Headed for the Headwaters

DAY 8 ~ Our Great River Road Adventure

We departed Prairie Island Campground early this morning, as we faced a long day of pulling the trailers northward to our destination:  Lake Itasca ~ the Headwaters of the Mississippi River.

The men drove.  The ladies rode. Drove and rode.  Seemed like a long day!  We followed the river as far as Minneapolis, then we diverted to the "most direct route" to Lake Itasca.

By late afternoon we had arrived at our campsite, set up our rigs, met several neighbors -- Minnesotas, and then, we found what we had driven nearly 2000 miles to see: clear, cold water tumbling over a few rocks, forming into a stream six inches deep by eight feet wide, flowing in a northerly direction.  An humble beginning for the mighty Mississippi River.

Jamie showing us how far we've traveled along the Great River Road

John & Jamie discuss the river and its feeder rivers

 We waded in the cold stream, water so clear we could read a book through it. This tiny stream, more than 1400 feet above sea level, will twist and turn its way 2500 miles to the Gulf of the Mexico.   As it seeks lower elevation,  it will turn southward, gathering mud and silt and pollution from the St. Croix, Missouri, Illinois, Tennessee, Ohio, Arkansas, and Red rivers, spreading wide across parts of ten states before dumping into the Gulf.

We made it

Water flows across these rocks from Lake Itasca to form the Mississippi River

Standing in the middle of the Mississippi River, perched against the first bridge that crosses it

The fledgling river