• Thursday-What'sUP April 22 - 06:49 am

Unseasonably warm temperatures has been the norm for the past few weeks, so there's no doubt that Spring has definitely arrived here in Keweenaw-land. Even though it tends to be a somewhat dreary time of year with the green grass just starting to really sprout and the trees only beginning to bud, you can still find the beauty, as Aimee Rathbun did in today's shot looking up the Canal. With the sunshine and warmer temps, folks are really being drawn to spend more time outdoors, enjoying the fresh scents of this new season.

I mentioned to a friend in San Francisco the other day about the beautiful weather we've been having here lately. She emailed back with a chuckle in her words, saying that they were having the same type of weather and temperatures and she was thinking how cold it was! Different perspectives I guess! :->

Nice Spring picture!

Great pic - brings back memories of attending tech.

I've not see the bridge from this perspective. Thanks a lot.

Aimee Rathbun has contributed quite a variety of pictures over the years on this daily feature. Here are a few of her other shots from the Pasty Cam Archives:

Redridge Dam

U.P. Lilacs

Pony Express Stop

Great Sand Bay

Good morning from Mishawaka IN. Great pictures this morning especially of the bridge. Thanks Charlie and have a good day.

Good Morning!
Wow- bonus pictures day! Thanks for all the beautiful pics to start my day. The colors in the lilacs is especially lovely, and the Pony Express made me chuckle. Whenever I've sent something important to my mom and it hasn't gotten to her as soon as we thought, I'd say- remember they have to change horses many times before they get to the UP!! LOL!

Speaking of black flies, I would like to make a trip to the Keweenaw this spring. When do the black flies start coming out?

Anyone sweeping stamp sand off of the lawn?

Dan in Fenton, MI

Major homeowner sweeping operations began last week, all over the Peninsula. Grass is now greening out.

I'm affeared that the black flys are sharpening their "weapons of mass distruction"

The weatherman used the words "snowstorm" and "accumulation" for the Flint area for this weekend! Tuesday it was 84! Only in Michigan--and that's what we love about it! We don't have boring weather.

Yeah that sounds about right..we either have cold temps and than hot temps, nothing in between.

Did someone say Spring was here? I think it was a short one, it left here in the middle of the afternoon yesterday. 39° and snow Saturday!

i think i still have bumps on my scalp from last year's copper
harbor blackfly festival....I had never been in the u.p. in
springtime before. blackflies aside, it was wonderful up there.
loved the lupine and other wildflowers. i never thought much
about flowers before in a u.p. context (its all forest, mines, and
lakes, right?! wrong!)

Bit on the ankles a few times 4th of July last on da beach and it took months for those guys to heal. Anybody got a remedy?

Woke up to 28 degrees today.

I often visit the galleries and am absolutely AMAZED at the beautiful pictures. The talent on this site never ceases to amaze me. They also make me VERY homesick though!

As a rule man's a fool,
When it's hot he wants it cool.
When it's cool,
He wants it hot.
He always wants it what it's not!

just super pics, reminds me of the 25 years I sold coffee in the u.p. what a great part of the world.

Great pic of the bridge! Can't wait to come and see it this weekend!

Wow ... leave for a two week vacation, check
the bridge view cam when I get back, and
winter has suddenly switched to spring in the
UP. Even the usually-stubborn snow piles next
to the motel parking lot are disappearing fast.
It must be high time to schedule another
business trip to the UP!

Here in Eugene, Oregon, spring is
approaching a tad bit more gradually.

predicting rain & snow this weekend so don't put away your winter clothes away yet. It's been known to snow in July! But for today it's just beautiful! We'll take what we get living here in our special place.

There are already a few hardy mosquitos out.
Dreading the blackflies.
As for at the beach...those buggers are sandflies. They look like houseflies, bite the ankles, and HURT!!
Blackflies are the annoying ones who bite behind the ears and on the head, leaving blood spots. They drive you crazy.
Isn't the blue water in the bridge pic beautiful? Just imagine sitting there watching boats go by......

I can't say anything more about the pics that hasn't been said already.Black flies vr Fish Fly's. I spent alot of season's along the St.Clair River,and Lake St.Clair where the Fish Fly's hatch.So many on the roads that it's like driving on ice!They scoop them up into dumptruck's and haul them off.And they stink!They don't live very long and don't bite.I don't recall them up North. Some may call them May fly's.The Big Lake may just be to cold to produce them? New Baltmore MI. is the Fish Fly capital of the world.

Ser5er,
Glad your daughter was able to fulfill her dream but the middle of June?!! Wow, that's still COLD. A month later it would have been warmer.
That 90 yr old grandma is a chip off of the ole' block. I rather ride my 5-wheeler and go hunting. Will soon go out on "dat" big Lake with my hubby and catch those nice Lake Trout.

Paul the Webber/Troll...It was about 28 when I got home from work last nite.I was fearing for the spring blossoms.Figured they'd been had. TONS of geese heading out over the lake today.Flock after flock...Love to watch 'em go.Hope all's well down there. Tell the good folks hi for me...

Thanks for the update, Mr. Bill. Growing up, I remember people with brooms on Calumet Avenue, pushing stamp sand off of lawns. I suppose it happens about the same time or shortly after the boardwalks get disassembled. Hey, we can also put away the swampers and start wearing tennies everywhere!

I've got an unusual request. I'm looking for outhouses. Not pictures of them. The real deal. I'd like to take some pictures of them for my library. I got some responses to my posting yesterday and decided I'd try it again. If anyone knows of one and could share the info as to it's location and if I can take a picture of it, it would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

My email is: grizzlyadams@pasty.com

Aimee, Congratulations on making pasty cam!

(I'm coming up this weekend... let's hang.)

Great to see the photo of the Houghton/Hancock bridge. We will be there tomorrow.

two seasons der, swattin flies and shovelin snow, eh

What is worse than the blackflies are the horse
flies that eat chunks of flesh off of you. If you
can get up North between the blackfly season and
the horse fly season...you shouldn't have a problem.

And this today´s link; http://www.valokuva.net/paivankuva.php?id=1175

jAPEi; Is that you parachutting down from the
sky?

One of the worst May fly hatches I have ever experienced was at Sturgeon Point lighthouse near Harrisville, MI on Lake Huron. They were solid on the ground and covering the sides of the buildings. They don't bite, but they sure are creepy in large numbers.

Dont be to excited over the weather as they say in michigan it can change in an instant, betcha dat dare water is cold.

FLYINDAMOONEY,

Sharon Smith (from A View From the Field website in Copper Harbor) swears by Adolf's Meat tenderizer for those nasty black fly bites. I've tried it on the kiddies for bee stings, and it seems to do the job.

Another one for the black fly bites, when you don't have any meat tenderizer on hand: make an X in the bite with your finger nail and then dab some rubbing alcohol on the bite...or some beer will work too;)

Nora, you go fishing too? Number one reason why I kept my Michigan driver's license when I moved to Indiana: residence rates on my fishing and hunting license in Michigan, eh ;)

black flies! haven't had much luck on the prevention side, but will try LL Bean "buzz off" clothes this year. dabbing all insect bites with a cotton ball soaked with regular listerine helps greatly.

WOW! What great pictures! And what a great daughter! Good Job Aim!

sur5er,
Yes, Carl and I have been going fishing for a long, long, time. We go "Bobbing" out at Traverse. When we had our big boat, we went to Isle Royale for our week's vacation in July. You have to hit it right tho or those black flies are in hordes. The mosquitoes are terrible at night too, especially if there's a warm wind. One time, the back of my white jacket was covered with them. You really have to have a shelter and stay inside at night. Anyway, we enjoyed the fishing and being out in the fresh air.
Got the boat all ready to go but with that snow this morning and the cold wind, I guess we'll have to wait a while. Our son went out last Sunday and caught a couple so we at least had one good meal of Lake Trout.
I might add that "garlic" is a good anecdote for flies. I chop up a clove or two and put it in a dish on my deck. They don't like that smell. You have to freshen it once in a while tho. You can even rub it on your arm. That's if YOU like garlic. We grow it so we have lots.

Very nice photo album jAPEi.