July 22, 2018
Kabetogama Boat Basin
We were back at the Kab Visitor Center early the next morning to finish our exploration and check in for our boat tour. Like I mentioned, there is a waiting list so if you booked but arrive late, you get bumped. The wait list people were lined along the wall hoping someone was late. We also saw people walk in expecting to get right into the tour that had been booked up for months so this is definitely a pre-planning item if you wish to go.
July 21, 2018
The Soudan Mine is the oldest and deepest iron ore mine in Minnesota and was operated by United States Steel until 1962. It was donated to the state to be preserved as a state park.
To get into the mine you have to ride in a cage, which is an appropriate term because you do feel as though you are trapped in a cage. Continue reading
July 21-24, 2018
Voyageurs National Park is the reason we made this summer trip. Back in 2016 we asked Chloe where she wanted to go next summer and she answered “someplace I’ve never been” (that certainly narrowed it down – not). After perusing the atlas and discussing previous trips, she homed in on Voyageurs and we started making a plan. Unfortunately we later were told we could only take her for 10 days that summer so we did a much shorter trip up through Michigan and had fun. Then we sat around in Maryland the rest of the summer wishing we were on the road.
Our Woodenfrog campsite – looking toward the park road
July 20, 2018
Dorothy Molter lived life on her terms. Women in the 1930s, 40s, and 50s didn’t have many options – homemaker, secretary, teacher, nurse. She became a nurse but chose to spend her life, mostly alone, on what is now the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness in northern Minnesota.
July 16-19, 2018
The pack
Chloe attended a four day summer day camp at the International Wolf Center in Ely and loved it. She learned all about wolves, wolf packs, humans and wolves, moose and wolves and so on. They spent time every day observing and documenting the wolves. They also went all through the museum and played games and hiked and did other “summer camp” type stuff. Most of the kids were younger than her but one girl was around a year older and those two thankfully hit it off. It seemed that EVERY kid at that camp had been over the moon excited about going.
July 15-20, 2018
Fall Lake
Ely, Minnesota (Gateway to the Boundary Waters) was the lengthiest stay in one area for the whole summer trip. While browsing for things to do on the way to Voyageurs National Park, we came across a summer camp opportunity at the International Wolf Center (see separate post). What kid wouldn’t want to spend a week with wolves? Chloe certainly did so we signed her up and scheduled the rest of the trip around those dates. That meant we needed somewhere to camp nearby for that week. Continue reading
July 15, 2018
One of the ambassador bears
The American Bear Center in Ely, Minnesota wants you to know that bears, especially black bears, are not the vicious animals – reared up on hind legs, teeth bared, claws splayed, out for blood – they are portrayed as in films and by taxidermists. That’s what hunters would like you to think. I’m not against hunting but it’s not the life and death struggle we are led to believe. Filmmakers want to sell theater tickets, not reality. So bears have a bad rep. Continue reading
July 15, 2018
Threads of Life Post
As we wandered about on our summer trek, we noticed little threads connecting many of the places we’ve seen. We didn’t intentionally go looking for these connections, they were just there. One of these threads belongs to the Steamer America.
Photo reproduced from https://www.perfectduluthday.com/2017/03/08/ss-america-1925/ Continue reading
July 15, 2018
Way back when Holly and I went to a black sand beach on the Big Island of Hawaii. That sand was made from lava.
The black sand beach we went to on the North Shore of Minnesota was made from stamp sand. One step in processing copper-bearing ore is to crush it and separate the pieces that contain copper from those that don’t. That crushed waste rock was deposited along river banks and lake shores.
It was pretty early in the morning (for us anyway) when we paid the beach a visit. It was in a nice little cove.
Spirit of the Woods 