Backbone Cabins

The future of seven seven cabins built by the Civilian Conservation Corps at Backbone State Park in northeast Iowa is in the hands of a special task force.

The CCC was the original government jobs program in the 1930s, putting people to work building parks and national infrastructure (and in Backbone's case, cabins, dams, shelters and bridges) as part of a plan to lift the country out of the Great Depression.

After hosting park visitors for seven decades, the Backbone cabins are at a crossroads.

“We are going to have to spend some money on these cabins whether it is restoring or replacing them,” Kevin Szcodronski, chief of the State Parks Bureau for the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, said in a DNR press release on the matter.

“These cabins have historic value and have been a destination for generations of Iowans. It is important for us to determine whether the structures can be feasibly renovated or whether the condition has deteriorated to the point where they should be replaced,” Szcodronski said.

In addition to the DNR’s Engineering Services Bureau evaluating the cabins’ structure, Szcodronski said visitors of the cabins during the past season will also be surveyed for their input.

The task force will be meeting at the end of November and will be making a final recommendation by the end of the year.

Located just south of Strawberry Point , Backbone State Park is 2,000 acres and is Iowa's oldest state park.

Train wreck

A grafitti face peers out from an overturned rail car.

It's always amazing how nature reclaims the ruins of man. Vast, once thriving cities are reclamed by the jungle after people move out. Unused roads are overtaken by grass and trees.

And the overturned rail cars begin to become one with the forest.

We first spotted the old train wreck about 10 years ago while hiking in a little, out of the way park that boasted nothing more than a wooden sign and a gravel parking lot. The accident was recent. They had repaired the tracks, but you could smell the cargo --- harvested corn --- starting to ferment inside the cars. The rips in the ground from impact were fresh. Trees and brush damaged in the crash were heaped in piles.

We figured the rail company would remove the cars, but they remain.

A few weeks ago we returned to the site, which has become popular with graffiti artists and an airsoft group. The woods are beginning to encroach back into the accident scene, and saplings have sprung up between the train cars.

City of Bronze

A few weeks ago, I traveled through Cresco in northeast Iowa, a city which has, by my calculations, the most public art bronze statues per capita. You can't go more than block without tripping over one.
I counted at least a half dozen on the main street that goes past the county courthouse. One park had no fewer than two (and a cool train display). There was one in front of the library and another at the fire station.
In all, the city has about 30 statues --- funded through donations --- and the welcome center has a complete list.
Above is a shot of the statue in front of the courthouse. Below is Justice, which is on the sidewalk near an attorney's office. The bottom is a closeup of Justice's feet.

Live Video: Polar bear cam

Live feed from Tundra Buggy

With cold temperatures on the day, here's a little something to get one in the mood for winter weather.

Above is a live feed from the Tundra Buggy which is covering the polar bear migration in Manitoba, Canada. The remote control vehicle has been spying on polar bears and other wildlife in the Churchill area.

The project is sponsored by Explore.org, Polar Bears International and Frontiers North.

More info here.