Advertisement
Published: September 4th 2013
Edit Blog Post
The Logger
A wooden sculpture as a tribute to the logging industry. August 18-22 –After the Pictured Rocks cruise I spent another night in Munising, then followed the lake shore on Hwy 28 to Marquette where I rested a couple of days sorting all my pictures! I thought seriously about driving to Copper Harbor and taking the ferry to Isle Royale National Park. The more I read about it, however, the more I decided to skip it. (Yes, I know that seeing as many national parks as I could was on my bucket list!) First it was about 120 miles out of the way, then a ferry ride and back for an all day trip to the island, which seemed to be a fishing, hiking, backpacking heaven. None of which appeals to me. Maybe another year! I just drove on across the base of the peninsula to Ironwood on the boundary line between Michigan and Wisconsin.
I was kind of sad to say goodbye to Michigan as I really enjoyed my whole visit to that state and saw some wonderful things. I was feeling the pull to move on, however, and get to my friend's place in Minnesota. I drove straight across Wisconsin to Superior to spend the night there.
August
Funny Sign
Off the beaten path.... 23—I drove through Superior and Duluth, which are “twin cities” right next to each other. The traffic wasn't bad. I turned north looking for the little town of Aurora, Minnesota. It is located almost halfway between the shores of Lake Superior and the Canadian border. I arrived at Donna's about mid-afternoon. Donna is my 'soul sister”. We don't get to see each other very often, but any intervening time disappears when we are together. We both have a heart for Haiti, but she is more dedicated than I; working constantly on behalf of our special Christian friends there. It was so good to see her and meet her husband again. This was my first visit to their home in Minnesota. I hope it isn't the last.
August 24—We went sightseeing today, visiting the International Wolf Center in Ely. Established in 1993, the Center's goal is preservation and education. Over 850 wolves roam the large preserve area. The Center staff has named each wolf. Visitors observe the wolves through large glassed-in areas and learn facts about them from the attached museum. I didn't know, for instance, that all wolf pups are born black!
We stayed quite a while as
Wandering Wolf
At the Ely International Wolf Center I took pictures of the wolves that ranged closer to the viewing area. I know wolves can be vicious and a problem to farmers and ranchers, but they sure are beautiful creatures.
August 25—As Donna continued to play tourist guide, we drove to Mountain Iron not only to sightsee, but also to run errands. (This city is the nearest shopping area to Donna's very rural home.) The area east of Bemidji to Lake Superior is home to three large iron ranges, the Vermillion, Mesabi and Cayuna. Iron mining provides the life-sustaining economic foundation of this area, especially with the decline in the logging industry. Originally most of the mines were underground, however the topography of the area soon proved strip-mining the less expensive and dangerous method of production.
We visited the Hull Rust Mahoning Mine which is still actively worked, even though it was registered as a National Historic Landmark in 1935. This mine produces tacomite, or lower grade iron processed into pellets for making steel. I was fascinated by the huge machines that looked like toys in the vast mine area. Donna and I walked through an area in which visitors could climb up into the big
Companions
The International Wolf Center “dozers” and crawl through the huge tires. This exercise gave us a close-up idea of the size of the equipment used in this kind of mining. I hadn't realized that Minnesota had been such a prime iron ore producer until visiting here. But, there again, how often have I heard of the three M company--Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company--duh!
Aug. 26—Today we visited the Vince Shute Wildlife Sanctuary near Orr, MN. The Sanctuary, named after its founder, provides food and refuge for a variety of wildlife, but primarily the black bear. The Sanctuary grounds consist of 360 acres of unfenced area from which the bears come and go at will.
Vince Shute was a local celebrity known as the “Bear Man”. As the owner of a large logging operation, he decided to quit killing the bears that invaded the logging camps in search of food and feed them instead. After a time the bears seemed to know him and treated him as a friend. Before he died in 2000 at the age of 86, he had founded the American Bear Association and arranged for his land to be converted into the sanctuary it is now.
Each year
Alert Rest
A beauty, isn't he? about 80 plus bears come to the sanctuary, many of whom are return visitors. The number increases drastically during times of famine in the area.
We viewed the bears from a high platform. I was disappointed that I couldn't get better pictures, but it was fun watching them. Staff have named some of the bears who return consistently each year . One, named Schwinn, is a three-legged bear. He has survived this way for more than 10 years. Some of the bears are tagged and given a radio collar for tracking. One of these bears traveled over 200 miles in one year. By the way, did you know that black bears are sometimes brown?
Our next touring stop was on the reservation of the Bose Forte Band of the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe. I had always read that Minnesota was the land of 1000 lakes. I didn't know that many of the more northern lakes grew wild rice. Nett Lake, one of these wild rice lakes, is located on the Boss Forte reservation. Naturally, I got pics of the growing rice. Donna told me the Native Americans harvest the rice by paddling their canoes through the stalks and gather
I Want to Play!
Two playful wolves at the Center the grains with their hands into the boat. If they fill the canoe too full or get it unbalanced, the canoe tips and they lose all the rice they have harvested. I think the Indians get pretty good and keeping those boats upright!
After letting me photograph the lake and rice to my heart's content, we drove through the village. I liked the drum-shaped school they had there!
Aug. 27-29—I stayed with Donna for these days just resting, visiting, going through pictures, doing laundry, etc. I made some photo cards for her to place in different stores to sell for our Haiti fund. I had such a great time with my very special friend.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.079s; Tpl: 0.013s; cc: 14; qc: 30; dbt: 0.047s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
Vesta
non-member comment
Minnesota
What an adventure, Marty! Love the wolves and bears and the drum shaped school!