I just made my way into the U.P. Let me say that ghost towns have a way of getting engulfed in the earth. I went searching for the town of Wyoming-- "hell town." I used GPS and all I found was one broken bridge and a bunch of thicket. Central mine wasn't much better. In Calumet I was run off a 1919 middleschool by an ornery concerned citizen claimed that he didn't want me to get in "hot water." Next time I'll call 411 and ask the local authorities if they mind if I M.D. He was just given a tourist a hard time. I hit a few other areas, but i had a hard time finding much of anything up there. After a week, I walked home with $4plus. a civil war area bullet and some float copper. I also visited a few "ghost towns" mentioned in the Michigan Ghost Town Books. As you might suspect many folks own the property of these old towns, however, as the acknowledged "giver of info" at a U.P. shop told me, "if there ain't a sign say-in no tress passin, its all good." I don't know how much creed I give his advice after the the oldtime-er in Calumet. I stopped in a place called Eagle Harbor and decided to ask the local police station if it was OK to detect the old community center--they said "OK thanks for asking." So I guess the moral of this ramble is the fact that you should have a specific are in mind to detect and most of the info ready to go, including willingness to ask permission to some old-timmer or police in a small town. I have some scars from that thicket I wandered into too. Take it from me, there are plenty of areas downstate that have potential to dig. After all, Downstate was developed first and much of the miners and loggers money up north consisted of script. I'm all about adventure, but like I said get it all lined up-- I felt like I was on recognisance the entire time. But then again, Up North is so beautiful; that is the real treasure. Hope this helps in some way- J.
