Editor’s note: This week’s Outdoors North is an encore publication of a column first issued on Sept. 27, 2017.
“All the leaves are brown, and the sky is gray, I’ve been for a walk on a winter’s day.” — John Phillips and Michelle Gilliam
With the curtain set to fall on another ...
Upper Peninsula
Keweenaw Bay: Boat anglers were marking fish, but the bite was tough. Those trolling picked up a little bit of everything, but no big numbers of fish. Surface water temperatures were in the mid to high 50s. If we get some cool rain and the right winds, fish may start showing ...
MARQUETTE — The possible heroes for keeping local beaches from being eroded live underground.
It’s a “grassroots” effort — literally.
Leading a local conservation project on Thursday was Tyler Penrod, program manager of the Great Lakes Conservation Corps, a part of the Superior ...
“All that is left of me now is waiting to drown, over the waterfall.” — Robert Earl Keen
I can’t really recall with any certainty the first time I ever visited this place in the forest where the ground is covered in fallen white pine needles, chickadees sing, and the river has cut ...
MARQUETTE — Are you up for an outdoors challenge when leaves change colors? During Michigan Trails Week, Sept. 20-27, the Michigan Department of Natural Resources and the Michigan Trails and Greenways Alliance invite Michiganders to enjoy trails and collectively walk, run, ride, hike, bike ...
“If you ever felt a locomotive shake the ground, I know you don’t have to be told why I’m going down to the railroad tracks and watch them lonesome boxcars roll.” — Butch Hancock
In late July, a man I knew who spent a good portion of his life collecting old postcards, coins and ...
Upper Peninsula
Keweenaw Bay: Strong winds have hampered fishing. When anglers could get out, fish were marked, but the action was spotty, with the majority getting a few lake trout. A few Chinook, coho and steelhead were also caught.
Little Bay de Noc: Most walleye anglers were fishing ...
MARQUETTE — The Noquemanon Trail Network is getting a new addition that should add a little flair to the trail system.
For his Eagle Scout project, Marquette Senior High School junior Alex Gooch, a member of Troop 309, is leading the effort to build a “stunt” station for a planned ...
“A lot of water under the bridge, a lot of other stuff too,” - Bob Dylan
After pushing on through a jack pine stand, I came around a corner on the sandy dirt road. It was nearly nightfall. The purple and black clouds above were textured and sliced in a series of parallel shapes.
There ...
Keweenaw Bay: Catch rates were spotty, and most of fish caught were lake trout when trolling or jigging. A few Chinook were caught along with coho and steelhead, but these numbers were much lower compared to the lake trout. All launches are open and ready for anglers.
Marquette: A few ...
MARQUETTE — Northern Michigan University alumnus Martin W. Grosnick recently won the grand prize in the Pangolin Photo Safari Wildlife Photographer of the Year contest.
His winning image, selected from 1,000 entries, shows a leopard basking in the subtle rays of sunrise on Kenya’s Masai ...
“I love to go a-wandering along the mountain track, and as I go, I love to sing, my knapsack on my back.” — Friedrich-Wilhelm Miller
If I could go anywhere in the world today, I wonder where that might be.
There’s a lot of places I’d love to see again, but I already know that at ...
Upper Peninsula
Rivers and streams had good trout fishing. The pike and walleye action picked up some on the inland lakes.
Keweenaw Bay: Those fishing Keweenaw Bay and Huron Bay caught lake trout when trolling or jigging. A few limit catches were reported. Traverse Bay is also producing ...
MARQUETTE — For the past seven years, The North Country Trail Association has hosted North Country National Scenic Trail Day on the last Saturday in September as a way to celebrate the Trail and the volunteers who maintain it.
This year, Marquette’s NCT Hikers Chapter is hosting ...
“Here we go again through the same old misery, look into my eyes and it's easy to see we can't undo the distance between me and you,” - Marshall Crenshaw
As I stepped outside the front door, it was immediately noticeable how quiet the nighttime was. It was after midnight. There was no ...
MARQUETTE — Even in the Upper Peninsula, there still is plenty of warm weather left. Some might even say September is warmer than June, so from that standpoint, maybe summer is only half over.
With warm temperatures comes the urge to get outside — and possibly ignoring all the hazards ...
“I’ll not forget that day, when Mother Nature cried on Redwood Hill.” — Gordon Lightfoot
As I stood at the base of the mammoth and ancient rocks, I instantly recalled the way up, the way to the top.
There were the smoothed black-red rocks, warmed by the morning sun, that felt good ...
Upper Peninsula
Inland lakes in this region were good for panfish, fair for walleye and very good for pike and bass. Rivers with brook trout had good catch rates.
Keweenaw Bay: Anglers had success trolling and jigging for lake trout. A few lucky anglers picked up a couple Chinook and ...
MARQUETTE — Perhaps few regions in Michigan, and perhaps the United States, are as defined by the outdoors as the Upper Peninsula.
And with the rugged U.P. outdoors comes a diversity of outdoor recreation and the people who take part in it.
To display this heritage, the Marquette ...
“Let’s steal away in the noonday sun, it’s time for a summertime dream.” — Gordon Lightfoot
While neck deep in Queen Anne’s lace, prickly purple thistles and squiggly vines, along the meandering edge of a cold trout stream recently, I realized that a change had occurred around ...