the past two years and hope to go again in the next month to see some of those birds of prey on their way south. The best time to catch the birds’ migration is in the months of April, May and somewhat in the beginning of June, and the number of raptors that pass by is astounding. Sometimes standing on top of Brockway it feels like any other day, but every couple minutes someone will shout, “there’s one!” and the spectators who know about this secret will all look eagerly.
We applaud the photographers and videographers in the Upper Peninsula that capture the beauty of this area and bring it to the rest of the world. This latest by Shawn Malone of Lake Superior Photo is titled “North Country Dreamland” taking a look at the celestial skies.
“This video is my first time lapse compilation of a resultant 10k photo frames equaling 33 scenes of various night sky events from Northern Michigan 2012- It took a year to shoot and a bit of tenacity and persistence to get this into a form of coherent electrified cosmic goodness.
The Upper Peninsula is truly is one of the most beautiful places in the world to see the fall colors. We couldn’t get enough of the photos we were seeing around the web, so we picked some of our favorites to share with you. We’re envious of the images these photographers captured, so be sure to click on the photo and leave them a nice comment, they deserve it for sharing their talent with the rest of us.
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.
Over two years ago I posted a blog about the origin and first use of the word Yooper. My source for the blog was Professor Richard W. Bailey from the University of Michigan who did a more extensive write-up on the history of Yooper. It cites a contest that was held August 5, 1979 by the Escanaba Daily Press. Brett Crawford of Bark River was credited with submitting Yooper.
Earlier this week we delighted in a few photos of fall across the Upper Peninsula from some talented photographers. Today we bring you two stunning videos.
The first one, above, is by Jason Whalen, an MSU graduate of environmental biology and zoology who works for The Nature Conservancy. Be sure to check out his other Michigan footage.
The second video is by Mike Kvackay, a film student at NMU. His video touches the Porcupine Mountains, Marquette and Munising. He too has a nice collection of videos featuring Michigan.
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:
Recently an article titled “Michigan’s Upper Peninsula struggles to survive” seemed to make headlines in every news source in the Upper Peninsula, many across the state, and a few national sources. In each case the reporters failed to mention that, Finnish or not, Yoopers have sisu.
Sisu embodies all of the characteristics mentioned above and is an ability to overcome adversity. However, sisu is not defined by a moment of courage. Sisu is continuous, the ability to sustain pressure and adversity over long periods of time.
During Nickelodeon’s golden years – the fantastic ’90s – I became engrossed in their weird neon world of slime, obstacle courses, the Rugrats and Nick at Nite.
And of course, Guts – an “extreme sport” show where kids and adults, clad in awkward knee pads and helmets, did “extreme” things like go down slides and scramble up big foam blocks painted like rocks with the ultimate goal of earning…the Guts gold medal.
Springtime fun in the Upper Peninsula, snowmobiling and snowboarding over a house. Filmed at a “mystery location” in Keweenaw County. Courtesy of @Barrette906.
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.
Have you ever wondered what it would be like to kayak over Tahquamenon Falls? It’s only a 51-foot drop, no big deal, right? Marcelo Galizio came to the U.P. from Brazil with his eyes set on Tahquamenon. He’s made numerous first descents over waterfalls 50 feet and higher. He’s also spent five years as a an experienced guide and spent some time guiding in the Upper Peninsula this summer.
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.
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.
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")
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.
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.
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.
Someone in Lansing really loves the Upper Peninsula. At first sight we saw the heart and wondered, “Oh, it must be Tom Izzo! Right?” However, it looks like the heart is located over Iron River rather than Iron Mountain. They sound close enough, but to those unfamiliar it is a 45 mile drive between the two!
Whoever you are, we’ve got some free swag waiting for you. Thanks for loving the Upper Peninsula as much as we do!
[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.
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.
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.
Don’t let the name scare you. Flat-track roller derby team, the Escanaba Rollin Hellcats, is showing the Upper Peninsula what they’re made of. One of many derby teams cropping up in the U.P., the Rollin Hellcats are creating an identity for themselves. According to team coach, Kym “Bella Beatya” Segorski, the Escanaba team is known for being small and fast.
The other teams in the U.P., ranging from Kingsford to Sault Ste. Marie, all have identities unique to the women on the team. The Kingsford Krush are known for being tall and stong. All teams are gaining momentum and names for themselves throughout the region.
It was another lively night in downtown Marquette for the 1st annual Downtown Showdown snowboard and ski rail jam. Riders of all ages were going harder and harder as the day went on, from 3pm until 8:30pm. It seemed with each hour the riders were getting more aggressive, the snow was getting faster, and the tricks more difficult and technical.
There was music from Double Trouble DJs, beer provided by L’Attitude, food trucks, and a lively crowd that seemed to pick up as the night went on. The first annual coincided with the start of the U.P. 200last night where the end of Washington Ave was already snow covered. It looks like it’ll be an event sticking around for years to come.
Nestled in the Rock River Canyon Wilderness, about two miles north of Eben Junction, is the Eben Ice Caves. For those new to the area it’s pronounced eh-been not eeeeee-been. Rock River Canyon is one of the six designated wilderness areas of Hiawatha National Forest. The Rock River Canyon was created by congress in 1987 and consists of 4,600 acres in Alger County. There is another canyon, Silver Creek, which is separated by a wide flat ridge. Both canyons are about 150 feet deep.
Downtown Marquette was lively Friday night for the start of the annual U.P. 200 and Midnight Run sled dog races. It was a chilly night, but the dogs certainly didn’t seem to mind. They were animated and full of energy.
This was the 24th running of the U.P. 200 and they’ll be going to Grand Marais and back, returning throughout the day on Sunday. It is a 12-dog mid-distance race that is a qualifier for the Iditarod in Alaska. The race covers 240 miles with a first place cash prize of $7,200.
This week the Michigan State University Department of Theatre debuted the play U.P. We might not be great at reviewing plays but we love talking about the Upper Peninsula, so we had to be there.
U.P. tells the story of a man disillusioned by his life in Los Angeles. He sets out on a road trip searching for answers and ultimately finds himself in one of America’s only remaining “Outbacks,” the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. This production will be a multi-media production blending theatre and film.
Recently we came across this poem by Samuel Griswold Goodrich (August 19, 1793 – May 9, 1860). Goodrich was born in Connecticut and became a bookseller and publisher in Hartford. He would later move to the Boston area where he began publishing The Token for fourteen years. He was eventually elected a member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives in 1836 and a member of the Massachusetts State Senate in 1837. He was better known by his pseudonym, Peter Parley. Under this name he wrote Peter Parley’s Story of the Trapper (1829) where he wrote the following about Lake Superior.
This is a guest post from our friend and fellow Yooper Ashley Bovin, she’s from Gladstone and you can follow here on Twitter @ashleyruthless.
The 18th running of the Lake Superior Performance Rally (LSPR), the “Oldest, Toughest and Meanest Rally on the Rally Circuit,” is happening this Friday and Saturday, October 26th and 27th, 2012. The LSPR is a sanctioned race by Rally America as one of many national and regional rally races. The 2011 LSPR Champions, Adam Yeoman and Jordan Schulze (#425) of Houghton, are going for a repeat in their home territory. It appears there are 35 entries in this year’s rally, including a handful of teams from the Upper Peninsula.
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.
Photo by [We Are CS](http://www.flickr.com/photos/kjrokos/297873380/ "texture by We Are CS, on Flickr")
We’re looking for your input on the top places to see the fall colors in the Upper Peninsula!
Initially, we were hoping to do a poll to find out your favorite place, but there are simply too many places in the Upper Peninsula. There are many classic places like Lake of the Clouds, Bond Falls, Brockway Mountain, and Tahquamenon Falls. Everyone knows of these locations (or at least they should).
Friday was a remarkably beautiful day. A friend and I drove to Little Presque Isle in the afternoon and had a wonderful hike to Wetmore Landing. It was 75 degrees, sunny, and Lake Superior was as smooth as glass. There were even people in swimming suits and bikinis. That was Friday.
Early Monday morning the snow started to settle on the ground. By mid afternoon most everything was white. By Tuesday morning everything was covered with snow, the roads were covered with slush. By this afternoon my roommate and I decided to close the blinds so we weren’t reminded of what the weather was like outside. And now, Tuesday evening, the snow continues to come down.
Everyone was excited for spring being just around the corner. But c’mon, this is the Upper Peninsula, we all knew that we’d see a big snowfall again. In 2009 we saw the biggest April snowstorm in 10 years. In 2008 we had a comparable April Fool’s Day snowstorm. 2010 wasn’t going to be any different. Some people said Marquette received as much as 10″ of snowfall on Friday.
I asked fans of the Yooper Steez fan page to share some photos from the snowfall and received some good variety. If you’re not already a fan feel free to join today or share it with friends. Feel free to submit other fan photos to the page.
Twenty-nine years ago today on August 5th, 1979 the Upper Peninsula’s identity changed forever. That date marks the earliest known publication of the word “Yooper”.
Contrary to popular belief, the term Yooper isn’t very old. Many people who recall going to college in the Upper Peninsula during the ’70s do not recall use of the word. However, there are others that argue the word was still in use earlier than 1979, but there is a lack of evidence to support this. By all means, if you know of additional evidence to support the first uses of the term Yooper, we would like to know.
This post and photos were contributed by blogger Kathy, a hometown friend in Baraga County. She writes one of my favorite Upper Peninsula blogs and is making a commitment to enjoy Upper Peninsula’s nature each and every day in 2009. Please check out her blog and subscribe at centria.wordpress.com
Any one ever feel challenged about getting off the couch and getting outside in the depths of winter? Any one ever stay inside (except for maybe a trip to the mailbox after work) and suddenly you notice a week or two has passed without spending time in the beautiful outdoors?
Here are some Upper Peninsula nonprofit organizations to consider giving to this holiday season. And remember, giving monetary donations is only one way to give back. If you don’t have a few bucks lying around to donate consider donating some time, in-kind services, or perhaps donating some things around the house/office that aren’t in use any longer.
Please comment and list some other charities that I can include on this post.
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
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.
When I wake up in the morning, I greet the day with a humongous yawn and then I cling desperately to the blankets for just a few more minutes, and then another few minutes, and then a few more (my “snooze” button is very worn).
Photo courtesy of [Michael Babcock of Houghton](http://www.flickr.com/photos/xyzoptics9/2672449777/ "The Baraga Drive-In")
A reliable source (ie. my mom) passed on some news from the booming metropolis of Baraga today.
Despite being about -19 degrees Monday morning the Baraga Drive-In decided to open it’s doors for the season on just the second day of March. However, this is the Upper Peninsula, and no single-digit temperatures were going to stop the waitresses from serving the customers outdoors. Just like every other day of the year, whether it’s 80 degrees in the summer or 5 degrees in March, people still roll into the Drive-In for lunch.
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.
Last night I arrived in East Lansing where I’ll be giving a couple lectures this week at my alma mater, Michigan State. I crashed at my cousin Sara’s place (who is from Sutton’s Bay, north of Traverse city) for the night.
This morning, my cousin’s roommate’s boyfriend came and visited with me for a few minutes and this is how the conversation went.
Dude: So are you from the Sutton’s Bay area as well?
Our good friend Mike passed along this video, an ESPN commercial featuring Minnesota Twins baseball player Joe Mauer being interviewed by Sports Center’s Scott Van Pelt. Hope you enjoy.
Photo courtesy of [Blondie Yooper](http://www.flickr.com/photos/blondieyooper/3200849152/ "Ore dock by Blondieyooper, on Flickr")
So it’s been a few cold days in the Upper Peninsula, the coldest of the winter so far. But I was shocked to find out that NMU wasn’t only closed yesterday, but that they’re closed again today!
So here I am in Marquette (yes, I know I’m inside where it’s nice and warm, I even have brand new windows to help out a bit), and as I look outside from my desk it’s absolutely beautiful out. The sun is bright, and the sky is clear.
According to Wikipedia, April Fools’ Day or All Fools’ Day is a holiday in its own right, a notable day celebrated in many countries on April 1. The day is marked by the commission of hoaxes and other practical jokes of varying sophistication on friends, enemies and neighbors, or sending them on fools’ errands, the aim of which is to embarrass the gullible. We though Karl Bohnak may have been doing just this when he called for one of the biggest snowstorms of the year on April Fool’s Day
It was about -14 degrees with the windchill those two winter days. Since that chilly week it has warmed up across the Upper Peninsula in the last two weeks.
The topic seemed to have hit a chord with a number of people. Feel free to read all the comments or post one yourself.
A fresh 7 inches of snow fell in Baraga and several other parts of the Upper Peninsula today. A great day to head to the Baraga Drive-In for some ice cream.
Most Yoopers, and especially Trolls, are eager for nice spring weather in April, especially by April 17. Even the Lansing Lugnuts celebrate the Yooper heritage with Yooper Night. They offered attendees of Yooper Night to use their tickets for another game this season if the weather was above 60 degrees. That was on Friday, and I’d be surprised it was even 50 degrees for the opening pitch.
This week WKAR reported that this spring a 9000-year-old tool was found by Dale Kennedy while he was in his garden in Hermansville. The tool, pictured above, is not housed at the Michigan State University Museum. Bill Love, the museum’s anthropology curator, spoke with WKAR about the rare find.
Love mentions that the tool is distintive among the early time periods of the Great Lakes Region, known as the Paleo-Indian time period. He says it is one of the earliest pieces found, but very few pieces have been found in the Upper Peninsula. Love goes on to say…
Last September I reported, from this same seat, that I saw a Google Street View car drive by outside my window. At that point I knew that Google Street View was finally coming to the Upper Peninsula. Being the nerd I am, I was very excited. I was also very curious to see what depth of they visit the Upper Peninsula since it is a rural population.
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 Upper Peninsula will now be required to be included on all official state maps and publications.
Can you imagine a state where 1/3 of the state is not included on the map in official state documents? We recently mentioned a bill introduced by State Rep. Michael Lahti (D-Hancock) which seeks to fix this problem.
Now it seems silly to me that this has to be an official bill. Some “trolls” have stated that the Yoopers are whining. But the fact that a state isn’t wholly represented within state documents seems absurd. Our legislature shouldn’t have to spend time on petty little bills like this that shouldn’t have been needed in the first time. Apparently the house of representatives agreed.
In the last few weeks both the Daily Mining Gazette and WLUC TV6 have published articles on State Rep. Michael Lahti’s (D-Hancock) efforts to have the Upper Peninsula represented Michigan images published by the State of Michigan.
Back in February we reported on one of the ugliest maps we’ve ever seen of the Upper Peninsula (or Michigan for that matter). We asked all of you if you knew of any maps that were similar. Many times I’ve heard reports of maps that didn’t include the Upper Peninsula, mislabeled it, and various other scenarios.
On November 8th, the Daily Press of Escanaba reported another such story titled, “U.P. loses its identity”.
Last November I stumbled across a map on Google images. It took but a second of thought to notice that it was the ugliest rendering of Michigan that I had ever seen on a map. The Lower Peninsula was pretty horrible, but the rendering of the Upper Peninsula was even worse! For anyone who holds the U.P. close and dear to their heart, you may have to sit down before looking at this.
Here is a collection of the best photos to date in our “Steez” section. We’re looking for photos of people wearing our Upper Peninsula Yooper Steez t-shirts across the globe. If you already have one don’t forget to snap some photos and submit it online! If you don’t have one you might might want to grab one before your next vacation.
Since our launch, just over a month ago, we have heard from Yoopers across the United States and across the world, as well as many folks who love to vacation in the Upper Peninsula.
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 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.
Today I stumbled across an intriguing set of photos on Flickr. In 1991 James Baldiga found a roll of film in the woods near a waterfall in the Huron Mountains. It seems a little mysterious to me, a crashed helicopter and a trellis with flowers? The comments on Flickr suggest most of the photos were taken from the USS Battleship Alabama Memorial Park in Mobile, AL. He has this to say about it…
An old 35MM scan of one of the old miners houses at the ghost town, taken probably 10 years ago, don’t think it is still standing. [cminer52 on Flickr](http://www.flickr.com/photos/cminerspics/3009044244/ "Mandan MI")
About 12 miles southwest of Copper Harbor is the old ghost town of Mandan, a tiny mining town that was vacated in 1909. It was the site of the Mandan Mine and the Medora Mine.
At the turn of the century Mandan had a few hundred residents with a few dozen houses. Today, only a few of the buildings remain. Over the years there was a post office and a general store and Mandan marked the end of the line for the Keweenaw Central Railroad.
On the night that my beloved Red Wings could sweep the Colorado Avalanche, the last thing that I want to do is feature a post that’s all about a player on the Avalanche.
Hockey has an enormous presence in the Upper Peninsula, from youth hockey, to adult leagues, and NCAA National Hockey Championships for MTU, NMU, and LSSU. Pretty impressive. And although many players from the universities have gone on to play professionally, and many locals have gone on to successful hockey careers, I only know of one Yooper, born and raised, to play in the NHL.
These crazy photos showed up in my inbox today and I had to share them. They came from Reg in Cadillac, Michigan.
While I’m at it I should make a call for submissions… Feel free to create your own mockups of people wearing t-shirts and submit them here or else on the Facebook page.
Be creative and I look forward to seeing some more. If you don’t have photo editing software on your computer, no need to fret. Here are a few suggestions with free solutions… Aviary.com, Picnik.com, and Photoshop.com.
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.
Get ready to run snowmen, we’re coming! March 19th is your fateful day.
Since 1971 LSSU has taken to burning a large snowman to mark the end of winter and celebrate the first day of spring. The tradition was started by a public relations legend, Bill Rabe. As someone in marketing and advertising, I hold Bill Rabe in high regards. Not long after being hired at LSSU in 1971 he started the Unicorn Hunters. Between the genius of him and a few colleagues they created both the Banished Words list, Snowman Burning day, and much more.
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…
I realize that the majority of my readers are not on Twitter, but by this point you have probably heard about Twitter in the news. Or maybe you’ve heard the words Tweeting, Tweetups, Tweeps, and a variety of other variations.
For those of you not on Twitter I suggest giving it a try. It has connected dozens of Yoopers and Yooper transplants as well as doing wonders for Yooper Steez. For those of you who are going to sign up and those already signed up, here is a list of Upper Peninsula and Michigan “tweeps” to follow.
Photo by [The Photom on Flickr](http://www.flickr.com/photos/thephotom/4172755041/ "1st Snowstorm of Winter by The Photom, on Flickr")
Why the Upper Peninsula is Not Part of Wisconsin Learning more about the Upper Peninsula’s history has been quite helpful. I couldn’t be happier about this post being the most popular post of 2009. What was particularly cool is that this same topic ended up being featured on NPR after they did a feature titled A Trip U.P. North. Was great having national exposure for the Upper Peninsula and was fun to do a small interview with them.
Upper Peninsula Twitter Accounts to Follow Twitter seemed to be one of the top news story across the entire year. Every day another celebrity’s Twitter feed is talked about, or a news breaks on Twitter, and of course the growth in social media as a whole. The greatest thing… using Twitter to connect with Yoopers who are now dispersed all over the world.
2009 Midwest Super Park – Marquette Mountain This past Sunday I was watching snowboard cross on NBC and sure enough there was Nick Baumgartner from Iron River, competing and hopeful for a shot at the 2010 Winter Olympics. Nick is seen in the 3rd photograph on this post pulling a rodeo flip. There is some serious talent always coming out of skiers, snowboarders and other winter sports in the Upper Peninsula.
How…? Questions About the Upper Peninsula Answered I was determined to answer as many user questions as possible, and there is still a big list of them to go. I hope everyone else learned as much reading this post as I did writing and researching it. Feel free to leave your comment with some more questions and input.
Biggest April Snowstorm in 10 Years Over the course of three days it went from a beautiful 75 degree day to a 12-inch snowstorm. Twelve inches of snow during January or February is to be expected, but even in the Upper Peninsula 12 inches of snow is a rare thing in April. Thanks to my mom for supplying some great photos. You can share your Upper Peninsula photos on the Yooper Steez Flickr group.
Final Four Basketball Floor, Made in the Upper Peninsula As a Michigan State alum I was happy to see my alma mater playing for the national title. But wow, it went a lot deeper than that this year. They were playing in Detroit, coached by Yooper Tom Izzo and the floor they were playing on was assembled in the Upper Peninsula.
Another Map Missing the Upper Peninsula Nothing new here, we’re all familiar with maps missing the Upper Peninsula, or sometimes labeled incorrectly. In fact I just saw a Biggby billboard that used the phrase “Michigan based”. Too bad the graphic on the billboard only had the lower peninsula of Michigan. But, at least the government won’t make that mistake anymore thanks to Mike Lahti.
NMU Closes Again Due to “Inclement” Weather, Really? C’mon NMU, this is the Upper Peninsula. In my opinion if it’s 1 degree with a windchill of -14, school better be open. Sure, elementary schools should have a different set of rules. But really, a college student in the Upper Peninsula should know how to dress for winter. What’s your take?
Bird’s Eye View of the Upper Peninsula A look at the Upper Peninsula from Google Maps and the satellites. We’re used to seeing the beauty of the Upper Peninsula from ground level. What most impresses me (especially after having been to the top) is how fragile the Mackinac Bridge looks from far above. From that angle it looks like it could be snapped like a twig.
Thanks for all the help in 2009 to everyone who submitted potential blog topics, articles to read, posted comments, ordered shirts, joined the Facebook page, subscribed to the blog, took photos, and all sorts of other things. There are some great plans to grow Yooper Steez further in 2010. Make it a great year.
Bob Haase and his wife, Jan, started the Copperman Triathlon in Copper Harbor in 1992 and have since passed along these duties to other organizations. He decided to do his first triathlon at the age of 31 after watching the Ironman (Hawaii) on TV. His most memorable race is the Bud Light USTS Chicago Triathlon in 1986, where he got Dave Scott’s autograph and chatted with him after the race.
Since I was recently taking a look at Michigan historical film clips, you’ll definitely want to take a look at this one.
MUNISING, MICHIGAN, early part of 1960’s
Munising Michigan, Elm Avenue, Weiland’s Grill, the original Alger County Courthouse….all of it is here in this exciting compilation of Wally Ahlborn’s 8mm home movies taken in a blinding blizzard!
In their April 2008 issue Outdoor Life ranked the top 200 towns in the United States for Hunters and Fishermen to call home. Out of the 200 ranked towns, the Upper Peninsula’s very own Marquette cracked the top ten, ranked 7th in the nation. They labeled it “The undisputed capital of the U.P.” (but we’ll leave that to you to decide). Escanaba also made the list (#136).
No. 7 Marquette, MI
“One of the best salmon and steelhead towns in the nation is hundreds of miles from the ocean. Just outside this thriving college town in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, anglers cast to surly chinooks, chrome-bright steelhead and colorful lake-run brown trout.”
This post was contributed by Ron Riekki regarding his new novel, U.P. which is available now. You can learn more about Ron on his website at rariekki.webs.com
Travers, make it more 2000s than 1950s, more Quentin Tarantino than Otto Preminger. Imagine _Trainspotting_ set in Ishpeming, but instead of heroin it’s the alcoholism and unemployment and isolation of a Northern mining community.
According to our poll result 62% of people prefer eating their pasty with ketchup. Personally I think this has been one of my favorite poll questions on Yooper Steez. If you’re new to our poll questions you can check out the poll archive.
As for myself, I prefer naked pasties, no condiments for me. I have nothing against ketchup or gravy, but my usual take is that condiments are one more step between deliciousness and my mouth. However, one person suggested sour cream, and I thought that does actually sound pretty good.
[Photo by Odalaigh on Flickr](http://www.flickr.com/photos/odalaigh/2197628927/ "Mackinac Bridge")
Yooper Steez has been quiet the last week. I was on an 8-day trip throughout the Lower Peninsula, spending most of my time in Lansing, also spending time in Auburn Hills, Pontiac, Ann Arbor, and Birmingham.
I didn’t plan on staying quite so long, but it made me appreciate some of the finer things in the Upper Peninsula. As most of you know, I’ve spent a lot of time in the Lower Peninsula, mostly in East Lansing. Throughout the years many of my troll friends have made sure to harass me for my Upper Peninsula pride.
During her weekly radio address Governor Jennifer Granholm made this statement. I was planning to write up a small piece myself, but Governor Granholm already did a much better job than I could have. It’s incredible how many unique products come out of the Upper Peninsula.
This is Governor Jennifer Granholm.
This weekend, basketball fans around Michigan and across the country will watch some of the nation’s best college players – including the Michigan State University men and women – continue their march to the NCAA Final Four championships. I think you’ll agree that at a time when the news of the nation’s credit crisis and rising unemployment rates is so painful, the fun and the frenzy of March Madness is a welcome diversion.
Teamed up with nature photographer Tom Thulen, you can view a slide show of the photos titled, “Michigan’s Upper Peninsula on Snowshoes” posted on the New York Time’s website.
Rabe started one of the greatest public relations campaigns in history. And it is right here in the Upper Peninsula, at Lake Superior State University.**
During 1971 many people still believed that Lake Superior State University (LSSU) was a branch of Michigan Tech University (and is was, just a year earlier). In the world of advertising and public relations this is a major identity crisis.
One of Rabe’s first answers to this problem was the Unicorn Hunters. Along with a small group of other LSSU faculty they set out to achieve various things to garner up some publicity for the university such as, yes, snowman burning. And of course, to this day you can still buy a Unicorn Hunter’s License, and it’s available online.
Over the years every Yooper hears stereotypes, jokes, and definitions of the word “yooper” that we can all chuckle about, roll ours eyes at, or even confirm in rare instances.
At Yooper Steez we’re always looking for people using the word “yooper” online, in books, or anywhere else. Well, our latest research came across something completely blasphemous. Let us know what you think…
Yooper — “Person from north of the bridge. a second class citizen of the U.S.. A canadian trapped on american soil.”
Christmas is the favorite name of Upper Peninsula towns according to Yooper Steez readers. It is always a favorite among locals and tourists.
In second and third place are Paradise and Gay respectively.
The Upper Peninsula is full of several other interesting names that are familiar elsewhere..
Boston
Delaware
Phoenix
Florida
If you didn’t get a chance to vote before this poll was posted, feel free to leave a comment below to let us know what your favorite town name is, or to share any other interesting U.P. town names.
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.
After asking “What is your favorite month in the Upper Peninsula?” it turns out that two months are tied for the least favorite months in the Upper Peninsula: April and December.
We launched this poll several weeks ago (check out our latest poll) and it took a long time before anyone listed April as their favorite month.
It’s no surprise after the first half of April in 2008. We still have two weeks of April to go, and some U.P. towns have seen the biggest snowstorm of the year this month and several inches of snow since. Yoopers are teased with spring in April and the snow still looms around the corner. Everyone is anxious for spring, as we are right now.
Andrew Heller, Yooper Steez is inviting you to the Upper Peninsula for a round of golf. Sorry, we won’t cover your gas expenses, but we will surely hook you up with a free Upper Peninsula t-shirt.
You see, Mr. Heller recently wrote an article on his blog at mlive.com for The Flint Journal. The article consists of several bullet points of what’s been going on in the news. But there are two particular bullet points that struck our attention.
At Yooper Steez we love the latest in the world wide web, including social networking. We’re also hoping to reach Yoopers across the globe.
After merging those two ideas we thought it’d be great to give you an awesome list of Yooper related Facebook Groups. Though these are far from all the groups, they are some of favorites and most unique.
“This group is for everyone that has ever encountered the ethnicity known as ‘Yooper’, and feels the need to embrace and appreciate the Upper Peninsula. The people that live in the Upper Peninsula or the U.P. are called “Yoopers” and are proud of it. The people that live under the bridge are called “Trolls.” Although Yoopers are generally considered to be citizens of the State of Michigan, they constantly yearn for release. With their own culture, dialect, and food the Yoopers perhaps should be considered a nationality.”
Stephen King released his latest book, Duma Key, this past January. In addition to publishing another best-seller that topped the New York Times Bestseller List, there is another important note that every Yooper should be aware of.
On page 456 of the total 606 pages, Stephen King uses the word “Yooper”.
“Wireman was making crazy what’s-going-on gestures in front of my face. I turned away from him.
Annette Summersett hits 100,000+ views on YouTube for her tribute to Brett Favre.
Getting 100,000 views on YouTube is no easy task. So until proven otherwise, Annette seems to be the biggest YouTube celebrity to come from the Upper Peninsula.
Annette… good work! If you’re out there somewhere come say hi. We’ll hook you up with a Yooper Steez shirt for your next video.
St. Patrick’s Day was only a couple days ago, so if easter seems a little early this year, you’re right. March 23rd, 2008 is the earliest Easter on the Gregorian calendar since 1913, and there won’t be another Easter this early in our entire lives. The next time Easter will be this early isn’t until the year 2160.
The earliest possible date for Easter is March 22nd, and if 2008 wasn’t a leap year it would have been one of those incredibly rare years. The last two Easters on March 22nd were the during the years 1761 and 1818 and won’t happen again until the year 2285.
8 OT hockey game sees no losers and breaks record for longest game in michigan high school hockey history
The Marquette Redmen and Orchard Lake St. Mary’s Eagles played in the second longest game in United States high school hockey history. After playing 8 overtimes in the Division 1 state championship game the Michigan High School Athletic Association called the game, and it finished in a 1-1 tie and a shared state championship.
With 56 shots on goal the score was still 0-0 between Calumet and Flint Powers in the state championship hockey game. Finally, on the 57th shot of the game, just four minutes into overtime when Logan Rastello scored the championship winning goal, giving the Calumet Copper Kings their 6th state hockey championship at the Compuware Arena in Plymouth.
Rastello’s Championship Winning Goal
“Score! Score! Score! Copper Kings score! Logan Rastello, Oh my God! Oh my God! … Unbelievable!”
The sun never stopped shining, the temperature was around 35 degrees, and it was the perfect day for a snowboard and ski slopestyle showdown.
Rhythm Skate Shop in downtown Houghton offered some free gear to the best performers of the day. Mont Ripley offered some grilled hot dogs. And some of the best U.P. talent showed up at the Rhythm Terrain Park for the afternoon showdown.
Congratulations to Houghton native Davey Sarazin on 1st place who walked away with a new Forum snowboard and Rome snowboard bag
Ten years ago at Mont Ripley it was an entirely different scene. Back then there were a few bumps for people to learn on, now there are enormous jumps that are pretty well maintained. It has become a training ground for kids who are starting at a very young age. The talent that comes out of Ripley is an original group of kids who have this tiny little ski hill to learn on and it teaches them to get creative with every trick they throw down.
Yoopers don’t need to go to Zales or Russell Stover’s to give their significant other a great Valentine’s Day gift. The Upper Peninsula has plenty of _sweet_ things to offer.
Here’s our list of the best Valentine’s Day gifts you’ll find in the Upper Peninsula. But you better get moving fast, it’s just two days away! Though I’m sure these could be enjoyed any day of the year.
