October 7, 2021
Hammock and tent camping at Alma Marina
RM 753 (Lock and Dam 4)
589 miles completed
We finished paddling Lake Pepin. It was hard. The wind was as high as10 to 15 mph and the waves were as high as two feet. We stayed close to the south shore. Terry had to bail about a gallon.
After the lake the channel narrowed, the wind died, and the water became flat as a mirror. We even seemed to have just a hint of a current.
We stopped for a break and lunch at a Marina called Camp Lacupolis, right where the lake ends at RM 765.
We passed Wabasha, Minnesota at RM 761. This is where “Grumpy Old Men” was filmed. Terry says it was Wabasha, Wisconsin in the movie.
We got to Lock and Dam 4 right behind a tug and barges that had passed us a couple of mile back. The dam operator told me it would take about an hour and fifteen minutes for the barges to get through.
It was late in the day and we had to find a place to sleep. Terry found a Marina half a mile back upstream. It worked out. The marina was closed and everyone had gone home, but the bathhouse was open and there was water.. Showers are $1.00 for five minutes, quarters only.
We camped on a grassy spot by the river: I in a hammock and Terry in a tent.
While Terry cooked macaroni and cheese sauce for tuna mac we had hor d'oeuvres. Terry had a can of Beefaroni cold out of the can and I had summer sausage on saltines.
It rained on us a little while we were eating the tuna Mac. More rain is coming tonight.
Man, just amazing!