Northern Michigan Vacation: Winter Camping in Porcupine Mountains

• Posted by Jeff Smith on March 5, 2013 at 8:33am

  Camping compadre Tim, up on the Escarpment Trail, Porcupine Mountains, Michigan.

  I had the great pleasure recently of heading up to the Porcupine Mountains for a winter campout in the snowy backcountry with a couple of longtime pals from Minnesota.

   

  The Porkies are beautiful any time of year, and for me, winter there is made especially beautiful because, well, this is kind of selfish I guess, but because you know there aren’t too many people who make it into the backcountry that time of year to enjoy it. You can pretend it’s all yours.

• Read the rest here and see the great pics to go along with this wonderful, winter opportunity in the park.

Read Artist Frank Hutton’s (2012) blog spot on his experience and what it can mean to participate in an Artist-in-Residence Program.

Porcupine Mountains – Best Wilderness Adventure

Newsletter

Friends,

It has come to our attention that the Orvana Resources Corporation intends to locate and operate a mining operation near Presque Isle campground of the Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park.

A public hearing will be held this Thursday June 28^th at 7 p.m. CDT in Lindquist Student Center at Gogebic Community College – 4946 E. Jackson Rd., Ironwood, Michigan. 

Written comments should be sent to Ms. Mary Ann Dolehanty, Permit Section Supervisor, MDEQ,  P.O. Box 30260 Lansing, Michigan  48909-7760 .  Comments may also be submitted from the webpage: http://www.deq.state.mi.us/aps/cwerp.shtml (click on “Submit Comment” under the Orvana Resources US Corp, Permit to Install No. 180-11 listing).  All statements received by June 28, 2012, will be considered by the decision-maker prior to final permit action.

For more information please search the web regarding the Orvana Copperwood Project.

Jim Bradley

President   

(posted June 26, 2012)

A labor of history: Volunteers build home for Dan Urbanski Artist in Residence program

July 11, 2006 By JAN TUCKER Ironwood Globe Staff Writer

SILVER CITY — Some 20 men and a handful of women have become part of a historic project at the Porcupine Mountain Wilderness State Park. The timber framing class, sponsored by the Friends of the Porkies will result in the completion of the Dan Urbanski Artist in Residence House. The class is actually the first in a folk school program created by the Friends group.

Dan Hopkins, Charlevoix, joined the framing class because he is interested in all kinds of construction. By profession, however, he is a conservation officer. Other students include a lawyer, teachers, loggers, a contractor and a woman who was a retired school teacher. “This has been a wonderful experience for all of us.” Hopkins said.

Others in the class are from Sault Ste. Marie, Bay City, Ishpeming, Pelkie and Lansing. Steve Stier, Lansing, is the instructor. Stier is a preservation contractor who drew up the plans for the log home and is teaching the art to those who registered for the course. The house is erected on the building site just off the Porcupine Mountain Campground area, a stone’s throw from Lake Superior.

It will then be dissembled and stored until footings are poured at the eventual building site near the Little Union River just off the cross country ski trail. No nails are used in constructing the 16- by 20-foot house as timbers will be fitted much as they were hundreds of years ago. The class has had to learn a new language. The upright, which most people would call a frame, is the “bent.” The bottom part of the house is the “sill.”

Stier said teaching the class is good for him. “It was an excellent group and it gave me a good excuse to come to the Upper Peninsula and enjoy a vacation,” he said. The group has completed the test assembly, which ended the class until the building is finally reassembled in the park.

Tim Reis, Bay City, was enthusiastic about the work. He said he will be back in the Upper Peninsula to see the building. One student noted, “I will bring my family here and be bragging to my grandchildren some day that I built this house.”

The group collectively said they had learned much about framing, worked hard and enjoyed the fellowship on the project. “This is a beautiful location,” one commented.