Day 7 - Tuesday May 23, 2023
Becker's Resort to Pines Resort/Lake Winnibigoshish Dam
Start 1248 - Becker’s Resort
End - 1230.8 - Pines Resort/Lake Winnibigoshish Dam
Today’s mileage - 17.2
Total mileage - 110.8
I got up early and we were on the river before 5:00 a.m. and made it to the opening of Lake Winnibigoshish by 5:30 a.m. The forecast for Lake Winni is for light winds in the morning, gradually building into rain and thunderstorms in the afternoon. The lake looked calm with little or no wind.
The mosquitoes woke up at first light and decided to join me.
But I was prepared for them.
If I was in my sea kayak, I would have just headed straight across the lake and not even thought twice about it. But I'm not in my sea kayak. So, I made a right turn and followed the shoreline. I have no wish to be in the middle of a big lake in bad weather.
Following Tom's advice I paddled to Richards Townsite in calm water and watched another beautiful reddish/orange sunrise. With the weather holding, I paddled over to Stoney Point and made the decision to cross 2 miles of open lake to the far east shore.
The crossing went perfectly and I was on the east shore before 9am. And the winds were just starting to awaken. By the time I made it to Tamarack Point, the wind was between 5 and 10 mph. I had made it to my planned camping site for the day and now I could rest. Unfortunately, the campsite was buggy, but the good thing was that the weather was holding. So I pushed on to the dam. I made it to the dam without any problems and I landed at The Pines Resort on the edge of the dam.
The staff here was very helpful and made sure I had a tent site and even helped transport my canoe and gear to my campsite.
Bones and I had perfect timing! Just after we had camp setup the storm came in and it started raining and thundering.
Bones: I don’t like the thunder and lightning. It’s scary and I want it to go away.
Then we experienced our first river magic. A couple of retired guys talked to me about my Mississippi River adventure and invited me over for a Walleye fish fry with potatoes and cold beer! It was an awesome way to end a long hard day. I can't thank these guys enough for their hospitality and generosity.
Kevin and Ron sharing the prized fresh Walleye cheeks. Melt in your mouth delicious!
Today is one of those days that the mileage can be deceiving. As the crow flies from Becker's Resort to the Pines Resort it's only 13.9 miles away. If you follow the Mississippi River’s path. It's 17.2 miles. My GPS says that I paddled 20.2 miles today. No matter how you look at it, it's a long day.
Btw.. the mileage at the top of the post is by Upper Mississippi River, not by the miles I paddled.
Some facts about the Mississippi River that you may or may not have known. The Mississippi River is approximately 2,320 miles long and is divided into two sections. The Upper and Lower Mississippi Rivers. The Upper Mississippi River counts down from Lake Itasca (mile 1347) in Minnesota to the confluence with the Ohio River (mile 0) at Cairo, Illinois. Then it starts over as the Lower Mississippi River mile marker 952 and goes down to 0 near Pilottown, Louisiana.
The Mississippi is the narrowest at Lake Itasca being between 20 and 30 feet wide. Its widest point is over 11 miles on Lake Winnibigoshish.
Today was another day of milestones for me. First was completing 100 river miles. The second was crossing Lake Winnibigoshish, the largest lake along the Mississippi River. It was a good day, in many ways and achievements.
Wildlife report
Bald Eagles, White Pelicans, Canadian Geese, ducks
This is a GPS map of my progress today.
Map 2 - Casa Lake to Vermillion River
River miles 1,261 to 1,193 (68 miles)
Minnesota Department of Natural Resources Mississippi River State Water Trail maps
https://www.dnr.state.mn.us/watertrails/mississippiriver/index.html