It was a nice short day today & mostly on the Mesabi Trail. It is obvious that the Mesabi Iron Range is the past, present & future of this whole area. Where iron is being mined, the towns rely on it. Where iron used to be mined, towns struggle to survive. We see lots of small towns with mostly deserted business districts.
Today’s ride was a perfect mix of old rail beds & newer bike trails designed to get us from one place to another. Here is something I have not seen before in this area.
A lake with bright blue color. I’ve seen that before, but not around here. I know there is an explanation for what causes it, but I don’t know what it is.
As we rode along, there were a variety of displays connected to iron mining. One place they were obviously putting together an outdoor museum with this large display as the centerpiece.
It appears to me to be the method they used to load ore into rail cars, but no signage was up yet, so I will just have to come back later to know for sure.
The next town had a park with some interesting displays. I had Nettie stand in front of the tire to show some size perspective, and if you look carefully in the locomotive, you can see me & Keith getting ready to head down the tracks.
As we entered our destination town of Virginia, the route took us through the city park, which was large and well kept. Signs indicated that much of the development happened during the depression with WPA funds designed to keep the economy alive.
I was surprised to see the fountain still working this late in September. It seems to me that frost is not far in the future. I assume they know what they are doing, and it was a good picture opportunity. I don’t know if the tree carving is depression vintage, but again makes a nice picture.
Fortunately there was another sunset opportunity. This time right in town behind as much of a cityscape as this town can create.
31.2 miles today
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