• Thursday-What'sUP February 10 - 08:46 pm

The highways and byways along Lake Superior's shoreline sure are rewarding to travel. No matter the season, you'll find an eye-pleasing scene such as this snowy view of Mount Houghton near Bete Grise. Steve Haagen treats us to quite a unique framing of an often photographed landmark. With the leaning tree just about brushing the hillside, it kind of looks like it may be getting ready to clear off some of that snow clinging to the top of the mountain. In his travels through the Keweenaw, Steve also spotted a few ice volcanoes, catching this one in the middle of spouting a spray of lake water into the air. Looks like a bit of open water in the bay, anyone for a refreshing dip in the Big Lake? :->

Nice pictures, but a little toooo cold for a dip.

Beautiful pictures this morning. The first thing that came to mind when I saw the first picture was TIMBER!!!

Looks great to me!

Does anyone remember what year the road from Gay to Lac La Belle was put in.

By Mike, Chicago today on Thursday, February 10, 2005 - 08:20 am:

Need a picture of the ski hill that looks onto this scene. Pretty shot.

LOOKS GREAT BUT A LITTLE TOO COLD FOR ME. I WOULD RATHER SEE THIS IN OCTOBER.

One of my favorite spots in the copper country.

I've taken many shots from there. I believe its called Point Isabella. On a clear day you can also
see the Montreal river falls dumping out into Lake superior to the right.

Ok you history Buffs, how did the point get the name?

I can sum this up in one word...WOW!

Roy TN. That Gay to Lac La Belle road was put in around 1952 or 1953 as I remember.

one of my favorite drives on the whole planet is that road. much
of it was resurfaced this past summer.

there are some GORGEOUS wayside parks on that road. bring
your picknic basket.

My family (Lahti) built a cottage along this road back in the 60's. We enjoyed our summers up there until we had to sell it when we moved to Texas in '73. The cottage is still there with the addition of a dormer, says my brother who visited last Spring. Oh how I miss looking out over the bay...

ROY TN,
I had just bought a new pick up in 1959, and my wife and I went for a ride through Gay and Betsy and the road was not quite completed then. Maybe up towards Oliver Bay or so.

Picture was taken at South Point.

Point Isabelle is two miles southwest of this picture and was named after a schooner that sank on the point.

This bay is one of our favorite places in the U.P. Great pictures summer and winter for us.

When I first saw this picture I said "hey, that looks awfully familiar!" Then I figured out why. I took a picture from almost the same spot except it was in the fall several years ago.

It appears though that the birch tree is leaning a lot more than it used to.

When the road first opened the roadsides were loaded with blueberries such that the ground was blue in color. An awesome sight for any berry picker!

picture perfect---you even got the top of the tree.

Great biking from Brunette Park to Lac LaBelle. There are (all in the right season)lots of blueberries, cranberries, thimbleberries, pink ladyslippers, an occasional bear, and, if you are lucky, a freighter anchored in Bete Gris away from the high seas.

On Dec. 10, 1943, The Canadien steamer Sarian went aground off Point Isabelle while trying to seek shelter from a strong northwest blow. Her crew was taken off by the Eagle Harbor Coast Guard. She was later hauled off for scrap. She was 321 ft. in length & grossed 2584 tons.
She was loaded with barley and I worked with some local fishermen out of Big Traverse and Gay and managed to salvage some of the barley, down as far as the waterline. The barley was shoveled into a hopper in the hold of the ship,then raised up to the deck in a makeshift screw elevator made from an old threshing machine. then into burlap bags on deck. then lowered over the side onto a shute and into the fishing boats.
Most of it was hauled to Kauppis dock near Gay and loaded onto trucks to be hauled to be loaded into railroad cars outside Lake Linden.
Some of the grain was hauled into Bete Gris but they had a problem because of the shallow water at the entrance to the harbor.
We worked on the ( Barley Boat) In Dec. and into Jan.1944. Some days we couldn't do much bcause of the ice and heavy seas that would shake us around, both on the Sarnia and our small boats.

Oh, the blueberries! We had them growing on our property there on the bay and we enjoyed them on our cornflakes, (the ones we didn't eat while picking). On the other side of the road we'd find thimbleberries. I just recently received my order of thimbleberry jam which was almost as good as what Mom made.

South Point was John Pruskas--pipeman in ahmeek and senica mines--- favorite deer huning spot--he had a camp ar little betsy

Thanks for the pic Mary!

Ahh, I remember seeing John Priuska's big white open boat while fishing near Betsy/Hermit Bay as a lad, powered by an inboard she was. I can just see her now, gently rocking on the waves.

I've picked Labrador tea along that road and brewed many a cup after the leaves dried. Fond memories come back with the steamy aroma of the cuppa.

What is Labrador tea?

Love this drive! Thanks, Gus for the very interesting Sarnia story! If only there were some pictures around somewhere of the ship or the unloading operation. Sounds like quite an event! Had to have been Charlie Kauppi's dock then, as Sully'd still be in the war when this happened. Don't know what Charlie K's dock looked like before Sully built the sea wall after the war. Maybe some descendants have an old photo somewhere? Sure love those old fishing photos! Thanks for the south shore pics!

Looking forward to the answer to Bob's question....

Ahh...picking blueberries on Lac La Belle road. Wonderful memories. When I was very young I went with my mom and her friend Ellen Mottonen to pick blueberries and I remember wondering what the little brown berry-like things lying on the ground were. My mom told me they were rabbit droppings. Glad I didn't pick them up and taste them!

(Ledum groenlandicum), low-growing, perennial evergreen shrub of the heath family (Ericaceae), native to eastern North America. The name is also sometimes applied to L. glandulosum, a closely related shrub of the Rocky Mountains region.

L. groenlandicum is found in cold boggy areas and grows to about 1 m (3 feet) high. The twigs are reddish. The fragrant leaves, …

Labrador tea

Hello danbury,
Labrador tea (Ledum palustre, also called Hudson's Bay tea) is a plant with a strongly aromatic leaves that can be used to make a very palatable tea. Perhaps not like the teas you are use to, be they from the Orient or Arabia but tea nonetheless.

ILMHitCC,
I guess it was Charlie Kauppis dock at the time, He was operating his "Water Lily", hauling the grain into his dock in Gay.
I made a few trips with Charlie with his boat. He was quite a seaman in his time, having only a compass and a watch to navigate.
I worked mostly for Ed Olson of Big Traverse aboard the "Freckles". We hauled into Gay also. I have a few photos around and will see if i can locate them. At the dock in Gay & aboard the Sarnia.

Hey, I have the same tree with my husband standing in front of it taken this past summer.
A very picturesque tree it is. What a pretty drive.

Wish I had a cabin right on the shoreline of that
lake and had that great view to look at everyday.
Great picture. Great place to visit.

Gus......thanks for that story......I feel old and I was two years from being born when you were hauling barley out of that old freighter. Guess that is part of what makes the CC so special....
My favorite drive with three beach stops and a couple of "rock" stops. Final stop Little Traverse after a hop down Mink Farm Road....(no longer called that) Bought a few acres on Little Rice Lake during the 70's and finally sold them because the next door neighbor needed a place for his son to build a home...Beautiful....

What a surprise today to look and see my pictures. It was a great day with a slow drive around the Keweenaw and dinner at the Mariner, and of course stopping to take a lot of pictures. Thank you mary for todays spotlight.

I wonder how many of you know that the two pics today actually go hand-in-hand?? At one time, Mt. Houghton WAS a volcano. It wasn't a volcano like one is used to seeing in Hawaii. Mt. Houghton is made up of a rock called rhyolite, which is produced from a very thick, goopy lava that doesn't flow well, much like Mt. St. Helens. It was active during the time of rifting in the Lake Superior basin. No danger of it blowing it's top anymore, although it would be quite a site to see......

I remember when there was a salvage office in HOughton for that wreck. The office was in space under the Wilcox Photography offices. I also think that some of the barley that was wet was brought into the Hancock area and and piled on the shore. It smelled real rotten at times. As I remember, Fred Welch worked on that job and later married and settled in Houghton and opened the first true hamburger grill in the town,just after WWII ended. It was called The Horseshoe Lunch and was located on Shelden Street just west of Nelson's restaurant and Trevathen's barber shop...

Thanks Again Pasty.net for Being and Bringing all of the Infinitely Breathtaking Beauty of the Keweenaw to us that are not fortunate to be there in the winter..... The blueberry picking along the roads there have been very sparce the past years... especially last year... I can always find some though in the PineGrove cemetery in Eagle Harbor.... Infinite JOY and Glorious weekend...

Hey Capt. Paul,
I thought the Mt. Houghton rhyolite was a fine-grained, intrusive structure, not a volcano. I think that Mt. Houghton has been classified as a sill or laccolith and Bohemia, a stock.

Nice pic, but then agian any pic of MT. Houghton is nice. I have to say that the most impressive view of MT.Houghton I've seen is from Lake Addie. Anyone know the status of MT. Houghton, Lake Addie and Breakfest Lake, When I was last back there in fall most of the land that encompasses MT. Houghton and to the east was for sale.