Read more: Local, Outdoors, Leaves, Leaf, Color, Red, Yellow, Green, Orange, Brockway Mountain, Scenery, Lookout, View, Pretty, Beautiful, Gorgeous, Fall Colors, Autumn, Color Change, Why Colors Change, Chlorophyll, Nutrients, Trees, Storer Family, Road Trip, Keweenaw, Upper Michigan, UP
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COPPER HARBOR -- Fall is finally here, and with red, yellow and orange leaves everywhere, the Storer family decided to take a drive through the Keweenaw to see the fall colors at their peak.
"To be able to all get together with different schedules, it's great to be out and about doing something all together. This place is gorgeous," said Graeleigh Storer.
A tree physiologist at Michigan Tech, Molly Cavaleri, explained why the leaves change color this time of year.
"Leaves change color in the fall because the leaves need to absorb the nutrients that they would otherwise lose when the leaves drop," said Molly Cavaleri, assistant professor.
Leaves contain a nutrient called chlorophyll which gives them their green color.
"Every leaf has more than one pigment. They have the chlorophyll, and they also have other pigments that do other things in the leaf. The leaves always have all of these pigments, but because they have more green than all of the other pigments, when the green leaves, the red and the yellow are revealed," Cavaleri said.
The road trip ends on top of Brockway Mountain for the Storer family. Many say it's a beautiful sight to see, and sometimes it's hard to tell where the color ends.
"It's a pretty sight from here. It captures all of the essence of Michigan with the water and all the Great Lakes and the mountains and the trees," said Finn Storer.
"It's a little bit more green than other years, but its still really cool just to be able to see all of the different colors of the leaves," said Kieran Storer.
If you're interested in taking your very own color tour, there's still some time left, and don't forget to bring your camera.
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