A Little Slice of da Harbor...: Up and Down the Mountain

Thursday, January 5, 2012

Up and Down the Mountain

It's a beautiful day in da Harbor with patchy sun and temps in the 30's. Although, a beautiful day in da Harbor would also be 20 degrees, white skies, 15 mph NW winds and snow falling an inch an hour! I'll keep the latter on my wish list.

I just got back from Fort Juniper. Since the temps rose, I thought the snow would be nice and packy for building. However, the air is still dry, and my snowbricks were crumbly. Oh well. I laid in it for a while and listened to the wind blow in the trees. It's a pretty calm day, but the breeze sounds nice. The lake is also beautifully blue and calm today.

Mt. Bohemia is forecasted to open this Saturday. Then my friends and I can take the chair lift up! Throughout the week, we have already skied it up pretty good by skinning up and skiing down.

I have only done this for two days since 1) I am not that great of a skier... I'm a snowboarder! So the way down often uses as much energy as the way up. 2) Have you ever climbed Mt. Bohemia? It's hard enough in the summer with boots, let alone skis on your feet and a backpack on your back. But maybe I am just a wuss :)

It was fun, though. I definitely learned a lot, and my legs are getting stronger. Thank goodness for my patient friends!

Me and Tiki half way up the front side.

2 comments:

Bayfieldwis.comJanuary 5, 2012 at 8:53 PM
Wuss? I think not! Those are fat shaped skis for
downhill not climbing up hill. I bought a new pair of shaped skis for Xmas and they are fat
and I can't imagine going up the mountain with them. What a work out!
ReplyDelete
Replies
MichaelJanuary 7, 2012 at 10:56 PM
Well, thanks for sharing the rare photo of da Amanda. Tiki looks pretty tired for half way up but she's a real trooper for following her master on such a journey. You on the other hard are one tough Keweenaw gal! I hope the trip down was worth the effort with the much more reasonable chairlift option coming soon. This has got to be the strangest winter in quite some time. Please keep sharing your adventures with us mere spectators. Thanks
ReplyDelete
Replies

Add comment

Unofficial Overview from a Resident's Point of View

“If you’ve never been there, you wouldn’t understand” is a quote printed above an outlined picture of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula on a t-shirt sold in gift shops in the area. Some people cock their heads in bewilderment of what this could mean. Well, if you’ve never been there (to da U.P.), then you wouldn’t understand.

It’s simple really. Where are you guaranteed to see more trees than people on any drive or walk? Where can you sit in a bar in April and know everybody’s name? Where can you wear flannel and Carharts anytime of the year without a flinch from a passerby? Where can you end most of your sentence with the colloquialism eh, eh? Where can you go to truly get away from the civilized world? If you answered “da U.P.” to all of these questions, why, you must have been there.

Michigan’s Upper Peninsula makes up one third of the state’s land mass, but only 3% of its entire population. It’s no wonder the average number of people per square mile is 19.3. Nineteen people per square mile! Its lack of inhabitants combined with a plethora of wilderness, unique geographical features and an abundance of water is a big part of what makes the U.P. so unique. In fact, it was included in the Sherman Travel worldwide “Top 10 Places to Go in 2005."

And unique in itself, at the most northern tip in the Keweenaw Peninsula sits the little village of Copper Harbor. “Tops in Michigan,” “the beginning of the road” and quite frankly, the hardest place to leave once your soul has found its peace. It’s the least visited and most revisited place in America. Returning visitors make an appearance at least once a year, no matter what gas prices are. And when they’re back at home, they dream of their next visit to the end of the world.

Why would people want to return to a place where their cell phones don’t work and they can’t get a Big Mac for at least 54 miles? Once you drive through the one and only blinking stop light in town, you are 99% guaranteed not to see any authorities. The town can take care of itself for the most part, and people respect each other and each other’s property.

To the local residents and the handfuls of returning tourists (of which some have been adopted), Copper Harbor is the only place where they can be themselves -- completely and shamelessly (at least until the next morning). Fashion does not exist, but comfort is a must. Possessions mean nothing, but attitude means the world. Loitering is encouraged, and talk is ceaseless. Fresh air is plentiful, and serenity is down the block on Lake Superior’s shore. Ahhh.

Only 90 people can bear to live there year-round (good thing because the post office only has 130 mailboxes), but the population peaks around 250 in the busy summer months when people reopen their business or their summer home.

Copper Harbor and the rest of the Keweenaw Peninsula average 270 inches of snow each season. Whether it falls consistently throughout the winter or all in one dump, it’s guaranteed to fall if it isn’t drilling sideways. Only four businesses stay open through these long months because sometimes, there’s just nobody there.

U.S. Highway 41, which runs all the way to Miami, Florida, begins in Copper Harbor, and yes, it gets plowed the whole way up. A half mile north, six miles east and five miles south of this landmark puts you in magical Lake Superior. I know it’s magical because I’ve caught myself and many other people staring, mesmerized by its pure vastness, undulations and crashing waves.

When you can enjoy every breath of Lake Superior air, wear clothing soley for funtion and not mind seeing the same people day after day after day after day, then, my friend, then, you’ll understand.

A Little Slice of da Harbor...

Copper Harbor, That is!

Thursday, January 5, 2012

Up and Down the Mountain

2 comments:

Unofficial Overview from a Resident's Point of View

Blog Archive