Deb Simons and her hubby, Ron, recently took a ride on the trails in search of apples. The colors have been slow developing, at least right around here in Lake Linden, but they’re really popping the last day or two. Deb captured a bit of the color they saw on their ride, my favorites being where it looks like they’re driving into a tunnel of colors, so pretty. They also saw a few critters, a deer peeking at them from behind the trees and then a porcupine that was scurrying off the trail. Fun to see the animal neighbors that live in the woods nearby like that. Oh yes, in case you’re wondering, they did find a few apples, but this has been a terrible year for apples. They are either non-existent or just a smattering of them on the trees. Not sure what that could mean, I do know they grow in cycles and some years we don’t get as many, but we have trees with no apples on at all. Weird.

Today’s video comes to us from Yooper TV and features Upper Peninsula of Michigan Historic Photos from the Robert S. Platt Collection. He was chair of the geography department of the University of Chicago, where he used photography in his work as a teacher and researcher and led groups of students every year to Wisconsin and the upper Great Lakes region. I’m assuming he snapped these old photos on those excursions. There are a number of scenes I recognized right away.

I just knew these were Deb's pictures! Beautiful! Would have enjoyed being 'along for the ride'!

That is unusual to have trees with NO apples, tho i have read where trees alternate between good and sparse years. Seems like last year the apples were abundant.

September 23, 2023 on Pasty Cam featured pictures of an abundance of apples all over. So this must be the lean year!

Nice set, Deb! I can only imagine being
there and experiencing the beauty.
I’m so glad that you’re able to get
out there and enjoy it all…you’ve
earned it.

It was a beautiful day for a ride.
The colors have since gotten
better. We drove up to the top of
Brockway yesterday, and the colors
were amazing in spots and
completely green in others. It's a
strange year.

We managed to get two 6 gallon
buckets of apples that the deer
are enjoying immensely. This is
the sparce year for apples. Last
year our neighbor had dozens of
apples on his tree. This year he
just had some at the top. But the
biggest problem this year was the
hail we had in June. And we had a
lot of days with terrible winds.
But the hail killed a lot of our
flowers, as well as our neighbor's
apples. I'm sure it wasn't just
here. Hopefully no hail next year.

Thanks, Alex. I wish you and Jbuck
could join us on our adventures.

Deb…make sure that you chop up the apples into smaller pieces,
because deer have very weak jaws and it’s hard for them to take a
bite out of a whole apple.
I learned that years ago when I used to go deer hunting. We used
sugar beets and chopped them up using a small hatchet.

Alex, Amen...their jaws don't open wide enough for
an apple...that's why the good Lord graced them
with their sharp hooves! Yes, Deer will eat
anything...as long as they can get it in their
mouths.

Cindy and I took a spin today...there's a lot of
green out there. But it's hours past peak, you can
barely see the curling of the leaves beginning.
Wow, it is so beautiful out there....so icky it
only lasts a couple of days..

My husband says I baby them. These
apples were small. Last year I cut
them all. When we buy them
carrots, I cut them too.

Yes, Donna, it's beautiful out
there. We sat at canal view with
my mom and just took in the view.
Looking across the canal at
Houghton Canal road is quite the
sight. Still lots of green, though

Sure would be great to join you Deb!

We'd love that Jbuck. Think you'll
ever make it UP?