Placid Pepin

On the left is a picture of Jake as they take a short break in the middle of Lake Pepin.  This lake is 30 miles long, behind Jake you can see 1/2 of the lake that they had already crossed.  If you look real close I think you can see "Pepie" in the background.  With Pepie's blessings they safely navigated 40 miles through Lake Pepin to mile marker 749 just south of Alma Wisconsin.

Aaron texted "Lake Pepin is beautiful and surrounded by mountains.  Winds were light and from the north.  Our neighbors at the campground last night fed us bacon, eggs, hashbrowns and toast.  We got a shower and clean dishes."

Today they should pass Winona Minnesota and end somewhere north of LaCrosse Wisconsin.

Posted by Aaron's dad.

Week 2 Statistics

556 = Total Miles Traveled
37 = Average Miles Per Day
1755 = Miles Left to the Gulf of Mexico
24% = Trip Completed
115 = Ahead of Projected Schedule
206 = Miles to go before a day off

Long Live Pepie

43 more miles today ending at mile marker 789 just north of lake Pepin. 

"Lake Pepin is a naturally occurring lake on the Mississippi River that is backed up by the sediment of the Chippewa River’s delta. The lake is 40 square miles, with an average depth of 18 feet, and is the largest body of water on the river. Pepin stretches from Bay City, Wisconsin, in the north, down south to Reed’s Landing, Minnesota.
In 1890 the Sea Wing ferry capsized in a bad storm, killing 98 people. To this day the Sea Wing disaster is still one of the worst maritime calamities to occur on the Mississippi River.

Perhaps the local lake monster, Pepie, had something to do with the ferry accident. Pepie was first spotted on April 27, 1871, and is still seen today on rare occasions (or after a few shots of tequila).

An American Invention: What would summertime in the U.S. be without baseball, hot dogs, the Fourth of July, and water skiing? On June 28, 1922, eighteen year old, Ralph Samuelson started experimenting with a thought that if you could ski on snow, you could ski on water. After attempting the new sport with barrel staves and snow skis, Samuelson shaped lumber, leather straps, and a window sash to make the first pair of water skis. On July 2, while being towed by his brother, Samuelson discovered that leaning backwards with the ski tips pointing up was the best strategy, and an American aquatic favorite was born on Lake Pepin." (written by Aaron prior to departure).

Tomorrow, being a Sunday, Aaron and Jake may run into numerous recreational boaters, jet skies and water skiers.  Who knows, maybe one of these waters skier will be a direct descendant of Ralph Samuelson.

posted by Aaron's dad

"Dam" Locks

Severe storms in the morning delayed Aaron and Jake's start. The day ended with 33 miles traveled to an island at mile marker 832 in south St. Paul which puts them at 513 miles traveled.  Aaron and Jake went through three locks, including the Saint Anthony's Upper and Lower Falls.  After these two locks the numbering system begins with lock 1(actually the 3rd lock) which they also passed through yesterday. Once again, I don't understand the numbering system.   It seems to me that the first lock should be named #1 and not the St. Anthony Upper Lock. Oh well, another mystery.

In 20 miles, the barge traffic will increase after they pass the confluence of the St. Croix River which is actually larger than the Mississippi River at this point.  The St. Croix River marks the border of Minnesota and Wisconsin.  Barge transport is an important means of shipping materiels in the United States.  In fact, in one gallon of fuel, 1 ton of cargo can be moved 60 miles by truck, 202 miles by rail, and 514 miles by barge.

Posted by Aaron's dad

Back to Civilization

Getting back into civilization has its advantages. Aaron and Jake were asked by a man standing on his dock where they were headed. It turns out this man had also canoed the entire Mississippi River. He invited them into his house as a severe storm crashed down. They enjoyed a dry shelter, pizza, beer and swapped stories with their new friend.

Aaron and Jake traveled 40 miles yesterday stopping at mile marker 865 just past the Coon Rapids Dam.  This was the last dam they will have to portage as they enter into the lock and dam system today. To achieve a 9-foot channel in the Upper Mississippi River, the construction of a system of navigation locks and dams was authorized in 1930. Dams are built by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to hold back water and form deeper navigation "pools." Most pools in the United States are maintained at a constant minimum water depth of 9 feet for safe navigation. Dams allow river vessels to use a series of locks to "step" up or down the river from one water level to another.  The St. Paul District operates and maintains 13 locks and dams beginning at Upper St. Anthony Falls in downtown Minneapolis and ending at lock and dam 10 in Guttenberg, Iowa.

Today Aaron and Jake will go through downtown Minneapolis including the first few locks. 

The Minnesota DNR maps have all been navigated by Aaron and Jake, from this point forward I will link detailed maps provided by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Posted by Aaron's dad

Beauty and the Beast

According to the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources this stretch of "the Mississippi River from St. Cloud to Anoka was designated as a Minnesota Wild and Scenic River in 1973 ..."  This designation helps protect this beautiful stretch of the river.  Today Aaron and Jake traveled 46 miles to Oak Island Camp midway between St. Cloud and Anoka right in the heart of this protected area.

Tomorrow they will spend most of the day continuing on this beautiful stretch only to end the day on a stretch of river that is ..."silty and in places, contaminated with sewage and industrial chemicals" according to the Minnesota DNR.  Thursday and Friday will bring urban sprawl and industry as they head into the state capital leaving the pristine serenity of the Headwaters behind.

Posted by Aaron's dad

Good News - Bad News

On Tuesday Aaron and Jake traveled 41 miles to the Seven Island Campsite (on an island) at mile marker 951.  The river drops 6 1/2 feet for every river mile between Little Falls and St. Cloud, because of this huge gradient drop there are several dams that all must be portaged.  Yesterday Aaron and Jake portaged the Little Falls Dam where they stopped in the little town for lunch. After lunch they portaged the Blanchard Dam.  On the DNR map it describes the Blanchard Dam as; "Portage left 300 yards - rugged trail traverses, two railroad grades ... This is the largest hydroelectric Dam on the Upper Mississippi".  Imagine making three trips longer than the length of a football field over rugged terrain carrying 400 pounds of gear and a canoe.  Needless to say Aaron texted that this portage was extremely difficult. 

The good news is they only have two more days of portaging dams because they will begin the lock system near Minneapolis.  The bad news is they have three more dams to portage before they hit the first lock at mile marker 853.

Posted by Aaron's dad

The Wall & The Log Jam

After a 51 mile day yesterday that ended at midnight the guys "hit a wall"  this afternoon and finished with 28 miles today.  They had to portage the canoe and gear in Brainerd which really took a lot out of them.  Even a small portage requires 3 trips, two for the 400 lbs. of gear and one for the canoe.  They are camping at Crow Wing State Park on the opposite bank from Camp Riley Military Reservation.

Question: What takes 150 lumberjacks, 5 teams of horses and one steam engine 6 months to break up?


Answer: The largest log jam in history. In 1894 a pile of logs a half-mile wide, 60 feet thick, and almost seven miles long was stuck in the Mississippi River near Little Falls, MN. The logs were being floated to the sawmills in Minneapolis and St. Paul to meet the demand of lumber for booming cities such as Chicago and New York. River divers were sent in to remove the key logs holding these jams together. These lumberjacks were some of the most highly skilled and the most respected in camp. It was not uncommon for as many as five or six loggers to die at once while trying to free the jams. Because of this specialized, dangerous job, the divers were among the most highly paid lumberjacks: seventy-five cents to a dollar a day wages. Some logs remained in place, gathering sediment and eventually becoming the islands that break the river’s path today.  (written by Aaron prior to departure)

Tomorrow Aaron and Jake will be passing through this area now referred to as the “Thousand Island” area of the river.

Posted by Aaron's dad

You Betcha!

Aaron and Jake rolled out of their tents this morning just in time to see a black bear swim across the river and lumber up the bank no more than 30 yards from them.  After a quick change of underwear they were able to stop in the town of Aitkin for a warm lunch and then proceeded to put an amazing 51 more miles of river behind them. 

They are camping at Half Moon Campsite, mile marker 1020 a few miles upstream from Brainerd made famous in the movie Fargo "You betcha, and I suppose that is your accomplice in the wood chipper?".  Tomorrow they will pass Camp Riley Military Reservation which will  be on the west bank of the river for 16 miles.  The river  meanders much less from now on so the mileage they acheive on the river will be more similar to "real" miles.

Posted by Aaron's dad

38 more miles

I got a text at 9:42 pm last night and all it said was 38 miles.  I interpret this as "we got a late start today because we were enjoying the 5 star resort".  When I spoke to Aaron on Friday night he said both he and Jake are sore; backs, arms and hands are all hurting.  If you look at the detailed map you can see the campsites are further apart, Aaron did not include a campsite because according to my calculations they are at river mile 1071.  This puts them 10 miles upstream from the town of Aitkin.

Many people have been asking me what the numbers are on the detailed maps.  The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers developed a system to keep track of the miles on the Mississippi River.  Miles are counted upstream from the Mississippi's confluence with the Ohio River, the southern tip of Illinois.  This makes the headwaters at Lake Itasca mile marker 1347 because it is that far from the Ohio River.  Aaron and Jake slept last night at mile marker 1071, you should be able to find that on the detailed map.  South of the Ohio River the numbering system starts over again counting upstream from mile "0" at the Gulf of Mexico.  Why there isn't one continuous numbering system is a mystery to me.

1 Shower

I spoke with Aaron on the phone last night after he and Jake traveled 44 miles to Sandy Lake Campsite.  Their goal was to get to the next campsite down river but being a Friday night the campsites were starting to fill up and they were running short on daylight.  Up to this point, the campsites they have been setting their tents on are river only access and usually only have a cleared area - the really nice ones might have a picnic table.  Last night at Sandy Lake they were treated with a campsite that not only included a shower but also a toilet!  I could feel the excitement in Aaron's voice as if they were staying at a 5 star resort. 

Aaron spoke of countless bald eagles, snapping turtles at every turn and a never ending meandering river.  In fact, he said that the river meanders so much that for them to travel 10 miles on the river they may actually be only traveling 5 miles "as the crow flies".

Week one statistics:

236 miles traveled (10% of the trip behind them)
2075 miles to the gulf
33.7 miles per day averaged
9 lakes traversed
300 feet in elevation descended
1/2 way to Minneapolis
$3450 Donated to breast cancer
200 hits on this website within the last 24 hours
1 shower for Aaron and Jake

Aaron and Jake will move from one map to the next sometime today so I have included both detailed maps to the right of this blog.

Posted by Aaron's dad

A drop of rain

On Tuesday, June 1st Aaron and Jake spent a 15 hour day on and off the water battling wind and rain as they crossed Lake Winnibigoshish.  It is said that a drop of rain takes approximately 90 days to travel the entire length of the Mississippi River.  Before this trip began Aaron and Jake estimated it would take 68 days to reach the Gulf of Mexico.  Now on June 3rd with just 6 days of paddling, including 45 miles today, they are 2 days ahead of the projected timeline which puts them at mile 0 on August 3rd.  Those drops of rain that tormented them on June 1st will dump into the gulf around September 1st and will meet their match when in turn they will be tormented by thousands of gallons of oil.

Aaron and Jake stopped at Swimming Bear Campsite last night.

Posted by Aaron's dad.

Smooth Sailing

Today Aaron and Jake put 34 miles of river behind them, stopping to camp at Leaning Willows campsite just outside Grand Rapids.  This section of river is a transition from the wetlands and forests of the headwaters to the lowland hardwood forest of Aitkin County.  Tomorrow they will need to portage around two manmade dams; one which controls the water level for Lake Pokegama and one that provides hydropower to the Blandin Paper Company.  Downstream from Grand Rapids the river shorelines become agricultural and then forested as it meanders through Aitkin County.

Posted by Aaron's dad

Rough Day

Aaron & Jake are a bit sore and tired after crossing Lake Winnibigoshish in rain and wind, finishing the day at 9:45p.m..  They only paddled 17 miles but wisely followed the shoreline and even stopped a few times to let the wind subside.  As a parent I am relieved and proud that they chose to respect the dangers of this large lake.  They spent the night at Lake Winnie Dam and should have a nice day ahead with a forecast of calm winds and temperatures in the high 60's.

Click on the detailed map to the right to see exactly where they are on the river.

Posted by aaron's dad

2 big lakes down - 1 to go

On Monday night Aaron and Jake camped at Meadowland Campground after crossing Lake Bemidji and Cass Lake covering a total of 37 miles.  Today they have to navigate Lake Winnibigoshish which is by far the largest lake they will encounter.  At this point most of the details are sketchy as cell phone signals are far and few between.  The limited texts we have received describe bald eagles, storms and high winds.

Posted by Aaron's dad