Along the Mississippi

4th October, 2011

Today I went on a pretty long hike. One thing I love about the Twin Cities is that there are loads of trails and parks around within the cities. I am just a 30 min walk from the Mississippi River (one of the longest in the world - it flows from North Minnesota to the Gulf of Mexico). I walked south along the river (see photo above) to Fort Snelling (a rare historic site in Minnesota). You couldn't actually enter the Fort but there was a visitor centre (and I was the only person there). Fort Snelling is built on the site sacred to the Dakota tribe who lived in Minnesota before the Europeans arrived. The spot is where the Mississippi and Minnesota Rivers meet. It was a nice walk, which was like an obstacle course at times because I went a little of the main trails. I had to cross a stream via a fallen tree and climb up the side of a cliff (it was a gradual climb but still challenging).

I walked back on the main trail to where and started and decided to stop off at a diner for lunch. I got a sandwich entirely full of meat. It was pork that they roast for 6 hours and was very good but was too much meat for me.

After lunch, I was close to home but decided to continue North along the Mississippi to Minnehaha Park. Minnehaha Falls are (I think) the largest waterfall in the Cities. I saw a photo of the falls in window where the water is frozen. It looks really cool. I walked along by the small river than flows from Lake Nokomis (where I was yesterday) to the Mississippi. It was nice to just follow the river and use the rocks as stepping stones. I do love climbing around things.

Tonight I finally unpacked everything and tidied my room. A tidy room gives me so much satisfaction. And I don't have much stuff here so it is easy to tidy. I am missing a locker, a desk, chair and a proper bed but I don't really need any of those things. I am getting used to my air matress. It's actually quite comfortable.