Hmmm.... never thought of smelter byproduct as vitalising before!

I was always amazed at what grand courthouses some tiny towns had on my bike tours across the Midwest. We just don't do public buildings on such a scale or with such a vision these days... imagine the outcry if you were to spend the equivalent sums today for something so elaborate!

Hi,
Bill’s right. When I lived in Northernmost Minnesota years ago now, we used to go blueberry picking among the islands on Lake of the Woods and they were the best. I was afraid that I would no longer have access to these delights when we moved to France. Imagine my delight when I found out that they grow wild in the Alps, Vosges, and Jura mountains. They should be coming in soon….
Cheers,
Keith

What a day! Thanks for lots of pictures!

Agreed! Sun ripened wild blueberries are superior to store bought blueberries...

Orange one is orange hawkweed
https://michiganflora.net/record/363

Yellow flower is smooth hawkweed
https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/320888/browse_photos?place_id=29

Fungus is fly agaric
https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/321524-Amanita-muscaria-guessowii

So close... 13 lined ground squirrel.

https://oaklandcountyblog.com/2019/08/02/i-am-not-a-chipmunk/

I don't think the ferries allow bikes, but I like your thinking. How about this for an adventure: Smuggle your bike onto the Copper Harbor ferry to Rock Harbor, throw your bike onto your shoulder and carry it across the island to the Windigo Landing, then smuggle it onto the ferry to Grand Portage (not Grand Marais.) I wonder if the Cycleblaze moderators would accept such a trip as a legitimate bicycle tour.

I was planning to go to Copper Harbor, but with all the dilly dallying and rain delays, I decided to head south and east toward Marquette. Soon, I will look up your journal so I can read about the weird B&B host.

I just thought of this. I wonder if you can put a bike on the ferry in Copper Harbor to Isle Royale. They probably don't allow bikes on Isle Royale but I wonder if you could time it so that once you are there with your not allowed bike you could then catch the ferry to Grand Marais, thus making it possible to do a pretty cool circle tour around Lake Superior.

I was hoping you'd ride north to Copper Harbor. We did that several years ago. It was a beautiful ride. I kind of hoped we could catch a ferry to Isle Royal from there but they were all booked. But we did spend the night in a historic lighthouse on the west side of the peninsula. I wonder if it's still operating? It was a very cool B&B but the owner was a little weird.

I don't think I can do a complete review of each pasty, but maybe I can create a Top Five list at the end of the journal.

I concur with the pasty survey!!!

Thanks for the Wikipedia article. Between that and actually seeing some of their handiwork, I now have a great admiration for those woodcarvers too.

Thanks Bill, but I'm still going to call them Purple Missile Flowers.