The Pasty Cam had its beginning by a father and son duo five years ago, during Winter Carnival. "Almost live" coverage was not very widespread on the Internet back then, and the shots which Jon Hopper grabbed with that first Sony Mavica received a lot of email. So with his dad (Charlie) they came up with a weekly format to archive each day's photo. The Pasty Cam was offically born on February 28, 1998.

Eventually the Mavica was upgraded to a Kodak DC-260. Jon and Charlie continued to do all of the pictures, until Daryl Laitila joined the crew in '99. She lives in a big white house on Hancock's east hill, overlooking the Portage Lift Bridge, the perfect spot for a webcam.

Later, other yoopers began supplying daily shots - Dan Urbanski, Steve Brimm, Charlie Eshbach, Rob and R.C. Wetton, and many more.

Along the way, the Kodak almost met its Waterloo at Bubmbletown Hill, but went on to take thousands of pictures. The old camera has now become worn and fragile, but still has a clear eye. Yesterday, Jonathan put the Kodak into service as the new Bridge Cam. He figures it will finally wear out in about a year, but in the mean time provides a much greater resolution and closeup of this nifty view.

They're still fine tuning and working out the glitches. But if you visit the Bridge Cam today, click on the picture to see a HUMUNGOUS closeup of the action, updated every 15 minutes.

Hey, it's way past my bedtime. Guess with so many years on the night shift, old habits are hard to die.

Good night and good morning.

Thanks Toivo for the info. Being fairly new to pasty.com, I didn't know all of that so appreciate it for us newcomers. I saw the bridge cam last night so when I clicked on this morning, I was looking for a daily picture until I realized the bridge was it! It is beautiful!

Thanks for the great shot of the bridge.When ever I see a pic of it,I know I am a little bit closer to home,if only in my mind.
As a kid,played hockey at the Dee and walked from Coburntown to the Dee and back,whenever I got to the bridge,would be very careful,as the walkway was very slippery.Kids now a days,would never think of walking that far!Times have changed,but the bridge bings it all together.Keep up the great work!!!Have to get my shot of Pasty Cam every day before work.

Toivo-
Great hi-res shot of the bridge - a wonderful addition to Pasty Cam. I can only wonder how many 'Displaced Yoopers' this Spring will need to check the daily (hourly?), progress of the leaves sprouting from the maple tree in the lower L.H. corner of your picture??????
Keep up the great work!
Thanks,
GM, MI

Daryl Laitila is female?

Yes, and you can read how her family moved to Hancock in 1985, to the current home of the Bridge Cam.

OH WOW!! When I checked the cam this morning I could hardly believe my eyes. What a great view of the bridge. It was still dark so looking at it again later there is so much more detail. I just love it. Thank you Thank you. Please keep up all the great work everyone does to bring the rest of us the beautiful shots of the CC.
I will be up in Houghton in May for my neices wedding so YES I will be watching to see the buds and leaves on that tree also.

My dumb mistake LEAF not Leaves

Basically anytime there is an actual shot of the bridge it is basically a good picture. I have seen numerous ones on this site and they all get kudos.
Wheatman

You weren't kidding when you said "HUMUNGOUS closeup of the action"! Wow!

I had intended, too, to sing the praises of the new bridge view. It's just great. Maybe here's a scoop though. Check out the new MTU Mont Ripley cam. It, with the other six shots around the campus really give a great overall view of the area. Enjoy at: http://www.admin.mtu.edu/urel/cams/

This transplanted (miplaced etc..) Yooper just checked out 'da Bridge Cam, and it's snowing to beat the band. Not only do us transplanted Yoopers hafta check up on 'da bridge, we gotta see if it's snowing up 'dere. Since here in 'da Mitten we don't get snow like that.
Anyway, now with the higher resolution picture, will be be able to see mosquitos?

"NOW THAT'S WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT" What a sweet picture of the bridge.

I checked the bridge cam picture at 9:30 a.m. and it was like - what bridge? Snowing heavy. I checked the Mackinac Bridge cam site early this morning and it didn't even compare to the pasty.cam one of the Portage Lift. Kiitos!

Was WOWED yesterday afternoon, California time, when the bridge cam came back up. It's Great!

I'll second that! The new shot is even more beautiful (is that possible?) than the old one. Thank you thank you thank you!

To Daryl: Your (move to Hancock) story was beautiful. About your name, is there history behind it as to why you were given that name? It is a pretty name only I never heard it as a female name. When I hear the name Daryl, my thoughts are immediately of the Bob Newhart show and "This is my brother Daryl, my other brother Daryl,etc." Only in your case it would be "and my sister Daryl."

Crawfish are red, the South is alright;
But I'll be in Houghton come Thursday night!

Thanks for the anticipation.

You won't believe this but my brother's name is Larry and my sister's nickname is Moe. This all came about before the Bob Newhart show of course. If only I had a nickel for everytime someone said, that I have a boy's name. It was funny though when I received my draft notice for Viet Nam in the sixties and when they put me in the men's dorm at MSU. ;)

To Mike Mehrman, MI. above:

Maybe we can't see UP mosquitoes, but how 'bout dem black flies come summer?

LOVE the new web cam - so clear and bright!!

To the Troll Watsons: Oh, we will see the UP mosquitoes - after all, aren't they the State bird? Couldn't resist that one!

Can anyone tell me when the new bridge went into service. I seem to remember traveling across the old wooden structure, but can't remember the year. Sure sign of old age.

Thanks for the beautiful picture - talk about homesick!

Had a thrill this morning - just before 8 AM, a LOUD noise - sounded like a huge pack of dogs. It was geese heading northwest. Remember seeing them heading south when I was growing up through the years. This was absolutely fantastic!

aroun 56--i no people from C%H worked on it during the 55 strike--BOY PLUTE was one--he worked under pressure on the base of it

Jo,I do not know the exact day bridge opened, but have photo's from Quincy Hill with both in place, which I dated 1959. The old swing bridge was still operating and the new near complete. There is a big HOTEL SCOTT sign in the right hand side of photo farther down the hill.

Stunning!

For those who have not seen it, check out
www.pasty.com/reflections/. It is a great web site with lots of great old Copper Country photos.

The bridge was opened for traffic in late December of 1959. The story is on this site.
http://www.michigan.gov/mdot/0,1607,7-151-9620_11154_11188-28585--,00.html

Toivo - you say "Daryl Laitila ...lives in a big white house on Hancock's east hill, overlooking the Portage Lift Bridge, the perfect spot for a webcam." I'm confused - from the view I'm seeing it appears she must live on the WEST side of the bridge. What am I missing?

By Mary on Wednesday, February 12, 2003 - 09:32 pm:

Here's a shot of the old and the new, side by side. It appeared on , Aug. 5, 2002.

Liz - almost all of Hancock is west of the bridge. Downtown is in the center (mostly) with major residential areas to the east and west of it. East Hancock means the eastern part of town, not east of the bridge. Only a small part of Hancock is east of the bridge, then you get to Ripley. The whole town is on a hillside, hence the "east hill" reference. Hancock's east side has some very nice old houses there, like Daryl's.

How do you get to the Mackinac Bridge cam?

Great shot of the bridge....won't be too long and will be crossing it to get to Keewanee from June to Oct.....Would love to keep it, but I made the wonderfully colorful shot of the bridge in the early morning hours (from a few weeks back) my wallpaper and I can't give it up yet. Surely enjoy this site. Bee-Sarasota,Fl

Annie - I found the Mackinac Bridge cam on http://www.weathermichigan.com.

Wow! Such resolution, such clarity!
There was a neat rainbow (snowbow?) on the bridgecam at about 11:15 (EST) this morning during a brief break in the snow!

Thank-you ILMHitCC. I knew there had to be an explanation!

notice how little room there is with the old narrow bridge for cars--i was with virgil geshel with his 47 plymouth when we passed a car on the old bridge

Annie, you can see the Mackinac bridge cam here!

To Proud Yooper,
You must have heard of the name Daryl Hanna, the actress, and there's no doubt that she is female.

62.217.129.78