• Monday-What'sUP October 8 - 09:26 pm

Over on the Western end of the U.P., Z-Man was standing with both feet on the ground when he snapped this shot, showing off some color near the entrance to the Ottawa National Forest. While E. Neil Harri, didn't have any feet on the ground as he photographed a section of that same forest down below him. That's White Deer Lake, surrounded by a kaleidoscope of colors, we're looking at, which Neil says is in the McCormick Tract of the Ottawa National Forest. Since there's almost a million acres, I'm not even going to venture a guess as to where either Neil or Z-Man were in that vastness. All I know for sure is they both captured the colors quite well.

The McCormick tract is in far Eastern Baraga County. It has an interesting history. Check this link.

http://www.foyeins.com/mccormicktract/History.htm

Thanks for the link, Neil. Very interesting. And of course to you and Zman for all the great photos.

The colors are perfect, I like the green too.

Is White Deer Lake the source of the much-disputed Yellow Dog
River? Seems like I read somewhere that it is.

What a great shot. it's:
N46° 40.376' W88° 00.446'
if you want to take a Google earth "fly-over."

I love these aerial photos. Thank you.

jonesey

Great pictures! I sure miss seeing really deep fall colors like that. We get fall colors here in AL but they seem to be more muted.
Speaking of the Western end of the UP....I have heard that there was some work done on Black River Harbor campground in the past couple years. Does anyone know what sort of work was done there? Did they add more camp sites or what?
Best wishes to all,
Renee in AL

very nice-----i remain walter p.

gorgeous pics! they make me even more excited for my trip home this weekend.

These are spectacular fall color pictures this morning, Zman, Neil Harris, and Mary. Thank you for sharing them. Zman, I love how the colored ones stand out in front of the green pine forest! As Brook said, those are just perfect!

Oct. 8, 1871 is also the date of the great Peshtigo fire. Almost 1000 people lost their lives and ash and embers from the fire extended to a home as far
north as Birch Creek, 5 miles north of Menominee.
But transportation and communication were slow and few outside of the Peshtigo/Marinette/Menominee area heard of the fire until a day later. Two books: Fire & Ice by Robert Wells and The Great Peshtigo Fire: an eye witness account by Peter Pernin tell the gruesome story--and it is gruesome. Appreciated Neil's photo, especially, and the link to the history of the McCormick tract.

E. Neil Harri, another wonderful photo and the link to the McCormick tract is fascinating. I live about 45 miles N/W of Chicago and have played golf at Cantigny, which was a McCormick estate west of Chicago. Interesting family with UP ties!

I've personally explored most of that area from the McCormick Track east past White Deer Lake along the Yellow Dog all the way out to CR510 over the years (most of it on foot). It is very rugged. Have backpacked and camped out and had to put up with bears a couple of times especially nearer the McCormick Track. Yes White Deer Lake is the primary source for the Yellow Dog and is one of my favorite overall areas in the UP.

However, since I'm actually in Houghton right now I'm very impressed with what Houghton has done with the main street, etc(it had been about 20 or so years since I've been back to the Copper Country). Today is rainy, foggy, and probably around 60!

Jonesey- It looks a lot better in the picture than it does on Google Earth. Nice to know where it is, though.

There are some historic pictures and great postcards of that area. You can find links to them on the bottom of the page of the link I posted earlier.
That area was a playground for the richest men of their era. I believe all of the structures are gone now. I remember about 8-10 years ago, when they burned down the lodge at White Deer Lake. Now it is a designated wilderness area. It is detached from all the other Ottawa National Forest holdings.

awesome info on the mccormick tract ... are ANY of the buildings left?? some amazing homes and cabins on that property !!

I'm somewhat confused as to how the White Deer Lake area along the Yellow Dog relates to the Huron Mountain Club area. Is there a relationship, or is it my imagination? Are the groups of owners related? Thanks in advance.

Marianne, Look at the link on my first post. It explains connection to Huron Mountain club.

Marianne Y (Marianne):

Here's another interesting site with a whole bunch of additional information, including maps, old photos and more.

Rummage around here and you'll learn all you could want to know about the McCormick family and the McCormick Tract, which includes the McCormick settlements, both on the south end of the White Deer Lake (on the mainland) and on a small island in the lake, as well as the relationship between the McCormicks and Cyrus Bentley, the brilliant young attorney who represented the McCormick Company, and the story of the Bentley trail leading from the McCormick settlements to Bentley's cabin on Lake Superior in the Huron Mountain Club.

Click ® McCormick Tract Wilderness Area

This is truly a goldmine of fascinating information!

Someone asked about George Hite the other day, I just check and he is back on line and his site was updated.

We were just discussing the McCormick Tract Wilderness Area and the Bentley trail (see above).

Well what a co-inky-dinky!

From today's Marquette Mining Journal (Tuesday, October 09, 2007): Click ® Historical society auction set

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Quote:

… Successful bidders will be invited to spend an afternoon with Fred Rydholm at his camp on the Yellow Dog Plains.
…
Fred’s camp site is the halfway point on the Bentley Trail.

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I've hiked the trail to White Deer Lake, and it's a wonderful experience. The resort buildings were all disassembled and are now in storage somewhere, if I recall correctly. The foundations are still there on the island, and there are a couple on the shore near the island. I think it's fantastic that Cyrus McCormick's descendants have donated the land to the rest of us. I wish somebody from the Huron Mountain Club would do the same. I can't imagine hiking from WDL all the way to Lake Superior. It must be quite an adventure! The trailhead is off of the Peshekee Grade Rd. My only complaint about the wilderness designation is that they don't mark or maintain the trails. It's pretty scary to hike in an area like that!

More beautiful Autumn colours.