June 28 - La Crosse to Pepin, WI (69 mi.)

Riding in Wisconsin has been a terrific experience; beautiful scenery, nice riding conditions, and friendly people. I only have 45 miles left tomorrow before turning west into Minnesota to continue following the Mississippi (maybe). I also have less than a week until the end of this trip (maybe).
I left La Crosse at just after 6:00 AM this morning and after only a couple of miles on city streets I was on the Great River State Park Trail (GRSPT). This is not a paved trail and with the recent rains I wasn't sure what the conditions of the trail surface might be. The Wisconsin MRT maps that I printed include an alternate paved route. However, the GRSPT was great; damp enough not to be dusty but not soft or muddy. This trail is 22 miles long and ends in Marshland.

Wisconsin's Great River State Park Trail

View of the Mississippi from the GRSPT

 After exiting the GRSPT, the route was WI-35 along the Mississippi all the way to Pepin. Great riding, tailwind, nice roads with good shoulders, nice small river towns, friendly folks and good food. All the makins of another fantastic day of bicycling.

US Army COE service facility in Fountain City

Great River Road - Wisconsin sign

Chippewa River just upstream from where it enters the Mississippi

  After cleaning up I went for a walk around Pepin. There is a museum that was still open. It is the old railroad depot that was relocated from down by the tracks to a park. There I met Ruth Varnum Alvord Hartung Swanson. Ruth says jokingly that she outlived three husbands but never killed any of them. She gave me a very good tour and showed me how they used to use an old bullhorn to communicate between ships on the river. What a joyous person, one of the highlights of my trip for sure.
 

Old train depot museum - Pepin, WI

Ruth Varnum

 I made my way down to the marina and took a pic of the high water. The view of the bluffs on the Minnesota side of the river were awesome. Lots of motorcycles on the road today. This is a nice place to ride.

High Mississippi River levels at Pepin, WI

Lots of motorcycles on the road today

 Tomorrow - Minnesota! I've started looking ahead to accommodations in the Bemidgi/Lake Itasca area for the weekend of July 4th and every place so far is already booked. If I can't find anything I'll go as far as I can and Susi will pick me up somewhere else.  I may end up having to turn back towards Minneapolis after a day on the Paul Bunyan Trail.  I'm not a purist about reaching the headwaters. By now I'm already satisfied with the trip even if I stopped tomorrow at the outskirts of Minneapolis.