Day 18 - August 15, 2017 - East Grand Forks, MN to Iron River, WI

Day 18 - Tuesday, August 15, 2017 - East Grand Forks, MN to Iron River, WI
Distance: 544km,  Time: 8:30hrs
Sunny, Warm 25c to 18c
Overnight: Lumberman's Inn, 7770 US Highway 2, Iron River, WI (***) Clean and old, but friendly staff and bike parked outside my window.  No Breakfast at all, go to the next big town of Ashland.  Walking distance to a good Pizza place and the town. 

The push is on to finish this trip, only two more overnights on the road, but I did not get my rest day (ie. day #7) so I am getting a bit tired.

Today I will attempt to find the headwaters of the Mississippi which I know starts in Wisconsin and flows South to the Golf of Mexico.  The weather for the past few days has been warm to hot, but no rain and no smoke in the sky either.

The Mississippi River starts out as a creek about 1.5m across, and is a very slow flowing.  The primary source of the Mississippi River on the edge of Lake Itasca, which is in the far back of this photo.

My little diversion to Lake Itasca, cost a fair bit of time and distance, so after that I used my GPS to put me back on track, and it did, via County Road #9 which bypassed several towns, like Bemidji, WI.  Deer River, WI would become my late lunch stop and a photo of the local BNSF switching out the propane company. 

After lunch it was time to put the miles on I still had over 300km to go plus get through Duluth and onto Iron River (where everyone knows your name).

The next spot of significance is Proctor, MN, this is the home of the Duluth Missabe & Iron Range Railroad, now under the control of Canadian National, but one of there largest steam locomotaives is preserved on the hill overlooking Proctor rail yard and is a Historical Landmark as well.

This is a 2-8-8-4 steam locomotive, has two leading wheels, two sets of eight driving wheels, and a four-wheel trailing truck. The type was generally named the Yellowstone, a name given it by the first owner, the Northern Pacific Railway, whose lines run near Yellowstone National Park. Seventy-two Yellowstone-type locomotives were built for four U.S. railroads.

See this link for details: Details on Steam Eng 2-8-8-4

After all this exiting photo opportunities it was back on the road and into "rush hour" traffic of Duluth.  Again lots of construction leading to and on the Richard I. Bong bridge (US#2) between Duluth and Superior, WI. This is a spectacular bridge with great views of the harbour, too bad one can not stop on the bridge for a photo or two.

There is a marked economic difference between Duluth and Superior. Superior, WI has a more "working class" environment, and this city was the terminus for a number of the iron ore businesses with a substantial harbour operations.  In fact the harbour is the key economic driver to this day.  There is also a BNSF yard with some very interesting snowplowing equipment ready to go for the Winter season. 

BNSF Superior Yard, WI - Snow Plow

 Moving on from Superior (once outside of the industrial zone), you come to a very attractive state park on the shore of Lake Superior.

Lake Superior Beach

Lake Superior Beach 

After all this fun in Superior it is time to keep moving East, as Iron River is 40km away and the sun is setting.

I joked about Iron River, "Where everyone knows your name", it is the moto of the town of Iron River, so after a few hours in Town, I am not sure anyone did know my name - is that good or bad ?? another one of those unsolved mysteries of the road.

Downtown Iron River, WI

The best Pizza in Town of  Iron River, WI (only place in town)