You have to be a dedicated Pasty Cammer to set out photographing under such harsh conditions; rain, wind and cold. But Sundays are my only days off, so I did what I could.

I decided on the Union River in the Porcupine Mountains as my location. I guessed correctly that there would be plenty of water in the creek, and some patches of fall color. The first thing was the rain-dotted fallen leaves, especially at the side of the river. Next I noticed an especially turbulent part of the rapids and just laid down on the rocks and got right into the water... also a big Bracken Fern waving in the wind. I tried to show the movement in a still picture. I'm not sure how successful the experiment was, though.

OK...you have done it again Dan. Everytime you show pictures of the Union river or the Porcupine Mountains, I get really homesick. I will be home for my annual deer hunting trip next month. I cannot wait. My good friend Kathy moved from Florida to Laurium last month. I find more people like her and I who have left when they were kids and want to come back now that we are older and smarter. Florida is not home for me. My home is in the Copper Country. I miss you Kathy.

Thanks again to one of our most prolific Pasty Cammists. If you've never explored Dan's "Wilderness Diary", be sure to check out his website QuietlyWild.com

Dan, what a brave soul you are, facing wind and rain in order to capture those amazing forest views. Good job! Well appreciated from lower Michigan, where our leaves come in only three colors - green, brown, and off!

This is an amazing set of photos, as always. I hope you are now warm and dry, Dan!

At last, U.P. Color! Thank you, Dan. Your
intrepid spirit once again delivers delights of
the U.P. to our senses.

Makes me feel cold! Throw another log on the fire.

Beautiful!

Hey....NO FAIR! How the heck am I supposed to know which one to use as wallpaper? Ugh...decisions, decisions!

Appreciate your efforts and the gorgeous results!

Gorgeous pictures. You look like you could have used a cup of hot tea, hot cocoa, or maybe a hot toddy!

I miss Houghton. I went to Tech for 2 years and when I left I couldn't wait to get back to a "real city". Ever since I started visiting this site, I've been longing to go back.

Can anyone send pictures to this site? I have a few from the road trips we took further up the Keweenaw.

"From Florida to Laurium?"

That's about 2 miles!

We were in the Keweenaw last week and saw the colors changing right before our eyes. On the Cliff Drive road and the Mohawk to Gay drive the colors were spectacular!! Very vivid reds, golds and orange!!~~~ We took the chair lift at Mt Bohemia on 9/28. The colors were not very bright but the view was awesome!!!~~~ We can't wait for the next trip back up to our camp. We always miss the area when we leave!!!

So goregous! Even in rotten weather the UP comes thorugh. Makes me homesick. Thanks for the great pictures day after day.

could i have made anymore mistakes in my last message? see, move away from the UP's fresh air and the brain doesn't work right anymore!

Ok - I figured it out - I set up my screen saver using my U.P. photos I've saved from this site. I am a happy girl now!! Wonderful photos, Dan!!!

One of my favorites by Dan the man.

One of my favorites by Dan the man.

One of my favorites by Dan the man.

One of my favorites by Dan the man.

Here it is

hey now i cant post pictures anymore

I am sorry for all of the 'your images here' but I was trying to post some really cool shots from Dan Urbanski and it wasnt happening. I will stop while I am ahead.

I just got back from my seventh consecutive Keweenah County fall colors trip. This year, there were a lot of nice colors, but due to the warm summer, I could tell it was probably a week before peak. Still a great trip, though. On Friday night there was such a terrific windstorm, the power was knocked out from Copper Harbor to Calumet. It was memorable to be eating at the Harbor Haus in the dark watching Superior madly churning. The big shocker to me is the crowds. Like I said, this is my 7th Copper Harbor fall colors trip in a row and it seems there were 3x the people compared to past years. I have mixed feeling about that. We must keep the U.P. a secret or the the Petosky types will ruin it.

Beautiful -- my wife and I try to get to the Keweenaw every year. We try not to tell anyone about it, because we don't want to spoil it, but it's hard to keep something this good a secret.

Hey Hermit,

You live in PETOSKEY and you just got back from the KEWEENAW, HEY! You betcha tough guy!

Now that's Lake Superior!!!! Great Picture!!!

My Wife, daughters and I just got home from a week in the Keweenaw. We also experienced the wind and power outage Friday night. We were camping by the Traprock river on our property outside of Lake Linden when the lights went out. I wish I could say we had to rough it with no power, the roughest thing I had to do go out in the wind and rain and start the generator. We've come along way since my wife and I spent a week in a tent with two dogs and no kids four years ago when we first bought the property.
After all that rain Friday the river came up about two feet. Other than that it was a great week, looking forward to comeing up in the spring.

Ho boy - - I've created a monster. Last week when I mentioned the link to "Formatting" the fun began with sprucing up your CAM NOTES messages. Looks like maybe we should offer some lessons in uploading images.

First, to upload your basic picture, you have to type in these special characters. Here's a sample if I wanted to upload my own portrait, and the results follow:

Toivo, when did you start wearing glasses? Oh, and the beard is a nice touch, too.

To Herman the Hermit-I agree about the Petoskey types. "Up North" has become the popular thing for the yuppy types in the last 25 or so years. they've already ruined the northern lower. They come up and then turn it into another city. Traverse and Petoskey come to mind and they have a good start on Indian River. Don't like the way the Keeweenaw is going either.

Hey "Me" - Nice shot! Is that the "Arboreal Tunnell near Freda?

Thanks everybody for the kind remarks. I think I am fimally dry now. And the camera still works! A few minutes in the oven works wonders. For the camera, not me.

I finally updated my website.Check our "Recent Pictures"
http//www.quietlywild.com

I enjoy your great photos. Makes me homesick for the UP.

Corrected link:
http://www.quietlywild.com

Thanks for the great pictures...trully a link to home...didn't get to go to the U.P. this year so the pictures are all the more appreciated..

Toivo...u are a cutie!! You made it sound like you were soooooo old. You have one of those adorable faces where you just wanna grab your cheeks and give you a huge smacker on those lips!!!!

Purrrrfect weather for some good ole comfort food! Pasty, anyone?!

I had to check my calendar again and make sure that it really *was* Tuesday - and no PastyCam pic for today yet! :( Charlie, hope everything is OK with you, because we know you'd never bail out on us dedicated PastyCam viewers!

Poor Charlie...sometimes, making something so wonderful to so many people just takes a little extra time...

It must be awesome to know so many people depend on you every day, Mr. Hopper!

Charlieeeeeeeee where are you? Are you ok!
We miss having the new cam pic of the day , to get our daily fix of "home"! For all of us who cant be there right now!
We care about you too, and worry when we dont see anything posted by 1pm...We hope all is ok with you !

Maybe Charlie went on another vacation and left Toivo the responsibility of adding the daily picture. Toivo is probably eating pasties and lost track of time??

While you all wait for the Tuesday photo you can check out my friends new web cam in Marquette. This is a view of Marquette's lower harbor. If anyone is from the Mqt area he also owns Iron Bay Computer and Design, so make sure you click on the link. Buy a computer, need internet service or do you love antiques? Go to Downtown Marquette and visit the best antique store in the County. Antiques and Uniques located in Downtown Mqt, 315 S. Front Street.
http://ironbay.com/lower_harbor_web_cam.htm

Nice shots, Dan.
Rainy fall days are always best for great color shots. I was in the Porkies on Saturday...was a little dull by comparison.
Thanks Dan!!

On an unrelated note..I've read all the above postings, what I can't figure out is the nostalgic tone, of some, for the lowly pasty--I know I'll get flamed for this comment.
I had my first UP pasty this past Saturday,purchased in Ironwood, to eat upon arrival at Presque Isle River, I'm sorry to say the only thing to eat that pasty was the bear proof trash can..it didn't have much of a choice, since the lid was slammed shut!! Now, I'm willing to try anything twice, can someone suggest where I can get a worthy example of your beloved pasty?

Well, Robert in Racine, I guess ordering a pasty from Pasty.com would be a good place to start!

Robert, the best place to get a good pasty is homemade from a Copper Country grandma. No offense Pasty.com, but I've never had a commercial pasty that compared to homemade.

Froggy, where can I get a Copper Country grandma?
Are they cheap to rent? Can I get one by Mail Order or would they spoil during shipping? You have one you ain't using right now?
I know what you mean, my wife has made some very tasty pasties, I thought..maybe, an authentic UP
pasty would taste magical, like a pint of Guinness
would taste in a small pub in Ireland, compared to the one from the pub down the road.

Robert, Copper Country grandmas dont lend out too
easy. Sorry to say I no longer have my CC grandma. But will never forget the smell of her kitchen on pasty days. If you are lucky you will find one of these grandmas and she will make some pasties in her own kitchen while you sit and have coffee. Then you will truly know a little piece of Copper Country magic!

I'm sorry to hear that, Froggy.
Sounds like you have great memories though.

Voting for "Road less traveled" for the WOW!

T.P. in Garden City, maybe you are just too far south, too bad!! Where I come from in central lower Michigan there are normally plenty of brilliant colors, especially the various maples. Nevertheless the U.P. is spectacular and I am sure enjoying it from across the Atlantic Ocean!

I agree with you M.R.L., a couple years ago when I went to da land down below in the fall, the colors were bursting with orange, yellows and reds. Of course not as brilliant as the colors here in da Keweenaw. I went to a town called Romeo and there are tree covered roads. Some roads I remember very well wwere Mt. Vernon and 28/Mound. T.P., since you live closer to the area I am referring to you might want to go for a drive and check out the beauty of lower MI.

Robert from Racine, commercial pasties can be very good if the crust isn't soggy and you eat them warm. I've had commercial pasties in Hougton and Iron Mt. Mich that were very good. I've had Cornish pasties is St. Agnes, Polperro and East Looe Cornwall that were excellent (one was a chicken curry pasty - yum). Besides the question of whether or not carrots and rutabaga belong in a pasty (no and no) the crust will make or break the dish. My first pasties were so bad even the dog wouldn't eat them (rock hard crust).

You're comment about nostalgia though may be right on. I'm sure you can finish this sentence: " No one can make ______ like my Mom (or Grandma)!" Since your wife makes good pasties you know they are good. Try again, just not at the same place.

It's December 02 here in Paradise, and we've had snow on the ground since October. The temp this morning at 9:00 AM was 8 degrees F. I did a bit of snowshoeing yesterday. If I could post a photo I'd show you folks a beautiful timber wolf that sings to me every evening.

Len McDougall, author of the books: The Complete Tracker, The Field & Stream Wilderness Survival Handbook, The Snowshoe Handbook, The Outdoors Almanac, Practical Outdoor Projects, Practical Outdoor Survival, Made for the Outdoors. Coming soon: 2001: A Wilderness Odyssey

If you'd like to see real, full-blooded timber wolves up close, and to have your questions about these magnificent animals answered by an expert, you're invited to call Cheanne Chellis in Paradise, MI to schedule a visit. Cheanne knows as much about wolves as anyone in the country, and she's always happy to educate and inform folks who'd like to know more about these beneficial carnivores. There is no charge for the visit, although donations for food are very much appreciated by her 3 wolves, Chakota, Nahanni, and Kenai. Give Cheanne a call at (906) 492-3905

Hey This is nicole swiger i am doing a report on you Karen beard and i would like to know who old was you when you startedphotographing and how old are you now becouse i would love to get a good grade on this .
I go to parkersburg south high schooland i would love to hear from you

Len McDougall, Outdoor Writer

13127 Whitefish Point Road, Paradise, Michigan 49768

Telephone: (906) 492-3095 E-Mail: LMwriter@jamadots.com


Press Release


Author Returns to Civilization After Spending a Year in the Wilderness




When noted author Len McDougall left civilization on April 14, 2001 to spend a year living the life of a 19th-century homesteader, he did it without fanfare. For the next 15 months he was entirely out of touch with the modern world except for infrequent trips to town to buy tools and supplies. He built a log cabin using only an axe and hand tools, dug a 10’ open well with only a shovel, and generally lived the rugged life of an 1800s frontiersman before finally leaving the wilderness to write a book (his 7th) about the experience. That book, titled The Log Cabin: An Adventure in Self-Reliance, Individualism, and Cabin Building, will be released in hardcover from The Lyons Press on June 01, 2003.

Today Len McDougall lives in the small community of Paradise in Michigan’s scenic Upper Peninsula, where he continues to make his living as a writer, wilderness guide, and survival instructor with Timberwolf Wilderness Adventures. His companions there include 3 full-blooded timber wolves named Chakota, Kenai, and Nahanni, a team of sled dogs, and a friendly Rottweiler named Meesha. Those wishing to contact him can telephone (906) 492-3905. You can also e-mail him at LMwriter@jamadots.com or LMwriter1@yahoo.com



Len McDougall is author of the books: The Log Cabin: An Adventure in Self-Reliance, Individualism, and Cabin Building (2003), Practical Outdoor Projects (2002), The Field & Stream Wilderness Survival Handbook (2001), The Snowshoe Handbook (2000), The Outdoors Almanac (1999), The Complete Tracker (1997), Made for the Outdoors (1995), Practical Outdoor Survival (1993). A professional writer since 1983, his articles have been published in Backpacker, Field & Stream, Michigan Out-of-Doors, Michigan Sportsman, Michigan Natural Resources, Michigan Hunting & Fishing, Gun Digest, Fur-Fish-Game, Woods-N-Water News, American Survival Guide, The Traverse City Record-Eagle, Michigan Country Lines, and The Whitefish Eagle News.

Coming in 2004: The Encyclopedia of Animal Tracks & Scat, published by The Lyons Press



"I can’t rightly say I’ve ever been lost, but I’ve been mighty perplexed for two or three days runnin’" - Davy Crocket

Len,

Have any pictures of your cabin? Email it to photos@pasty.com and we'll post it here.