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Post by Just Plain Curt on Sept 13, 2006 16:10:31 GMT -5
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Post by herron on Sept 14, 2006 13:24:03 GMT -5
Nice images, Curt. That first one would make a great watercolor subject!
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Post by GeneW on Sept 14, 2006 13:42:32 GMT -5
Nice shots, Curt. Whereabouts is this? It's rugged country and the river looks beautiful. Does that opening in the second shot lead somewhere? Beautiful colour in these.
Gene
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Post by John Parry on Sept 14, 2006 14:46:48 GMT -5
Very nice Curt -
Intrigued by the second picture. Looks like the cluster of rocks mid upper left are basalt crystals ?
I like the other shots btw!!
Regards - John
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Post by Just Plain Curt on Sept 14, 2006 20:50:02 GMT -5
Actually Silver Islet is a tiny bare rock located directly behind the island in the sailboat shot. At one time Silver Islet was one of the top producing silver mines in the world but its location was its downfall. The tiny island was the opening for the mineshaft which led hundreds of meters down and sideways. Unfortunately, the island is only a meter or two above water level and as the island is on the unprotected side of the larger island, it gets the full fury of Lake Superior, the second largest freshwater lake in the world. Several rock walls were erected only to be swept away every winter. Pumps were required to run continually to keep up with the water. The coal supply ship was late one year and the mine flooded never to be opened again. As you can see from the photo there isn't much to prevent the enormous waves from submerging the mine. Gene, the opening in the other cluttered photo is actually a small alcove blasted into the rock. As land was at such a premium (the road is one lane wide with water on one side and a sheer rock wall on the other) all the miner's homes were literally blasted out of the rock along the shore so the lots are miniscule. The photo is a collage of oddities such as driftwood, moose horns, weather vane, etc. and shows the access steps up to an artist gallery and antique store. The general store still remains in use today as a summer tea house and store. It was owned by Canadian news person Lorne Saxberg until his recent death in a scuba diving accident in Thailand so we'll see if it opens again next summer. To be honest John, the rocks may well be basalt as I'm not up on my geology. Sorry.
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Post by Just Plain Curt on Sept 14, 2006 21:13:56 GMT -5
Just a couple more and then enuff, I promise. The original General Store still in use. The latter three pictures show the artist gallery, steps/collage, and instead of an outhouse a tiny studio for sketching the lake.
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Post by GeneW on Sept 14, 2006 22:04:46 GMT -5
Curt, thanks for the info and the other photos. What an interesting place! I'll bet it's a long, hard winter for anyone living there year round, but it's extremely picturesque in the summer. I'm enjoying those creative handrails on the steps up the side of the rock.
Gene
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Post by Microdad on Sept 14, 2006 23:19:44 GMT -5
That's really cool! Do you know if anyone's tried diving (scuba) in the mine? That's really wild that they blasted areas out of rock to build homes.
Thanks for the pics and info.... might be worth a trip there someday.
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Post by Randy on Sept 15, 2006 6:41:19 GMT -5
This is a nice thread, lots of information and photos. Curt, this is what makes this board different, folks like yourself. Thank You! ;D
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Post by Just Plain Curt on Sept 15, 2006 18:36:47 GMT -5
Hi Randy, Just nice to be able to contribute once in a while. I have no formal education in photography like many here, or digital expertise so I try to share what I know...old cameras most people don't give a second look and local history. Hey, we all do what we can huh? Hi Steve, As far as I know no one has done any diving on the mine. I used to dive in the early eighties, but never on Silver Islet and only twice on Lake Superior. Colder than a snowman's bum in December and doesn't usually warm up much deeper than 4-6 feet even in the summer.
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