Take me to the River...

Aug 1 - Itasca State Park to Callaway City Park via Tamarac National Wildlife Refuge: 70.21 miles

Despite getting to bed early the night before, we don't get out of the tent until after 8am.  It was a very quiet night in our overflow campsite, which is always welcome. 

We have to spend some time putting together our plan for the next couple days, and the usual chores: make coffee and breakfast, write out turn by turns for the day, figure out where we'll be able to stop for food along the way and for dinner.  We don't start packing until almost half past 9.

Target for today: see the headwaters of the Mississippi (in Itasca State Park where we are currently camped), then head to the town of Callaway, where the city offers free camping in their local park.  This is a little roughly 63.5 miles once we leave the park, plus about 6-7 to get out of the park via the south entrance. There aren't many food options along the way, *maybe* two convenience stores along the route and one in Callaway. Before we leave, we must visit also the Mississippi headwaters in the opposite direction that we need to go. Oh well.

Forecast: sunny, mid 80s, lower winds.  HOORAY.

The poet that we met from the night before comes by to offer us lunch made with real vegetables, but we decide that we must decline or we really will be hurting to get to our target destination for today.  We happily accept their offer of fresh green beans, we get some more travel advice about places we should see as well as the best way to experience the headwaters, and we get another terrific poem.  I recorded this one:

This is all very good karma to start this day.  We set off around 11 to go to the headwaters. Not ideal, but so be it.

The Mississippi headwaters is a reverential place. Once you reach the headwater point, it is possible to walk downstream a short ways and get out again at a land-based trail that leads back to the headwaters point.  Waking the waters feels a bit like a holy trail. There is a steady procession of people young and old walking through the shallow waters among the reeds. The water is shallow to start, with little tiny goldfish sized minnows; it is above the knee by the point that we exit less than 1/4 mile downstream, and the minnows get bigger as we go, to as long as my forearm.

 walking the Mississippi headwaters water trail with Heather and many others

Now at this point we are starving.  If we'd realized how long all this was going to take us, we could have taken up our camp neighbors on their offer of lunch, but so be it.  We head off to the visitor center cafe, where there are some very amusing descriptions of food options: "Sandwich with turkey buried under layer of lettuce" (honestly)....  

We settle on sharing a veggie pizza.

"Didn't make any this morning."

We move on to two chicken pizza options, we'll take either.

"Didn't make those either."

Of the 6 pizzas on the menu, only 2 are actually available. We order the cheese pizza, and convince them to add chicken to it (they can't figure out how to ring this up, so no charge for the chicken).

When it comes out it is hot and delicious.  There is a HUGE qty of cheese (they promise 3/4 pound and they do not lie). We eat what we can and take the rest to go in our packs.

Leaving the headwaters to get out of the park is where we get the full scale of what people meant when they said "Yeah, Itasca has some great bicycle paths".  This is meaningless to us, having been on hundreds of miles of paths so far.  But Itasca literally has a segregated road system which for once is basically equal: you can get everywhere you want by bike on the bike trail, and you can get everywhere in the park by car on the road. Bikes do not go on the road, and cars do not go on the cycle path. 

Pedestrians are screwed, being pretty unwelcome on either, and using both. 

The first 5 miles after exiting the park are pretty magical. Beautiful road surface, rolling up and down, with pristine lakes appearing on either side. These are a still in a park, so there are no houses or docks on these lakes, just trees and grasses. There is plenty of tourist traffic here - cars and motorcycles.

Once we turn onto County Road 41, its all long straight roads through farmland with the occasional hill thrown in.  This is until we hit the winding roads around a series of lakes, where the trees take over again.

I get to see a Black bear crossing the road a couple hundred feet ahead, after Round Lake, before Tamarac. 

Tamarac National Wildlife Refuge is thrown in the middle of our route.  It's pretty hilly, all forested, with lots of signage indicating that people are absolutely NOT welcome to leave the road and traverse the refuge at this time. No problem.  There's not many cars to worry about this either.  I think I pass about 2 the entire stretch of the refuge.  I pass by lots of wetlands and lakes that are occasionally visible from the road. 

Where you can and can't go in the refuge and when.... 

I hit a TINY c-store at the far border of the refuge. The store has a lot more fishing supplies than food options, but I am grateful to grab the very last v-8 juice in an almost empty cooler, and a litter of ice cold water.  At the invitation of the cashier, I consume the juice inside the air-conditioned store who is expresses her amazement at the stream of x-country cycists stopping in the little place.  Being as how its the ONLY stop for 20-50 miles in each direction, I would besurprised  if many of us DON'T stop here. 

It is getting late and I don't really want todawdle  longer in the tired little store.  Also, I haven't locked my bike up and this always makes me extremely nervous. 

Finally!!  I see a few WHEAT fields.   We have not seen much if any wheat on our trip thus far, but now there are occasional wheat fields ripening in the sun. Also soy I think, and corn.

The town of Callaway is visible over 5 miles before reaching the turnoff.  The big bulbous water tower is clear on the horizon.  Having the destination actually in reach makes the rest of the ride go quickly. 

Ahhh... Callaway

Callaway is a main state road plus a small grid of side roads on either side.  I locate the "City Park" where there's a ball field, a chemical toilet, and a new-looking small pavilion protecting a single picnic table. 

I am really tired, and try my very first "Energy Drink", concocted from Starbucks coffee plus some chocolate, sugar and whey, which seems to be the only appealing option at the convenience store.  Although there are frozen veggies (HOORAY!!) which we wil definitely be having for dinner.   Thus, when Heather arrives, I am typing away on notes for days prior, and revved up about yet another very full day that we've had.

Our usual gear explosion

The city park is on the edge of town with the small pinic table facing a last row of houses on one side, a field of wheat on another.  There is a small set of bleachers which we opt to set up camp next to, and lock our bikes to the bleachers next to our tent.

I wave to the occasionally visible neighbors, and they wave back.  Seems OK.

Sunset view over Callaway from our campsite

Good night.