you can see by the jackets in this photo that it was cool as we started our last biking day … & what a beautiful day it was … fresh, sunny, & cloudless. everyone was out by 6:30. we returned to the paul bunyan trail, which is just on the other side of that row of trees behind us across the street from the trailside inn, where we stayed in pine river.
alas, we were only on the trail for our first 17 miles today. i took this photo near the end of our trail ride as a reminder of how beautiful it was.
the town of hackensack marked the end of our time on the trail, tho’ the trail itself goes further. we stopped here at a very nice visitor’s center; the subaru was also stopped here. the town’s big attractions were statues of paul bunyan & his sweetheart, lucette diana kensack. here are judi & holly with paul; those girls must have a thing for thighs.
lucette was standing nearer the shore of birch lake. somehow the ‘ette’ suffix doesn’t fit a woman of such proportions! the sign proclaims that hackensack is not only the home of paul & lucette, but the birthplace of paul, jr.
i walked down by the lake & chatted with a local woman. she told me that there will be a canoe race on the lake today. a few minutes later the canoes started arriving. my sister & parents & i used to canoe when i was growing up. my dad painted our old towne canoe a bright turquoise that exactly matched our ’57 chevy. but these modern racing canoes are a very different creature. this one is made of kevlar. i picked up one of the black oars these canoeists were unloading; the oars are carbon fiber & weigh 6 oz each! one of the canoeists explained that the wide ‘wings’ near the rear of the canoe are there not only for some stability, but so that the craft is wide enough in at least one spot to officially be considered a canoe. these canoes are made in wisconsin.
with over 80 miles to go today, we couldn’t stop anywhere very long, so pedaled on. this photo gives you an idea of the gorgeous landscapes we enjoyed. the roads were usually pretty good … always 2 lanes, often with no shoulder. but traffic wasn’t too bad, tho’ there were quite a few vehicles pulling boats on this father’s day weekend. we’re in the land of 10,000 lakes, after all. we were often treated to beautiful lake vistas as we pedaled along.
around noon, at about 65 miles into our day, we came to lake george, a small town where we hoped to find a little café to sit down (on something besides a bike seat) & have a bite of lunch before continuing on to itasca. just at the edge of town we found one … the lake george café. everyone inside this tiny place was so nice … diners & staff alike. our waitress, crystal, pictured here, had a smile that would lift any weary cyclist’s spirits.
my homemade split pea with ham soup was scrumptious; i was mighty tempted to order a 2nd bowl. clark said her BLT was the best she’s ever eaten. & those well-padded red vinyl seats of our booth were just what our derierres were longing for. 6 or 8 additional cyclists from our group arrived at the café as we 3 were getting ready to leave.
about 12 miles later, we pulled into the north entrance of itasca state park. we had arrived! i bet you can tell from this photo how happy we were. ann came by in the subaru just at the right time to take our picture.
we biked on to the visitor’s center. it’s a beautiful building … & quite crowded today. a group of our cyclists who had arrived earlier were just leaving the center to pedal on to our overnight accommodations further into the park.
we 3 walked the 600 feet down a beautiful path to the actual headwaters of the mississippi. it’s interesting to read the info about how it was determined that these are the headwaters; only after early explorers sought the help of local indians were they able to pinpoint the source of the river.
here, clark, laura & i stand in the mississippi river just as it becomes the mississippi river … just below the row of rocks (notice the people walking across the rocks behind us) that marks the spot where water leaves lake itasca to begin flowing down the mississippi. you see a large black lab in the water near us. several folks brought their pets into the water with them.
this beagle didn’t go into the water, but she was sure interested in the goings-on. she reminds me of our beloved maggie, my son mark’s former beagle.
& here’s yet another photo to celebrate the end of our almost-2000-mile bicycle ride along this beautiful & important waterway. laura, one of the few with cell coverage here, was spreading the news of our arrival to family & friends in california.
the sign notes, “here 1475 ft above the ocean the mighty mississsippi begins to flow on its winding way 2552 miles to the gulf of mexico.” we didn’t ride every mile of the river’s length, of course; we started in new orleans, upriver from the gulf, & sometimes veered from the river’s course.
we treated ourselves to ice cream at the visitor’s center, then rode a gorgeous trail along the lake about 6 miles to douglas lodge, our check-in point. we got a kick out of this sign on the trail: a bike on a wedge of cheese, instead of the trucks on the cheese wedges we’re used to seeing along the highway.
