Upper Mississippi River (Journey to the Head of Navigation Part 3)

Day 5 continued  9/10/13     12:30 p.m. was our turn around time at MM 857.6. It's all downhill from here.
Lucky for us the small tow that we followed through the locks was still switching barges at one of the terminals so our return path was unimpeded. We dropped back down the 112 feet that we had risen in the three locks and decided to continue back downriver to an anchorage near Prescott,Wisconsin. Our only hurdle remaining for the day would be Lock 2 near Hastings, Mn.

Here are a few pictures taken of the rest of the days trip:

Minneapolis skyline.

Upper St. Anthony Falls from the top side.

Cells placed strategically to keep boats from being pulled into the falls.

Inside the Upper lock.

Approaching Lower St. Anthony's from above.

Weisman Art Museum at the U. of Minnesota.

Lock 1 infinity pool above the chamber.

Local excursion boats.

Old towboat made int a B & B.

Colorful housing in St. Paul.

St. Paul skyline.

M/V Coral Dawn tied below St. Paul.

We traveled unscathed back through the fleeting areas and found the lock at Hastings waiting for us. Good news. Our anchorage isn't too far from the lock. Just a left turn at the St. Croix and around the corner to Douglas Point.

Looking back at Prescott from our anchorage at Douglas Pt. on the St. Croix River.

A view to the North of the St. Croix valley.

By the time we dropped the anchor and started cocktails we had covered approximately 60 miles and made 7 lockages.

Day 6  9/11/13     ALWAYS REMEMBER!

The weather is always a big factor when traveling by boat. We've been very fortunate in only having an hour of rain so far and mild to hot temperatures.
Today we slipped under the bridges at Prescott and re-entered the Mississippi headed for Lake Pepin and an anchorage near Long Point. Only Lock 3 and Red Wing to transit.

 The river below Prescott.

Cleaning up a shallow spot in the channel above Red Wing.

Our plan was to make a short stop again at Red Wing Marina to pump out, take on water, grab some ice, and make a quick run to the grocery store. Simple plan thrown awry by the marina being closed and absolutely no one around. We did manage to fill the water tank before shoving off. We next pulled into the sea wall downtown for the short walk to the grocery store. Still in need of the pump out we ventured south of town to Bill's Bay Marina. No answer on the radio or the phone but there were a couple of guys working on the dock. The question of are you open was met with the response of  "No, but what do you need?" When told ice and a pump out we were pleased to find that they could accommodate us on both counts. How do you spell relief!
Mission finally completed we cruised on into Lake Pepin.

Maiden Rock bluff so named because of an Indian maiden who allegedly jumped to her death from this point rather than marry the warrior picked by her father.

By the time we arrived at Long Point the wind was gusting into the mid 20's from the North causing a bit of a chop on the lake. The preferred anchoring spot is on the North side of the point but would have been uncomfortable so we felt our way into a 5' spot below the point and calm water.

Our anchorage at Long Point once the site of a French fort built in 1700.

The water temperature was still near 80 degrees and the forecast was for the temps to start dropping in the days to come. With that in mind I took the opportunity to take my one and only river bath for the season. With Ivory soap in hand (it floats) I slid off the back of the boat and promptly found myself standing on the sandy bottom up to my neck. Mission complete I rinsed off with the transom shower and put on my tuxedo for dinner. Sorry no pictures of either event!

Pam's Asian salmon and some green stuff for dinner. The milk is mine!

Day 7  9/12/13     The sun was shining brightly as we pulled anchor and headed a short distance downstream to Hansen's Harbor Marina just above Lake City, Mn. to fill the fuel tanks. Hansen's isn't the snazziest marina but they're friendly, helpful, and have probably one of the best stocked ship's store's on the Upper Mississippi. And oh, their fuel is competitively priced. It's always a pleasure to make this stop.

   Hansen's Harbor entrance. Narrow but deep.

 M/V Vagabond at Hansen's fuel dock.

After our stop was complete we slipped back onto the lake and continued on to our next destination, Pepin Marina in Pepin, Wi.. Now Pepin Marina in itself is not what I would consider a destination. Too close to the RR crossings. The reason we stop is to go to the Harbor View Cafe. (www.harborviewpepin.com). The meals have always been unique and a notch above your normal bill of fare. Harbor View isn't a large place and you won't find a menu on the table. It's on a chalk board hanging behind the bar.

Harbor View Cafe in Pepin, Wisconsin.

Satisfied diners.

As a side note, Pepin, Wisconsin is also the birthplace of Laura Ingalls Wilder and Lake Pepin is the birthplace of water skiing.

Downtown Pepin from the marina. Not very big!

Fat and happy we left Pepin for our final leg of the lake.

Northbound tow on the lake. Not so big from a distance!

Minnesota bluffs at the south end of Lake Pepin.

We entered the river once again and passed by a huge sandbar that was once a large sand pit. The Corps of Engineers digs out areas of the islands to make a deposit area for the sand that is dredged from the river channel. Usually these pits are about 20' deep at center and an opening is cut to the river so it can fill with water making a great recreation area for boaters. Over the years as the channel fills in the dredges come along and pump the sand from the river into these pits eventually filling them in as this one has been.

Filled in pit now just a pile of sand.

On through Wabasha and on to Alma, Wisconsin where we had to wait a few minutes for the Myrtle Griffin to clear the lock and the water to be brought back up for us.

  M/V Myrtle Griffin leaving Lock 4.

Southbound BNSF train passing us as we wait at Lock 4.

After the lock we pulled in to the Alma courtesy dock just below the lock and strolled through the little town. Like so many small towns it has been punished by the times with many of the store fronts vacant. We did find a few shops still going and made a small contribution to the local economy.

Alma's main drag.

Just a few miles below Alma we had noticed a sand pit on our way upstream. Time to call it a day!
We crept our way in finding no less than 6.5 feet at the entrance and 20' at the pits center. We shared the spot with 2 rental houseboats and had a peaceful night.

 The deckhand burying the anchor in the sand.

The view towards the lower end of the pit.

Looking towards the upper end.


The final leg yet to come.....

Upper Mississippi River (Journey to the Head of Navigation Part 2)

Day 4 (9/9/13)     Another hot day on the way with temps forecast to be in the mid 90's! With that in mind we got out of Dodge before things warmed up. Three miles later we were locking through Lock 3, again our timing was good. Just as we left the chamber a southbound tow came around the corner. We met on a tight turn but a call to the towboat assured us that we would have enough room if we passed on the "one whistle".

Looking north from our slip just before we pulled out of Red Wing.

Meeting on the "one whistle" above Lock 3.

Once past the tow we had clear sailing up to Prescott where the Mississippi and St. Croix Rivers meet. This trip we turned left for the first time ever. In the past it was under the bridges and up the St. Croix.

Jct. of Mississippi & St. Croix. We went left.

Before long we were passing Hastings and cruising into Lock 2. Once again the deckhands were out holding on to the lines dropped from the lock attendant while capt. Kim relaxed in his helm seat.

It's good to be the skipper.

The channel runs by the rock bluffs above Lock 2 before zig zagging back and forth on it's way to the Twin Cities.

Rock bluffs above Lock 2.

Soon enough we came upon a railroad bridge. A call on the radio asking for the current clearance resulted in a question of how much did we need. When told, the bridge tender replied that we had plenty of room to pass under. (There are very few bridges on the river that have the height gauges on them like you find on the ICW.)
Even though we had "plenty of room", the bridge tender had a local switch engine hold position on one side of the bridge till we were safely under.

 Train engine waiting for us to clear.

He was right. Plenty of room!

By now we were approaching S. St. Paul. A very industrialized area with many barge fleeting areas both along and off the channel.

We passed this guy as we entered Lake Pepin yet he beat us to this point.

Also along the route was the airport in S. St. Paul.

The industry continued almost into the downtown area of St. Paul.

Coming into St. Paul.

Bridge construction greeted us as we neared downtown.

More bridges.

M/V Theresa L Wood tied to the wharf in the downtown area.

The state capitol where Jesse Ventura once reigned over the state.

Once through St. Paul the river narrows and seemingly disappears from it's metro surroundings. It was hard to imagine the hustle and bustle of the cities hiding behind the trees on either bank.

Where are the buildings and people?

Even the junction of the Minnesota River appears to be in the wilderness.

A short distance later we pulled into Watergate Marina at MM 845. Still hard to believe that just up the hill were thousands of people. That evening we summoned a cab to take us to The1029 Bar Nordeast (www.the1029bar.com) for dinner. 1029 was featured on Diners, Drive In's, & Dives and and had been calling to us since we left home. The cab ride never seemed to end. Turns out 1029 was farther away than we realized and subsequently we spent more on the round trip cab fare than we did on dinner! Even though we went over our transportation budget the meal didn't disappoint. Food in the bar is provided by the Smack Shack restaurant and lived up to the hype

Day 5 (9/10/13)     With a minimum of 6 lockages ahead of us for the day we snuck out of the marina before 9 a.m.right back into the hidden river.

 There may be civilization ahead.

Three miles later we closed in on Lock 1. But not before passing a

group of seniors doing yoga in the park.

Floating bollards. Our favorite way to tie off in a lock.

After Lock 1 we started seeing signs of life along the river.

Bridges must mean people.

University of Minnesota Medical Center.

Downtown Minneapolis looms in the distance.

Next up was the Lower St. Anthony Falls Lock.

 

Lower St. Anthony Falls Lock.

We encountered a 2 barge tow in the Lower lock and had to wait a few minutes for the water to drop back to our level.
Once out of the lock it's almost immediately that you enter the Upper St. Anthony Lock. Again the tow was just getting into the lock. We could have entered along side the barges if we desired but chose not to when we saw how tight it would be. The lock chamber is only 400 feet long and 56 feet wide. A normal barge is 35' wide. Because of the length of the tow the towboat had to disconnect and pull in beside the barges for the ride up.

 Approaching Upper St. Anthony's in downtown Minneapolis.

Tow entering the Upper Lock.

Our view of the Upper St. Anthony Falls from our waiting spot.

Refurbished factory buildings near the locks.

Our turn came just as it started to rain.

 In we go.

Out of the chamber and still raining I figured I might as well switch the fenders for the ride back down.

 My uncles used to drink this less than "Premium" beer when I was much younger.

Almost to the turn around point.

The train bridge at mile 857.6 that marks the end of the maintained navigation channel on the Upper Mississippi.

The red icon shows we made it as well as the notification on the right side of the plotter. Pam and I have now covered the entire length of navigable water on the Upper River. Next??? Maybe Cairo to New Orleans!

Stay tuned for the ride back...