According to Charlie Eshbach in the Keweenaw Traveler, Cathedral Grove at Estivant Pines is home to some 500 year old trees. As this patch of forest sprouted, the printing press had just been invented and Columbus had just travelled to the New World. Some other time travellers apparently left their vehicle behind some 400+ years later.

In her Pasty Cam appearance last month, Lyn Rayrat spied some moose near Paradise. She skillfully delivers quite a different subject with today's glimpse of life in the U.P.

Since we are discussing "used car lots" of the Keweenaw today, here is my favorite car photo. Seems like the car lasted longer than the garage. This one can be found down in Jacobsville.

http://www.copperrange.org/whatnewimage.jpg

Only in the U.P. it seems are the old cars just left to decay slowly. There used to be a car, not that old, 70's model I'd say, that sat in an old wooden garage on the road behind Jakes bar in Winona. Every summer when we went to our cottage we would drive by that thing and every year there would be another layer of road dust on it. Like someone just pulled it in and walked away. The past couple years though I've noticed the car is gone. I wonder how thick that dust could have gotten had it been left.

The car which Kevin mentioned appeared about a year ago on the Pasty Cam, along with some interesting discussion and other old car pictures.

How come no one is arguing about what kind of car this is? I wouldn't even begin to say what model & year. Old abandoned cars = Copper Country!!
(Did they have cars 400 years ago?)

Hey Mike, look at the discussion Charlie is talking about. You'll get your answer.

Along many of the trails and roads in the Keweenaw you come across cars such as this one. When I opened the door, the door came right off the hinge. Inside nothing was left, but the steering column. There were also many bullet holes on the doors of this car, probably hunters doing a little target practice. I am wondering if anyone might know the year and model of this vehicle.

For Charlie at Pasty Central. My guess is that it is a Pontiac, maybe somewhere around 1950. How close is my guess?

I still think it looks like a '55 Plymouth. Well, maybe it's a '52 or so Pontiac. :o) When Mimi and I get up there again maybe we'll try to find it and find out.

interesting to be able to still see these older cars throughout the u.p. some i had seen in the early 70's were in the yards of long abandoned homesites. homes still had some furniture,beds,dishes and clothing items. people just seemed to have walked away from them and never returned for anything. can't remember exact location of these sites only that they were in very remote areas. ahhh......the good memories of exploring GOD'S country. lots of historical items.

It is either a 1953 or 1954 Plymouth.

Hi Good People of the "U.P., Has anybody out there hiked the Estivant Track trails? They sound like they are worth checking out. Fam and I will be up the end of July. Hope to check them out! Any info out there would be very helpful.

Hiya John,
The Estivant Pines are really worth checking out and should be a must do for anyone coming to the area. Once one the trail you park near an outdoor privy and start on Memorial Grove Trail. Cathedral Loop is one mile long and Memorial Grove is 1.2 mles long. If you have the time you should take both trails and they both lead back to the parking area, so don't worry about getting lost. Also, the trails are well marked, painted arrows, so be sure to stay on it or you will get lost, like I did one year. Seeing bears are common in the pines, I saw two bears on 2 different occasions. Have fun in Copper Harbor!

Be sure to get a map of the Pines. You can get one at the General Store in town.

Can anyone identify the car on the estivant trail above. After looking thru some old car books I think this car is a 1936 Plymouth.

You're right, Russ. Here's a comparison. The old one in the woods is a 1936 Plymouth Sedan, and the one on the right is a '36 Coupe. Special thanks to J.R. Compton, who has many more photos at: http://home.insightbb.com/~36plyguy/

Definitely worth a hike, the air is clean, with a hint of the pine, fairly easy to walk and this is from someone who wants a golf cart to go to the mailbox. We do use walking sticks to help in some spots. Take your time, enjoy it, the trees are so amazing, in both their heighth and their girth. We will walk it again.