We’re snowshoeing with Judy Byykkonen and the WIND (Women in New Directions) ladies, at the Maasto Hiihto Trail System in Hancock. These trails are multi-use, silent sport recreation trails that follow the Swedetown Creek down an incredibly beautiful gorge. Maasto Hiihto in Finnish, translates to cross country ski. The Keweenaw Nordic Ski Club and the City of Hancock, team up together to maintain and groom the 25 kilometers of trails for winter use and also remain available for a variety of silent sport uses year-round. You can support their efforts by purchasing a membership, which is an important funding source for these beautiful trails. Click here for more information: Keweenaw Nordic Ski Club.

So the old saying, “better late than never” applies for today’s video. The last week of February – the 19th - 25th has been declared National Sauna Week by the Finlandia Foundation. We join Kristin Ojaniemi from 906 Outdoors and Jim Kurtti to talk about the Finnish heritage here in the Upper Peninsula, where sauna culture is strong. Sauna is the only Finnish word that is known worldwide... and it’s pronounced Sauna (Sow-nah)!

Happy Birthday Pasty. Holy wha eh...25 years...a
quarter of a Century!

That's an awesome video...and Mr. Kurtti IS the
Finnish King in our area....

Snowy pix, something we haven’t seen much of this winter.


25 = how many Pasties? And how many spuds?

It's my birthday also (Pat), 76, "getting on up there" as they say. Sort of hooked up with Pasty Cam in 1999, almost from the start. ....so many changes, so may people. Outstandimg 24 years. Lived down south at the time, but moved up here to the U.P. in 2006. Wonderful. Pasty Cam always a daily visit.

Happy Birthday Pasty Cam! You have been a wonderful source of information and news of my adopted homeland! Thanks Mary for your daily selections and Charlie for posting them.

Happy birthday Pat! This is also the birthday of my friend and college roommate, Karen, and my Grandmother, Lulu.

Happy birthday, pasty cam. We're glad you're
here.
Judy's always on the go, isn't she? She has
an exciting life. Thanks for sharing your
adventures with us, Judy. We're boring here,
lol. My cats wouldn't appreciate all of that
exercise.

Great pics and the video was just fantastic!!

My mom was born in Calumet and lived on 382
Caledonia St and the Sauna in the basement was built
in similar style. But... Jim talks about 180-200
degrees.... Good God Man, I'd be dead inside of 5
minutes at that temp!! lol Thanks for the history
lesson, Kristin & Jim.

Happy Birthday Pasty Cam!
And thank you Mary for your dedication and hard work.

You haven't had a REAL traditional Finnish sauna until it's been a Smoke Sauna. Afterwards you're welcoming that dip in the cold lake just to remove the soot and smoke.

The way it works is the chimney for the wood firelace is closed. The cabin is closed up tightly so very little smoke escapes. The hot smoke heats everything up so grab a towel to sit on. Just before entering, open the door and chimney so the smoke can clear out. I've only had one while in Finland and they considered it a rare opportunity.

Some additional info on the smoke sauna

Corrected Link

D.A. both links were really cool to look at, reminds
me of the Lake Medora area.
Although, I did have to wonder if you might have
been traveling with Cheech & Chong there for a
second my friend! lol :=))

Congratulations, Happy Birthday, and a big
THANK YOU!!! to PastyCam from a Yooper in exile!
What a joy to have a daily link to the U.P. after
all these years.