Yes, the legendary rocker Alice Cooper put it best, though it would be nice if school was out forever! I guess I wouldn’t get paid then, and unemployment sucks. Oh well, the two month break is very much appreciated and will be very relaxing.

In a stroke of perfect timing, the weather over the last week has seemed to settle down. The temperatures have been on the rise and at times it has even been uncomfortably hot. I guess that is what happens when the weather is all over the place and the sudden onset of heat gives the body a bit of a shock. Could be worse though; there are people in the northeast US who are dealing with 40C temps and no power. Kinda makes the 28C in my bedroom Sunday night a bit more bearable.

So, what have I been up to? Well, with aforementioned hot weather on the weekend, the family and I decided

Bass Lake, June 2012.

that camp was the best place to beat the heat. We really hadn’t been out to camp this year, aside from a few short little visits, so it was nice to get out to the lake. Swimming in the water was a treat as well, especially after a relaxing sauna. My kids love being at camp, a sort of change of pace from the regular routine. The only part I hate is when I have to cut the grass, since I LOVE to cut grass and do yard work. It only took 2.5 hours to do the whole thing!

If you’re a regular follower, you’ll have noticed that I’m a day late with this post; that’s ‘cause I was away from home for a few days. The family and I headed down to Duluth, MN for the night on Monday to do a bit of shopping and we just returned home. It was a nice little break, though the only downside (if you can call it that) was the heat. Yesterday was hot, and today was even hotter. The heat generated a pretty wicked thunderstorm last night, with bolts of lightning flashing across the sky; it was quite impressive.

Duluth Lighthouse, July 2012.

We spent most of today either driving or inside, which was a good thing since the truck thermometer was showing 30C+ (it was 33 at one point). We drove down to Minong, WI to take a look at some boats and the heat was absolutely stifling there. Even now it still is 34C with the humidity; I might just hide in the basement so I can get a decent sleep!

On the railway front there is not a lot to report. I wasn`t able to get out hiking last week, but I am heading out tomorrow. I want to finish the hike I started along Whitefish Lake between Wolfe Siding (Suomi) and Mackies. It`s not supposed to be as hot tomorrow (25C), but I`m not taking any chances and I will be heading out early to beat the heat.

Even though I was not out in the bush on field work, I did get a few things accomplished last week. While I was finishing up exams, I had a little lieu time coming to me, so I took Tuesday afternoon off and ended up at the Lakehead University (LU) Library. The Library you ask? Yes, the library. Seems pretty bizarre, but I had some time and there was some stuff I want to look at.

The internet has been a gold mine of information for me, but unfortunately not everything I find on the net is downloadable. They are like tempting little morsels, taunting me with what they might hold. I had found some hard copies of some material I was after at LU so I decided to pay my old alma mater a visit. It had been quite a while since I had been in the library to look up old books, so I was a bit dumbfounded at first. I had to ask for directions!

Most of the information I was after was located in old mining and forestry reports. There was some valuable information, particularly in the mining reports, since the Gunflint Range that holds the Paulson Mine extends into Canada for some 50 miles; the railway was supposed to tap into some of this Canadian iron as well. These geologic reports shed a lot of light into the quality and quantity of iron located in this extension of the Mesabi Iron Range. You can imagine how disappointed I was however when one book, which was supposed to have 4 maps of iron location along the railway, was missing two of the maps. They had been torn out! Thanks dirt bag whoever you were-now I have to try to find this book elsewhere, probably in Toronto!

I also found some time to start working on an article for the Thunder Bay Historical Museum Society, of which I am a member. I have been wanting to write an article for TBHMS on Leeblain for a while now, and since I have already written one article this year (no idea when that will be completed), I thought I would move on to something else. I have about 550 words so far, which is a decent start. Hopefully I’ll get a chance to work a bit more this week, as I know I will have to put it on hold soon to begin working on my slide show for my presentation on the 25th of this month. We’ll see where I am by next week.

Anyway, I better wrap things up since I have an early morning. I’ll have a bit more to report after tomorrow’s hike, and next week I will be on time! Until then…