The End/Beginning of the Great River Road

Deb in the River

Friday, Sept 10, 2021

  Today was a very exciting day for me--I got to cross another bucket item off my list. In my searches over the map of the United States, as I followed the Mississippi River up and down the continent, I had wanted to visit Bemidji, MN, and nearby Itasca State Park. The Mississippi River gets its start in Lake Itasca, flows out of the lake northeast toward Bemidji, and then eventually turns south and continues on to Louisiana. Today we drove through Bemidji, and spent the night at Itasca State Park. 

 The drive from Voyageurs NP was only about 125 miles, and we arrived in Bemidji at lunch time. We stopped at Paul Bunyan Park, on Lake Bemidji. The Mississippi flows out of Lake Itasca about 25 miles away, going through a number of lakes like a ribbon threaded with pearls, until it becomes much larger downstream. Lake Bemidji is both filled by the river, and then the river empties out of it as well. Bemidji is also the "hometown" of Paul Bunyan and Babe, his blue ox. The park has statues to both of them, as well as a lovely playground designed to be "accessible" for all children, including those with disabilities. The swings would accommodate a child who needs help sitting, and there's even a swing for a child who can only lie down. There were a number of children playing, as well as people just walking around enjoying the day, which turned from chilly in the morning to quite warm by lunchtime. I even changed into shorts! 

 We walked Cassie, ate some lunch, investigated the ice cream store across the street (they did NOT have sugar-free, so we didn't get anything,) and took photos of ourselves with Paul Bunyan and Babe. Finally, we stopped at Dunkin Donuts, where the Baskin Robbins DID have sugar free ice cream for Joe, and I had an iced coffee to satisfy my own sweet tooth. Then we headed for Itaska State Park. I had not realized that the Mississippi River was right THERE, and we drove over it as soon as we got back into the RV. So I made Joe turn around and go back, so I could take this photo of the river as we crossed it. It is only about 20 feel across at that point, I would guess, and it is only a mile or so in length, because it is passing between two lakes at that point. Anyway, we drove over it a second time, and then continued for 30 minutes or so until we came to the park. 

As we lined up for the campground entrance, I suddenly realized, it was Friday night! I had not made any reservations, and I was just hoping the park was not full. Well, we got SO LUCKY. They had ONE space, and it was because someone had just cancelled!! So we took the spot, which turned out to have a view of Lake Itasca through the trees. It was a very unlevel spot, but we decided we could live with it for one night. We got ourselves as level as possible, then jumped in the jeep. It was 4:30 pm, and we wanted to visit the Visitor Center before it closed at 6, and then go to the Headwaters of the Mississippi, which is what the park is most famous for. 

The visitor center was well worth the stop-- it had a number of excellent displays and panels explaining the search for the Mississippi headwaters through the 19th century, the importance of the river, and the natural life around it. There was one fantastic display about the Civilian Conservation Corps. Itasca is the oldest state park in Minnesota, established in (i think i remember) 1891. During the depression, the CCC was dispatched to build cabins and other structures to enhance the experience of visiting the park. The display included letters home written by boys who were working at Itasca, as well as an overview of the corps in general. I have always found the CCC to be so interesting, and I don't see why we can't have something like that these days. Our National Parks certainly could use some maintenance and TLC, and the government could be training and paying men and women to do this work. It would be so worthwhle. 

Anyway.... we left the center and drove back up the road a couple of miles (the park is very big!) to visit our ultimate goal--the headwaters at lake Itasca. It was around 6pm, and it seems like we really timed it well. There was almost no one there, and we were able to really enjoy the peaceful walk to the lake. When we got there, I climbed on the rocks, waded in the water (I was glad I'd changed to shorts at lunch time!) and really enjoy being there. Joey took photos of me and of the river heading downstream after it tumbled out of the lake and over the rocks. I was beaming the entire time, and I think the photos show how happy I was to finally be there.