Untitled, photo by Jiafan (John) Xu
I’m pretty sure that the bird John has captured so perfectly is a Great Egret. Fittingly, the egret tag on Michigan in Pictures includes another stunning photo by John of Great Egrets in flight along with all kinds of info about this beautiful bird.
View his photo bigger and see more in his slideshow.
Let There Be Light, photo courtesy Pasty Central/Pasty.com
Pasty Central is celebrating their 20th anniversary and vying for USA Today’s Best Pasty in Michigan. Click through to cast a vote for them or your favorite pasty shop.
Back in 2008, Charley of Pasty Central wrote about these UP miners who doubtless relied on the pasties in their bellies to survive:
In researching today’s Pasty Cameo I came across these men who had been entombed in Pewabic Mine at Iron Mountain for over 40 hours before they returned to the light of day. They had been trapped on the fourth level of the mine when a level above them collapsed. One of their co-workers didn’t make it out.
This picture is a good illustration of the “Tommy knocker”, a popular hat-candleholder in the 1800’s before carbide and acetylene lamps came along.
A feature of the site since 1998 has been the Pasty Cam, a daily photo that’s paired with a well-researched “This Day in History”. Today’s looks at how on on May 12, 1781 Mackinac Island (valued at 5000 pounds) passed from native tribes to the British – click to check it out!
The pasty, a savory pastry typically filled with meat & vegetables, was brought to the Upper Peninsula by Cornish miners. Check out Real Michigan Food: The Pasty on Absolute Michigan for lots more about this classic UP dish.
Soul of the Yoop, photo by Cory Genovese
While our Great Lakes shoreline still holds some cool formations this winter, unlike the last two years this winter hasn’t had the very cold days coupled with high winds that combine to form truly spectacular ice caves. Thankfully, we can look back … and hope for a wintry turn in the weather!
Cory took this photo of one of his favorite little Lake Superior ice caves in a spring thaw in April of 2014. View the photo bigger, see more in his Yoop Life slideshow, and definitely follow him on Facebook at PhotoYoop for more great shots of life on the edge in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula!
More ice caves on Michigan in Pictures, and please consider becoming a patron of Michigan in Pictures.
Winter at Bond Falls, photo by Aime Lucas Photography
The Bond Falls entry at GoWaterfalling.com says:
Bond Falls is in the western U.P. on Bond Falls Rd, east of Pauding MI. This is the most impressive waterfall in Michigan with the possible exception of Tahquamenon Falls. The main drop is 40 feet high and 100+ feet wide. Above the main falls are a series of cascades and rapids that must drop a total of 20 feet.
The water level is controlled by a dam, and a steady flow over the falls is maintained for scenic reasons. Of course during the spring melt the flow is much higher.
Bond Fall is a Michigan State Scenic Site. The site was renovated around 2003. The old parking area was upstream of the falls, and a steep concrete stairway led to the base of the falls. The new parking area is near the base of the falls, and a level boardwalk leads you to prime views of the falls.
Read on for more including directions to the falls.
Aime writes: The majestic Bond Falls. Normally a short, easy walk but in the winter a very hazardous one. The steep steps were covered with a few layers of ice and the path was extremely slippery. It was totally worth it.
View her photo bigger, follow her on Facebook, and purchase prints and see more work on her website!
Many more Michigan waterfalls on Michigan in Pictures.
Hancock’s Heikki Lunta, photo by Mark Riutta / Defined Visuals
I know that many folks in southern Michigan are wondering where the heck all this snow came from. Last night I realized that a friend of mine was actually responsible!
Yooper Steez tells the Legend of Finnish snow god Heikki Lunta:
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.
The song gained popularity enough to be mentioned on “The Today Show” and “The Tonight Show,” and the radio salesman was even invited to sing the song for winter events in California.
As anyone who has been through an Upper Peninsula winter knows, the snow can become relentless, and by the end of that winter, Riutta wrote “Heikki Lunta Go Away,” which is now often paired with the initial song.
The name Heikki Lunta comes from the Finnish translation of the name Hank Snow, like the popular country and western singer.
Read on for more including videos of the Heikki Lunta Song by Da Yoopers and also see Heikki Lunta – A Modern Copper Country Folk Hero at Pasty.com. If you want to go in depth, Hilary Virtanen presents a detailed and fascinating history of this distinctly Yooper phenomenon from 1970 to the present day with press clippings and more in Not Just Talking About the Weather: Tradition, Social Change and Heikki Lunta (use the dates on the left to navigate).
View Mark’s photo bigger and see his work at Defined Visuals on Facebook.
PS: When he’s not making it snow, Adam is also a fantastic photographer. See his work, some of which is potentially NSFW depending on where you work, at brockit.com.
Lake Superior Thunderhead, photo by Lake Superior Photo
So far this summer we’ve gotten some free fireworks show such as the storm that swept through last weekend. Shawn wrote:
It was fireworks over the lake last night, my dog was not pleased, however I was ecstatic. Lightning was going off a couple times a second and it did not let up, but stayed mostly in the clouds. I watched this for over an hour, and it just drifted by, stars overhead the entire time – go big screen to see the stars right top of frame.
So… what are you waiting for? Go background big and see more at Lake Superior Photo on Facebook.
Have a great weekend everyone!
![fallen tree [Overlooked Falls 2478 2481]](https://i0.wp.com/farm3.staticflickr.com/2805/9060210773_5fc61a9c22.jpg)
fallen tree [Overlooked Falls 2478 2481], photo by Frank Kaelin (aka Fir Dawg)
GoWaterfalling’s page on Minor Waterfalls has this to say about Overlooked Falls in Porcupine Mountains State Park:
Overlooked Falls is a small falls on the Little Carp River. The scenic falls consists of two drops, each about 5′ in height. This is the most easily accessed of the falls on the Little Carp River, big or small. It is only a few hundred feet from the parking area. The trailhead to the falls is at the end of Little Carp River road. This is also the trailhead to Greenstone Falls, which is about 1/2 mile away. The trail also leads to the much larger Trappers Falls, which is three miles away.
Check this out bigger and see more in Frank’s Mainly Water slideshow.
Many (many) more Michigan waterfalls on Michigan in Pictures!
Miners Memorial Heritage Park (2), photo by siskokid
I’ve always found snow & cold to be a lot more tolerable when accompanied by a healthy dose of sun & blue skies. About this photo Jim writes:
During the recent snowshoe weekend with my buddies Jim, Fred and Roger, we snowshoed the trails of this beautiful park located in my hometown. A recent snowfall had left a good blanket of powder that hadn’t been groomed as of yet for cross-country skiing. Lucky for us!
The City of Ironwood, Michigan passed an ordinance in 2011 that designated 167 acres of city-owned land in the center of Ironwood as the Miners Memorial Heritage Park. This area once contained five iron ore mines, the last of which closed in the 1960’s. The Friends of Miners Memorial Heritage Park has created a 2.6 mile looping trail through a portion of this area for hiking in the summer and cross-country skiing and snowshoeing in the winter. The Park is “Dedicated to those who toiled underground to work these mines. Many died in the darkness so future generations could live in the light.”
More about the park including some old photos at fmmhp.com.
Check this photo out on black, see more from the park in Jim’s slideshow and also view more of his UP shots on Michigan in Pictures.
P1010050c, photo by Dan & Mary.
The web site for the annual UP 200 / Midnight Run and Jack Pine 30 sled dog races explains that 1988 a group of mushers and others began to discuss a dogsled race in the Upper Peninsula.
When the race finally began to take shape, the trail encompassed Marquette, Alger, and Delta counties, and ran from Marquette to Chatham, Rapid River, Escanaba, Gwinn, and back to Marquette…
…and on a snowy Friday evening in February of 1990, the dedication and perseverance finally paid off. To the cheers of 10,000 spectators, the mushers of the first UP 200 Sled Dog Championship ten dog race sped down Washington street in Marquette into the night. At midnight, in the community of Chatham the first Midnight Run racers departed on the long, cold journey towards Escanaba. These racers went on their way into history, with many “tails of the trails” for the years to come.
The UP200 and Midnight Run have remained successful events each year and they take place this weekend (Feb 15-17) and you can get all the details (including the trail map and Breakaway’s Blog at the link above!
Mary writes that this photo shows a team is approaching the crossing at Forest Highway 13, heading west to the next checkpoint at Munising/Wetmore, MI. It’s part of a set of UP 200 / Midnight Run dogsled races 2007 photos (slideshow)
Michigan in Pictures 