Meandering Mississippi
via bicycle from New Orleans to Itasca, Minnesota
with WomanTours
May 10 - June 18, 2007
Day 1 - June 15, 2007
Little Falls to Pine River, MN - a scheduled 66.9 miles
We got the route maps at 7 and had a short explanation, then Laurie adjusted my back gears with the help of Linda and Georgia. Linda held the rear wheel up, Georgia turned the pedals, I shifted the gears, and Laurie adjusted the settings. Then I was on the road by 7:20. We got out of Little Falls easily, and took SR 45 to Brainerd. It was a good road with little traffic, and the hills though numerous were not steep nor long. Going through Brainerd wasn't much fun as there was a lot of traffic, and the directions were a little confusing at one point. However, Jan, the sag driver, used chalk to mark a key turn for us since the directions said to turn at a stop sign and there wasn't a stop sign and the turn was quite a bit further than the directions said. I stopped at Wendy's for some ice cream and met Sue and Frankie there. They were finished, but they waited while I ate then we left together and found the Paul Bunyan trail. It is an excellent paved trail, and we were on it all the way to the Trailside Inn--30 miles or almost half the day. We met the sag at the town of Merrifield, and Sue and Frankie didn't stay long because they planned to stop in the town of Nisswa. I didn't plan on stopping any more, so I ate a banana, took an apple for later and filled up my reserve water bottle. Shortly after I left Merrifield it started to rain, I barely got my bike bag covered and my rain jacket on before it started pouring. It rained so hard the drops hurt when they hit, and I had trouble seeing. I'm very thankful we were on a trail and not on a highway with cars. When I got to Nisswa I could have stopped and found shelter, but it wasn't raining hard and shortly thereafter it stopped raining. I actually stopped and took my rain jacket off and took some pictures in the town of Pequot Lakes, but it started raining again then stopped again by the time I got to the Trailside Inn. The Inn is OK and the location is great--you can see it from the trail and there is a road you can take down to SR 371. Then you cross 371 and you are at the Inn. We had a GREAT dinner tonight--salad, sliced nectarines, shepherd's pie, turtle cheesecake or turtle chocolate cake.
Barb A. petting a stallion who came over to the fence as we were riding by
Frankie and Sue on the Paul Bunyan Trail
There were several war memorials in a small park beside the trail in Pequot Lakes. This one honors winners of the Purple Heart.
this memorial is for all veterans
this memorial is for World War II veterans
this memorial is for Korean veterans
this memorial is for Viet Nam veterans
this mural was on a building in Pequot Lakes across the street from the trail
Day 2 - June 16, 2007
Pine River to Itasca, MN - 72.1 miles
The last ride was scheduled to be rather long at 87 miles, and the Trailside Inn didn’t open for breakfast until 7 o’clock so Linda fixed breakfast in the trailer and our breakfast and snacks for the days were available at 6 am. We started with 19.4 miles on the Paul Bunyan Bike Trail just across the highway from the inn. In the town of Hackensack right beside the trail we saw a status of Paul Bunyan’s girlfriend and a statue of Paul Bunyan. Also Ann met us here with the Subaru with water and snacks. After leaving the trail we rode about 14 miles on CR 6 to the town of Akeley where there was a huge statue of Paul Bunyan and where Ann met us again; however, I opted for a stop at a service station instead for an inside rest room, an ice cream bar, and a cold Mountain Dew soda. After that we rode on SR 64 then SR 200. We had a nice lunch stop at a café in the town of Lake George. At that time I was riding with Jan, Pat, Judy, and Linda and we met several others in the café. While we were there Ann stopped in the Subaru and got a cup of hot soup to go. The highway signs were confusing us with their announcement of the mileage to Itasca State Park as it was a lot shorter than the distance we had left according to our route map. Then we came to the east entrance of the park and realized that our directions were sending us to another entrance. We called Ann and asked her about the two entrances. She said the east entrance was very close to the Douglas Lodge which was where we would be staying and the north entrance was by the Headwaters and then we would ride 5-6 miles to Douglas Lodge on the Bike Path. We realized we would have about 15 more miles to ride if we went to the north entrance so we told her that the 5 of us would be going in the east entrance. I think Judy and Linda rode to the headwaters later that day after checking into their room and resting. I chose to wait until the next day to see the headwaters as I had seen them in 1998 I was not that curious and anxious to see them on this trip. We were spread out quite a bit. Some were on the 2nd floor of the lodge, some were in suites a short way down the road, and some were in cabins. I was in cabin 14, which was about 3 tenths of a mile from the lodge and 2 tenths of a mile from where the trailer (and therefore our luggage) was located. However, I put one suitcase at a time on the seat of my bike and made two trips to transport them to the cabin. The cabin was quite nice. One bedroom with a double bed, a bathroom with a small shower, and a living room with a sofa and three chairs. There was, however, no phone, no air conditioner, and no other amenities—state park accommodations are pretty basic.
ear of corn beside the trail in Backus
Jan & Pat standing beside the Paul Bunyan statue in Hackensack
Paul Bunyan's girl friend in Hackensack
me sitting in Paul Bunyan's hand in Akeley
the east entrance of Itasca State Park
this sign welcomed us at the Douglas Lodge
Day 3 - June 17, 2007
Itasca, MN - a rest day - 12.1miles on the bike trail
Finally after 1,800 miles I am at my destination—Itasca State Park. In 1832, Anishinabe guide Ozawindib, led explorer Henry Rowe Schoolcraft to the source of the Mississippi River at Lake Itasca. It was on this journey that Schoolcraft, with the help of an educated missionary companion, created the name Itasca from the Latin words for "truth" and "head" (veritas caput). In the late 1800s, Jacob V. Brower, historian, anthropologist and land surveyor, came to the park region to settle the dispute of the actual location of the Mississippi's headwaters. Brower saw this region being quickly transformed by logging and was determined to protect some of the pine forests for future generations. It was Brower's tireless efforts to save the remaining pine forest surrounding Lake Itasca that led the state legislature to establish Itasca as a Minnesota State Park on April 20, 1891, by a margin of only one vote, making it the first of Minnesota's state parks and second oldest in the United States, behind Niagara Falls. It was established to preserve remnant stands of virgin pine and to protect the basin around the Mississippi’s source; since then the Park has become a famous natural and cultural landmark in North America. Much of the Park was spared from the logging of the late 1800s and early 1900s, leaving a legacy of old growth red and eastern white pine, along with oak, maple, basswood, birch, and aspen throughout the park. The largest white and red pines remaining in Minnesota are located here.
It stormed during the night and was still raining hard when I woke up, and I wondered if I would be able to go to the headwaters. However, by 10 o’clock it had stopped raining, and by 10:30 I was on my bike heading up to the Lodge and then to the bike trail. The 5.5 mile paved bicycle trail runs along the east side of Lake Itasca and connects Douglas Lodge and the Mississippi Headwaters. It passes two campgrounds and several scenic locations. I didn’t stop at any of the scenic spots on the way to the Headwaters, but I noted them and decided which ones I wanted to stop at on the way back. It is a rolling trail with gentle climbs and descents. Due to the rain there weren’t too many people at the Headwaters, and I was able to get good pictures. I stopped at the Headwaters gift shop and also viewed the outdoor interpretive displays and the indoors Headwaters History Center. Then I started back stopping first at the museum then the Pioneer Cemetery, Peace Pipe Vista, and the Visitor Center.
Historic Douglas Lodge was built in 1905-07 and is located at the southern end of the east arm of Lake Itasca.
The Mississippi Headwaters are 1,476 feet above sea level and here you can walk across this mighty river as it begins its run to the Gulf of Mexico. Facilities in the Headwaters area include a gift shop, restrooms, the Headwaters History Center and an outdoor Mississippi River interpretive display.
Some of Itasca’s early settlers are buried at the Pioneer Cemetery including Theodore Wegmann, the park’s first game warden. The site has interpretive signs that tell an interesting story about Itasca’s pioneers.
The Peace Pipe Vista overlook on Lake Itasca is a great place to see sunsets, take pictures and listen to the call of the loons.
The Jacob V. Brower Visitor Center is named after Itasca’s first park commissioner. It has a small gift shop and many exhibits and much information about the park and all it offers.
That evening before dinner we had hor'devours and salmon was the main course. After dinner Dusty presented necklaces to each sag driver, Vicki, and Linda that everyone had helped buy. Each necklace had a saying on it that was appropriate for that person. Some of them are given below::
Stephany - live in the moment
Ann - live your dream
Vicki - live, love, laugh
Linda - everything is possible
Georgia then presented our cards and the tips that were collected to Laurie, our guide, and Linda, our cook.
And Laurie presented humorous gifts to several people such as:
what if - Jenna
most determined - Dusty
most flat tires in one day - Judy N.
best dressed - Judi M.
mechanically challenged (3 broken spokes) - Stephany
The Old Northwest Territory - The first colony of the United States
Northwest Territory states with dates of statehood
story of the search for the source of the Mississippi - The term Mississippi originates from the Algonquin word Misiziibi – “a river spread over a large area.” The Ojibwe Indians referred to it as Gichiziibi or Ki-chi-zi-bi – “great river.” Romanticists translated this to mean “Father of Waters.”
Lake Itasca - the source
here the water leaves Lake Itasca and the Mississippi River begins - you can walk across the Mississippi by stepping from stone to stone
or a short way upstream by walking across this log
I chose to walk across the log and this is a view of the stone crossing from the other side
This sign states that 1,475 feet above the ocean the mighty Mississippi begins to flow on its winding way 2,552 miles to the Gulf of Mexico.
Caretaker Woman – In Anishinabe (Ojibwe) belief it is the women who are the Caretakers of the Water. In this sculpture, a woman is releasing a clutch of small turtles from a basket, renewing the seasons and continuing the waters of life. Her flowing hair is like that of flowing water. The turtles also symbolize the universal cycles of life in Anishinabe belief. The turtle’s round shell represents the earth, moon, sun, and seasonal cycles. The legs point in the four directions, the head points up to honor Grandfather sun and the tail points down towards Mother Earth. Turtles show us all directions of life – they live in the water, walk on land and breath air.
a fish hook and a riddle
a map showing the topography that created the big question mark or fish hook shape of the Mississippi
Two dams were placed in the headwaters area by 1892 and the 6 dams of the Headwaters Dam Project were one of the earliest large-scale reservoir system projects in the nation. Today 26 more dams have been placed between Minneapolis and St. Louis.
the Mississippi a short distance below its source
Henry Schoolcraft said in 1832 when he found the source “We…began to glide, with velocity, down a clear stream with a sandy and pebbly bottom, strewed with shells and overhung by foliage. Ten feet would, in most places, reach from bank to bank, and the depth would probably average over a foot.”
one of the graves in the Pioneer Cemetery
a continental divide is born
the Itasca Moraine
a quilt celebrating the centennial of Minnesota parks
a 2nd quilt
when I left the visitor center this butterfly was sitting on my handlebars
the 4 sag drivers & Linda the beginner--Stephany, Jan, Georgia, Linda, Ann
Laurie, Vickie, & Linda
Linda, the cook, in her small kitchen
Linda in her new WomanTours t-shirt & Laurie
these 4--Jan, Dusty, Georgia, & Edith--are going on to Canada on their own as they want to ride from border to border
Day 4 - June 18, 2007
Itasca, MN to Terre Haute, IN - the trip home
We had breakfast at 6:30 and then those of us who were going to the Minneapolis/St. Paul airport boarded a Bemidji bus that WomanTours rented for the trip. The driver was VERY nice. He helped Marilyn and I load our bikes on the bus and Laurie used two bungee cords I had with me to secure my bike. It rained off and on the whole trip and was raining when we stopped for a snack and a rest room break along the way. Mary got off at this stop because someone was going to meet her there. When we got to the airport he gave specific directions to those who were catching planes, and he went in to talk to Avis and Hertz as Marilyn and I were picking up rental cars and he wanted to be sure he took us to the correct location. We were at the correct spot so he helped unload the bikes then he helped me take my luggage to Avis, and he stayed to make sure that both of us got cars and were OK. I got a nice SUV at Avis that had less than 7,000 miles on it and when the 3rd row of seats were folded down there was enough room to lay my bike flat. However, when the Avis employee helped me load the bike he caught it on the edge of the door and broke the mount for the Garmin computer. It continued to rain off and on as I was driving and at one point it rained VERY hard. I'm very glad we weren't riding our bikes in a rain that hard. It was difficult to see the road, but I got behind a truck (not too close) that had a row of red tail lights that were very visible and was moving at a sensible speed and stayed there until the hard rain stopped. It took 10 hours for the trip from Minneapolis to Terre Haute, and I got home about 11:30 pm.
May 11 - May 17
New Orleans to Vicksburg, MS
361.0 miles
May 18 - May 24
Vicksburg to Charleston, MO
444.6 miles
May 25 - May 31
Charleston to Keokuk, Iowa
383.7 miles
June 1 - June 7
Burlington, IA to LaCrosse, WI
346.1 miles
June 8 - June 14
LaCrosse, WI to Little Falls, MN
284.6 miles
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