9/14/17 - St. Cloud, MN area

Following a long night of campfire stories and jokes a late morning was in store. I slept in until about 8 or 8:30. The forecast called for another perfect day, sunny and a high of 86.

I took off the rain fly on my tent and laid it on the ground for the rising sun to dry. A hot cup of coffee on the river bank made the perfect scene to bust out a few journal entries I had been putting off.

At 10:30 I was scheduled to video chat with my 6th grade class in Northern, Illinois. Once again, the discussion was great. I told a few stories of my recent adventures and took about 20 minutes of questions from the students. I've been working with all my classes for several weeks at this point, and somehow, none of the kids had asked the "bathroom" question. That was until today. A lot of laughs and whispering to friends when I told them about digging holes...lol!

Around 6:30AM I first came to. I use that phrase rather than waking up, as I didn't feel like I truly ever feel asleep. Between a hammock that will never lie flat (it always rests in more of a "U" shape), a warm night, mosquitos and a few bouts of sprinkles, l had what felt like my worst night of sleep thus far. Yet for whatever reason, when I decided to break down the hammock and pack away my sleeping gear I felt great. The sun rise burned the haze from the sky as the forecast called for a warm one.

I packed up gear, picked up my skateboard, backpack and water bottles with plans of a water and possible map resupply before hitting the river. A large Minnesota Department of natural resources (DNR) office was located just off the river in Brainerd. The idea was to skate to the office, which opened at 8AM, and hopefully pick up a few missing maps. The MN DNR prints 9 maps that show the entirety of the Mississippi through Minneapolis. I had copies of maps 1-4, and map 6, with the rest missing in action. As I skated to the office I swing by a gas station to refill water (2 empty juice bottles 64OZ a piece and a Nalgene) and grab a cup of coffee. I showed up to the DNR office just before 8. Come to find out, it was more of a compound than store or visitor center. They did, however, have a large display in the front entrance with dozens of free maps. Of course, the only maps missing were the ones I needed.

This morning I woke with hopes of passing through Brained, MN by days end. The stretch paddled today consisted of several long, stringy lakes stretched together.

The first thing I noticed in the AM were the amount of fishing boats on the water. I figured a tournament must be underway, based off of the high dollar boats I'd already seen. After packing up and hitting the water at a reasonable time I spoke with a few of the fisherman who confirmed my suspicion- there was indeed a bass tourney going on. 5 fish per boat would be weighed, meaning the top 5 heaviest fish would take first.

To me, there seems to be an inverse relationship between the cost of a boat and the amount of time it sees on the water. The silver beaters with a 25HP motor that hard starts and has to be loved just right to fire off seem to get more water time than the $80,000 suped up bad boy that sits in the storage unit unless it's tournament time, Labor Day or the 4th of July. Just an observation of an angler.

(Political post warning)

I woke up to the sound of Wade and Clyde moving around and beginning to boil water. Turns out they were able to stay dry sleeping under the tarp through the downpour, but didn't get a great nights sleep due to a chilly evening and the infamous Minnesota mosquitos.

After telling a few more hunting stories and discussing the Timber-wolf population in the area (Wade once had one stalk his tree stand while in it), the father and son duo hit the water around 7:45AM, eager to get active and regenerate some warmth all while looking to avoid the rain storm that was supposed to hit around noon.

Another solid day on the river with more good folks met!

Today started off slow...a late wake up, 2 cups of coffee, oatmeal and some morning relaxing lead way to an 11 o'clock start time on the water. A beautiful hot sunny day helped me recognize how lucky I am to be on this trip.

For most of my wilderness camping trips I try to refrain from bringing speakers or music along. For most of us, our lives are constantly filled with artificial noise. Cars, air conditioners, TVs, music, sirens, horns. For that reason, when I do get into the backcountry it's refreshing and replenishing to take in the sounds of our natural world and nothing else for a few days. However, on this trip, which is less of a wilderness trip and more of a grand adventure, I do have my phone with, and boy have I enjoyed bumping music while cruising the river. For the first half of the day I jammed all kinds of tunes- a bunch of bluegrass, a Dylan album, a live Marley shown and some late great Jimmy Martin. Perfect way to spend a few hours.