Day 1 - The Start of an Epic Adventure Wednesday May 17, 2023
Lake Itasca to Coffee Pot Landing
Start 1341.6 - Lake Itasca - Mississippi River Headwaters
End 1326.2 - Coffee Pot Landing
Today’s mileage - 15.4
Total mileage - 15.4
Today was the start of my Mississippi River Source to Sea Adventure.
It was wonderful to share this important moment in my life with my family and friends via the Lake Itasca Headwaters Webcam. I’d like to thank them once again for their help and support in making this dream become a reality.
With a final wave to my family and friends on the webcam Bones and I began our adventure.
The mighty Mississippi River at its start is little more than a creek that you can wade across without getting your knees wet.
This first section is quite shallow and has quite a lot of trees and bushes hanging over the river that have to be navigated. These are called strainers and can easily capsize a canoe. So they must be treated with care.
Bones: I can tell you from first hand experience. I'm not overly happy that the spider population in this area is very abundant and seems to want to get in the canoe with us.
The larger obstacles are the many beaver dams and log jams that have to be navigated over with care. And one rapid that had to be portaged.
The day was full of beautiful wonders and a very enjoyable beginning.
Wildlife Report :
White tail deer, bald eagles, frogs, turtles, beavers, trumpeter swans, Canadian Geese, chickadees, red winged black birds, several kinds of ducks. And lots of smaller birds that I couldn’t identify. Unfortunately the ticks and mosquitoes are out as well.
This is a GPS map of my progress today.
Map 1 - Lake Itasca to Casa Lake
River miles 1,341 to 1,258 (83 miles)
Minnesota Department of Natural Resources Mississippi River State Water Trail maps
https://www.dnr.state.mn.us/watertrails/mississippiriver/index.html