Iron Range Vacation - last day!!

[dreamshark]

The bike ride to Buhl was not as much fun as the other segments we rode on the Mesabi trail - too many hills, some road noise from Hwy 169 and a destination that really had nothing to recommend it (the only thing Buhl can think of to brag about is their water). However, the real reason I wanted to ride this stretch was to check out the local ore pit along the way. The friendly night clerk at the Chisholm Inn told us where to find it. Back in her day, she told us, they used to party in the ore dumps out on old 169, but the mining companies have now fenced that off (as they always do when the local kids start having too much fun). I got a kick out of the "back in my day" remark - she's maybe 22 years old. Anyway, this little pit lake was exactly what I was looking for. However with temps in the low to mid '60's it wasn't exactly swimming weather any more. Next time we come up here, I'll know where to go.

The side trip to Duluth was actually an accident; we missed the turnoff to Hwy 33 and next thing we knew...

	Riding from Chisholm to Buhl - turnoff to local recreational ore pit Turn left at the old crusher.
	Pit lake swimming beach and boat launch Note how the lake bottom slopes gently away from the little beach. That didn't happen by accident; somebody dumped a big load of sand in there to turn this deep hole in the ground into an unofficial but usable beach.
	The deep blue-green waters A few feet to the side of the beach you see what the natural entry point to a pit lake looks like, dropping off abruptly into the blue-green depths. The water in ore pits is always that unearthly beautiful color. Copper?
	Chisholm overlook, heavily zoomed There are a lot of hills in the 5 mile trail between Chisholm and Buhl, but this is the mother of them all. That's the pit lake from the previous photos in the foreground.
	Duluth - lakeside walk Duluth has really fixed up this section of the waterfront with gardens, memorials, frisbee lawns and outdoor stages. That white thing is some sort of Lief Ericsson Memorial Boat waiting to be resurrected.
	Duluth - more Lakeside Walk I love the perky little baskets of geraniums dressing up the sooty tenements leaning out over the rail line. Rather European.
	Quintessential Duluth tourist shot Richard is reading the long-winded explanation for Uncle Harvey's Mausoleum, one of those indescribable objects that just sticks up out of the water in places like Duluth.
	Another quintessential Duluth shot Taken from somewhere in the vicinity of Canal Park, near the Duluth end of the lift bridge, looking back towards the bluffs.