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| Author |
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| 25 new of 58 responses total. |
gull
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response 25 of 58:
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May 23 13:24 UTC 2002 |
Re #14: These days the lift bridge only goes up on a regular basis for the
Ranger III. If you check the schedule for its runs to Isle Royal you can
probably figure out when you'll have a good chance of seeing the bridge in
action.
The Quincy mine's hoist, on top of the hill on US-41, is worth seeing, if
you're into old steam engines at all. They'll also take you into the mine,
though there are probably better mine tours. The Quincy has been pretty
extensively altered on the only accessable level with modern equipment,
since MTU used it for some research projects at one point. I haven't taken
any other mine tours, though, so I can't recommend any to you.
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keesan
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response 26 of 58:
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May 23 15:16 UTC 2002 |
We were headed to Isle Royale and discovered that Porcupine Mountains is the
other end of the same geological formation and is much easier to get to. You
can camp anywhere in the park (hang up your food to avoid bears). No burning
of wood. There are cabins to reserve. No vehicles in the park.
We know someone who bikes to northern Michigan in a hurry but he does not
carry on his bike a tent, mat, sleeping bag, pots and pans, and food. He
stays in hotels, that is his idea of fun. We carry up to 50 lb of gear (Jim
does - I get the lighter stuff so I can keep up) and avoid the roads with
traffic which means we bike mainly on dirt roads, which is slow but more fun.
We have stayed in farmer's fields or gravel quarries or people's yards - at
one point two people at the supermarket were bidding for our presence. We
spent a few days on the last family dairy farm in Michigan and climbed the
silo (I watched). Nobody is afraid of someone on a bike. Even car camping
in the boonies (more than 100 miles from a big city) can be done like this.
Having a little kid ask permission would be a big help. Even with me asking,
we would be offered a place to camp way back in the woods on a private lake
owned by someone with a large collection of exotic birds, or someone with an
egg farm and a restored steam tractor. You have to be prepared for an
occasional suspicious rejection.
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tpryan
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response 27 of 58:
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May 23 16:31 UTC 2002 |
re 14: The Library Bar and the Homnomem(sp?)!
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jep
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response 28 of 58:
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May 23 16:36 UTC 2002 |
re #25: When I was living there, some people had private yachts, and
the bridge had to go up for those. You'd get the bridge going up
several times per day in the summer. We'll find a way to see it go up
and down, anyway.
Hmm, come to think of it, once the ice broke up, they used to raise the
bridge; there was a road going across it in it's lowest position, then
in a higher position as well. It still had to be raised for the
tallest boats going under. Is that what you mean, that the Ranger is
the only one tall enough to need the bridge to be raised to it's
highest position?
re #26: From what I know of the people in the UP -- a fair amount, as I
used to be in the National Guard with them -- if a tourist came by and
asked to camp in someone's yard, they'd react adversely. Call the
police, get a shotgun, send you to eat dinner at a horrendously bad
restaurant, something like that.
If you were a stooooodent, you'd get worse treatment than that, but
that's another subject.
I'll stay in public campgrounds, I think.
No one has mentioned the Soo Locks as an attraction in the UP. I don't
think we'll be going there, unless John really wants to; I've seen them
several times and took a boat tour through them once (with the family,
including John). It's an interesting place to visit, watching 500-700
foot ore freighters come through, and watching them be raised or
lowered 50 feet or so to be able to pass through the straights. It's a
worthwhile trip if you've never been there.
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jep
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response 29 of 58:
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May 23 16:36 UTC 2002 |
re #27: We'll certainly visit the Library if it's still there. It
burned down some years ago, but hopefully has been rebuilt by now.
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slynne
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response 30 of 58:
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May 23 17:49 UTC 2002 |
I like the Soo Locks. When I lived in the Sault, I would often go there
and sit for hours. I liked the solitude of it. (not a lot of tourists
in the park by the locks in November or early spring but there are
still boats to watch).
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gull
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response 31 of 58:
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May 23 18:46 UTC 2002 |
Re #28: Right, they move the bridge up a notch in the summer and let
traffic run on the lower deck, so they don't have to raise it as often.
Originally trains ran on the lower deck, but the rail lines have been
abandoned for at least a decade now and were torn up about eight years
ago to make bike and snowmobile trails. The Ranger III is the only
dependable traffic that's tall enough to need the bridge raised, since
freighters don't generally try to thread their way through the canal
anymore -- they've just gotten too long. The bridge does have to raise
for the occasional sailboat, too, though.
Re #29: The Library has been rebuilt as a restaurant, with a nice view
of the canal. They have their own microbrewed beers now, too.
I think you're right about camping. People up there are protective of
their property and probably not likely to invite you to camp there.
Most of them moved up there because they don't want neighbors, and a lot
of them probably have trouble with deer hunters trespassing and are
cranky about people on their property as a result. There's not really a
shortage of state parks anyway.
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gull
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response 32 of 58:
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May 23 18:51 UTC 2002 |
Oh, incidentally, people who feel the state parks aren't rustic enough
may want to check out the state forest campgrounds. They're more
rustic, with no electricity and usually no bathroom facilities other
than pit toilets. They're usually more secluded and less busy than the
state parks, not to mention cheaper. I don't know what the fee is now,
but the last time I was at one (about ten years ago) it was something
like $2 per night, on the honor system.
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michaela
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response 33 of 58:
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May 23 19:01 UTC 2002 |
<echoes everything gull said>
I found the Soo Locks quite boring when riding in the tour boat, but it was
neat watching them raise a ship.
Da Yooper Tourist Trap has much more than CDs and tapes. They sell lots of
great UP-related items: t-shirts, books, music, posters, figurines, magnets,
copper jewelry, hats, and Trenary Toast (yay!!!) There's also a cool walking
path outside that takes you by replication mines and deer camps with story
plaques and dummies dressed as miners and hunters. It's much fun, and you'll
start seeing billboards for it as early as Munising. The store is just past
Ishpeming on M-28. If you miss it, you're blind. There's a chainsaw on the
front lawn that is the size of a cottage.
Oh, and they just added a rock shop. They have some beautiful crystals and
rocks made into clocks, paperweights, jewelry, etc.
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gelinas
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response 34 of 58:
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May 24 04:16 UTC 2002 |
I don't know if it's still operating, but the Big John Iron Mine (near Iron
Mountain, if I recall correctly) was an interesting trip.
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void
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response 35 of 58:
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May 24 05:23 UTC 2002 |
I'm going camping for a week next month. Since I'll be able to
drive to the campsite and then go park my car for the duration, I'm
taking some substantial stuff. There's the 30-year-old canvas tent
my father gave me last Sunday, which I'm going to set up this weekend
to see if it's still any good. If it is, I'll camp in it for
sentimental reasons (it's from the camping trip where I met the bear).
There's a 28'x48' tarp, black on the underside and silver on top,
which I'll be using as an enormous sunshade and place for people to
gather when it rains. The stove is a battery-powered Sierra Zip stove,
which burns solid fuel like twigs, small sticks, pinecones, charcoal
from other people's fires, and so forth. The stove fits inside a
one-quart pot which came with it and has some other accessories as
well. Since I hate percolated coffee, I take along a French drip
coffee pot. Mine is a used Revereware pot which I got from E-Bay.
I also have a sleeping bag and self-inflating pad, though I think this
time around I may take an air mattress to sleep on, since it also
provides a convenient place to sit inside the tent. I don't want to
go through my entire list of camping gear, so I'll stop here for the
time being.
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jep
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response 36 of 58:
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May 24 12:49 UTC 2002 |
Where are you going camping, void?
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keesan
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response 37 of 58:
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May 24 16:34 UTC 2002 |
In addition to not trying to camp in people's yards or farms within 100 miles
of Chicago, it is not a good idea to try this in a tourist area or within 50
miles of a state park (unless you are on a bike and can point out to people
that it is getting too dark to bike 50 miles). Where we have camped is
usually some agricultural backwater such as SW Michigan or South Dakota. In
South Dakota they asked if we were with the bunch of people on the bike tour
that went through earlier (we had a Jeep, so no) and then offered to leave
the bathroom at the only restaurant in town open all night for us and told
us we could shower at the firehouse. We headed for the little park in the
center of town and discovered in the morning that it was the John Deere
parking lot - nobody seemed to care. At Havana on the Mississipi (which used
to be a mecca for fisherpeople in the thirties) we asked the local police for
permission to camp in the little park on the river and they came by later to
check that we were okay and not being bothered by local kids. When we got
100 miles south of Chicago the local police in small towns tried to steer us
to a state park. On bikes, you can often stay in school or church yards in
the summer. In Tennessee someone who let us camp in his yard was really
disappointed when we refused his offer to run an extension cord out to our
tent as we had nothing to plug into it. He wondered if we had been to
Indianapolis as he had been there once.
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void
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response 38 of 58:
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May 24 23:13 UTC 2002 |
re #36: I'm going to PSG, which is held on some privately owned land
in southern Ohio. There will be about 800 other campers there as well.
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keesan
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response 39 of 58:
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May 25 03:11 UTC 2002 |
What is PSG?
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void
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response 40 of 58:
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May 25 07:45 UTC 2002 |
Pagan Spirit Gathering.
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slynne
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response 41 of 58:
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May 25 16:25 UTC 2002 |
I have one of those Sierra Zip stoves too. I like it for back packing trips
when weight is a factor but, because of th soot on the pan, prefer to use
white gas or propane when car camping. I just got a Coleman white gas double
burner heavy assed car camping stove but havent used it yet. heh. I used to
have a butane stove and found that was really nice for short trips.
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glenda
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response 42 of 58:
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May 26 15:00 UTC 2002 |
One of the ways around the soot on a pan is to put a very thin film of dish
soap on the bottom and sides of the pan. Clean up is a breeze then. Sort
of like scraping your fingers over a bar of soap to get the soap under your
nails before going out in the garden.
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slynne
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response 43 of 58:
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May 26 16:06 UTC 2002 |
Hmmm Thanks glenda, I will have to try that.
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jep
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response 44 of 58:
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May 27 01:54 UTC 2002 |
I got a bunch of Tupperware containers at a yard sale today for 50
cents each. Being they're waterproof and sealable, they should be
great for taking along food and such for camping. I was pleased to get
them.
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russ
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response 45 of 58:
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May 28 01:41 UTC 2002 |
I camp on occasion when I'm travelling, but I usually stay in
motels. Every couple of years I have both the camping bug and
the opportunity, and I haul out the gear and I go (like I just
did).
I've camped from Michigan to Washington and down to Arizona.
I haul a car-load of stuff which includes a plastic tent with
what look like graphite fishing rods for support (I need a
bigger one), an air mattress for my aging bones, and a sleeping
bag. Food-prep systems are nice but not essential, and a solar
shower is really nice to have in warm, sunny areas. I prefer
camping in desert areas, because I don't like dealing with rain.
I think the worst camping story I've got is when my family was
out camping in the west and we pitched our (big, blue, canvas)
tent and I made the mistake of pitching it with the door uphill.
Then it rained, and we wound up with several inches of water in
the tent. With our sleeping bags at the downhill end.
Essential equipment: Enough to handle the weather and fend
off the local critters. This varies by location and fortitude.
In some places all you may need is a bedroll.
Non-essential equipment: I really like my $9.99 Salvation Army
fluorescent lantern and my butterfly camp chair with footrest.
Combined with my $5.00 Meijer hammock, it gives me a great
place to park myself, day or night, and read and enjoy the quiet.
When I'm not camping, the lantern's batteries power whatever 12
volt gear I've got at home that needs a noise-free power supply.
I got quite a few hours of use out of a level-shifter that way.
Slickest thing I've seen: A tiny tent-camper trailer which
is small enough to pull behind a motorcycle, yet unfolds into
a king-sized bed and more than reasonable sitting area. When
I get a little older and creakier I might get one of those;
it looks small enough to tow behind almost anything.
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gull
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response 46 of 58:
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May 28 15:17 UTC 2002 |
Re #44: Ziplock also makes a line of resealable containers, now.
They're sturdy enough to throw in the dishwasher, but cheap enough that
they're semi-disposable. They're not as stiff as Tupperware, though, so
you can't use them in situations where they might get squished. If they
get crushed by something else the lid invariable pops off.
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jep
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response 47 of 58:
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May 28 15:38 UTC 2002 |
re #46: Good point on that; disposable is an asset when you're on
vacation. I have some of the Ziplock containers and they work fine in
the refrigerator. They should be fine for such things as making my own
ice, also for consumables.
However, a half dozen Tupperware containers for 50 cents each is a good
deal for camping, too. They're good for all sorts of things;
beverages, cereal, towels, anything that needs to stay dry or which
needs to stay in one place. They seal well, they don't crush easily,
and they're indestructable.
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gull
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response 48 of 58:
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May 28 15:44 UTC 2002 |
Yeah. The only problem with Tupperware is it's so expensive new. If
you can find it used you're in great shape. :)
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jep
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response 49 of 58:
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May 28 16:18 UTC 2002 |
The other problem with Tupperware, until recently anyway, is that you
had to go to a Tupperware party to get it. That made it pretty
inaccessible to me. Now there are Tupperware booths at malls, and I
think they sell it inside Target stores as well. And it *is* pretty
widely available at rummage sales.
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