Outside of Mason, there are birch trees growing out of the roof of the old Quincy Mining Company No. 1 Stamp Mill. Fish swim among the frame members of the reclamation dredge.

The woods up here are criss-crossed with mining companies’ railroad grades. Trees flank these grades, grow up around the remains of industrial works alongside them. Forested land surrounds the poor rock piles at Seneca and Tecumseh. Up around Ahmeek and outside Mohawk, there are mining ruins hidden deeper in the woods.

Everywhere nature exists in the Copper Country, it does so in some kind of relationship to past industry. The trees that were not cut down for timbering mine shafts were cut down to be made into lumber. Even the Estivant Pines, trees that survived the axe and the saw, are so defined by the fact of their survival that our perception of them is effectively framed by the saw and skidder work that took place all around them.

Residues of our industrial past are everywhere in the Copper Country outdoors. Its a characteristic of our landscape that remains central to my experience of the outdoors here. I’ve written more times than I can count, for instance, about mountain bike rides on the railroad grades I mentioned earlier.

Another frequent subject in this column has been the North Country National Scenic Trail, which winds through some of my favorite terrain in Baraga and Ontonagon counties. Especially in Ontonagon County, and most especially in the Trap Hills, the North Country Trail route traverses landscapes exemplifying the dynamic between wild woods present and industrial past.

Very near Victoria Restoration, on the east side of the Trap Hills, the trail passes through the ruins of the Victoria Mine hoist house. This is the only place along the trail’s entire route where it goes through a building (albeit a building without a roof).

Next Saturday, Sept. 27, I will be leading a hike, along with Dr. Patrick Martin, an industrial archaeologist at Michigan Tech, on a part of the North Country Trail where the industrial remains are more subtle: the Norwich Mine and its associated townsite, in the heart of the Trap Hills. If the Victoria hoist house ruin is imprinted on the landscape in bold face type, the features of Norwich are set in six-point italic.

For example, the trail runs along the top of an earthen dam the Norwich miners built to collect water for their stamp mill. The dam can be seen, but it has faded into its surroundings enough that its purpose is not readily apparent. It is one of several subtle remnants of past mining around Norwich.

Next Saturday’s hike will have two parts: an interpretive portion on the spur trail that loops around the Norwich site, and an out-and-back hike taking in some of the amazing views along the top of the Norwich Bluffs. The total distance for both parts together will be in the neighborhood of four miles. It should be noted both parts of the hike traverse rugged terrain and involve some steep and rocky ascents and descents.

The hike will leave the Norwich Interpretive Trail trailhead, located on the east side of Norwich Road about 15 miles south of Ontonagon, at about 11 a.m. For more details about the hike, including better directions to the trailhead and carpooling information from Houghton, please visit the web site of the Peter Wolfe Chapter of the North Country Trail Association: northcountrytrail.org/pwf.

Hope to see you there!