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When I saw it, our other grandmother, Joanne, lent me a little book that was alternately despairing and hopeful for me. 61 Gems on Highway 61 (Adventure Publications, Cambridge, MN, 2009, 2018) made me fear that a book of these “Wondering 61” columns has already been written, and there would be no market for a similar little book.
Then I read through many of the Gems and concluded that this column is sufficiently different that a publisher might see it as complement rather than competition. (All writer’s hope; some don’t have to self-publish.) So, I bought the book and will likely share a few more Gems with you.
The subtitle to 61 Gems is Minnesota’s North Shore From Well Known Attractions to Best Kept Secrets. Today I skip the well-known and share some now not so best kept secrets. (Thanks to the interesting Mayo couple from Two Harbors for filling us in. Their book came from similar wonderings on 61; there may never be a new idea….)
Courtesy of Barnes and Noble (with some edits) here are the 61 Gems from Duluth to the Canadian border:
1.Glensheen; 2. Brighton Beach; 3. Lakewood Pumphouse; 4. Stoney Point; 5. Buchanan Settlement Marker; 6. Pierre the Voyageur; 7. The Tugboat Edna G; 8. 3-Spot Train Engine; 9. Two Harbors Lighthouse Bed and Breakfast; 10. Two Harbors Break wall; 11. Sonju (Lighthouse Point) Trail;
12. Whispering Giants Sculpture; 13. Burlington Bay; 14. Flood Bay;
15. Kelsey Beach; 16. Silver Creek Cliff Trail; 17. Wolf Rock of Superior Hiking Trail; 18. Gooseberry Falls State Park; 19. Water Tower at Gooseberry Park;
20. Belle P. Cross Anchor; 21. Gitchi-Gami State Trail at Twin Point;
22. Iona’s Beach (NSA); 23. Split Rock Falls; 24. Madeira Pullout; 25. Crazy Bay;
26. Split Rock Lighthouse; 27. John Beargrease; 28. Silver Bay Marina;
29. Rocky Taconite; 30. Bean and Bear Lakes; 31. Tettegouche Camp; 32. Black Beach; 33. Palisade Head; 34. Shovel Pt. Trail at Tettegouche State Park; 35. Crystal Beach; 36. Illgen Falls; 37. Wolf Ridge Environmental Learning Center; 38. Sugarloaf Cove (no mention of nearby NSA); 39. Taconite Harbor; 40. Father Baraga’s Cross; 41. Cross River Heritage Center; 42. Temperance River,
Cauldron Trail: 43. North Shore Commercial Fishing Museum;
44. Butterwort Cliffs Scientific Natural Area; 45. Cutface Creek Pullout at
Good Harbor Bay; 46. Keepers House— Cook County Historical Museum; 47. Grand Marais Breakwall; 48. Chippewa City; 49. Devil Track River Stonehouse;
50. Paradise Beach at Colvill; 51. Kadunce Creek & Trail; 52. Devil’s Kettle;
53. Naniboujou Lodge; 53. Hovland Dock; 54. Two Fish House Beach;
55. Hollow Rock Resort; 56. Mineral Center;
57. Grand Portage Marina/ Campground; 58. Grand Portage National Monument Heritage Center;
59. Grand Portage National Monument; 60. Mount Josephine; 61. High Falls of Pigeon River.
When I inspected this list, I was first glad that I had stopped at 32 of the 61 Gems. Then I despaired that, in six years, I had not yet experienced 29 of them!
Here are a few of those many of us have not stopped for:
–Stoney Point: on old 61, a great place to park and view Lake Superior at its angriest. Some folk surf here. Relatively even and flat; beware water’s edge.
–Buchanan Settlement Marker (just beyond Stoney Point): a mid-19th century copper craze made this location the temporary seat of the U.S. Land Office—until no copper was found.
–Trail of Whispering Giants Sculpture: (I did not know this at all!) Sculptor Peter Wolf Toth has done a whole series of sculptures across the U.S. to honor indigenous peoples. One of those sculptures is at the edge of the Two Harbors R. J. Houle Visitor’s Center parking lot. There are 70 (Wikipedia says 71) more around the continent including 12 in Canada, plus one in Hungary! Hungary is less surprising because the sculptor was born there. Their images can be found here: www.pinterest.com/bfischer80/whispering-giants/.
With six years residence here, I know there are more than 61 Gems of the North Shore area. You will no doubt read of them her because we are not limited by the title of our writings.
To faithful readers: If you have visited more than 32 of these 61 Gems, email your number to me. The top three respondents will have their names published in the Cook County News-Herald unless anonymity is asked for.
Steve Aldrich is a retired Hennepin County lawyer, judge, and mediator, serving as judge from 1997-2010. He and his wife moved here in 2016. He likes to remember that he was a Minnesota Super Family Lawyer before being elected to the bench. Now he is among the most vulnerable to viruses. Steve really enjoys doing weddings, the one thing a retired judge can do without appointment by the Chief Justice. He writes this column to learn more about his new home area and to share his learnings with others—and to indulge his curiosities. Bouquets and brickbats to the editor or stevealdrich41@gmail.com. Copyright Stephen C. Aldrich and News Herald, 2022.
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