A day of rest

Bobbing heads and wide open mouths and a very tired driver, after 23 hours on the road, we watched the sun come beaming into our windshield. We had finally arrived at Lake Itasca State Park. After milling around, settling the confusions that come with a unique adventure we sat up all of our gear and eagerly slipped our canoes into the pristine but very windy waters of of the lake. After a short paddle it was time to find "The Headwaters" of the The Mississippi River. We took a short two and a half walk beautiful and awesomely maintained Lake Itasca State Park along the bike trail that would lead us to the headwaters. A few walkers and bikers passed us by, all with looks of curiosity on their faces. Our walk would lead us to the growingvoices of small children playing and splashing loudly. As we turned the corner, there it was, the three and a half to four foot wide Mississippi River.
We walked it a bit to gauge water depths to decide if we were going to be able to take off from these headwaters. We're now approaching what we know as "hiker midnight" (dark) and the last forecast we heard was possible severe thunderstorms that produce hail. With that combination, that means it's time to bring this session of our daily progress to an end and climb in my into my tent and get re-acquainted with my tent and sleeping bag that I have been missing for so long. Tomorrow will be our first day of paddling in THE MIGHTY MISSISSIPPI!