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...

Upper Mississippi River (Journey to the Head of Navigation) Part 1

For many years our boating centered around a 30 mile radius of Dubuque, Iowa. Mile 580 on the Upper River. (580 miles above the junction of the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers). The big trip of the summer boating season was our annual pilgrimage to Stillwater, Minnesota. A destination approximately 260 miles north of us.
Stillwater sits on the banks of the St. Croix River roughly 30 miles north of Prescott, Wisconsin where the St. Croix joins the Mississippi on it's journey to the Gulf. At times it looks like a big milk shake where the chocolate colored waters of the Mississippi meet the amber hued waters of the St. Croix. We made this trip many times over the years and enjoyed every mile, every time.
This year Pam & I had the good fortune of being invited along with Kim & LuAnn Kissell on their boat Vagabond to do something a bit different. Take a left at Prescott and venture to the head of navigation on the Mississippi. Mile 857.6. The spot where the Army Corps of Engineers stops maintaining a navigable channel.

Day 1 (9/6/13)     Departure was set for 8 a.m. We almost made it! We did get out before 9 leaving Mid-Town Marina in East Dubuque, Il. and turning up river.

 Leaving Mid-Town.

We cruised past the Dubuque, Iowa waterfront where the riverboat Twilight was moored.

 M/V Twilight at Dubuque.

A few miles further and we were approaching Lock 11. A call on the vhf produced a short wait before locking through. Once through the lock the river widens considerably because of the dam.

 Above Lock 11 looking upstream.

Boat traffic was non-existent as we made our way north. We met our first barge just below Cassville, Wi.

Meeting our first towboat below Cassville.

Mark's Ark beached at MM 611.

Waiting for Lock 10 at Guttenburg, Ia.

Once through Lock 10 we made our way past Prairie Du Chien, Wi. Through Lock 9 without any delay and on to Lansing, Ia. to take on some fuel before making our way to our anchorage behind Gillette Island @ MM 674. Just a mile before anchoring we witnessed two towboats exchanging tows mid-channel.

Swapping tows @ MM 673

Looking north behind Gillette Island

Looking south from our anchorage. We were still able to see the tow switching taking place below us.

Southbound tow @ MM 674.

Day 2 (9/7/13)     Yesterday was hot (upper 80's) and today is forecast for more of the same. The anchor came up clean and we were underway. Just a few miles later we locked through Lock 8 @ Genoa, Wi. Once through the lock the channel winds it's way across the river to the Minnesota side near Brownsville before wandering on into LaCrosse, Wi.

Coming into Brownsville, Mn.

Approaching LaCrosse from the south.

Just above LaCrosse we met up with friends Kurt & Tina on M/V Perseverance who were waiting below Lock 7.

M/V Perseverance

The light at the lock turned green and in we went.

Heading into Lock 7.

A rental houseboat above Lock 7. Always wise to give them a wide berth.

The river just gets prettier as you head north and this area is no exception with high bluffs and wide expanses of water. It is also at this point that the distance between locks gets shorter and before long we were approaching Lock 6 at Trempeleau, Wi.

Our timing was good as we met this tow just south of Lock 6.

Heading towards lock 6 @ Trempeleau, Wi.

Once again we locked through with no wait and continued our travels to Winona, Mn. where we decided to hold up for the night to tend to a problem Perseverance was having. Someone was looking out for us because we found out that the sand pit above Winona that we were planning on staying in had been filled in.

Kurt & Tina treated us to dinner and as always there was plenty of bantering back and forth.

Day 3 (9/8/13)     Today was bittersweet as we parted ways with Perseverance and continued our journey north.

 Winona Marina as the sun comes up.

Just around the corner from Winona is Lock 5A. Lock 5A was built when the Corps realized that the water backed up from building Lock 6 at Trempeleau would raise the water level at Winona high enough to flood out part of the town.

 Lock 5A from the south.

Another rental boat coming out of 5A.

Nine more miles and we were passing Bass camp below Lock 5.

Bass Camp.

Fifteen miles later and we were passing through Lock 4 at Alma, Wi. Lock 4 was the first lock to start construction once legislation was passed in 1930 to build the lock and dam system on the Upper Mississippi.
A short while later and we were passing Wabasha, Mn.

National Eagle Center @ Wabasha.

Slippery's made famous by the movie Grumpy Old Men.

The entrance to Parkside Marina where we normally stay when visiting Wabasha.

A few miles up river from Wabasha we entered Lake Pepin, a body of water over 20 miles long and a mile wide. Sometimes rough when the wind kicks up our day was just a mild chop as we crossed.

This amphibious plane passed us as we crossed the lake.

Lake Pepin looking north.

Navigation at the top of the lake can be tricky without a plotter or charts to guide you. The tendency is to stay towards the Wisconsin side until your depth alarm goes off and then you notice south bounders hugging the Minnesota shore. Oh crap! This didn't happen this time but I can't say it hasn't happened in the past to some boaters.
The channel quickly narrows once out of the lake and meanders up to Red Wing.

The channel narrows below Red Wing.

Coming into Red Wing.

We pulled into Red Wing Marina only to find it closed for the day. No problem. One of the locals called the owner and within minutes we had a slip overlooking the channel. Once settled in we borrowed a wagon/dock cart and walked to the grocery store for provisions. We had a peaceful night watching the limited boat traffic go by.

Red Wing Marina is home of Boathouse Village.

A South bound tow passing behind our slip.

To be continued...