Ely MN

We left Eau Galle Lake on Sunday morning and headed for Minnesota. 

We love Minnesota

I love Red Robin Gourmet Burgers, but there is no Red Robin restaurant near where we live, either in NC or FL.  Dorcas and I each have Red Robin loyalty cards that offered a $3.00 discount and that expired this day.  A Red Robin in St. Paul was directly on our route, 100 yards from the interstate, and we would pass there at lunch time.  It was fate.

We pass thorough Minnesota every year in the fall.  We always stop at Precision Frame & Alignment in Elk River for coach maintenance.  Dick Lorntson, the owner, is well known in the RV community for his knowledge of tires, suspension, shocks, handling and alignment.  In addition to an inspection of the whole suspension system we got a lube job, solved an air leveling problem and installed a new air dryer cartridge.  Dick offers free parking with 50A service for his customers.  We spent Sunday and Monday night there.  In our off time we did some shopping and went to a movie "Rikki and the Flash", which featured some good rock and roll.

PF&A RV Resort

We left Elk River about 10:00 am on Tuesday.  There was a severe thunderstorm approaching which  was forecast to hit the area about noon.  If we headed north quickly, we would would likely miss it entirely.  We struck out for Ely and did, indeed miss the storm.  We arrived in Ely about 5 hours later and checked in at Fall Lake Campground, a unit of Superior National Forest.  While we did miss the storm, we still experienced a strong cold front that produced rain and low temperatures.  During our 9 night stay at Fall Lake it rained almost every day and the lows were generally in the forties.  BRRR!!!

Cheap diesel?

As long as we have been driving a diesel coach, the price for diesel has typically run 20-30% above the price of gasoline.  Not so on this trip. However, less than a week after this photo was taken the price of gasoline had dropped to $2.499 in Ely.  The price of diesel hasn't changed.  Go figure.

Matilda showing off her balancing skills on the shores of Fall Lake

A Franklin ground squirrel.  Pretty common at Fall Lake.

Homeless Schnauzer at the Ely Public Library

Those crazy Minnesotans will paddle ANYTHING!

WELY broadcasts the news and plays the tunes in the North Country

Matilda looking for a ground squirrel or other critter.  Matilda loves culverts.

Ely is canoe country.  Fall Lake CG is canoe country.

Why did the grouse cross the road?  To show the possum it could be done (or more likely the porcupine, in the North Woods)

On Wednesday the 26th the weather improved, with sunny skies and 70 degree temperatures.  The forecast suggests fine weather when we put in for the Boundary Waters on Thursday August 27.  This year our friends Wayne and Lynda are not with us, so Dorcas and I are traveling on our own.  We will put in at Lake Isabella, about 45 miles south of Fall Lake.  Our route is undetermined; we may loop back to our put-in, or we may take-out at SR 1 on the South Kawishiwi River, and hitch a ride back to the car.

We will take out on Wednesday September 9 and, during that time, there will be no updates to this journal.  For those who want a Boundary Waters fix, you can read these two past posts:

This post is from our trip in 2011, the only other time we went in alone.  Click here. 

This post explains our methods and techniques for traveling in the Boundary Waters.  Click here.

Remember the Photo of the Week Sweepstakes where the Amish buggy is in the fuel lane? The winners are Bob and Lynn, who say "The Amish want to try and increase their horsepower".  Bob and Lynn, your prize s in the mail.

See you in a few weeks.

Eau Galle Lake WI

On Friday morning we departed Blackhawk Park, a COE park and headed north to Eau Galle Lake, another COE park.  The parks were very different;  Blackhawk Park has large open sites and is on a big river, while Eau Galle Lake has a much smaller number of tight wooded sites and is on a rather small lake.  The good news is we were able to secure reservations at the park for Friday and Saturday night, on fairly short notice.  The bad news is they were 2 different sites at the park, meaning we would have to move after our first night.  While still located in Wisconsin, the park is very close to the Twin Cities and seems to be very popular for those from Minnesota.  Using our federal Seniors Pass, sites are only $10 per night.

The obligatory location sign

When we arrived, we asked if there was any way we could park in one single site for both nights.  We pretty much knew the answer before we asked.  The park was full.  We were happy just to have a pleasant place to stay, one that was also very close to our next destination.

Camp 1 at Eau Galle Lake

We didn't really unpack on Friday afternoon; we knew we would be moving the next morning.  We did put the slides out and then relaxed.  We explored the campground and discovered that, while we could see the lake from the campground ridge, you couldn't get there from here.  There was no trail to the lake from the campground, and it was about a 15 mile drive to the lake, which we could see less than a mile below us.

About 11:00 on Saturday morning the folks on site #10, our reserved site for Saturday night, checked out. We moved about 75 yards up the hill and parked for our 2nd and final night at Highland Ridge CG.  It turns out this site was much nicer than our previous site.  It was larger, more open and more level.  Also it was at the top of the hill, and we were able to pick up about 40 TV stations from the Twin Cities transmitters, 45 miles away.  At site #4 we could receive no over-the-air stations.  We could not get satellite reception at either site, due to the heavy tree cover.  I carry a portable DirecTV dish, but decided it was not worth setting up for just a few hours of viewing.  On Friday night we did miss the network news, Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune.  Dang.

View of the top of the dam

After moving camp on Saturday, we drove to Spring Valley and explored the area around Eau Galle Lake and dam.  I had a hard time understanding why the US Army Corps of Engineers even built the Eau Galle dam.  It impounds the Eau Galle River, which had an extremely low flow on this day.  The information said the dam was built to prevent flooding in Spring Valley, immediately below the dam.  The dam towers 70 feet above the lake surface.  A local told me the lake had never risen more than 10 feet since the dam was built.  If the lake level rose to the height of the dam, it would flood hundreds of square miles of homes and farms upstream and likely result in a more serious flood than if the dam was not there.  I think the USA COE went a little overboard on this one.  They did, however, build a very nice and popular recreation destination.

A pretty lake

 I wondered where they got all the stone for the massive dam structure.  When we drove to the main recreation area we passed through this cut and the answer was revealed.

The "Cut"

Photo of the Week

You can buy anything at the Sam's Club in La Crosse Wisconsin!

Unfortunately, we didn't have room in the storage bay for this purchase.  Besides, Dorcas wouldn't let me.

Photo of the Week and Sweepstakes

While pumping diesel in Osseo in western Wisconsin we saw this.   What????

Enter the "What's the Amish buggy doing in the gasoline lane?  Sweepstakes."  Post your answers in the comments section at the bottom of this post by 8:00 pm EDT on August 26.  The best answer will win a free lifetime subscription to "The Adventures of Myron and Dorcas".  The decision of the judges is final.

What's an Amish buggy doing at the gas pump?  Check back and find out.

Paddling on the "Mighty Miss"

We couldn't camp on the banks of the Mississippi for five nights without putting the boat into the big water.  Today was our last full day here, so today was the day.  We put in at a picnic area a few hundred yards from our campsite.  We headed down stream and then turned north between Battle Island and a smaller unnamed island.  After a mile or so we turned left and headed for the west bank, which was in Iowa.  There we beached for a break and a snack.  We continued southward across the mouth of the Upper Iowa River.  We then crossed back across the main river channel, passed the southern tip of Battle Island and returned to our put in.

It was a pleasant and uneventful trip.  We are not particularly fond of big water.  The wind was predominately moderate, perhaps 6 mph, but we experienced some gusts up to about 20 mph.  No big boats came up the river, but there were about a half dozen power boats that gave us a wide berth.

We paddled only a little over 3 miles.   It was a good day on the river.

Paddling by Battle Island

The view upstream

Big water

Apparently the Mississippi River is a designated canoe trail, at least in Iowa

Our put-in and take-out at Blackhawk Park

Our route

Motor Touring the Great River Road

We departed Buffalo Lake on Sunday and headed north to Blackhawk Park, a COE park about 25 miles south of La Crosse WI, about a three hour drive.  On our way through La Crosse we stopped and did a little shopping.  We stopped at Sam's Club for a few groceries and Dorcas bought an iPad Air 2 at Best Buy.  She had been considering an upgraded iPhone and/or a new computer and couldn't make a decision.  Ultimately, she decided this was a good compromise.  With this devise she could still be happy with her old 3G 4S iPhone, and could also benefit from the the bigger screen that a small PC or MacBook might offer.  I think it was a practical choice.

We arrived at Blackhawk Park mid-afternoon on Sunday and set up for our 5-night stay.  It is a nice park with large spacious sites and 50 amp service.  The park is on the banks of the Mississippi River with Iowa just across the river.  We watched recreational vessels and commercial barge traffic plying the waters.  It seems white 5th-wheel trailers were the RV of choice in this park.  Only a few, including us, were camping in something else.

A barge on the river

Our site at Blackhawk Park

See all the white trailers

Cool rig!  Our neighbor for 1 night.

We are camped on the banks of the mighty Mississippi River and on the "Great River Road".  The Great River Road is not a single road, but a series of state and local roads generally following the course of the Mississippi River through 10 states from Minnesota to Louisiana.  So we had to do an auto tour of the Great River road in this area.  We left our camp and traveled south on WI 35 and crossed into Iowa at Lansing IA.  We then turned north driving primarily on IA 26.  We stopped at practically every overlook and point of interest.  The locks and dams were very interesting.  Most of the area we passed through was in the Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge, and there were many overlooks at refuge viewing sites.  We crossed back into Wisconsin at Winona MN and returned to camp on the east bank.

The Mississippi River bridge to Lansing Iowa

The Mississippi river bridge at Lansing Iowa

North into Minnesota

Minnesota loves canoes.  And we're not anywhere near Ely yet!

Historical monument marking the Iowa-Minnesota state line, 200 yards from the river

A view into the Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge

The 9-foot Channel Navigation Project was built from 1930 to 1940 by the USA Corps of Engineers.  It formed a 9-deep channel for dependable navigation on the Upper Mississippi River, primarily by raising the river level using a series of dams.  Locks were necessary to enable river traffic to get around the dams.  Today, the Upper Mississippi River – Illinois Waterway Navigation System includes 37 locks and 1,200 miles of nine-foot deep navigable waterway in Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, and Wisconsin.

A barge in the lock.  Note that the barge extends past the gates of the lock.

Even the barge companies like canoes!

This photo shows the corners of four barge units cabled together

The locks are 700' long and the 15-barge rafts are 1200' long.  Do the math.  How does that work?  Well, the tug would place the raft into the lock and disconnect the forward 9 barges, back out of the lock while those locked through.  Then the tug and the remaining  6 barges would lock through.  We never watched the whole process, but it seemed complicated.  Transportation by barge is very economical.  A barge is able to carry one ton of cargo 576 miles per gallon of fuel compared to only 155 miles for a truck and 413 miles by rail.  A 15-barge raft can haul as much material as 870 semi-trailers.

Most rafts are three barges wide and 5 barges long, about 1200' total length

Lock and Dam No. 7

For canoe people Winona MN is famous as the home of We-No-Nah Canoes

We particularly wanted to visit the We-no-nah Canoe factory.  Unfortunately they did not give factory tours.   It was not a very impressive building.  Like most canoe companies, they now produce more kayaks than canoes.  I have always claimed that Minnesota was the last bastion of the traditional open canoe.   Maybe not so much.

The We-no-nah Canoe factory

Our Great River Road tour lasted all day and covered about 175 miles.  Thankfully we arrived back at camp in time for happy hour.  In 2007 we visited New Mexico and started drinking margaritas with nachos every evening.  It was appropriate for the region, and a tradition was born.  Life is still good.

Nachos and a margarita.   A typical happy hour serving.

Paddling the Mecan River

While shopping at Rutabaga in Madison, I had asked Darren Bush, the owner of the store, for some paddling recommendations for central Wisconsin.  One river he suggested was the Mecan River and showed us that entry in "Paddling Southern Wisconsin".  I guess since we were buying a boat, or maybe he just felt sorry for us, he gave us a complementary copy of the guide book.  Sweet!  He said we should see Paul Harvey at Mecan River Outfitters and Lodge.  Paul Harvey.  Really.  And I also cycle in Florida with a guy named Ted Williams.  Really.  It turns out that Mecan River Outfitters and Lodge was only 7 miles from our camp.  It had rained the day before, but the weather forecast for today was dry, if somewhat cloudy.  So off we went.

We pulled into the lodge and a fellow came up and asked if he could help us.  I asked if he was Paul.  Yup.  We asked for a shuttle then spent some time talking about this river and others.  He was really a nice guy.  The Mecan is small and shallow, but thanks to yesterdays rain, it was up about an inch and was at a good level.  We chose Section 2 from the guide book, which puts in at a dam just below Germania Marsh State Wildlife Area and we would paddle southward to "Bridge 10", a few miles below State Road 23.

Paul rode with us to the put-in and drove our car back to the lodge and would spot it at the take-out a few hours later.  This was the maiden voyage for our new Prospector 15, and it was a good river for it.  Just after we shoved off Dorcas saw either a beaver or an otter on the far shore, but it disappeared before we could be sure.  The river was winding and shallow, but the bottom was sandy, so we acquired no significant scratches on the new boat.  Paul had done a pretty good job of keeping the river clear of snags, but he didn't get them all.  We were able to paddle around most dead falls, and boofed over most of the rest.  At one point we came to a fork and chose to go left, where most of the water was going.  Around the bend was a tree across the river that we could have dragged over, but it would have been difficult.  Instead we returned to the fork and took the right channel which was clear.

The put-in on the Mecan River with a virgin boat

A wide calm section on the Mecan

Matilda takes a dip

The only wildlife we saw, except for the bashful beaver/otter, was a plethora of birds.  Notably, belted kingfishers, red-tailed hawks, sand hill cranes and hundreds and hundreds of cedar waxwings.  Did you know that a group of cedar waxwings are known collectively as an "ear-full" or as a "museum"? Really.  Cedar waxwings most often are seen eating berries and fruit.  Sometimes cedar waxwings will eat fruit that is overripe and that has begun to ferment, intoxicating the bird.  Today they were skimming the river eating insects.

A cedar waxwing   Photo downloaded from the audubon.org

Negotiating a snag on the Mecan

The trip was fun and uneventful.  We saw two other parties along the way, but at the take-out was a group of 16 boats all taking out.  The first boats had just begun to take out, one at a time, so there were still a dozen or more waiting their turn.  I couldn't see the landing very clearly, and I asked someone near the end of the line if there was only room for one boat at a time.  He said yes.  In the meantime the boats were slow to hit the beach; some seemed to be timid and reluctant while others were drifting downstream and snagging in the trees and bushes.  We decided to barge on in and break in line.  We didn't hinder any other boats, and there was actually plenty of room for more than one to take out at a time.  Our car was there, and we loaded our gear and pulled out.  The pack was still taking out when we drove off.  Rookies!



Our route on the Mecan

After our paddle we returned to the Mecan River Outfitters and Lodge to report on the river conditions to Paul.  While there we toured the lodge and grounds.  The lodge is a large log structure, which Paul Harvey and his family built by hand with logs they cut and shaped themselves.  It is filled with interesting and unique carvings and artifacts.  Very cool.

The outfitters office

And now ... the rest of the story: 

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, Buffalo Lake Camping Resort was having their annual "Hoe Down".

From the Buffalo Lake web site:

August 7 - 9: WESTERN WEEKEND & BBQ
Giddy-up campers. It's time to put on your chaps and saddle up for some old-fashioned country western fun. There will be cowboy and cowgirl games in the afternoon. Followed by a BBQ dinner*. At night, we’ll be having a “Barn Dance”.

They had a big  tent, and were BBQing chicken and sweet corn.  There was a DJ and everyone was dressed in their best cowboy boots.  We didn't spend any time there, but it seemed like folks were having fun.