M-26 Hancock to Lake Linden - Michigan's Upper Peninsula

<html> <head> <title>M-26 Hancock to Lake Linden - Michigan's Upper Peninsula</title> <meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html;charset=ISO-8859-1"> <META Pragma: No-Cache> <META name="Pragma" No-Cache> <META Cache-control: No-Cache> <META HTTP-EQUIV="expires" CONTENT="Wed, 26 Feb 1997 08:21:57 GMT"> <base href="http://hunts-upguide.com/"> <link href="/style.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" /> </head> <body bgcolor="#FFFFFF"> <center> <table width="100%" bgcolor="#F5F5D5" cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 border=0> <tr> <td width="18%" colspan=2 height=82 bgcolor="#306799" valign="top"> <table width="100%" cellpadding=22 cellspacing=0 border=0> <tr> <td align="left"> <b><font size="-2" face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica"> <font color="#FEE384">We welcome<br> your comments<br> experiences &<br> corrections.<br></font> <img src="images/1x1.gif" width=10 height=8 alt="---"><br> <a class="whitelinkunderlined" target="_top" href="http://hunts-upguide.com/cgi-sys/cgiwrap/dehunt/feedback.pl">E-mail us</a> </font> </b> </td> </tr> </table> </td> <td width="63%" height=82 bgcolor="#306799" align="center" valign="top"> <table cellpadding=22 cellspacing=0 border=0> <tr> <td align="center"> <img src="/images/online_words.gif" width=386 height=13 alt="The online version of the popular regional travel book""><br> <img src="images/1x1.gif" width=500 height=2 alt="---"><br> <nobr><font color="#FFFFFF" size="+2" face="Georgia,Times New Roman,Times"><b>Hunts' Guide to Michigan's UPPER PENINSULA</b></font></nobr><br> <img src="images/1x1.gif" width=500 height=7 alt="---"><br> <img src="/images/candid_words.gif" width=391 height=13 alt="A candid guide to enjoying and understanding the U.P."> </td> </tr> </table> </td> <td valign=top width="1%" bgcolor="#F5F5D5" rowspan=3>  <img src="images/1x1.gif" width=9 height=25 alt="|"></td> <td width="18%" rowspan=3 valign="top"> <a target="_top" href="/cgi-sys/cgiwrap/dehunt/click.pl?nextfile=http://hunts-upguide.com/up_travel_map.html"><img src="/ads/Small_map_ad_ver_6.gif" border=0 ALT="UP Travel Map ad" width=160 height=418></a> <p>  <center> <script type="text/javascript"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js"> </script> </center> </td> </tr> <tr> <td colspan=5 width="100%" height=9> <img src="images/1x1.gif" width=790 height=9 alt="---"></td> </tr> <tr> <td valign="top" width="17%">  <table width="100%" cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0> <tr> <td width="100%" valign="top">  <table width="100%" cellpadding=22 cellspacing=0 border=0 bgcolor="#306799"> <tr> <td valign="top" bgcolor="#306799" align="left"> <font face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica" size="-2"> <b> <a class="creamlink" href="/" target="_top">Home</a><br> <img src="images/1x1.gif" width="85" height="3"><br> <a class="sidebar" href="http://hunts-upguide.com/cgi-sys/cgiwrap/dehunt/search.pl" target="_top">Search</a><br> <img src="images/1x1.gif" width="85" height="3"><br> <a class="greensidebar" href="u_p__maps.html" target="_top">U.P. Maps</a><br> <img src="images/1x1.gif" width="85" height="3"><br> <a class="sidebar" href="regions.html" target="_top">Regions</a><br> <img src="images/1x1.gif" width="85" height="3"><br> <a class="greensidebar" href="towns.html" target="_top">Towns</a><br> <img src="images/1x1.gif" width="85" height="3"><br> <a class="sidebar" href="restaurants.html" target="_top">Restaurants</a><br> <img src="images/1x1.gif" width="85" height="3"><br> <a class="greensidebar" href="lodgings.html" target="_top">Lodgings</a><br> <img src="images/1x1.gif" width="85" height="3"><br> <a class="sidebar" href="campgrounds.html" target="_top">Campgrounds</a><br> <img src="images/1x1.gif" width="85" height="3"><br> <a class="greensidebar" href="points_of_interest.html" target="_top">Points of Interest</a><br> <img src="images/1x1.gif" width="85" height="3"><br> <a class="sidebar" href="fun_for_kids.html" target="_top">Fun for kids</a><br> <img src="images/1x1.gif" width="85" height="3"><br> <a class="greensidebar" href="waterfalls.html" target="_top">Waterfalls</a><br> <img src="images/1x1.gif" width="85" height="3"><br> <a class="sidebar" href="wayne_premo_s_waterfalls.html" target="_top">Wayne Premo's Waterfalls</a><br> <img src="images/1x1.gif" width="85" height="3"><br> <a class="greensidebar" href="beaches.html" target="_top">Beaches</a><br> <img src="images/1x1.gif" width="85" height="3"><br> <a class="sidebar" href="canoeing___kayaking.html" target="_top">Canoeing & Kayaking</a><br> <img src="images/1x1.gif" width="85" height="3"><br> <a class="greensidebar" href="hikes.html" target="_top">Hikes</a><br> <img src="images/1x1.gif" width="85" height="3"><br> <a class="sidebar" href="lighthouses.html" target="_top">Lighthouses</a><br> <img src="images/1x1.gif" width="85" height="3"><br> <a class="greensidebar" href="walks.html" target="_top">Walks</a><br> <img src="images/1x1.gif" width="85" height="3"><br> <a class="sidebar" href="mountain_biking.html" target="_top">Mountain Biking</a><br> <img src="images/1x1.gif" width="85" height="3"><br> <a class="greensidebar" href="notable_u_p__shops.html" target="_top">Notable U.P. Shops</a><br> <img src="images/1x1.gif" width="85" height="3"><br> <a class="sidebar" href="specialty_foods.html" target="_top">Specialty foods</a><br> <img src="images/1x1.gif" width="85" height="3"><br> <a class="greensidebar" href="maritime.html" target="_top">Maritime</a><br> <img src="images/1x1.gif" width="85" height="3"><br> <a class="sidebar" href="u_p__history.html" target="_top">U.P. History</a><br> <img src="images/1x1.gif" width="85" height="3"><br> <a class="greensidebar" href="useful_information.html" target="_top">Useful Information</a><br> <img src="images/1x1.gif" width="85" height="3"><br> <a class="sidebar" href="links.html" target="_top">Links</a><br> <img src="images/1x1.gif" width="85" height="3"><br> <a class="greensidebar" href="about_us.html" target="_top">About us</a><br> <img src="images/1x1.gif" width="85" height="3"><br> <a class="sidebar" href="up_travel_map.html" target="_top">UP Travel Map</a><br> <img src="images/1x1.gif" width="85" height="3"><br> </b> </font> </td> </tr> </table>  </td> </tr> <tr> <td>   </td> </tr>  <tr> <td align="center"> <script type="text/javascript"> </script> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js"> </script> </td> </tr> </table>  </td> <td valign=top width="1%" bgcolor="#F5F5D5">  <img src="images/1x1.gif" width="9" height=500 alt="|"> </td> <td valign=top width="63%">  <table width="100%" height=57 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=8 border=0> <tr> <td valign=top align=center bgcolor="#A2552C"> <center> <img src="images/1x1.gif" width="100%" height=3 alt="-"><br> <h1>M-26 Hancock to Lake Linden</h1> <img src="images/1x1.gif" width="30" height=8 alt="-"></center></td> </tr>  <tr> <td align="center"> <img src="images/1x1.gif" width="30" height=7 alt="-"><br> </td> </tr> <tr> <td valign="top" width="63%">   <font face="Georgia"> This is not a pretty stretch of highway that heads east out of Hancock then doglegs north at Dollar Bay up along the slender southern edge of Torch Lake, that odd tooth that widens as it approaches Lake Linden then heads to another slender waterway that provides access to Keweenaw Bay and Lake Superior. It was a curiously convulted yet crucial waterway for the big copper companies.This passageway allowed them to rail the dark rocks from the mines a few miles up on Keweenaw's spine down to the shoreline and ship them to the nation. <br><br>But the water provided another essential function. These chunks of basalt carted from above only contained 1-2% copper. They had to be crushed into dark sand, then ------, then -----. <br><br>To produce the all-important copper-pure ingot that could be profitably shipped, lots of water was needed to sift out the tiny portion in these rocks.<br><br>So, along M-26 from Hancock to Lake Linden there were myriad processing plants—Lake Linden's were especially enormous. Passing Mason one gets an especially well-preserved view of the humble homes of those who worked at the end-point of the copper-mining process.<br><br>But along this stretch of M-26 you also get to see the scattered remnants of these copper-processing plants, none stranger, perhaps, than the ------------- at --------. Perhaps even stranger is the complete disappearance of the enormous copper processing plants around the city of Lake Linden. It's hard to imagine that gargantuan factories ever existed here.<br><br>But they were here, and they did a lot. So much residerual "stamp sand" accumulated that they say 20% of sizable Torch Lake was filled. <br><br>Now what you see is a long stretch of chain-link fence and a rather anemic-looking Lake Linden park. The EPA designated this stretch as a Superfund Site. Locals are divided about how appropriate this expensive process of obscuring the stamp sand was. Some say the major complaint was the nuisance of the blowing sand on windy days. Anyway, the project is complete. Why they felt the need to add an ugly long chain-link fence, as if this long shoreline, expensively shielded with untold tons of soil, needed further protection, is a mystery. <br clear="all"> <hr> <center> <script type="text/javascript"> </script> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js"> </script> </center> <hr> <br> </font> </td> </tr> </table>  </td> </tr> <tr> <td colspan=5 align="center">  <br> <center> <font size="+1" color="#454545" face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica">Copyright © 1997-2007 Midwestern Guides</font> </center> </td> </tr> </table> </center> </body> </html>