Tettegouche State Park has collapsed, taking with it the work of thousands of years of Lake Superior waves.A park spokesman said the first reports of the collapse came Saturday, but that it's not exactly clear when the rock bridge fell into the lake. "Definitely within the last week, but probably in the last couple of days or we would have heard about it sooner, considering how well photographed that site is," Jim Bischoff told the Duluth News Tribune on Sunday. At this point it appears no single event or human activity triggered the collapse. "There was no big wind or waves or storm. I think it was just time for it to go after how many hundreds or thousands of years," Bischoff said. "That's just geologic progression. We had an arch, now we have a sentinel" pillar of rock on the shore.In fact, the DNR's web page for Tettegouche State Park tells potential visitors that the "archway was consumed by the same natural forces that created it. Weathering and erosion have left behind a new landmark, a sea stack, sure to be photographed by many for years to come." Tettegouche State Park is along the North Shore near Illgen City, about 30 miles east of Two Harbors. It's the second famous Northland waterfront arch to collapse this year. In April, officials at Apostle Islands National Lakeshore discovered that a famous stone arch on Oak Island had collapsed over the winter. ---------------------------Additional information from Duluth News Tribune/http://www.duluthnewstribune.com//>
