It's day 6 and at this point we have cover 82 miles and are camped along the beautiful Lake Cass. A lot has happened from our first post till now. Too much infact to cover it all in great detail but we will hit on some highlights and let our pictures tell the rest of the story (although there aren't many of those either). Day one: paddled to Coffee Pot campsite through the hot, beautiful grassy wetland that surrounds much of the area. When we arrived at camp we were beat and a bit burnt. While I carried stuff up Amanda was at the canoe crying and laughing from exhaustion. Day 2: paddled 16 miles to Fox trap campsite and found a seesaw. Day 3 paddled 20 miles about 8 of which was supposed to be know for being brutal and because of the extremely dense vegetation causing many paddlers to get lost. Because of getting lost at just the right time or maybe not we found out way to clear water. As if the 20 miles weren't enough our paddle ended with about 4 miles of downed trees to drag over and logs to get stuck on. At the end of the day more crying and laughing. Day 4: instead of resting we booked it to Bemidji before noon to send out some items we didn't need. Sorry little ukulele you'll have to wait. Bemidji was great! We ate Dairy Queen thanks to Colleen Bown, bought Amanda a hat and had a nice conversation with a curious police officer and ended at our favorite campsite yet, Stump Lake (picture with foggy sunrise pic). Day 5: a much needed rest day filled with swimming, yoga, card games, classic country music and a great little thunder storm, bathing, and a river version of laundry. Day 6: Although we thought crossing Lake Bemidji was an accomplishment and maybe it was but, Lake Cass (which we crossed today) was atleast twice that size. We put down a respectable 20 miles which was more like 21 because of a minor navigational error by Dave at Wolf Lake (too much howling). When we pulled up and were surveying our prospective campground a man named Mike approached us. Initially we thought he was going to tell us the campsite was full but instead asked us how far we were paddling. When we told him New Orleans was our goal he was immediately excited for us. He told us about several other groups who were about 4 days ahead of us and asked if we would sign his book of paddlers! We did and Took a picture with him. He offered us some fresh vegetables from his garden. Mike you da man!!! He also let us stay for free behind his camper (he is the campground caretaker) which happened to be the best view to be found of Lake Cass! Free food and free camping? Yes please! What a great day. We also met Denise his girlfriend what a cool woman! Well tomorrow we paddle a brief 11 miles to Governors Point campsite on the shores of the beast, Lake Winnibegoshish!
mmmmm.... Dairy Queen....
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