Freewheelin': My non-bike adventure at Lake Itasca State Park. ("Day" 1)

At the end of September I went up north to Lake Itasca. My friends, I have to say it was amazing!

Originally the plan was to go up to the headwaters for the Headwaters 100 ride and to camp for two nights with a bunch of people. As the time came close for the ride the forecast did not look favorable, everyone bailed except the initiators of the plan and myself. I was looking forward to camping regardless of the weather. So I went up there Friday afternoon and little did I know that I was about to have the experience of a lifetime.

First of all, the drive up to Itasca State Park was absolutely amazing. The further north I got the more colors were present. The leaves were still all intact, but the changes had begun. I arrived at the actual camp site about 6 pm and got my tent set up and a fire going and cooked myself some dinner. The others still had not arrived and didn't until about 10:30 or so. We hung out for a while and got told to be quiet by one of the park rangers, some people have no volume control.

I awoke Saturday to the sound of rain and it made me have to pee really bad. So I got up and went out into the woods to water the trees. It was raining pretty good and I was groggy and tired and didn't feel like messing around with the camp stove and what not, so I hopped in my car and drove to town. I picked up a cup of coffee and headed to the local bike shop, Northern Cycle. I met the owner and chit chatted with him a bit about this and that. It is a very nice shop and if you ever get up that way I recommend you stop in! After the bike shop I hit up the grocery store to pick up a couple supplies I forgot and headed back to camp. On the way back to the park I saw a bald eagle fighting off some crows for a spot to perch. I got to the park and it was still pouring out so I stopped in at the visitor center and chatted with the park's naturalist. My main question was "What do I gotta' do to see a bear?" at which point she advised me that I would most likely not see one because they are getting ready for the big sleep. Fine. I hung around the visitor center and chatted up some of the cyclists who were braving the rain and doing the ride anyway. I started to chat with a couple from Bismark, North Dakota. They attend many rides in Minnesota and have even been to our shop before. After a fun conversation they took off to finish the ride... because it finally stopped raining.

I got back to the campsite and everyone was up and moving about. They had a fire going and everything. I got my stove up and made a pot of coffee. We sat and chatted about what we were going to do and we decided to go on a hike. We made some delicious lunch and then headed out. We marched from our campsite all the way up to the headwaters. It was a strange feeling to see the beginning of the Mississippi river and reading the marker that states that it's 2552 mile journey starts there. By the time we reached the end of the trail that loops around the headwaters, the clouds had parted and the sun shone. It was as though we were being welcomed, it was truly beautiful. We headed back to camp and cooked up some dinner and had some drinks. The first full day was a success, it would have been nice to do the ride but I like the way it turned out anyway.