Day 11

Day 11

We were greeted  by our enemy the south wind this morning. We were still in good spirits as we looked froward to what we would find in the bump in the road Jacobson 6 miles away. The night before Joe had looked at Google maps and announced he saw a gas station. With visions of ice cream and coke we set off into the south wind. We were relieved to find that the towering silver maples lining the river acted as an effective wind break. Before reaching Jacobson we stropped at the Jacobson campground. The campground was beautifully set on a bluff with tent camping, several small cabins, restrooms and a cold clear piped well. We filled up with about a gallon of water and headed out. About 20 minutes later we arrived at the highway 200 bridge and the fabled gas station. After a walk of about a quarter mile we reached the Mississippi Landing gas station. The selection wasn't huge but we were soon walking back to the boats eating ice cream and carrying chips and cokes. The next location on the map was Willow Wood campsite, and true to form it was overgrown. While this is a wilderness type of trip, the state of Minnesota publishes a map and claims to provide and up keep campsites, most of which are boat only access. Along the river the ticks and mosquitoes are thick like I have never seen but if the brush and grass are cut back the area becomes usable. Building these sites was at one time important to someone, brush was cut back, large metal framed picnic tables, steel campfire and grill rings were installed. For the most part what we see now has not had any real effort towards maintenance in many years. The forest has all but reclaimed them for the most part.

The second part of the day we began to enter and area where the maple trees had been cleared along some areas to provide grazing for cattle. We paddled past fat cows sleeping in the sun and large wooden barns bleached by the sun. We had all been wanting to get a good picture or video of the swans but they have been the most leary of all the birds. Rounding a bend in the river we spotted a fat swan standing on a nest. She did not want to leave the nest and slowly eased into the water and swam up stream. She was so focused on Joe and myself she swam very near Shawn who took a nice video. As we pasted the 2 o'clock hour the winds began to pick up and we had several long sections that required us to paddle with all we had to make a snails pace. We paddled on past Ms Keto campsite as we now agreed it wasn't worth bug bites to see another campsite. A mile later we reached the Verdon rest area and river access built and maintained by Aitkin county. The grass was freshly mowed and brush was cut back. Joe quickly brought up the idea of pushing on because it was only 4:30, I quickly said 25 miles was enough for me and I voted to camp here. Shawn quickly added he was in no hurry to reach the Gulf so he was staying as well. Joe tried for a few minutes to change our minds but soon set out on his own. Shawn suggested cooking a small snack before we set up camp and I fully agreed as I seem to be very hungry all the time now. For the next hour or so we moved about setting up tents, building a fire and I finished with a with a swim and wash before supper. After dinner I checked the radar to look at the rain and storms the weather radio had been talking about for the last two days. The radar showed a small squall line inching towards us and another developing line back in the Dakotas. We crawled into our tents hoping our luck would continue to hold and the rain will come while we sleep and be gone in the morning.