Hosting the Helicopter: The U.S. Coast Guard in Duluth hosted the helicopter crew from Traverse City, Mich., last week for some practice training. ""CG Station Duluth came together with CG Air Station Traverse City to conduct helicopter operations, or helo ops, training with their H-60 Jayhawk. It was a great day for great training to keep us #semperparatus or always ready!" posted the Duluth station. Great day for helo ops and photo ops, looks like to us. Earlier this month, the USCG Hollyhock stopped by from its Port Huron, Mich., home base to onload buoys and help complete what the USCG calls "#OperationSpringRestore" on the Big Lake. Both the Hollyhock and the Duluth-based USCG Alder are 225-foot Juniper class cutters.
Castles at the Corps: The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers plays a big role in the history (and present) of the Lake Superior region. The Corps has offices for its operations around our U.S. shores, plus it hosts the Lake Superior Maritime Visitor Center in Duluth and the Soo Locks Visitor Center in Sault Ste. Marie (and, of course, operates the Soo Locks themselves). That means the Corps castle is a familiar logo to many. But did you know the Corps has actually built a few castles since that logo was unofficially adopted by the Army in 1840 to grace the Corps of Engineers’ epaulets and belt plate? Read all about the history and the castles, like this Castle Gatehouse built in 1902 as the Washington Aqueduct pumping station at the Georgetown Reservoir in Washington, D.C., on the Corps history page.
Trailing Ahead: The Iron Range and much of northeastern Minnesota is trailing ahead when it comes to development of pathways for recreation via hikes, bikes and ATVs. "Almost 2,000 miles of still-growing all-terrain-vehicle (ATV) trails, 100-plus miles of freshly built mountain bike trails and the nearly 135-mile-long multi-use Mesabi Trail have transformed the region into a trails destination," Lee Bloomquist writes for Business North. "In a region historically known for its vast network of snowmobile trails, northeastern Minnesota has rapidly grown into a vast network of all-season, all-sport recreational trails. Four major mountain biking venues, a huge variety of ATV/UTV trails, the state’s only off-highway vehicle recreation area, and the paved Mesabi Trail are providing residents and visitors with the getaway of choice." Non-motorized recreation has gotten a boost in the region with nice options like the 2.9 mile Maple Hill trail system of two-way single track (in photo). Last month, nine entities collaborated to launch RidetheRange.com, a website detailing mountain bike destinations across the region.
Alight with Lights: The Keweenaw Peninsula is a dream tour for lighthouse buffs, with eight lights within the 50 miles from Houghton to Copper Harbor (including two off the tip of the peninsula). "With the increase in copper production came greater demand for large-scale commercial transportation," notes the Keweenaw Convention & Visitors Bureau website. "In the mid- to late 1800s, Lake Superior served as a major maritime transportation route and was used to transport vast amounts of copper and other materials. Lighthouses were strategically built to help safely guide ships along the rocky coastlines and aided vessels coming in and out of the Copper Country." The webpage includes photos, maps and descriptions of the eight mainland lights, as well as lighthouses on Isle Royale. It's a great way to have a mini vacation from your laptop … or to plan for your in-person visits.
The Loss of Loons: Paul Sundberg, the former manager of Gooseberry Falls State Park, used his "Photo of the Week" blog to recall a story with his late friend, David Brislance, also birder and naturalist (and contributor to Lake Superior Magazine). Once on an outing near a familiar loon nesting site, the two noted unusual behavior in the mating pair. They had apparently just lost their eggs, which Paul noted with binoculars were broken and covered in flies. ""Mom slid up and then off the nest. In her mouth was half of one of the predator damaged eggs. She swam right up to our canoe holding the damaged egg. Still making the sorrowful sounds, she came within six feet of our canoe. She came so close I couldn’t even get the loon in focus with my telephoto lens," Paul writes. "She swirled the remaining part of the egg back and forth until it filled with water. She then opened her mouth and let it sink. I felt like I was participating in a funeral. Mom put her head under water and watched until the egg … disappeared into the depths of the lake." You can see all Paul's photos and his full story on his website. Like Paul, we wonder about the motivations. Who knows, after all, the loss of loons and the hearts of our wild neighbors?
Birthing a Marathon: On June 25, 1977, 150 runners readied for the first race from Two Harbors to Duluth and a Midwest phenomenon was born that would grow into Grandma's Marathon. This year on the 45th running of the marathon, founder Scott Keenan is releasing his marathon memoir, My Journey to Grandma's Marathon History & Heroes. A very personal retelling of the birth of the marathon, the book presents in small bites the various moments and people who contributed to the building up of the event that now brings in an estimated nearly $11 million into the Duluth economy over the extended weekend. The marathon and the Garry Bjorklund Half Marathon (Garry being one of the people you meet in the book) will be run Saturday. Scott, who published the book himself, is using the proceeds from it for the Young Athletes Foundation, the charitable branch of Grandma’s Marathon that provides money and resources to local youth organizations to help keep the area’s kids active and healthy. We asked Scott a few questions about the writing of the book and you can find the story on the Lake Superior Magazine website.
Seeding the Future from the Past: Abigail Stoddard of Grand Marais was celebrated at a special reception at The Depot in Duluth last Friday as the first scholarship recipient through the Erie Mining Company History Project. The reception was in conjunction with the St. Louis County Historical Society. The history project team, formed in 2014 by former workers of the Erie Mining Company, developed a book documenting the company's history and capturing 150 oral histories from former workers. Also out of that project grew a scholarship for a graduating senior from either Mesabi East or Cook County high schools. It was also recently announced that the book, Taconite: New Life for Minnesota's Iron Range, won the 2021 Minnesota Alliance of Local History Museums award and an award from the Mining History Association. Business North and Lake Superior Magazine did a story about the project and book.
Photo & graphic credits: U.S. Coast Guard; U.S. Army Corps of Engineers; Iron Range Tourism Bureau; Keweenaw Convention & Visitors Bureau; Paul Sundberg; Scott Keenan; St. Louis County Historical Society