Fish Fear Me

Cascade River Cook County, MN

Sugarloaf Cove Cook County, MN

Believe it or not, this pretty little cove was the site of a massive log raft assembly operation from 1941 to 1971. Logs from the woods of the Minnesota Arrowhead were dropped into the water here and then towed by the thousands at a time to Ashland, Wi. to become paper pulp. Consolidated Papers donated the land to the state in 1985 and parts have been designated a Science and Natural Area. Much of the area has been restored through great efforts. It's a very interesting stop along MN 61, just a few miles south of Taconite Harbor. More info here.

Taconite Harbor, MN

All that remains of the short-lived town of Taconite Harbor, MN are the dock and electric plant shown above, and some weedy streets and lonely and unlit streetlights:

A small but thriving community was built in the 1950s and lasted until the 1980s when the economic pressures on the steel and mining industries became too much. You can get more of the story here.

Star Lake Cook County, MN

Cascade River Cook County, MN

Sunset

(click to enlarge)

Sunrise

Snapshots

Sorry for the lack of posts. Some combination of travel, work, laziness, blogging funk, and maybe a few other things that escape me at the moment have led to that. Time to see what I can catch up on I guess.

Here are some pics from up north(as always, click on any pic to see it full size). This is the harbor of Grand Marias, MN as seen from a scenic lookout a little ways up the Gunflint Trail:

Up north you can also get your geese in a row:

This is a little fishing pier on Mink Lake, about 15 miles up the Gunflint Trail and then a couple of miles down a Forest Service road. I had it all to myself for the whole three hours. I got a few hits and managed to bring three brook trout in, but alas, no keepers:

One morning as I sipped my coffee I spotted a doe and its fawn as they came out of the woods for a drink of that sweet Lake Superior water:

They were very nervous and they didn't dawdle. They both had a good drink and then back into the woods they went. I'll leave you with one more of the big fog:

Caribou Lake

Caribou Lake, Cook County, MN:

North Shore Scenes

I'll call the sun, center pocket(click any pic to enlarge):

Some eerie red rain from last night:

More below the fold.