Bryan Gruley’s Dark North What tales emerge when a nationally acclaimed reporter turns an imagination inclined toward criminality loose in his boyhood vacationland.

Tasting Room Tour de Force At the vineyards, wine gets all the attention … but the tasting rooms will enchant you too. We feature five favorites.

Snow Buzz Season pass deals are in full swing. New gear shimmers from ski shop racks. Snow guns are being tuned to precision. We amp you up for the slippery thrills ahead.

Northern Home & Cottage

The Kitchen Tour Issue! Sneak peek at 12 idea-rich kitchens you can tour October 15.

Plus: Northern Style:Kim Bazemore, owner of Cog's Creek Gallery shows us the meaning of her mantra: lean and clean.

Departments:

• Up North: Ranger Tom talks Sleeping Bear Dunes, Seth and May’s new CD, hot concerts at the Dennos, Ganter’s Global Reach
• October Events: Colorful ways to keep active in October.
• Travel: Four overlooks where fall color rocks. Get to them.
• Up in Michigan: The secret world of a knit shop.
• Dining: Apples are fall’s it fruit. Check these divine and delectable apple concoctions at Up North bistros.
• Wine: Get your gewürtztraminer here.
• Outdoors: When acorns rain (and reign).
• Into the North Autumn’s chromatic crescendo.

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Every year for 14 or 15 years, ...

... we have gone camping and canoeing for a weekend on one of Northern Michigan's most beautiful rivers with a group of family and friends. Truth be told, this excursion is more of a safari, with a kitchen tented by a tarp that serves as the outdoor resource for food, drink, dishwashing, etc. My sister Pam and brother-in-law Dave Bradshaw, work for a week to prepare food fit for kings, including homemade English muffins for toasting on the fire, Pam's pancake recipe and brownies filled with homemade mint cream then frozen. We sit about the campsite after afternoons on the river, almost intoxicated by savory scents of fabulous cuts of meat cooking on the fire.

The campsites are scattered on and just off the river, and we have to hike in a bit to get to them, where we pump our water and watch the night sky fill with stars. Last year we went camping on a perfect August weekend. We had our pick of any site since we arrived on Friday afternoon. As evening approached, we expected more people to arrive. The scattered sites usually fill up with fly-fishermen, families with young children and the requisite group op people who party and boom their music which usually stops after a few hours the first night.

But by the time we went to bed on Friday night last summer, there was not another soul in the campground. ...

Buy the issue and finish the story of Deborah Wyatt Fellows's camping trip and learn why she left worried that un-used campsites might be in jeopardy and how celebrating Northern Michigan on a national level will help protect our natural resources. SHIPPING IS INCLUDED