Two Days at Two Harbors

Historic Lighthouse at Two Harbors
It is a Bed and Breakfast now and another lighthouse has been built on the break wall

Nestled right next to each other, Burlington Bay and Agate Bay are the two bays that give the town of Two Harbors its name.  Burlington Bay has a very nice municipal campground and public beach where we camped for our “two days in Two Harbors.”  We had a campsite overlooking the bay and Lake Superior with the beach just a short walk down a staircase behind our RV.  It was a very nice way to end our two month tour of Lake Superior.

 

Our campsite on Burlington Bay

 

Agate Bay is the working harbor and it is where the gigantic “lakers,” or ships that sail the Great Lakes, come into port.  These huge lakers are guided into Agate Bay by the lighthouse and then they maneuver into one of three massive steel docks.  Just how big are those docks?  Dock #1 is over 1,300 feet long and seven stories tall.  Each side of each of the three docks has 112 pockets.  Trains full of taconite or iron ore move along the top of the dock and down load the ore into hoppers.  When a laker comes into dock, the chutes along the side will drop down into the hull of the boat to load the iron ore. 

 

The steam tugboat, Edna G. next to the iron ore docks
The Edna G. was the last steam tug in operation on the Great Lakes

 

Agate Bay was the site of the first shipment of iron ore from Minnesota in 1884.  Since then iron ore has been the foundation of the city of Two Harbors.  In fact, Lake Superior’s first iron ore dock and the largest in the world at the time was built in 1883 in Agate Bay.  Every year over 10,000,000 tons are shipped from Two Harbors!

 

Watching the Lee A. Tregurtha come in to dock



We were fortunate to see one of the lakers come into Agate Bay and dock at Dock #2.  It was a brisk and windy morning on the break wall and there was a little group of onlookers watching the big freighter come in.  We were all amazed at the smoothness and agility of such a large ship.  One of the women near us said she couldn’t parallel park her car that well.  I might have to agree.  It was an impressive sight.  

 

Pulling alongside the dock
One of the men watching this laker come in told us the ship was a
converted WWII transport that served in the Pacific and was
 attacked three times by the Japanese.  Wow!

 

While we were in Two Harbors, we toured the town and both bays.  We visited the lighthouse and strolled along the lakeshore.  We saw the Edna G., one of the first, and it was the last steam tugboat in operation on the Great Lakes.  And of course we worked in one more hike.  It was sad to think we wouldn’t be waking up with sunrises over Lake Superior anymore.  Our time on the North Shore has been about as close to perfection as you can get. (If it hadn’t been for those horseflies, it might have scored an A+)  But we do have a quick stay in Duluth before we have to absolutely say goodbye to our Lake Superior adventure.  Then we really have to get serious about traveling back to Texas.

 

 The working lighthouse on Agate Bay
Men watching the laker dock

 

David’s Stats:

Days Hiked:  2  
Total Miles Hiked:  8.04
Ave. Miles per Day:   4.02     
Total Elevation Gain:  1,424  
Ave. Elevation Gain per day:  712