Why farther north of course!
David the dogs and I packed up the camper and headed to the Ely area on Monday. This is really our first trip out on the 5th wheel by ourselves and it has been fun.
Our first venture was to Ely. Ely is a great town with lots of tourist traps....shirt shops etc. And we were so tourists! But I did find a yarn shop.
What a cute little place. I managed to buy some yarn as well.
Because it was raining we took off to the International Wolf Center where we could be indoors.
The center helps educate the public about wolves and their behavior. Although the wolves are in an enclosed area, the area is quite large and you cannot see it all from the public viewing area. Below is an excerpt from their web site.
The Center's flagship facility features triangular windows designed to represent wolf eyes and ears. The observation windows look into a 1.25-acre wolf enclosure and den site that is home for the resident wolf pack. Four wolves born in April 1993, served as ambassadors for the educational mission of the Center. They were joined by two arctic wolves in the summer of 2000. Since then, older wolves have moved into a retirement enclosure, and new pups have been introduced to the pack about every four years. The Center's Ely facility offers a variety of educational programs for adults and families. Afternoon, weekend and week-long visits include howling trips, radio tracking, snowshoe treks, dogsledding, videos, flights over wolf country and hikes. Programs are custom-designed for groups of all ages. Since its inception, the membership in the Center has grown to more than 9,500 people in 50 states and 38 countries. Membership continues to grow and provides funding for educational programs. We never did find out how the first wolves came to the center. I guess I should have asked but was just so intent on watching that I didn't talk to anyone!
This snarling wolf sure is pretty. I have no clue what she is snarling at (she because she is so pretty) but another one must have been near by.
And this guy came around the corner....guy because he is not so pretty!
The grey colored wolf had just come out of a den.
This was really very interesting and I would recommend it if you are ever brave enough to go way up north MN!
The next day was packed full of fun. In the morning we toured the Soudan Mines. The mine started in the late 1800s and closed down in 1962. It was closed because it was no longer cost effective to make iron this way. After it was closed it was given to the state. Not only is the mine area a cool place but the park is fabulous. We will be going back one day to spend a day at the park hiking the trails.
The trip down the mine was noisy and cold and quite the experience. They loaded maybe 10 of us in the enclosed 'hoist' to get us more than 2000 feet below the surface. the hoist is the same way that miners got down years ago. We were on the 27th floor of excavation which is where the tour is.
This is our tour guide. He did a fabulous job describing what it was like for miners early on. Those that worked in this mine were fortunate because it was one of the safest around. It was so geologically stable that they did not have to support any of the walls. They also had it well ventilated where other mines were not.
Here we are traveling through the mine.
And of course David was way more interested in the workings and the history. I walked around taking pictures.
David tells me that this is where they crushed the ore and then 'off loaded' it. What is off loaded it you ask...well I did ask. They put the ore into train cars waiting below
The abandoned railroad tracks where the trains would wait for the ore to be 'off loaded' :)
David also tells me that this is where the mine actually started. Pretty rocks don't ya think?
David was looking for a souvenir rock but didn't find one here.
But he did here....shuuuuuusssshhhhhh
That afternoon we went to the Vincent Shutte Wildlife Sanctuary. This place is a must see. I am sure that it causes loads of controversy, and I share in those doubts as well, but, well just but.
Vince Shutte was a logger and at the age of 25 he had his own logging company. The bear would come into camp and raid the miner's food. Vince thought the only way to stop this from happening was to shoot the bears. He did shoot quite a few before he grew tired of it realizing that that was not the answer so he tried putting food for the bear away from camp. Ahh haa this worked and the bear stopped coming into the camp. Vince continued to feed the bear and began to be able to identify many of them. As he grew older he started to worry about what would happen to the bear when he was no longer able to feed them. The American Bear Society (I think is the name) was started because of this dilemma and now supports the Vince Shutte Wildlife Sanctuary. The bears are wild and are in their own environment. At the sanctuary they do feed them beginning at 5pm continually until dusk. Volunteers carry green buckets full of seed, nuts and fruit that they then scoop onto stones or logs (they use the same stones/logs all of the time) and the bear eat until they are full. This is a supplemental diet only so the bear are do not depend on these feedings for their existence. There is a 'safe circle' set up where the bear are fed. The volunteers walk among the bear within this circle feeding them and acting calmly. When any bear is outside of this 'circle' the volunteers then chase them away by clapping their hands, making loud vocal noises or honking their horns. This is to help the bear realize that humans are not friends and to help keep them from becoming nuisance bears. The sanctuary takes a lot of heat for feeding the bear but they try to do so in a manner that keeps them wild and not dependant upon humans. They are able to identify 60 of the bears that come into the sanctuary. They know the personalities and habits of many of those bear. It is evident that the people who work there love their jobs and take it very seriously.
It is pretty incredible to see the volunteers walk among the wild and very huge bears. They do so calmly but you can tell that they are always looking and aware. They are also very informative about bear and their habits etc. I did learn that my bear will probably not ever bother us but it is a good idea to talk constantly while in the woods so that he knows I am coming. AND if he ever attacks me I should not play dead-that is for grizzly bears- but I should pop him in the nose. Can you just imagine! But it is what they told me. They also said that my bear mace is a swell idea. AND my bear, if he is a male like we think, probably travels our acreage because there is a food source there...berries. Apparently a male bear will travel 50-100 miles for a food source. And since we have seen bear prints the past two years he is probably a return bear and yes we are part of his area.
It's hard to type what we all learned but this place is an absolute must see. It was just awesome and once again we are coming back!
Unbelievable huh??? Not me no thanks.
This is Oscar a favorite among many. They say that he has cute eyes....right.... He is one of the oldest fellas that they know of and he is huge. His belly almost drags on the ground and he isn't even at his full winter weight yet. Each bear sort of has his favorite spot to eat. Old Oscar just moved from spot to spot eating. He did finally get full and waddled away.
A group of cubs just finished eating
Many of the younger ones were up in the trees. We were told that they do this to get away from something for instance a feisty male bear.
And what else do you do after a full meal....
You may be surprised to learn that this sanctuary is not opposed to hunting bear, in fact the person that now runs it is an avid bear hunter. They only ask local hunters and guides to hunt at least 10 miles away from the sanctuary.
An interesting and informative place.
Today we are in International Falls. Would have been a much better place if you guys could be here Mikey and Jan. There really is not a whole lot to do in International Falls but we will find something I am sure. Tomorrow we are going to go into Canada (bet I can find a yarn shop there) and one day I want to go to Voyager's National Park hiking. There are loads of bike trails I am just having a hard time getting David to take his bike off of the rack!
Having fun with the camera and two props.
A boathouse lookin kind of cool
Rainy Lake is where many come to rent houseboats. My mom and dad did this a couple of times. You putter around Rainy pulling over designated spots on little islands for a night or a day or whatever. This boat was not far from our little fishing spot.
Yup I can knit and fish at the same time...never mind that nothing was biting and I was paying NO attention to my line....
David spent most of his time reading.
Peeko wondering if he jumps in will HE get a fish.
We came home on Monday to a garden looking pretty good with not many weeds at all. I have tons of tomatoes that may never turn red as it is quite cool up here (68 degrees as I type). I have picked beets already and have some cabbage ready and ....
Next week our friends Mikey and Jan come up for a long visit...unless something happens as seems to when the four of us are together. The last time Jan broke her elbow! Maybe just maybe we will catch some fish with Mikey's guiding...nah probably not. But we will have fun and I bet there will be some damned big smokey campfires.
