MTU's Taka Aoki has treated us to some nice night scenes recently. In the top photo you can see a bit of ice cover remaining on the canal out toward Chassell. These shots were obviously taken from the turnout on the way up Quincy hill.

Toivo had a long day of travel yesterday, ending up near Des Moines, IA. Getting in late, he passed the editor's hat back to me for the day. No problem, Toivo, as my surgery recovery is going well.
trip notes
For many, today is the last of the work week, looking forward to the Easter weekend with family and friends. Have a good one.

Happy Easter Charlie and Toivo ~ Taka has once again contributed some awesome photos!

Welcome back, Charlie. I hope your recovery continues at a good pace. Gorgeous pictures, Taka. Keep up the good work. Happy Easter to all.

What a awesome picture. Makes waking up a joy to see these pictures. Good to hear Charlie is up and around. Happy Easter to the Pasty.com Family
and friends.

Absolutely beautiful.......

The ice may be receding on the canal, but it is building on Daryl's window (Bridge Cam View)!

Love the 'live bridge view' shot this morning! :) I'm guessing you had freezing rain / sleet last night... for a minute there I thought that it was Winter Carnival Week and it was a shot through a Techies' "ice window"...

Taka, today's photos are lovely!

Happy Easter!

WOW!!!! Taka strikes again!

Two wonderful pictures!!! Alot more lights now then when I went to school up there. That's progress!! Happy Easter to all, he risen! He has risen indeed.

REMEMBER TRUE HOCKEY FANS, JUST BECAUSE THE RED WINGS ARE HITTING THE LINKS, THAT DOESN'T MEAN THERE'S ALOTTA GOOD PLAYOFF HOCKEY TO COME. I WONDER IF CU-JO COULD STOP A BALL FROM GOING IN ON THE 18TH HOLE??

FANTASTIC pictures! Cannot start the day without seeing Pasty Cam first and zapping these beautiful pics by e-mail to friends around the country. Thank you! HAPPY EASTER TO ALL AT PASTY.COM.

Taka, you promised a few more good photos before graduation, and you've definately come through. Best wishes as the school year end comes closer and closer!

Great photos! Glad to see you back, Charlie - you have been greatly missed!!

Taka,

Scrap engineering! Be a full time photographer! Keep 'em coming! Or you could do a great job with two careers like Donn! Whatever you do, keep 'em coming! (You too Donn!)

Welcome back, Charlie!

Happy Easter to all!

Welcome to IOWA, Toivo!! Been wondering if you would come thru our great state and also our hometown (Des Moines)!! As a pasty cam fan, I faithful check the beautiful pics first thing everyday! I have really developed a love of the UP. My inlaws had a cabin in Nabinway. Fell in love with UP then and dream of coming back and exploring more soon. Thank for all your hard work. Safe travels and health to each and everyone!!!

Thank you for the comment. By the way, have anybody managed to catch steelheads this year around the UP yet? Could anybody tell me where I should go to catch one? I have tried Falls River, Gratiot River, and Red Ridge so far. No fishes want to jump into my stomach so far.

FAntastic Photos, Taka! I used to love to go up to the lookout before the quincy mine and watch the traffic at night....brings back a lot of memories for me! I can almost see my parents house in the first shot! haha!
Thanks again, Taka!

By the way, what is up with the lift bridge cam? Is that ice covering the lens? I miss seeing the cam, it seems its been out for a while....

Gosh those pictures are spectacular! Whenever I think I have seen the best photo some even better shows up. The C.C. is one beautiful place. Thanks Taka! What will we do without you?

The bridge cam, looks like my window here in Lake Linden! Covered with ice......
Schools are closed, roads and sidewalks are slippery, so if you're going out, make sure you drive and walk carefully. I had to dig out the winter ice cleats for my walk this morning!

The Bridge Cam looks like it's under water!!!!!!

FROM YESTERDAY----Research findings on tunnel under CHS There is a capped mine shaft in the playground of the elementary Calumet school, according to Bill Harvey, former janitor of the school. It has a secured brick covering, marked , designated as such.The rumor was that there was a door leading to the tunnel. Rumor not true.

There were at least 4 sink holes {large ;25 feet deep} in Keweenaw county due to mining conditions. When we put our ear to the ground we could hear miners working under ground from the Copper City mine , which was a mile from entrance.

Nice to have you back, Charlie. Glad to hear you are recovering.

Great photos (as usual), Taka. Thanks very much.

I am really enjoying this website and pictures. My grandmother lived in Dollar Bay, and I am visiting with my husband in June. I haven't seen the UP in 20 years and my husband has never seen it. We are both looking forward to it. And I will remember the wonderful summers I spent there when my Grandma Swed was alive.

These pictures are breathtaking. I have spent time at MTU and Houghton several times over the past four years when visiting my nephew who attends MTU and has played basketball for the last four years. I have grown to love your part of the UP and faithfully check Pasty Cam often. Thank you for such an interesting and inspiring site. I hope you truly appreciate your little corner of the world as I have grown to. Thank you so much.

These are beautiful pics!I was up to Dollar Bay a week ago,& feasted my eyes on many beautiful sights,many i brought back with my camera.I stayed in Houghton at the Super 8,& asked for a room on the canal side.It cost $5.00 a-day extra.I opened the curtains to take in the view of Mt.Riply,the Quincy Mine,& ice floating down the canal.It felt good to be back home where i grew up.I opened the window as the temp was in the 70's to take in the clean fresh C.C.air.The next morning while enjoying the contintal breakfast,i heard the couple beside me saying what a eyesore it was to see all that junk across the canal,& it must be very toxic,& too expensive to clean it up.When tourist's come thru the Gateway in Houghton it's a shame to have that as one of the first thing's to see.As i looked at the pics i took i must agree,there is alot of junk mixed in with the beautifull sights.Scrap metal piled high,old large boat's on there side,& old building's no longer in use that i paid extra to see from my motel window.Then i started to wonder,"is the air i was breathing realy that clean?" What's up with all that junk eh? Being from up there & getting up there afew times a year,i musta got yoosta seeing it. Now i feel like a tourist myself,& wonder," why is all that junk still there after all these years?"Is it a Gold Mine in disguise?

DJB-MI. Where was the Copper City Mine located? Lived in that little village almost entire youth, never knew of a mine named, "Copper City" in or near it.

This is a P.S. from Yoosta Be above.I'll put in my e-mail address this time for those who would like to fill me in like all that junk i wrote about.

Come on, Proud Yooper--Am I even close??????

I guess there is a bit of ice on the Bridge Cam. Kinda looks like my windows facing south. I think this is the only place you can enjoy 4 seasons in one week, eh?? Great pics Taka!!

Debi, No ~ I'm south of the bridge (Houghton side).

The mines closest to Copper City were all on the Kearsarge Lode and the Kingston Lode. Ahmeek #2 was the the largest producer. Ahmeek #1 ran into bad ground and was abandoned early. These two were north - northeast of Copper City. North Kearsarge #4 was to the southwest. The two "new" Allouez shafts were west - northwest of the town. All these were on the Kearsarge lode. There was one Kingston shaft roughly west of the 2 Ahmeeks. While raising a vent shaft for Kingston, there was a slight error and it came up in the road just up the hill from Hap & Lou's. A few years ago, subsidence temporarily drained the swamp west of Copper City. "Copper City mine" is probably a local name for any one of these shafts, but there wasn't a "Copper City Mine".

Does anyone see any particular shapes outlined in Toivo's travels on the map?

Here's a time lapse of the bridge today:

I just had to write and give my 2 cents worth. I love the Copper country and admire the good people that live in the area and think they live in a very unique area (only somewhat spoiled by all us tourist that come into the area in the summer). They are struggling with the idea, and need, of preserving all of this unique history of a bygone era and it's people. This is what a few visitors call JUNK! I for one can't get enough of it and visit and photograph it often from my home in lower Michigan.
I do believe that there is probably far less pollution in this area than in allot of other areas in the state. What little is left of this bygone time should be preserved for others to enjoy and learn from. It is a very important part of our ancestors history. People should realize what an important place in history and in the building of our country copper mining has had. There is no other place that I know of where one can still see these old remains of the mining industry. They have been destroyed forever buy ugly new developments in most areas of the country. This is sad! Please take some time to look at some of the great old mining and engineering principles that are still evident in the beautiful Keewenaw area.

That is funny! (It's 68 degrees in GA). I actually did wonder, (see earlier comment), if the camera fell into the water!

Hei, Taka, you were lucky to get a pic of the full moon. It's the closest full moon, only 220,000 miles from our earth now. Horkhiemer says 13% closer and 20% brighter. Full moon was covered with rain and sleet clouds. Still raining and freezing here in Cornell tonight. Really enjoyed your pics. Kiitos.
I, too, love those old buildings and "junk" that many consider unsightly. They are a part our UP history. Would like to see them restore some of the mining company's steam engines, etc.

ps. Nice to see Charlie up and around again! A happy and blessed Easter to all!

I too like the old buildings,granted they need to be restored to some degree and the area cleaned up. I don't see them as ugly.I see them as our past and a part of my growing up years. Are they going to be a part of the Historic Preservation going on?

I too like the old buildings,granted they need to be restored to some degree and the area cleaned up. I don't see them as ugly.I see them as our past and a part of my growing up years. Are they going to be a part of the Historic Preservation going on?

I too grew up in the area...Houghton 40 years ago..and remember looking over and seeing the Ripley smelter hearth burning on the coldest nights...I could do without the "stack of old refrigerators" type junk...but the rest of it is a rich part of pioneer history...won't be too long before no one will know what a "fish tug" was...I love the old half-sunken barges and such...seeing the old Hall loaders unloading coal boats near Tamarack was a vivid childhood memory...I say most of them are treasures of sorts.

Urgent message for Ollie & Peg:
Please stop at Stillwaters & get me some pasties!

Speaking of our local "junk". It is a part of our history and would be nice to see it preserved somehow. However, we Americans seem to always be ready to get rid of the old and get something new. In Europe they preserve their old buildings. We should be less hasty and wasteful and learn from those who lived through the Great Depression--they save everything! One thing I would like to see gone though is that sinking building in Torch Lake, it just looks sloppy.

What a treat to see the beautiful night photos of the
Houghton/Hancock area! I attended Suomi College
(now Finlandia University) over 30 years ago, and
dream of seeing the area again in person some day.
The closest I have managed to get so far is my
hometown, St. Ignace, which I visit every five years or
so. Thank you so much for the inspiration. And thanks
to my sister in St. Ignace, who sent me the link to your
website.

To yoosta be, I'm a downstater, love visiting the UP both my Mom and Dad are from this area. I love those old buildings you call a eye sore. I look at those when I'm up there and think of the past. Yes some of it needs to be cleaned up. But everytime I see those building I think of the past history there. I always thought they should make that a park to show how it was in the past. Let's save those buildings, not tear down.

I call myself Yoosta Be,because i use to be from Dollar Bay,Mi.until 1969 when i came here to the Detroit area at age 18 & went to work like my uncles befor me.My heart is still in the U.P.I lived the past when many of these old buildings were in use & many were in bad shape then.Now they are in sad shape.It hurts me more to see them falling apart,then it would to stand on the ground where they use to stand themselfs.It's like please put them out of their misery.Place a marker where this or that used to stand so tourist's can get the right history info of that era.That area up there has so much more to offer then to have tourist's come take a look at a pile of rubble that yoosta be.

I am coming home in May and I cannot wait!! I am having MAJOR withdrawals!

Taka, You take some awesome pictures, keep up the great photography, and Thank You!!

Thanks to Taka Aoki.
You take great pictures, as I was able to pick out my daughter Connie Cischke and her husband Mike new home in Houghton Mi. My parents both were from Houghton Mi area. I will be glad to see it again this June also to visit my daughter and visit the family farms and see some of the relatives I haven't kept up with. Can't wait.Thanks to my daughter for the web site . Keep up the good work
Art Ollila

Wonderful pics!! I wanna be there...and I will, for good, in just a few years!

I LOVE this picture...oh i just do. It shows the "city" that Houghton HAS!

The "junk" across from the Super 8 is a wonderful, nostalgic sight for me. If it goes, I will be so, so sad.