About 12 miles west of Manistique, you'll find Palms Brook State Park, home of Big Spring - Kitch-iti-kipi, Michigan's largest spring. Kevin Vrsek traveled north on highway M-149, out of Thompson, to give us a first-hand view of our own. This unique phenomenon is 200 feet across, with over 10,000 gallons of water gushing per minute, keeping the 40 ft. deep water at a constant 45° year-round. A self-propelled raft will take you across the span, to encompass the view of ancient tree trunks, lime-encrusted branches and fat trout, which appear suspended in the nothingness of the blue tinged water. U.P. mystical and magical for sure!

Good Morning from Royal Oak, Michigan

Looks like a wet day in CC! Happy Labor day to All.

What a Glorious Morning here on the Sunnyside. Beautiful weekend all in all but thinking of all the folks in the South. Our prayers are with you.
Also remember our brave Men and Women all over the world.

Anyone care to relate the tale of both the name and the young brave? Oh well, attempting to impress women got more than one man in deep water...

Good morning and happy Labor Day. I uploaded some of the pictures I took when I was vacationing in the Keweenaw last week. They're at http://pasty.com/pcam/albuq70.

Good Morning. It's raining here in Fond du Lac. I love the picture. I wish I could remember the story. I remember hearing the story the first time I took the raft across....but that was many years ago : )

Good morning from beautiful sunny, but windy, Naples, FL. Frances has gone, and now we're all hoping Ivan passes us by!

Good Morning to all! In response to Patti in Durand MI question - When he goes back to have the stitches out, have the MD check his knee out again and then ask for a referal. Though I don't live up in the UP, as a RN that works in long term care this usually works out well. Let us know how things turn out and have a great day

Good morning from sunny and warm southern Ohio. Wishing I was there even with the rain.

Good Morning. This picture reminds me of Union Springs in Porcupine Mountains State Park.

good morning from Arizona, love the misty rain the UP has today wish we would see some down here. Hope everyone has a wonderful day and our prayers are with all of you in Florida and our troups in the middle east.

Hey! We've been there. When the kid was about eight or nine (quite some time ago) we were at this same spot and have a picture in the old album that looks just this way. Being here in TX you know you've got to remember the "little things" that make life beautiful.

Sun is out after a short rain fall. Beautiful weekend for anyone who came to enjoy the "Copper Country". Fished at Bete Grise and never saw so many boats and trailers in the marina. Was in the 80's all weekend. Even caught lake trout and a salmon. Happy Labor Day to all. Still haven't heard from a brother who lives in Orlando area. We'll take the snow anyday over what they are going through.

Nice shots in your gallery, Dave!

I remember one of the many times we went to Kitch-iti-Kipi: As we approached the raft, there were many people on it already. They said they were waiting for the tour guide to come and operate it! To the uninitiated: You operate it yourself by pulling the ropes.

How are you making out, Karen of Clearwater?

Greetings from a Fall morning Labor Day (40 degrees)@ 8a.m. in SE Idaho. This picture is wonderful...can't wait to read all the commets. History is soo much more interesting when one has aged past the self absorbed teen years! Yup, snow in the higher elevations but not like Loveland CO which got nailed yesterday.

If you are ever in the UP, don't miss going to see Kitch-iti-kipi, it is a surreal place. The first time we went, there were only the four of us, we had the whole boat and springs to ourselves. It was very quiet and mystical, I just can't explain it, you have to go see it for yourself.. Have been back since, and want to go again. Marsha--I got a laugh out of your statement that people were waiting for the tour operator to get the boat going! Too funny! They are sure lucky that someone finally showed up before nightfall hit!

Happy Labor Day from Aurora, CO where the sun is always out (except at night). It's another beautiful day here...

Hei Marsha/G & A, If you haven't been to the Big Spring lately, there is a new raft, with a roof even, and the lever on the rope has been replaced with a large wheel to pull it across. Kids love to turn it. And a sort of "idiot proof' safety gate so that 'someone' won't fall into the spring when the raft is not at the gate. Common sense sure doesn't seem so common anymore, does it?

The mirror of the heavens.

Marsha, the wind and rain are continuing here in Clearwater. It has cleared up some south of us. The folks to the north are getting the brunt of it now. It sure has been some nasty weekend for us here in Florida. I guess no matter where one lives there can be danger. Hopefully, it is just "things" that have been destroyed and not lives. I hope your family is doing well.

I well remember taking a ride on the Big Spring raft and peering down into those gushing azure depths whilst visiting a friend near Indian Lake on my way from Ann Arbor to the Keweenaw in the summer of 1979.
Thanks for the pretty pic and memory jogger.
A magical place for sure!

hooray for the working people!!

Sympathy to the victims of the Russian school takeover today and tomorrow on their national days of mourning.

Parents: be aware that children who saw or heard about this, as well as the severity of the damage in Florida, may be having some serious fears whether they show them or not. These types of fears often have a delayed reaction time in showing up.

...What story, please?
And what does Kitch-iti-kipi mean?

Kitch-iti-kipi means "big spring".
Long story short, a young cheiftain's girlfriend got the best of him when she asked him to prove his devotion by sailing his canoe on the pool while trying to catch her from an overhanging bough. While she was back at her village laughing at him with the other indian maidens, his canoe tipped over while searching for her and he met his death in the icy water.

Thank you, bek!

Reminds me of the Blue Hole in Castalia, Ohio. I think it is now private...too bad. The water was dead, non-oxygenated, so the fish lived in the discharge stream over the falls, and they were also very fat trout. You could look down over 100 feet into the sprin. It was special

My kind of picture! Something I never heard of--will have to make it a destination on one of my future trips to the yoop.

Kith-iti-kipi is located in Palms Book State Park (Not Palms BROOK)and I have no idea what this has to do with the hurricane in Florida!

Thanks, B.W., for pointing out the correct spelling of Palms Book State Park. The recent notes and concerns about the situation in Florida reflects the fact that a large percentage of Pasty Cam Watchers live in Florida (either seasonal or year-round). Many of these folks grew up here in the U.P... Like the rest of the nation, they find it refreshing to have a mini-vacation to Upper Michigan each day.

Hello coz in aurora. Guess you didn't get to the wedding on saturday either. The winds are slight now and rain has stopped. Now we wait for the next one in ivan if it comes. God bless the rest of the floridians that were pelted worse then us.

So much for a labor day weekend. Couldn't go camping. Miss twin lakes with all the rest of the family.

Bewildered in the Keweenaw I agree with you.

hey I was wondering if any one (in the BHK area) owned a metal detector that could be borrowed or rented for a day. If you have any information about a metal detector that like you would use at the beach or a similar place, please email me, Amy, my email is: mtuchic101@yahoo.com. Thanks a bunch if you can help!!

This for Steven Averitt send an E-mail here to you cousin Therese E-mail theresedimet@a1access.net as your brother Paul never went through.I have question I'd answered than you

I think both bewildereds shouldn't be bewildered, if you want to talk about Florida and hurricanes... (even though) this is the Keweenaw Pasty Cam, Michigan. I am sure all of us feel bad for the residents of Florida and wish them the best. God Bless.

As we mentioned above, many folks from Florida have ties to the U.P., and vice versa. Former Yoopers have migrated throughout the country, as we see influence of the U.P in all 50 states (and pasty orders from all states, too!)

Amy (mtuchic101), check at Keweenaw Gem and Gift on M-26 next to Pizza Hut. They have metal detectors for rent and should be able to set you up.

Ahhh, gotta love Nevada; 9:17 pm and still 93 degrees outside..........

So what makes it blue?

Was gone for the holiday weekend, but this morn I was glad to see the Big Spring photo. I grew up in Manistique, and we went there with relatives every year. I have a picture of me on it when I was 2 yrs. old. That was a long time ago. I wish times were more simple like they were when I grew up.

My folks were from the UP (came downstate for jobs in the late 30's, early 40's), but we went UP every year to visit my grandparents that had a farm on M-77. When I was in my teens the family stayed at a cottage on Indian Lake for a few years, went to Palms BOOK State park many times, but I never realized it was BOOK, not BROOK - a BIG DUH! (Brook seems to make more sense at first glance, and not knowing the reason behind BOOK) Thanks for setting me straight!