We Got the Shaft! Soudan Underground Mine

As with many places on this trip, we have driven by the Soudan Underground Mine many times, but have never stopped. Today we spent the day at the Soudan Underground Mine State Park. The mine was opened in 1884 and operated until 1962, when US Steel closed it and donated the mine to the State of Minnesota. The Soudan was called the "Cadillac" of mines. It was a safe mine, because the rock was so tight, no supporting timbers were needed. There was never a cave-in. It was also very dry, so workers were relatively comfortable. When the mine closed they were working level 27, more than 2300 feet below the surface. When the mine was originally opened it was an open pit mine, but they quickly discovered that there was extremely rich ore deeper down, and so they went underground. The ore from the mine was extremely rich and contained an extra oxygen molecule, which helped in the refining process. Mining here was not very efficient however. Everything had go to up (ore) and down (equipment, materials and workers) the 4' x 6' shaft, and could weigh no more than 6 tons. This inefficiency was ultimately the demise of the mine. Improved refining techniques made lower quality ore from open pit mines more economical. Refiners learned they could inject oxygen directly into the furnace rather than use oxygen-rich ore. Open pit mines could extract ore on a scale just not possible from an underground mine. Bummer for Soudan.

The state park offers tours down into the mine. Actually there are two tours, and we took them both. The most popular tour is the Historical Mine Tour where you travel down the hoist to the 27th level, 2340' below the surface, then ride a rail car 3/4 mile north to the area that was being worked when the mine was closed. The original mining equipment is still in place and interpreters explain the techniques. Of course they also turn the lights out so you can experience total and complete darkness. It was a constant 50 degrees in the mine, and there were bats fluttering around and clinging to the walls. One lady in our tour freaked out when the bats flew over. I don't know what she was expecting; there was ample warning before we went down.

The second tour was the High Energy Physics Tour. This part gets a little technical. I didn't understand half of it, but here is the condensed and dumbed-down version; the part I sort of thought I maybe understood a little bit. The Soudan Underground Laboratory, operated by the University of Minnesota, has developed several research projects on Level 27 to study sub-atomic particles. This research would not be possible on the surface because of interference from solar and cosmic radiation. Under a half mile of iron ore and very dense Ely Greenstone, cosmic radiation is essentially eliminated. One project is the Main Injector Neutrino Oscillation Search (MINOS). Here they try to capture and study neutrinos, a very small particle similar to an electron, but with no electrical charge. Neutrinos are extremely hard to detect, because they are so small and seldom react with other matter. While neutrinos occur naturally and are extremely common, the neutrinos being detected here are those being fired from Fermilab in Chicago, which travel 457 miles underground through solid rock. The target detector here consists of 485 steel plates, octagonal in shape, 1" thick and 26 feet tall and 26 feet wide. Each plate is laminated with plastic scintillator strips which create light when a particle passes through. Neutrinos are so hard to detect that while ~1.3 E20 (1,300,000,000,000,000,000,000) neutrinos were fired from Fermilab during the first year, only about 200 were detected at Soudan.

The second laboratory is the Cryogenic Dark Matter Search (CDMA). Here researchers are looking for dark matter, the stuff astronomers think makes up most of the matter in the universe. The matter that we are familiar with: air, water,earth and planets, etc,. are made up of well-known elementary particles: protons, neutrons and electrons. It is known that other particles must exist, because of the evidence of their gravitational effect. One theory is the existence of the Weakly Interacting Massive Particle or WIMP. The WIMP is believed to be related to the photon, but with mass up to 10,000 times greater than a photon. A WIMP would only be detectable when it collides with an atomic nucleus. It is thought that 10 trillion WIMPs pass through a kilogram of mass each second, but only a few per year actually bump into anything. CDMS is a project designed to detect these collisions. CDMS has produced detectors the size and shape of a hockey puck that contain very pure crystals of germanium and silicon. When a collision occurs there is vibration which creates minute warming on the germanium crystal. Sensitive thermometers detect this warming. The sensors operate at -460 degrees F, only 1/10th of a degree above absolute zero, making this the coldest place on earth, colder in fact than outer space. Twelve detectors were installed in 2002 and 18 more were added in 2006, but no WIMPs have been detected yet.. Perhaps if they had a Butt-Ugly Low-Life Yahoo (BULLY), he could find a them a WIMP. And you thought you had to go to college to get this kind of education!

The science is all well and good, but the most interesting part of the labs was how they built them. Each lab is in a cavern 270' long, 50' wide and 40' high. Each cavern was excavated solely for the construction of each respective laboratory. Remember all those 26' wide octagonal steel plates? They had to come down that 4' x 6' shaft! 6 tons at a time. All that excavated material? Up the same shaft, 6 tons at a time. All this during the same period when the state park was bringing tourists down the shaft for mine tours. The plates and all the other parts were brought down at night in pieces no larger that 4 x 6 x 33 feet, and then fabricated 1/2 mile down. In fact, they disassembled a full-sized front-end loader, brought it down the shaft and reassembled it. A year later, they tore it apart and took it out, Kinda like building a ship in a bottle, except you can work inside this bottle.

For me the most interesting part of the whole operation was the engine room and the hoist operation. The same hoist system has been in use since the mine was opened in 1884. An operator in the engine room operates the drum that pays out 3000' of 90-ton test cable to raise and lower the cages down the shaft into the mine. The workers signal the operator with a coded series of electric buzzes to tell him to raise or lower the cars. There are no hoist controls in the cars. The operator can tell approximately where the cars are in the shaft by watching a clock-like dial in the engine room. He can tell within a few inches where they are at each level by watching chalk marks on the 12' drum that holds the cable. Once or twice a year they "recalibrate" the cable and put new chalk marks on the drum. Very simple and low tech, but very safe and effective. I spent several hours watching the hoist operation and talking to the operator. It was a tremendous contrast from the highly technical quantum physics research in the labs.

Ely!!!!!

This afternoon we arrived in Ely. It is always exciting driving into Ely. I don't know if it is the anticipation of putting into the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, the fact that there is a canoe on every other car, or that it is just such a neat town. Ely is the major jumping off point for the BWCAW. There are dozens of outfitters along the main drag and many more out in the sticks. It just makes me tingle all over.

We are camped at Fall Lake Campground, about 8 miles east of town. We will be here until August 27, when we are scheduled to put into the BWCAW for 15 days. Fall Lake is a major BWCAW entry point. The campground here has been completely renovated since we cruised the loops a few years ago. It has newly paved roads, all new bath houses, tables and fire rings. Most loops have 30A power and a few even have 50A. Ironically, there are no water hookups at the sites, and there is no waste dump in the facility at all. The nearest dump is at the Chamber of Commerce in Ely.

One reason we got here early was to have some work done on my boat. We have stopped at the Spirit of the Wilderness outfitter many times, and the owner Steve claims he can do miracles re-gelcoating the bottom of composite canoes. He can completely patch and re-coat the bottom, adding only 6 oz to the weight of the boat, for about a hundred bucks. Where I come from the materials would cost that much. In the BWCAW, where portages can kill or maim a paddler, every ounce counts. It takes a few days to do the work and allow the resin to cure, so we wanted to make sure we had plenty of time to finish the boat. I dropped the boat off this afternoon. Maybe later I can post some before and after photos.

North Shore State Parks Whirlwind Tour

On our last full day on the North Shore, we cruised up the shore to check out the Minnesota State Parks along the North Shore. There is a moderately steep escarpment about 150' high along the North Shore, where many streams and rivers cascade down to Lake Superior. There are about a dozen state parks between Duluth and the Canada border, most featuring waterfalls and the Lake Superior shoreline. Many are connected by the Superior Hiking Trail, a long distance hiking trail stretching over 250 miles from Duluth to the Canada border. Some are also connected by the Gitchi-Gami State Trail, a paved multipurpose rail-trail. We thought we would do some short hikes, but we particularly wanted to check out the campgrounds to see if any were good candidates for future trips. Our first stop was Tettegouche State Park which is on the Baptism River. There we hiked to the 60' high High Falls and then Two Steps Falls. The falls were nice, but the river flow is way down. They would be much more impressive during spring runoff. The drive-in campground was likewise unimpressive. It was a long way from the lake shore. It was OK, but nothing to brag about. I guess I'm spoiled by the beautiful campgrounds on the Blue Ridge Parkway. They did have a number of very nice walk-in/paddle-in sites right on the lake shore. We also drove up to Palisade Head, a 250' tall volcanic outcrop that drops straight down to the lake. Pretty impressive. You could see all the way to Wisconsin and the Apostle Islands. Matilda was acting bold, so we kept her on a short leash. Apparently Palisade Head is a good climbing destination. There were several parties of climbers on the cliff when we were there. We lunched at the Caribou River State Wayside on the banks of the Caribou River. Matilda had a big time playing in the cascading water. There was supposed to be a pretty nice waterfall about a mile up the river, but we had a lot of things to do today, so we resisted the temptation to hike to the falls.

We cruised on up the shore to Taconite Harbor. Taconite Harbor, constructed in 1950, was the site of a new town and new harbor, where neither existed previously. The harbor was constructed by building breakwaters across two islands and back to the shore. Taconite, a pelletized iron ore, is shipped out to steel mills on the lower great lakes. Close by is Shroeder and the Cross River. In 1843 Father Frederic Baraga, a priest and missionary from Yugoslavia, was crossing the lake from Madeline Island, Wisconsin when an unexpected storm came up and threatened to sink his small boat. He was blown unharmed to the mouth of a small river, where he erected a small wooden cross to thank God for his deliverance. Thus was named the Cross River.

Next stop was the Temperance River State Park, located at the mouth of, you guessed it, the Temperance River. The Temperance River is one of the longest rivers on the North Shore and is so-named because it has no gravel "bar" at it's mouth. I don't know about that one, but that's what they say. The river features a mini-gorge and swift cascades at the mouth of the river. The drive-in campground is also right on the shore and has some electric sites. Sweet. This was by far the most pleasant campground of the state parks we visited.

The last park we visited, and our turn-around place for this tour, was Cascade River State Park. The Cascade River features a rushing river, falling through a narrow, deep gorge, with wonderful waterfalls and cascades. It also contains old-growth pines and hardwoods. As do most of the parks along the North Shore, it features a number of structures constructed by the CCC during the 1930s. All day we collected rocks for Izaak's memorial, but none from the state parks, of course.

On the way home, Dorcas insisted we buy a pie. I resisted (really!) but of course I caved. The North Shore is famous for its fresh pies. Betty's Pies is the most famous of the pie joints, but we had been told it was overrated, and were directed to the Rustic Inn Cafe at Castle Danger. At the Rustic Inn Dorcas bought an apple caramel pie with pecans. Yummy! Great choice.

Bike to Split Rock Lighthouse

We hauled our bikes (1633 miles so far) more than anything else, so we could bike on the Gitchi-Gami State Trail. The Gitchi-Gami State Trail is a paved multi-purpose trail, that, when completed, will travel 86 miles from Two Harbors to Grand Marais. The trail primarily follows an old railroad bed and abandoned sections of MN highway 61. Currently the longest completed section connects Gooseberry Falls State Park and Beaver Bay, about 13 miles. Today we biked from our camp at Gooseberry Falls to Split Rock Lighthouse State Park, where we toured the Split Rock Light Station. The ride was gently rolling, but did contain a few steep hills. During the ride, Lake Superior is never out sight for more than a few minutes. Split Rock Lighthouse is not to be missed. The Minnesota Historical Society manages the site and conducts tours with costumed interpreters. The light was commissioned after a series of brutal storms in 1905 when several dozen ships were lost. It operated until 1969 when it was considered to be obsolete and was decommissioned. Since that time it has been restored to its 1920s appearance. This lighthouse is said to be the most visited lighthouse in the country. I would have thought that was Hatteras. In any case, it was certainly worth the trip. You can tour the inside of the lighthouse and walk up the spiral staircase to view the 3rd order Fresnel lens. The lens mount rides on a bearing consisting of 8 pounds of liquid mercury and is turned by a clockworks mechanism driven by a 250 pound weight. Several times a day a keeper will wind up the mechanism. The lamp is not routinely lit today, but the lens still turns at 6 RPMs. You can also tour the restored keepers house. When the station was built, there was no road serving the north shore and all transportation was by boat. Goods were hauled up an elevated tramway from the lake at the base of the cliff. We stayed until closing time and then biked back to camp. During the ride we saw a whitetail deer with two fawns, still in spots.

Hiking Gooseberry Falls State Park

Today we spent the day hiking around Gooseberry Falls State Park. We hiked on the Gitchi Gummi Trail (not to be confused with the Gitchi-Gami State Trail) which loops about a mile around a bluff overlooking the mouth of the Gooseberry River. From there we hiked up the river to Fifth Falls, a less-visited waterfall a mile or two above the mouth of the Gooseberry. Matilda got to hike off-leash for a bit and had a grand time running up and down the trail and eating the water in the river.

Gooseberry Falls State Park

Following are a few photos from Gooseberry Falls State Park.

Photo of the Week: Dog Watching

When in public places I have always enjoyed discreetly watching other people go by. Matilda has apparently learned the joys of doggie watching. Maybe she is wondering what that fluffy thing is on the other dog's butt.

The Grand Portage

Today we moved from Two Harbors a whopping 13 miles up the shore to Gooseberry Falls State Park. We had been at Two Harbors for 8 nights and felt it was time for a change. We kinda wanted to visit a Minnesota State Park, but we had several choices depending upon how far up the shore we wanted to go. Gooseberry Falls, Tettegouche, Cascade River, Temperence River and Judge C.R. Magney State Parks are on the North Shore and all have camping. Gooseberry Falls State Park is touted as one of the top ten campgrounds in North America, so we chose it. I don't know, it's OK, but I'm a little disappointed. It's nice, but the sites are small and don't benefit from the million-dollar-view of the lake. The roads are gravel and a bit dusty. And there are a LOT OF PEOPLE. The campground stays full every night. We got here at 9:00 AM opening time and got our choice of three vacating non-reservable sites. I think we actually ended up with one of the nicest of the parks 70 sites. We were able to park the coach nose-in, and we have a large grassy area on our site in which to let Matilda run a bit.

Today was a little rainy and dreary so we postponed some hikes in the park and drove up the North Shore. Our objective was to scout out other state parks and destinations to visit before we leave Lake Superior on Monday. We ended up driving all the way to Grand Marais before stopping. There we had a nice lunch at The Pie Place. We also stopped at the Superior National Forest ranger station there to see about the conditions in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. There is currently no fire ban in the BWCAW, but if there is no rain before we put in two weeks from now, there likely will be a ban. DANG.

After lunch we cruised on up to Grand Portage National Monument. From 1778 until 1802, the North West Company located their headquarters and western supply depot here for business and a summer rendezvous. French and English fur traders or "Voyageurs" would bring their goods from their winter camps in the north west interior. "Pork Eaters" would bring supplies across Lake Superior from Montreal. This place became the meeting place because it was at the end of the Grand Portage. The Grand Portage was the 8.5 mile footpath used to carry goods and boats from Fort Charlotte on the Pigeon River to the shore of Lake Superior, avoiding the rapids and falls along the lower Pigeon River. The Voyageurs carried 90 pound packs; at least two packs at a time, and sometimes 3 or 4 packs at a time! And I thought the single 85-pound food pack I carried in the BWCAW was tough! They have a nifty new visitor's center here that just opened last summer. There is a reconstructed fort and encampment, including the Great Hall, kitchen and canoe warehouse. Costumed interpreters are out talking about how the traders and Indians lived and worked. Pretty neat! The whole park is operated in concert with the Grand Portage Band of the Ojibwe, on whose reservation the park resides. After the park exhibits closed we hiked up Mt. Rose, which overlooks the encampment and hiked a bit on the Grand Portage itself. We didn't hike to Fort Charlotte, and we didn't carry a load.

From Grand Portage one could look across the lake and see Isle Royale National Park, about twenty miles away. Isle Royale is the largest island in Lake Superior and was one of the places we had hoped to visit during this trip. We killed that prospect when we got Matilda: dogs are strictly forbidden on Isle Royale. There is a company that does day trips to Isle Royale from Grand Portage, so we stopped to talk to them. Unfortunately, the lake level has been at an all-time low for the last two years, and the boat they use for day trips cannot get into or out of the harbor. They are doing day trips on a smaller boat once a week on Fridays, but they were booked two weeks out. Some things are just not meant to be.

It was getting late, but we figured we couldn't come this far without heading on up to the border. We drove to the Canadian border, which was actually pretty anticlimactic. We didn't try to cross since we had not brought Matilda's rabies certificate or our passports. We walked into Grand Portage State Park, which features the highest waterfall in Minnesota. The Pigeon River plummets 120' as it forms the international border. It was starting to get dark, so we turned back towards home. We did make a final stop before dark at Judge C.R. Magney State Park to check out their campground. While we didn't get to view it, one highlight of this park is Devil's Kettle waterfall. Here the Brule River splits and half the river drops 50' into the Devil's Kettle and disappears. Nobody knows where it goes. Researchers have dropped yellow balls into the kettle and they have never re-appeared. Very strange.

Touring Two Harbors

We've enjoyed our stay at Burlington Bay Campground in Two Harbors, MN so we decide to spend our last day here seeing the sights in Two Harbors. After consulting the Shipping News we learned the Philip R. Clarke would be loading in Agate Bay today so we walked uptown. On Thursday evening at the community band performance we were told Two Harbors is the birthplace of 3M. We stopped by the museum and learned that 3M, originally known as Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company, was started in 1902 by five men from the small town of Two Harbors, Minnesota. When the five founders of the company thought they had found mineral called corundum, which would be used for making sandpaper, they began the process of setting up a mining company. To get the company started the men erected a large dock, crushing mill and bunk and storage houses. After selling the corundum to a company in Chicago the men learned that the corundum wasn’t really corundum and had no commercial value. They nearly went bankrupt, but found an over-seas source for their abrasives and eventually recovered. In 1905 the company was moved to Duluth and then in 1907 it was moved to St. Paul and the rest, as they say, is history.

We proceeded to the docks and found the Philip R Clarke being loaded with iron ore pellets. This looks like a hard, dirty job. It seems to be quite a task to line up the chutes from the dock with the cargo holds.
It took several tries to load the hold pictured and the frustration of the workers was very evident.

We continued our walk along the shore of Lake Superior by the lighthouse and back to camp.
Matilda was glad to see us and ready for a walk. Our neighbors who were tent camping with motorcycles, asked about Matilda's breed. When I told them Australian Shepherd they said they were from Australia and had never seen a dog like her. German Shepherds, Border Collies and Australian Kelpies but no Australian Shepherds. One web site I found stated: "The exact origin of the Australian Shepherd is not known. The breed that is cherished and loved today was developed exclusively in the United States. They are typically referred to as "The Aussie"." Guess that is why they are not in Australia. Aussies are good swimmers but not THAT good. Should we consider changing Matilda's name...Daisy Mae maybe? Naw... The folks from Australia did say Matilda was really cute even though she looked more like a hyena than a dog.

The weather here is turning cooler and the breeze off the lake gives the feel of Fall. Nice sweater weather.

Dorcas Does Duluth

Dorcas and I, with our friends Wayne and Lynda, have passed through Duluth many times on our way to and from the BWCAW. Duluth has a lot of neat things, but on those trips we never had more than a few hours to see the sights. During yesterday and today Dorcas and I did Duluth.

Duluth, MN was built on mining, shipping and railroading, so that set the tone for our tours. Our first event was a ride on the North Shore Scenic Railroad. This ride consisted of a 1.5 hour excursion from the historic Duluth Depot, along the waterfront to the Lester River and return. It was a nice ride, but rather boring. Except for the first mile or two when we were near the waterfront, the scenery was mostly of suburban back yards. Half the time on the train we were stopped for switching. The best part of the train ride was discovering the Lake Superior Railroad Museum, located at the Depot. This museum is said to be one of the finest railroad museums in the country. I'm a believer. It had dozens of engines of all types and many more cars and artifacts, mainly used in the hauling of lumber and iron ore. The trains were set on the tracks in the original depot yard, enclosed under a metal roof cover. It also featured authentic period store fronts of early Duluth. We spent about half a day in the museum.

The next event was a boat ride on the Vista King, where we toured the harbor. The "Twin Ports" serve Duluth, MN and Superior, WI. Actually, there is only one natural entrance to this harbor, the one between Minnesota Point and Wisconsin Point near Superior. In the 1870s the folks from Duluth determined that if their city was to prosper, they must establish an opening to the lake closer to their city. Consequently, they began digging the current canal which crosses the base of the peninsula of Minnesota Point. The folks from Superior objected to the the new opening and acquired a Federal injunction to stop the digging. The injunction was issued on a Friday, but could not be served until the following Monday. The folks from Duluth learned of the pending injunction, and had three days before the sheriff could arrive to serve the papers. In those three days the folks from Duluth rallied and completed the canal, making the injunction meaningless, and thereby assuring the prosperity of their city. Typical molasses government bureaucracy at work. Today the famous Aerial Lift Bridge spans the Duluth canal and the Duluth port is much more important than the Superior port. In our harbor excursion we sailed down the harbor towards Superior, entered Lake Superior via the Superior opening and returned via the Duluth canal, passing under the Aerial Lift Bridge. Along the way we saw the grain docks and the steel docks where commodities are loaded for the mills on down the Great Lakes. The most important product coming into the port today is parts for large windmill turbines being constructed all across the Midwest. On the docks were acres and acres of wind vanes, towers, turbines and generators. We also spotted the last of the tall ships to depart Duluth following the annual Duluth Maritime Festival. Prospective mariners can pay $1200 for a two-week hitch on these ships and learn the art of sailing the way it was done way back when. It is hard work and spartan accomodations. Ya gotta really want to do it.

Our third tourist activity was a visit to the Great Lakes Aquarium. The GLA is rare in that it features only fresh-water exhibits. They had exhibits featuring habitats from Isle Royale (Lake Superior), the Baptism River (a fast-moving river with waterfalls) and the St. Louis River (a slow-moving river). We particularly enjoyed the otter pool and the sturgeon touch tank. We also liked the special sea horse exhibit (I'm assuming these were not in fresh water???).

Finally, we walked along Canal Park, the one part of Duluth where we have previously spent some time. There we witnessed a spectacular rainbow as it set on the light at the end of the canal. On that note, we stopped at Fitgers Brewhouse and got a "Growler", and then departed for the hacienda.

Camped on the North Shore

Today we moved north about 100 miles and are camped on the shores of Lake Superior. We are at Burlington Bay Campground, a municipal park, within walking distance of the town of Two Harbors, MN. We let Matilda play off-leash in the water at the lake shore, and she had a grand time.

We are about 20 miles from Duluth and plan to spend time seeing the sights there. We have been in Duluth many times, but never stayed long enough to see the sights. Lots of things are going on in Duluth during the summer and campsites are scarce. The Duluth Maritimes Festival, featuring the tall ships, ended Sunday. The Bayfront Blues Festival is this coming weekend in Duluth.

Paddle: Namekagon River

One of our big objectives during this trip was to paddle on the Namekagon River in northwest Wisconsin. The Namekagon is in the upper part of the St. Croix National Scenic Riverway. We had crossed the river many times previously, coming and going from the Boundary Waters, and it always looked inviting. One year we even stopped at the visitor's center and talked to the ranger and picked up some maps.

So, today was our day to paddle the Namekagon. One can paddle over 100 miles of the Namekagon within the park, so we had a lot of river to choose from. Not having any idea which sections of the river were best, I figured it was all good, so my biggest criteria was to choose a section that could be shuttled on a bicycle. We chose the section from West Howell Landing to Namekagon Trail Landing, a distance of about 12 miles. When we arrived at the take-out, the parking lot was practically deserted. We dropped the bike and headed to the put-in at West Howell Landing. As soon as we put onto the river I was impressed. It was much nicer than the other rivers we had recently paddled. It had a nice flow, the water was clear, and the bottom was covered with lush green vegetation. Fish were abundant; we primarily saw suckers, but also saw a few small mouth bass and a 3' northern pike. Several other paddlers reported spotting a sturgeon. I was not fishing today, so I had to be content to watch the fish as we glided over them in the boat. Matilda did fine; there was no out-of-boat experience today. We left her un-tethered in the boat, which made it a little easier for her to get around in the boat. We stopped on a few sandbars and let her go wild. As usual, she slept much of the last part of the trip.

It was an excellent paddle. The river and the scenery was beautiful. We saw a 12-point buck, a weasel and a few rodents that were either very small beavers or very large muskrats. The only negative thing was the high number of other paddlers. It was a beautiful Saturday and many other paddlers and tubers had chosen to float this section today. We don't have to go out on weekends! Why do we continue to do this? Well, the number of other paddlers did turn out to be a benefit. When we reached the take-out the parking lot was packed and there were cars, trucks and canoe trailers lined up and down both sides of the road. I easily scored a ride back to our put-in to get the car, saving a 10-mile bike ride, half of which was along a narrow state highway.

This section of the Nanekagon is only about 45 miles from our camp. I wish we had another chance to paddle this river, but we will be moving north on Monday, and there are sights up on Lake Superior we want to see. If we have time, we will drop back down and paddle another section of the Namekagon before we leave the Superior area. Also, we may do a 2-3 night camping trip on this river after our Boundary Waters trip in September.

Two Memorial Tributes

Today is the first anniversary of the I-35W bridge collapse in Minneapolis. On August 1, 2007, at 6:05 PM, the bridge carrying eight lanes of rush-hour traffic over the Mississippi River collapsed, killing 13 people and injuring over 100 more. Today at 6:05 PM there was a memorial service to honor the victims of the disaster. The new St. Anthony Falls Bridge is nearing completion, and is scheduled to open in late September this year.

This evening Lynyrd Skynyrd played at the casino amphitheater. The campground was full of beer-drinking rowdy rednecks. I felt like I was back in NC. I have always been a fan of Lynyrd Skynyrd, but the heart and soul of the band died in 1977, when several of the original members died in a plane crash in Mississippi. The band now performing as Lynyrd Skynyrd is essentially a very talented and authentic tribute band. We didn't ante up for tickets, but we did enjoy the music from the hill behind the motor home. The band played about 1 1/2 hours and played only pre-1977 hits. It was a good show, but I miss Ronnie Van Zant.

The American Pasttime: Play Ball!

One thing I have observed while traveling in Minnesota is that folks here are the nicest folks I have ever met. Strangers are always polite, friendly and helpful. But that was before I saw them at a Twins game ..... but I digress.

When we went to "the cities" on Monday, we didn't see all the things we had wanted to see. We also wanted to catch a Twins game, so off we went, back down to "the cities". First stop was St. Paul and historic Fort Snelling, not to be confused with Fort Snelling State Park. Fort Snelling is on a bluff at the confluence of the Mississippi and Minnesota Rivers. It was completed in 1825 and became a hub for fur trading and Indian activities. Over the years the fort was used by the army for various purposes, but was never involved in hostile action. It is perhaps best known as a training and processing center where over 300,000 soldiers were inducted during World War II. After WWII the fort was decommissioned. In the 1950s the fort was threatened by development and highway construction, and efforts were started to save the fort site. By that time, little of the original fort structure remained, and reconstruction efforts were started. Today the reconstructed Fort Snelling offers period displays and demonstrations with costumed characters.

Pets are not allowed in the restored Fort Snelling, so we weren't able to go in. But we did walk into adjacent Fort Snelling State Park. We hiked onto Pike Island to the confluence of the Mississippi and Minnesota Rivers and later hiked along the trail upriver towards Minnehaha Park. At one point we saw a hen turkey with chicks. As we got closer to take pictures, the hen did not retreat. Actually she became aggressive and charged us. I can see the headlines now: "Tourists Mauled By Wild Turkey." Thankfully, we survived the attack.

Our next stop was the St. Anthony area for dinner and a Twins game. We chose Tugg's Tavern and had their stuffed Saloon Burger and a few brews. We ate on the patio so Matilda could be close, and we could look across the river towards the Minneapolis skyline. While dining the street in front of the pub was kinda like a parade. A group of about thirty folks on Segway transporters came by. Then along came a "PedalPub", a rolling bar, powered by the folks on the barstools. It looked like a good way to see the city. I hope they had a designated driver.

After dinner we walked to the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome to see the Minnesota Twins and the Chicago White Sox. The Twins and the White Sox are bitter rivals and are locked in a tight race for the AL Central division championship. The game was pretty dull until the 5th inning, when the home team had a big three-run inning. Things really heated up in the bottom of the 7th during a disputed checked swing/called strike on Twins batter Denard Span. Minnesota manager Ron Gardenhire stormed the field and argued with the 3rd base umpire for about 10 minutes. He was ejected from the game, and the Twins fans threw baseballs, hats and other debris onto the field. White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen pulled his team off the field, while fans booed and peppered the field with more debris. The PA announcer warned that if fans continued to throw things onto the field, the game would be forfeited to the Sox. It was great fun. Eventually things settled down and the players returned to the field. The Sox promptly walked Span, and the Twins subsequently scored 4 runs in the inning. The Twins won 10-6. It was a wonderful game.

Big Day in the Big Cities

We were in St. Paul a few weeks ago for the FMCA convention, but were so busy convening, we didn't get to see any of the Twin Cities. Excepting one short excursion to the Mall of America, we never left the FMCA venue.

Our camp in Hinkley is about 1 1/4 hour drive from "the cities", so we decided to go back to town. We didn't know precisely where all we were going, but we had several places on our list. We considered leaving Matilda behind because it would be difficult to take her to some of places we could go, but ultimately we decided to take her with us, so we could stay in the cities as long as we wanted to. I think it turned out to be the right choice.

Our first stop was the Cathedral of St. Paul, located on the highest point in the city of St. Paul. This Cathedral of St. Paul is the forth, and likely last, cathedral of St. Paul in this city. Construction was begun on this architectural marvel in 1907. The exterior was completed in 1914, and it has been undergoing almost continual additions since that time. We spent about an hour wandering through the cathedral on our own, then went on a formal tour. Later we walked around the Minnesota state capitol, a few blocks from the cathedral.

Next we went to the visitor center for the Mississippi National River and Recreation Area. This park includes 72 miles of the Mississippi River above and below the Twin Cities. It is managed by the National Park Service, but in a very different manner than most national parks. The National Park Service actually owns less than 1% of of the land included in the park. The land is actually owned by a variety of local government entities, and is a collection of city, county and regional parks. We spent some time at Minnehaha Regional Park in the Mississippi Gorge section. There we saw Minnehaha Falls, made famous by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow in his "Song of Hiawatha". Lock and Dam No. 1 is just above the park. We took a self-guided tour of the lock works. This is one of 29 locks and dams allowing barge and pleasure boat navigation from St. Anthony Falls just above Minneapolis to St. Louis. We waited, but no ships came through. The dam here also provides hydroelectric power to the Ford Motor Company assembly plant across the river, where Ford Rangers are made.

Finally, we visited the Mill Ruins Park, St. Anthony Falls, the Stone Arch Bridge and Upper St. Anthony Falls Lock and Dam, all in the St. Anthony National Historic District near downtown Minneapolis. This area contains the only falls on the whole Mississippi River and the remains of many historic mills. Minneapolis owes its existence to St. Anthony Falls. Water power was harnessed here, first for saw milling and later for flour milling and hydroelectric production. Between 1880 and 1930 Minneapolis led the nation, and at times, the world in flour production.

The Twin Cities area is the most biker-friendly area I have ever seen. Bicycle commuting is very popular. There are many bike lanes on the city streets and there are a multitude of bike and walking trails connecting regional and city parks and the downtown areas.

This area is only a few blocks from the Metrodome where the Minnesota Twins play. They were playing as we toured the park and will be playing at home the rest of the week. Hopefully we can catch a game before we head north.