A Little Slice of da Harbor...: Finnfest

Wednesday, June 12, 2013

Bare Bluff

On Sunday I went to Bare Bluff for my first time. Yeah, my first time since I have live here. Slightly pathetic, but instead of waiting for someone to take me there, I used the MNA's Walking Paths and Protected Areas of the Keweenaw book to get there myself. And I don't recommend this hike alone.

I heard a lot about how rugged this pathway is. I thought they were bluffing (pardon the pun) because some people just aren't in that great of shape. I'm no iron man, but this hike challenged me as well. I even lost the path at one point because I was trying to shoot some video. Oops!

Enough blabber. Here are some photos for you.

Note the bottom right warning!

First clearing view: looking toward Keweenaw Point

Next view a few yards later

Looking up the bluff from below

And another rock cliff when I was "lost"

It was pretty spectacular. I wouldn't recommend hoofing it during blackfly season, though. Sweat dripped inside my bugnet, but at least I had one on! Clinging on for life down some of those steep sections was not fast enough to outrun them.

So at least I got out for a little adventure on my day off.

Finnfest 2013 is coming up June 18th through the 22nd. Whether you are Finnish or not, there will be lots of activities, fire, fun and food up here! More info at their website.

Judging by the flowers on the trees and bushes, I think we are going to have an incredible fruit year. I don't want to jinx it, but the cherries, apples, blueberries and serviceberries have so many blossoms that the roadsides look like they have white trees!

And more and more wildflowers are popping out -- I see a new species nearly everyday.

Except for the incessant biting bugs, the outdoors has been pretty spectacular. Perhaps it's actually starting to warm up???

If you read this on a mobile device, you may not realize that I have posted a poll. I am wondering if you would like to read tweets about my "Little Slice" on twitter. So far most people who voted don't use twitter. Neither do I, but I thought I'd ask. Please vote, so I get an accurate depiction of your desires.

Have a wonderful day!

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!

Wednesday, June 12, 2013

Bare Bluff

Unofficial Overview from a Resident's Point of View

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