Hackensack to Bemidgi

Another full day on the Paul Bunyan Trail, but of course there is always something different to make things interesting.  The weather forecast was for good conditions until 3 PM, so we planned our departure time so we qould arrive at 2 PM, just in case the forecast was off.  That didn't do any good, because it started raining about 1:30 PM!  Fortunately I had packed my rain gear, and that prevented me from getting very wet, and the temperature was in the mid 60's so I didn't get cold.

Most of the trail today was very much like what we experienced yesterday, except there weren't any small towns with interesting things to take pictures of.  The pictures I have posted on previous days pretty much cover what we saw today, with just a few exceptions.  I've talked about bike trails that are created from former railroad beds, and much of what we rode today was that.

Fortunately, our volunteer coordinator and route planner is always looking for interesting options, and today there was an opportunity to take an alternate trail route.  I knew it would be interesting because at the start of the alternate route there was a sign which said something like "Notice: The next 8.5 miles could be a challenge for some riders".  I count myself as part of that group.

The terrain was winding and hilly.  I certainly worked harder on that section than any other part of this trip so far.  It is interesting to me that they don't have a sign to tell you when there is a long uphill grade coming, but if it is a downhill, this is what you see:

There was also one flower blooming, which I found picture worthy (and it also gave me an opportunity to catch my breath for a bit.)

We did have an interesting lunch experience.  Stopped at about the only place open in the little town of LaPorte, and arrived just about the same time as a group of about 20 Red Hat Ladies.  There was one bartender, who also was the waiter, and as far as we could tell, one cook.  They were doing the best they could, and we are a pretty laid back group, so we just waited them out.  Had to do some extra stretching before finishing the last 20 miles after a longer than expected lunch break. 

We have now reached our furthest North location.  Starting tomorrow we will be heading mostly East until we reach Lake Superior in Duluth.

Thanks to Nettie for tonight's sunset picture

57 miles today