Day 13 - Coffee-Colored Water

Plus a Water Tasting Showdown

Day 13: Lee Ferry Camp → Palisade, MN

Date: July 21st, 2022

URM 1111 → URM 1086

Distance today: 25 Miles

River Time: 8 hrs

I didn’t sleep well, as animal noises in the woods kept me up, and I was worried about the food. Such is life in the bush. Paddling was tougher today because I was sleep-deprived. Hopefully tonight will be better!

Today was not quite as windy as yesterday, but there were still healthy amounts of whitecaps. Because of the winding nature of the River, I would be paddling along just minding my own business, then round a bend and get slapped with ferocious gusts. I stuck close to the shores to make it past these westward-facing sections.

That was the majority of my day, just trying to avoid the wind as much as possible.

I passed a sign at my lunch spot that gave me permission to leave the Mississippi, but I think I’ll stay a while longer:

I also saw a family of trumpeter swans, my first sighting of this trip! (Though I’ve heard them before.)

The other thing I have noticed over the past two days is the deep reddish-brownish color of the water. I’m truly not sure if it’s been like that for a few days, and now there’s been a sunny day that illuminates it, or if the actual complexion has changed recently. In any case I was paddling in this coffee-colored water in the bright sun all day long. I believe it’s due to the iron content of the water here, as some of it drains from the iron range. This is further corroborated because it tastes like iron!

I’ve been sampling the water the whole way down the River (with purification, of course!) and the taste definitely changes with the character of the area I’m in. It got me thinking that even though I’ve only paddled 250 miles on the Mississippi, the water quality has changed many times. Oscillating between marshy, lake, clear stream, reddish, and more. And I must be honest that the best water so far has been Lake Bemidji water. Nice, refreshing, clear, and cold, without too much fish taste. Yum!

Now if I do say so myself, I have many trips of practice being a Water Sommelier, along with my friend Ikse. We’ve sampled water high and low, near and far, up and down, and side to side, and cataloged it all formally and scientifically. Now without further ado, here are the flavors and profiles of all the water I’ve sampled on the Mississippi so far:

Uppermost Headwaters: Tastes strongly of plants. A bit stagnant. Many floaties.

Coffee Pot Landing: Nice. Slight iron taste and slight plant taste. Clean aftertaste.

Iron bridge: Strong plant/bog taste. Not great but not bad either.

Lake Bemidji: Open water, fresh and quite clear. A background note of fish. Very cold. The best so far.

Channel between Bemidji and Cass: Exceptionally clear water. Clean on the palette, but has slight plant aftertaste. Close second place.

Cass Lake: Very clear water, but very forward fish taste. Likely due to all the dead crawfish I was seeing! Lots of floaties.

Lake Winnibigoshish: Almost as good as Bemidji but had more of a fish-forward taste.

Winnie → Grand Rapids: Decent. Background notes of plant-matter, but not overpowering. Well-balanced. Lots of floaties.

Grand Rapids → Palisade: Pretty good. Slight iron taste. Earthy notes. Few floaties.

And that about does it for this episode of Mississippi Water Tasting Showdown! Stay tuned for the next installment!

Now I’m going to turn in and hopefully get some good sleep tonight! Tomorrow I’ll have my sights on Aitkin, MN!

River Log Day 13

1101 - Scott’s Rapids: Very scenic and beautiful campsite. Phenomenal location along river bank. Tough, steep landing that may require some acrobatics. 1 table, latrine.

Scott’s Rapids access

1096 - Wold’s Ferry Crossing Landing: Nice primitive spot for a lunch or camping in a pinch. Flat grassy ledge with a nice view.

1180 - 1060: From Grand Rapids to Aitkin, the River delves into deep forested areas. The cell service gets worse, and the bugs get much worse. Deer flies and mosquitoes have been the worst of any portion of the trip so far. A head net for bugs is not a bad idea for this stretch.