Lake Medora Quadrangle, 27" H x 24.25" W
(approx 34" H x 28.25" W framed)

Heat transfers, silk transfers, pen and stitching on topographic map.

Lake Superior appears at both the top and bottom of this unique map. The land in the center is located on a peninsula sticking out of the South shore of the lake. This small peninsula is colloquially known as the Copper Country, named for its eponymous mining legacy, and also known as the Keweenaw Peninsula. There are superfund-efforts to mitigate environmental damage from old copper mines, but the environmental damage from current extensive logging is unchecked.

My journal entry from an arduous cross country ski trip to the top of Mt Houghton, 1467’ (in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan) appears on this USGS 7.5 minute quadrangle map. After several hours of skiing and side stepping uphill, I found a stunningly beautiful snowy scene at the summit. Dramatic windswept trees sprouted branches embedded with uniformly round clumps of hardened snow. The scene at the foot of the mountain was a disheartening contrast. A logging truck was stuck in the snow waiting to haul piles of large-diameter logs.

Photos from this winter cross country ski trip and facts about the geographic features of this quadrangle, are printed on the paper topo map and on pieces of silk which are stitched to the map.