A day for the books.

Things started off with a relatively slow moving morning. A cup of coffee, some reading and relaxing. The plan was to swing by Kris and Toms place just upstream of Elk River, Mn. Kris had reached out via Facebook and offered to make us breakfast once we stop.

After packing up the boats we set our sights on Kris and Toms. It was a short one hour paddle from camp. We pulled up to the place around 10am. Kris' description made it easy to find (just after Otsego park, where the forest turns to bluff). Tom was sitting on a riverside bench in a black tshirt and gray beard, camera in hand. He snapped a few photos as we paddled into the landing.

We talked for a few minutes before he invited us up to his place for some breakfast, a shower and laundry. Unfortunately, Kris had to work and wasn't around.

Once in the house Tom topped us off with coffee and shared a few stories about the fellow through paddlers they had hosted recently. It had been a busy few days for them, as they hosted the 4 long distance hikers (turned paddlers) a few nights earlier, and Jeff from Toronto 2 days ago (all of which I had spent some amount of time with on the water). A guest book with photos and some short hand written messages sat on the kitchen table. As we flipped through the book Tom laid the back story for most of the guests. Some of the stories that stuck out included one guy who was sponsored by a mustache wax company, a group of 3 fellows who were def and mute, and one gentleman who was 80 years old and looking to break the record for oldest person to paddle the entire Mississippi.

After tossing in a load of laundry and getting a much needed shower Tom sat us down on the porch for breakfast. French toast, over easy eggs, sausage, coffee and fresh squeezed orange juice. Absolutely delicious and filling.

After breakfast Tom took us into town to look for some fishing gear. Although I love to fish, I didn't bring a rod with me on the trip as I had hoped to work on some new areas of self development. That was until I realized that I was passing up world class smallmouth water.

With a new $10 rod and reel, a few jig heads, a couple cranks and a frog pattern I was ready for action.

We got back to Toms place, finished up laundry, looked at maps and talked of the river down stream. In the basement Tom had several old maps of the Mississippi hanging on the wall, including a few that dispute the true headwaters of the river.

We packed up our boats ready to hit the river to make a few miles after a wonderful stop. Tom was planning to join us in his tom boat down river a bit, and boy were we glad he did. After paddling about 10 minutes Tom pointed out a bank that he likes to fish. With a new rod in hand that was all the clue I needed to rig up and toss some line.

Tom, Max and I spent the next 2-3 hours floating with the current and fishing. It was great. We all hooked up almost right away. Both Max and I hooked into a couple walleye that we kept on a stringer for dinner. Tom pulled in a few nice smallies. That time spent floating refueled me. It was great to be fishing.

The rest of the day and evening was spent paddling to Coon Rapids Dam. Max and I paddled late into the night, well past dark. We reached our destination around 9pm, cooked up some delicious walleye and deep fried a snickers bar.

A few late night casts yielded no results. Minneapolis tomorrow.