The warmth of the sunshine today felt more like April than January. Back in Eagle River, snowbanks are non-existent. Here on a trip to summit peak (one of the highest elevations in Michigan at 1958' above sea level) I stopped to shoot the winding wooden walkway...its very much like the one at Mt. Rushmore (only not so steep). If you'd like you can catch an autumn view from summit peak courtesy of Dan Urbanski.

Lovely picture! :)

Where is Summit Peak and directions to get there?
Looks like a good place to visit.

I can remember living in the U.P. and not
having much snowfall until about March, when
a series of storms blew in across a frozen
Lake Superior from Canada and pounded the
U.P. with crippling blizzards, leaving 20-25'
snowdrifts along the Lake. This was in 1979
(oops, showing my age). I recall the laments
of some of my friends prior to these storms,
complaining there "wasn't enough snow."
Alas, sweet Yoopers, careful what you ask for!!
(Not to worry, your snow is coming!!)

I wasn't here for the Spring storms of '79, but do recall family and friends talking about it. So, I will not fret anymore about the lack of snow. We are likely to get a good blast of winter's fury yet. Yikes!!! Nancy Nelson,the
"Heikki Lunta" character is completely fabricated, thought up by another yooper finn. You can check out his story here at Heikinpäivä 2002.

Hello JTW,
Summit Peak is located in the Porcupine Mountains. If you go to google and type in Pocupine Mountains, you will find many sites and directions to get there. It is in the Western U.P./Silver City. Need anything else, just e-mail me at TallFMich@aol.com

I am curious as to what part of the UP Kate from CA was in during 1979. The part I was in (Keweenaw) had record snowfall throughout the entire winter, and I believe still holds the record at nearly 400". I remember winter '78/'79 very well. My car was snowed in for 5 days straight over Christmas vacation. The snowblower was frozen, and by time I reached my car with the snow scoop, you couldn't tell where I had started as it was drifted over already! There was almost too much snow to snowmobile in. In those days before groomers, riders had to break trail to maintain them for the tourists. The drifting was so heavy the trails had to be re-opened daily, and some places were nearly impossible to get through. That was a very white winter!

I was also curious about Kate's post since I was living in Lake Linden that winter (having been born and raised there) and it was the one the broke this particular camel's back, 396.? inches, a record east of the Rocky Mountains. I believe it snowed for over 60 consecutive days as I recall. The following fall my boyfriend and I packed everything we owned into my Subaru and moved to Arizona to unthaw. It definitely snowed long and heavy that year.

Had to add my comments about the winter of '79. I was living in the Kaleva lodge outside Gay in the Keewenaw. Always at least 3 feet of snow on the ground around the cabin and it was definitely the biggest snowfall recorded. I would get snowed in for days at a time, but fortunately had plenty of firewood. I really hated to go to the outhouse, though. (no electricity or plumbing in the cabin)Even with the extreme living conditions, I consider that some of the best times of my life.
I love the UP and all the people, but life in Florida suits my clothes, now.

I'm so glad to have tickled a few memories of that
record snowfall in '79. I was living on Lakeshore
Drive in Marquette at the time. The night of the
blizzard, before it hit, a bunch of college kids
were partyin' in a cabin at the end of the street.
Needless to say, the hour got late, the blizzard
arrived and the numerous cars the kids had parked
along the road got buried in the ensuing
snowstorm. The snow plough was unable to clear
Lakeshore Dr. We had college kids knocking on our
door at 2 in the am, they were unable to get back
and find their cars because of the whiteout
conditions and were terrified. It was quite a
night! The National Guard was called out to help
these kids get back home and they were led out
after tying themselves together with a rope around
their waists, marching single file back to find
their cars. We got snowed in for three days. I
remember having little else than turkey in the
freezer, which was fortunate because we were goin'
nowhere! We had a virtual Thanksgiving feast and
just kicked back and watched the storm. My husband
stepped out of a second story window into the snow
in order to shovel down to the front door, and the
path leading to it had snowbanks that went way
over your head. It was incredible! There were also
spectacular Aurora Borealis that year.

What a great site!

Anyway, I received a question about why Summit Peak was not listed on my list of Michigan's highest points.

http://americasroof.com/highest/mi.shtml

After doing some research, I found that Summit Peak is not listed on the USGS database.

Here's a list of summits in Ontonagon County.
http://www.topozone.com/findresults.asp?place=&statefips=26&county=Ontonagon&placetype=summit&match=exact&findit=Search


Anyway for what it's worth, here's the topo for the peak.

http://www.topozone.com/map.asp?z=16&n=5180279&e=288422

It's coordinates:
46° 44' 40"N, 89° 46' 11"W

can anyone tell me the name of the smokestack that can be seen from the summit peak observation tower and also the name of the company that owns it? You can contact me at gbooth@mei.net any help in this matter will be greatly appreciated.