• Friday-What'sUP June 6 - 08:21 am

Today we have a photo from the original Pasty Camist. For those of you new to the Pasty Cam pages, when this daily feature began, Jon Hopper was the guy behind the camera EVERY day, except for a day here and there, when Charlie would commandeer the camera himself. Now here today, Jon treats us to a nighttime view of Houghton, taken from across the canal. Can you spot the Lift Bridge amongst all the lights?

The other night light picture comes from Paul Roberts, who was actually together with Jon while they were snapping these photos. It's not too often (if ever) that we get treated to a night time view of a freighter all lit up on Lake Superior. Thanks to Jon for coming out of retirement for the day and to Paul for getting the shots to me.

Thanks for the shots guys. Really great to see "a big one" at night.

Thanks for the great pictures!

Both spectacular shots! And yes, I can see the lift bridge, but I especially like the boat picture.

To have a chance at sailing aboard one of those lakers, I would go around and change the non-working light bulbs! That is a great picture!!

Hi
Our place near Cheboygan has shipping lanes out in front, with a fairly narrow passage between us and Bois Blanc island. We're all ship watchers/boat nerds. We've seen lots of them at night over the years. It's especially nice when it happens while we're at a beach fire.

Wow, both are great. I'm hoping to see some lakers when we are going over the bridge tomorrow. The little guy is heading downstate for the summer.

This day in history 64 years ago had scenes similar to those posted above, but without the lights. It was D-Day, June 6, 1944. Here's a story about a D-Day survivor who now lives in Green Bay, WI:

http://www.greenbaypressgazette.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080606/GPG0602/806060684/1269/GPG06

http://www.greenbaypressgazette.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080606/GPG0602/806060685/1269/GPG06

Although this WWII Vet flew a British-made glider, chances were great he could have been flying a CG-4 WACO glider manufactured by Ford in Kingsford, MI. Ford manufactured more gliders than any other contractor in the U.S.

More on the gliders built in Kingsford:

http://www.exploringthenorth.com/gliders/history.html

GREAT pictures. When we lived in Marine City, MI, one could see liners frequently and at very close range on the St. Clair River, so to see them up here as seldom as we do is a treat, especially when seeing one lit up at night! Thanks so much!

Hey, big boat on the BridgeCam at 10:27. What is it?

Mary, I just now read where Kevin lost his struggle. I am so sorry. My heart goes out to you and all of the family. (((((HUGS))) Fran

Todays pictures are just beautiful!

great==grand===beutiful ect=i remain walter p.

WOW - I just set the second picture as my desktop background - awesome!

Back when the boats were smaller and all the Iron Ranges were producing, it was common to see 8-10 at a time off Eagle River on a Summer night. When I was a kid, the Eagle River lighthouse tower was still a safe place to watch the Lakers go by. One could spend hours up there. Foggy nights offered a different form of entertainment, back in the '50's, the ship's horn was the norm rather than radar. The night was filled with the mournful bass tones from multiple boats and the Eagle Harbor horn.

Yes Paul, when I sailed in the 50's there were 410 U.S. freighters compared to some 60 today. When one would be passing the Keweenaw it would take 8 to 12 hours of viewing the shoreline and there were always others ahead and behind as we went from Duluth or the Soo. IIRC when it was foggy we blew the horn 3 times every minute so your recollection of many bass tones is correct.

love these pictures. im a huge boatnerd though so hehe dig the boat picture!! thanks for the great pics as always.

Regards as what Helen above says, we live near the St. Clair River just west of Marine City now and often see the big ships pass along the river not far from shore! Being a boatnerd myself I love to get photos of them at the parks or under the Blue Water Bridge at Port Huron! (several pics in my guest album!)
Latest sightings from the little park north of Marine City= "Nanticoke"; "McKee Sons"; "Rebecca Lynn" tug pushing huge barge down the river!

Russ,
You are so lucky! I live here by Houghton. I don't even get up to Copper Harbor to check them out. I only see the salt boats twice a year when they come in to bring loads of road salt! When they do come in I chase them from one end of the Portage Canal to the other!! I get tons of pics but they are Canadian boats usually from Algoma or Upper Lakes (div of Algoma), so yeah no getting on them which does bite, but the guys can't get off the boat here in American ports either.