• Wednesday-What'sUP October 22 - 10:30 pm

Mass City isn't large by any means, but it does boast quite an impressive bluff where you can take in a view of the little city and surrounding areas. Today's photos from W.R. Maki were taken from up on top that bluff with his trusty companion Smoke, peacefully posing while checking out the view too. Check out this link from Hunt's Guide. There's a picture there looking up at the bluff from down below and there are also directions to get you up on the bluff. It says it's not a hard hike and takes about 20 minutes each way. That sure is a great spot not only for taking in the view, but for finding some quiet time to watch the world go by.

Neat pics! Wish I were sitting where Smoke is!

There's a lucky Yooper dog! What an intence look upon his face taking in the scenery!

Smoke knows how to live in the moment :O))

Fantastic photos...for some reason they remind me of a scene from an old western movie.

...and thanks for the info on the bluff, Mary.

The variety of things to see in this state is amazing. I took a road trip on M22 in the Leelanau Peninsula over the weekend and it was a fantastic drive. The landscape is ever-changing going from the lakeshore to valleys, to wooded areas and past inland lakes. Definitely a must ride on the Goldwing next summer.

The Mass bluff is great. Used to live next to it and take our kids for a ride to the top in our Model-A when they were little. Fall is beautiful up there and the trilliums blooming in the spring are are very peaceful.

Beautiful view, the kids would love the rocks.

ohhhhhhhhhh I need to save for a small self contianed mini motor home ....... at 61 I feel the urge to hit the road and be a bag woman....Me and my dog.....traveling all over seeing the beauty of America.....sounds like a great dream.....eh!!

I'll have to pray about this selfish want...

Blessing to ya..............

Helen, are you originally from Hubbell?

That's some nice looking GRANITE there ... any geologists care to weigh in ?

I love these pictures. W. R. Maki has a really nice album. There's a picture in the "UP October 2003 Trip" album titled "Pasty On A Rock". Pretty cool.

that's awesome! i've never hiked up there before, but now i'm definitely going to. love the lucky doggy too! :)

It looks alot like the Bumbletown Hill bluff over Allouez. Great site to sit and ponder. I found my Dad's initials carved into the rock (in 1967) that he put there in 1933, so I put mine next to his. He was 15 when he did it, I was 17.

We've been working so much our dogs haven't gotten to enjoy the same lifestyle they used to! I'm sure they'd be jealous of Smoke if they saw this picture! What a beautiful place!

It's not granite..........

Looks like Smoke just finished a glass of milk.:9 (white mustache) Beautiful doggy, and what a magnificent view he has!

That's my town...my grandmother's house was right in front of the Bluff. I saw the Bluff every day when I came in to town. It is a beautiful site from up there....

Smoke is entranced by all the scents coming up the bluff on the rising air! I think that's why dogs like to hang their heads out car windows - speed reading by nose. Would that be basalt? An old lava flow?

Dogs and the U.P. are a great combination. My German Shepherd's favorite place in the world is Great Sand Bay. Climb the sand dunes and then jump in Lake Superior and then repeat the process.

I guess you can't take it for granite.

That wasn't very gneiss, Mikie.......

I too, was thinking the same "they remind me of a scene from an old western movie. "

Great pictures, thank you much for sharing !!!!

My dad grew up on College Ave in Houghton. Across the alley
behind the old house is "The Bluff". And behind it, another alley,
with another bluff, which we simply called "Second Bluff". As kids
we couldn't wait to go climb it after our daily lunches. It was a
world away from it all, with secret hiding places, trails to lookouts
over to Quincy, and it instilled in me a life-long love for hiking and
climbing.

Awesome pics! Smoke looks so happy.

My mom was raised in the big red house on Jasper St. on top of the bluff. I remember as kid we would go to grandma house and play out on the bluff. Just last month we stop by the old house and walk out to the edge of the bluff.

WAKEY-WAKEY EVERYBODY :O)))

WHAT KIND OF DOG IS DA SMOKE

I've spent many an hour sitting on the bluff in Mass City when I grew up there. When I was a teenager, the older kids used to hide beer in the ice caves further down the road from the turnoff to go up to the bluff. Also my husband proposed to me on the bluff. Many happy memories!

Nice to see notes from Mass City folks, as I am one, too. I had a younger brother who would scramble up the side of the 'Bluff'. I never had the nerve, always took the road. Used the ice caves for keeping a picnic lunch cold while berry picking. W.R. is also a brother.

Well ol' Smoke is actually a female,named Smokey (we call her "Smoke" at times). She was born in Texas and we adopted her from the "Paws for Life" organization in San Angelo. She is part black lab, golden retriever and perhaps Chow.

When we moved back to the upper mid-west she really appreciated visiting my home town of Mass City and especially enjoyed hiking around the Mass bluff, Cowboy Bluff, Caledonia Bluffs and the bluffs around Atlantic mine area.

She also enjoys the Lake Superior shore line and hiking the Porkies especially along the rivers in that area.

The day the picture was taken she had discovered Chipmunks and was intent on following them to the edge of the bluff. But before long she was more interested in the beauty of the UP and this region so she decided to take a few minutes to sit down and reflect on how lucky she was not to be in Texas anymore.

Anyone eat at the Northland Cafe in Mass City? Best pasties in the UP! My dearest friend, Karen Juntunen, lived in Mass, and her Mom, Ina Juntunen owned/ran the cafe! They're both now in Greenland (rest in peace to both)! Sure do miss "da UP". My mom came from Trap Rock Valley; part of the Piirainen clan on the "old farm road" out of Copper City! Anyone know any of them - 10 brothers and sisters all together!!
Regards to all from a flatlander in Plymouth, ~Nancy E