Highway 61 ~ Grand Marais

Highway 61 ~ Grand Portage

Highway 61 is the road out of Thunder Bay that takes you to the States. Last week my son and I drove down to the US. These skinny poplars line the Canadian side of the border. The poplars have replaced the massive forests of pine that used to fill this area in the past. The pines were all clear cut and logged. The odd old pine waves from atop a cliff; its inaccessibility having saved it from the saw of 'development'.

After crossing the border into Minnesota, we stopped at this outstanding lookout over Lake Superior.

After driving a bit more we then stopped at Grand Portage, Kitchi Onigaming in Ojibwe. We did not go into the casino but rather walked along the beach towards the reconstructed fort of the North West Company.

We saw this skeleton-like driftwood that had floated onto the shore.

We also walked through the reconstructed Chippewa [Ojibwe] camp. Grand Portage is Ojibwe land. The per capita income on the reserve is $10,808. Grand Portage was once the means of bypassing the formidable high falls on Pigeon River for those traveling westward by canoe. Pigeon River became the border that divides the US and Canada. Pigeon River is named after Omimizibi, an Algonquin term that refers to large numbers of passenger pigeons. Prior to the mid 1700s massive clouds of pigeons darkened the sky, traveling up the river from the shore of Lake Superior. In those days a flock of passenger pigeons could number 2 billion birds. James Audubon once watched one flock pass overhead for 3 days. Passenger pigeons, of course, are long gone; in the 1800s hunters killed 50,000 birds a day, preparing their extinction.

After leaving Grand Portage, the next place we stopped was this beach of red stones and clear water that was right off the highway.

The stones became larger as the bay curved

This is the point of land that closes in the bay

with this lichen-capped rock sitting at the end.

Up close the rock is an imposing hard diabase shelf

yet permeable, for despite its fortitude it has been hollowed out by the water.

Walking back to the car, we noticed that the red stones were actually many colours.

beaver bitten

the other day on my morning walk along the lake shore I saw these 2 beaver-bitten trees. I thought, oh no, I hope he doesn't get the bigger trees.

then I saw another beaver bitten tree and another and

today I saw the beaver busy munching leaves for breakfast

back lanes

I often walk in backlanes. There is no traffic, less wind, and

sometimes you see an old patch of rhubarb, which makes great pie.

Backlanes were once popular parts of neighbourhoods

Backlanes are usually found in older parts of town

Suburbs do not have backlanes

Backlanes are lined with old garages and sheds

some might have a window

a door that latches

or old style double doors

The garages and sheds are usually made of wood

that is painted many different colours

but sometimes left unpainted

once in a blue moon you will see a shed of stone.
There are, unfortunately, some covered in vinyl siding, too, the contemporary cure-all slap-on.

This sign is riveted to the Finnish Labour Temple; find it in the backlane of Hoito Restaurant.

Rabbit Mountain ~ consumer culture fallout

an OV beer bottle opener for those smashed beer bottles. What is this spiral? I don't know.

by the pond puddle where a mallard was swimming

just past the croaking frogs

Christmas wreath now decorating the forest floor, lying beside yard waste left in plastic bags

closeup of Maxwell House coffee tin, mini Christmas lights made in China and the fake wreath

pink fiberglass insulation for the walls of a house

an old bench seat from a car

a computer monitor

a man's old oxford shoe

lumber waste and purple plastic toddler's wading pool

VCR

biker t-shirt "County Chopper"

a collection of beer bottle openers on a rusted tin lid

a tire rim

the inner tube of a tire and some foam packaging.

This is only a fraction of the garbage scattered all over Rabbit Mountain environs.