Northern Minnesota trip

The boys and I left last Saturday and headed to the Iron Range, with no real plan on where we would be staying (that got us into some trouble later, but that's a story for another time).  These first three pictures are from the Mineview in the Sky in Virginia which overlooks the now water-filled Rouchleau mine.  The overlook sits upon the waste rock dump from the earlier mine.  It was here that the boys began to realize just how big some trucks could be.

The next two pictures are from the Hull Rust Mine in Hibbing, which is one of the largest open pit mines in the world.  The boys were both given samples of taconite pellets, allowing them to see what exactly I was talking about.  They were also able to get into the largest truck they've ever seen.  Both boys enjoyed watching the trucks in the mine get filled by various sized loaders.

Our last stop on the Iron Range was in Gilbert and this stop was for me.  It was at an outcrop of pillowed greenstone.  Greenstone is a weakly metamorphosed basalt, pillows form when basalt erupts directly into seawater.  You also find numerous glacial striations, scratches in the greenstone from rocks imbedded in passing glaciers.  Following the striations allows you to see the direction the glacier was moving.  One small location on the outcrop you can see a small portion of the Biwabik Iron Formation that the glaciers did not remove.  The Biwabik sits right on top of the greenstone but is 800 million years younger than the greenstone.

The last four pictures are taken in Duluth.  Luke in Canal Park.  Luke eating Lex's dinner.  And two taken at the beach at Park Point.