Day 1; Night 1 -- Itasca to Walker - 63 Miles

My long envisioned Mississippi River Bicyle Ride is now officially underway. I traveled 63 miles yesterday from the Headwaters of the Mississippi River in Itasca State Park north to Bemidji (yes, the Mississippi river flows north for about 30 miles before changing course) and then south from Bemidji on the Paul Bunyan Trail to Walker. Camped at a nice campground on Leech Lake that is right next to the trail. It rained hard last night, but my REI quarter dome tent was up to the challenge of keeping me dry. In retrospect, though, I do wonder whether I should have accepted the offer I received from the kind lady at the bar and grill in Lapointe (I was there for the grill; she was there for the bar :-)) to stay the night in her spare bedroom. Anyway, things are starting to dry out, so it's time to break camp and hit the road (trail) again!

Between Itasca State Park and Bemidji the River is actually just a sharply winding creek that I passed over many times. It is bounded by cattails and reeds in many places and the water flow is very low, especially in late summer after dry spells like the one we have been experiencing in Minnesota the past couple of months. The River flows in and out of Lake Bemidji, which is a beautiful, large lake in the town of Bemidji in far northern Minnesota.

I rode for hours on the Paul Bunyan Trail without seeing anyone. It goes through the Chippewa National Forest and the portion of the trail south of Bemidji is very remote. People at the campground warned me not to leave food around my campsite because black bears sometimes wander through looking for food....